Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a United States Army general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from 530,000 to 30,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly before his death in 1974. In honor of Abrams, the U.S. Army named the XM1 main battle tank after him as the M1 Abrams.