John Tupper Cole was a highly decorated officer in the United States Army with the rank of Brigadier General. A graduate of the United States Military Academy and veteran of both World Wars, he is most noted for his service as Colonel and Commanding officer, Combat Command B, 5th Armored Division during combats on the Western Front.

A Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for a group of United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs operated around the world throughout the 1940s–1970s, including in Yugoslavia after 1951, the most famous MAAGs were those active in Southeast Asia before and during the Vietnam War.