Earle Gilmore Wheeler (13 January 1908 – 18 December 1975), nicknamed Bus, was a United States Army general who served as the chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1962 to 1964 and then as the sixth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1964–1970), holding the latter position during the Vietnam War.

Wheeler began his military career in 1924, at the age of 16, as a private in Company E, 121st Engineers, District of Columbia National Guard.

Wheeler served in senior staff positions in a variety of specialties, including supply, intelligence, planning, and armor.

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Wheeler Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in July 1964 to succeed General Maxwell Taylor.

Wheeler's tenure as the nation's top military officer spanned the height of America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Then Air Force Chief of Staff, General Curtis LeMay, called him "Polly Parrot" and said he was awarded a medal for "fighting the Battle of Fort Benning", an army post in Georgia where Wheeler served during much of World War II.

Wheeler oversaw and supported the expanding U.S. military role in the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s, consistently backing the field commander's requests for additional troops and operating authority.

Wheeler, with General William C. Westmoreland, the field commander, and President Johnson, pushed to raise additional American forces after the February 1968 Tet Offensive.

Together with the Tet Offensive and shifts in American public opinion, this abortive effort contributed to President Johnson's ultimate decision to de-escalate the war.