Alva R. Fitch

Alva Revista Fitch (September 10, 1907–November 25, 1989) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army and was deputy director of Defense Intelligence Agency from 1964 to 1966. From October 16, 1961 to January 5, 1964, Fitch served as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters, Department of the Army.

Born in Amherst, Nebraska on September 10, 1907, Fitch was the first Eagle Scout in Nebraska, and one of the very earliest west of the Mississippi River.

Fitch graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1930 and became a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He was promoted to first lieutenant in September 1935. He was sent to the Philippines in February 1940 and commanded Battery A of the 23rd Field Artillery Regiment and was promoted to captain in June 1940. He was promoted to Major in January 1942 during the Battle of Bataan early in World War II and put in command of the 91st Coast Artillery until their surrender to the Japanese in May 1942. A survivor of the Bataan Death March, he was held at Luzon at Camp O'Donnell In December 1944 he was transferred with other Bataan survivors by hell ship (the other of which sank) to the Fukuoka prison camps. He was released in September 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for heroism and courage in combat and while a captive of the Japanese.

From February to July 1946 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and remained as an instructor until August 1947.

In the Korean War, Fitch was an artillery commander and then commanded the 3rd Armored Division. He later served as Chief of Staff of Army Intelligence before being named to the Defense Intelligence Agency post in 1964.

He served on the Army Aircraft Requirements Review Board, also known as the Rogers Board, which was established on January 15, 1960 by the Army Chief of Staff to review the Army Aircraft Development Plan and the related industry proposals. The Rogers Board's members included Major Generals Hamilton H. Howze, Thomas F. Van Natta, Robert J. Wood, Richard D. Meyer, Ernest F. Easterbrook, and chairman Lieutenant General Gordon B. Rogers; and its results prefigured the more influential Howze Board on airmobility.

He retired from active duty in 1966 and was military editor of the Kiplinger Newsletter from 1966 to 1975.

General Fitch died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., on November 25, 1989 and was buried in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery.General Fitch is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.

• General Fitch was Elvis Presley's commanding officer during the singer's stint in the Army from 1958 to 1960.
• Future U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was a lieutenant with the 3rd Armored Division under General Fitch.