Gladeon Marcus Barnes (15 June 1887 – 15 November 1961) was a United States Army major general who, as Chief of Research and Engineering in the Ordnance Department, was responsible for the development of 1,600 different weapons.

[6] In August 1942, he went to London as part of an American Technical Mission,[9] and from 14 December 1942 to 28 January 1943, he accompanied Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers, the Chief of the Armored Force, on an inspection tour of the battlefields in North Africa.

[10] Barnes enthusiastically endorsed the M1 Rocket Launcher after seeing a makeshift prototype in a demonstration at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in May 1942.

Bob Burns was a popular radio comedian, who used a novelty musical instrument which he had devised himself and called a "bazooka".

The electrical transmission made the tank easier to operate, but at a cost in weight and maintenance, and was therefore rejected by the Army Ground Forces.

[13] In January 1944, Devers, now commanding ETOUSA, ordered 250 of the new T25 and T26 tanks, but as late as April 1944 Army Ground Forces was suggesting that they be armed with 75 and 76 mm guns.

[7] Barnes insisted that 20 of the first 40 T26s off the assembly line be shipped directly to Europe rather than conducting further tests at Fort Knox that the Army Ground Forces wanted.

They found that in the wake of the Battle of the Bulge, tank crews regarded 75 mm Shermans as death traps.

[4] In April 1946, Barnes was chosen as the chairman of a committee appointed to oversee experimental firing of 25 captured German V-2 rockets.

[5][18] Barnes retired from the U.S. Army in April 1946,[1] and commenced a second career as vice president of research at Budd Company.