Abner Dowling (b. 1875) was a career member of the United States Army. He served as General George Armstrong Custer's adjutant as a Major during the Great War, he held the rank of colonel while military governor of Utah, and he was a general during the Second Great War. Dowling was quite remarkable for being in the right place at the right time. He was generally considered to have been a very decent human being, if not a particularly talented soldier, especially compared with the flamboyant Custer, or the brilliant Irving Morrell. Even in his own estimation, he was not a "great" general, but he successfully strove to be a "good" one, consciously acting in a manner opposite of Custer.