Deane was promoted to captain in 1920, major in 1934, and lieutenant colonel in 1940, serving in War Department staff roles involving international military affairs and contingency planning. He analyzed global threats and advocated for preparedness against rising powers like Japan and Germany, critiquing isolationist policies in internal reports. In the late 1930s, Deane worked with the War Plans Division, where he contributed to studies on hemispheric defense and supply lines, foreshadowing Lend-Lease challenges. He was Secretary of the War Department General Staff from February to September 1942, contributing to high-level planning and administration during the US mobilization. He also served as US Secretary of the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington.
On October 1, 1943, he was named head of the US Military Mission in Moscow, attached to the US Embassy under Ambassador W. Averell Harriman. The Mission coordinated American military attachés, established liaison with Soviet authorities, and informed them of US strategic plans and developments. The Mission also administered Lend-Lease deliveries to the Soviet Union which, during 1941-45, totalled $11.3 billion worth of materiel (23% of the total Lend-Lease program) including over 400,000 trucks, 14,000 aircraft, and 13,000 tanks delivered to the Soviet Union. Deane witnessed the frictions inherent in US-Soviet cooperation, which he documented in his 1947 book The Strange Alliance, offering a candid assessment of bureaucratic obstacles, mutual suspicions, and the limits of the partnership forged primarily against a common foe.
Deane retired from the US Army as a colonel on September 30, 1946, when his temporary war-time major general rank ended, after 29 years of active service. In October 1946, he was elected chairman of the boards of Italian Swiss Colony, a major Sonoma County winery founded in 1881, and of Shewan-Jones, Inc., while also serving as resident representative in California for National Distillers Products Corporation, leveraging his logistical expertise from military procurement to navigate industry supply chains. He held the presidency of Italian Swiss Colony from 1946 until his resignation in 1952.
Deane is the recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal and of the Legion of Merit.
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