John French Conklin (April 20, 1891 – January 25, 1973) was an American brigadier general, who served most of his career in the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Young John followed his family tradition and upon completing of the high school in May 1911, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Conklin graduated with Bachelor of Science degree on June 12, 1915, as a part of "the class the stars fell on", where many of his classmates became distinguished general officers later, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Joseph T. McNarney, James Van Fleet, Henry Aurand, John W. Leonard, Joseph May Swing, Stafford LeRoy Irwin, Vernon Prichard, Vernon Evans, Charles W. Ryder, Albert W. Waldron, Paul J. Mueller, Leland Hobbs, Leroy H. Watson, Roscoe B. Woodruff and many others.

[1] He was subsequently appointed an instructor and assistant adjutant of the Officers Training Camp at Fort Myer, Virginia, and remained in that capacity for the duration of World War I.

Following the World War I, Conklin completed the courses at Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1927 and at Army War College in Washington, D.C., in 1934[3] and served as an instructor in the Department of Civil and Military Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1923–1924 and later as company commander with engineers units.

Following his promotion, Conklin returned to West Point in 1931 and served as assistant professor in the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy mid-1934.

He served in this capacity under famous general George S. Patton during desert maneuvers in Arizona and California in order to prepare the corps for deployment to North Africa.

[1][2] In mid-May 1949, Conklin was ordered to Japan and assumed duty as civil property custodian, Far East Command under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.