Delaware National
Guard
Blue Hen Chapter to present ‘The William A.F. Pyle
Award’Article by Maj. Tony Wade, 261st Signal Brigade
The Blue Hen Chapter of the Signal Corps Regimental Association will
present The William A.F. Pyle Award at the Honors Dinner. Since 1970 and
the transition from Air Defense Artillery, the Signal Corps has been an
important part of the Delaware Army National Guard. But long before that
there was a Delawarean who distinguished himself in communications and the
Signal Corps. His name was Brig. Gen. William A.F. Pyle (1899 – 1993).
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Brig. Gen. (Ret.) William A.F. Pyle, (1899-1993) during his tour of duty during WWII. |
Like today’s Delaware National Guard Signal Corps soldiers, Pyle was on the cutting edge of communications technology. In 1914, at the age of 15, in the early days of radio, he was licensed as a ham radio operator. In 1922, Pyle earned a degree in electrical engineering from Drexel Institute (now Drexel University), and in 1925 he joined the Headquarters Battery of the 198th Coast Artillery (now the 198th Signal Battalion).
In civilian life, like a certain current Delaware National Guard brigadier general, Pyle worked for Delaware Power and Light Company (later Delmarva Power and now known as Conectiv), from 1925 until his retirement in 1964. While in the Guard, Pyle served in various positions, including the STARC Plans and Operations Officer, and retiring in 1959 as the Executive Officer of the Selective Service Section.
He developed a portable radio transmitter used at the Bethany Beach
training camp, for which efforts he received the Delaware Medal of Merit.
In a break from Guard service in 1942, Pyle joined the Active Duty Signal
Corps, serving as chief of procurement at the Lexington, Kentucky, Signal
Depot, and later as the assistant to the Signal Corps chief of supply in
the Pacific theatre of operations.
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The island in the pacific theater where Brig. Gen. William Pyle was stationed as the assistant to the Signal Corps Chief of Supply during WWII. |
In 1947, Pyle became the first director of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS). He retired from the National Guard in 1959 as a brigadier general. General Pyle is a model of the Delaware Signal citizen-soldier, selflessly serving his community and his country in war and peace.
And so, in his honor, the Blue Hen Chapter of the Signal Corps Regimental Association has designated its annual award for meritorious achievement, "The William A.F. Pyle Award," that current and future Delaware signaleers might strive for the excellence that General Pyle so dramatically achieved.
261st Honors Dinner Invitation Form
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