He is most notable for training and commanding the 4th Armored Division, which spearheaded General George S. Patton's Third Army drive across France in 1944 during World War II.

[2][3] John Wood graduated from the University of Arkansas in three years, in 1907, was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order and was quarterback and captain of the football team.

[4][5] In 1908, he began attendance at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York; he graduated in 1912, and lettered in football, wrestling and boxing.

[6][1] Wood had taught chemistry while at the University of Arkansas, and at West Point he received his first nickname, "P" for "professor" because he used his skills as an instructor to tutor many academically deficient classmates.

[1] He made an early mark in military academics, including assistant football coach and chemistry instructor at West Point.

[10][11][12] In August 1916, after having been promoted to first lieutenant the month before, he returned to the United States Military Academy faculty and transferred to the Ordnance Corps in September.

The school was created to teach planning and management skills to officers, and his classmates included George S. Patton, William Hood Simpson, and Alexander Patch.

He returned to the United States in October 1918 and was assigned as Personnel Officer of the 18th Division at Camp Travis, Texas, before the war ended due to the Armistice with Germany the following month.

On July 28, 1944, Wood led the 4th Armored into combat in France after the Normandy breakout as part of Operation Cobra and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

Major General Troy H. Middleton, commanding VIII Corps, ordered the division to hold a line along the Vilaine River, sealing off the Rennes to Quiberon region.

The 4th Armored Division stopped roughly ten miles short of the Quiberon Bay objective, despite facing minimal opposition.

"[26] However, Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. Mack, of the COMZ staff, who described the failure to implement Operation Chastity as the "Critical Error of World War II".

[29] In August 1944, Wood ran into difficulty when command of his higher headquarters within Third Army, the XII Corps, was assigned to Manton S. Eddy.

Wood returned to duty in the United States, and finished his military career in 1946 as the commander of the Armor Replacement Training Center (ARTC) at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

[41] In addition, he was known for his eccentricities and outspokenness: as a Command and General Staff College student he displayed his disdain for an instructor by reading a newspaper during a lecture;[42] in 1942, during training maneuvers in Tennessee, Wood argued publicly with exercise coordinator Ben Lear after Lear made disparaging remarks about the 4th Armored Division during an after action review.