CITATION 

2002 Castle Memorial Award
is presented to
General William A. Knowlton, USA (Ret)
USMA Class of 1943

The 2002 Castle Memorial Award is presented to General William A. Knowlton for outstanding service to the Nation, to the U.S. Army, and to West Point.  General Knowlton has exemplified "Duty, Honor, Country" throughout his active duty and subsequent career and retirement.

Beginning as a Star man, Cadet Instructor and Battalion Commander in the Corps of Cadets, General Knowlton has always been considered a leader in his Class of January, 1943.  Commissioned in the Cavalry, he joined the 7^th Armored Division in the California desert and stayed with it throughout World War II.  After leading an assault gun platoon across France, he won the Silver Star leading a reconnaissance troop that dashed through German lines to join the Russians northwest of Berlin.  After service in Berlin, EUCOM, the Army staff, SHAPE, and West Point as Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, he commanded a battalion in the 3^rd Cavalry, was Military Attache in Tunis, then commanded a brigade at Fort Knox.  After duty in the Army Staff and OSD, he led Civil Operations & Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) on General Westmoreland's staff in Saigon.  He then spent six months as Assistant Division commander of the 9^th Infantry Division, leading his own tactical command in the Delta and winning 2 more Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Medal, a  Distinguished Flying Cross, 10 Air Medals and a Bronze star.

After returning to the Pentagon as General Westmoreland's Secretary of the General staff, he soon became the 49^th superintendent of West Point, serving 4 ½ years during the final difficult years of the Vietnam War.  As he tightened standards of discipline and integrity, a series of personal law suits challenged the necessity of these.  In the fall of 1974, a Supreme Court ruling on two Honor cases reestablished the ability of West Point to set high standards and enforce them.  Finding that President de Gaulle had earlier cut longstanding ties between West Point and St. Cyr, General Knowlton urged U.S. and French leaders to restore contact and spoke of the need to St. Cyr officers and cadets in Paris and on French TV.  Upon renewing the contact, the French made General Knowlton an Officer in the French Legion d'Honneur.  These ties are important in this bicentennial year for both institutions.

From West Point he served six years in Europe as Chief of Staff at EUCOM, with four stars as NATO CG of three Turkish Armies and as US MilRep on NATO's Military Committee before retiring in 1980.

In retirement, General Knowlton has served as a Director of the Chubb Corporation, Trustee of Davis & Elkins College, Senior Fellow of the CAPSTONE Course at the National Defense University for fifteen years teaching new generals and admirals. He was also a lecturer at the Armed Forces Staff College, American University, and high level war colleges in Europe and North Africa. An advisor at the Defense Nuclear Agency for a decade, he also has been and remains a member of the Defense Intelligence Agency Science and Technology Advisory Board, working the problems of human intelligence and terrorism.

Throughout his retirement, General Knowlton has continued his strong support of West Point.  As President of his class at its 50^th reunion, he accomplished an unprecedented completion of obituaries on all classmates who had died by that time.  Since then, he has led January ‘43 fundraising efforts, achieving the highest donor rate among all West Point classes. His eldest son and his son-in-law are West Point graduates who have continued to serve in the Army and at the Industrial College.  His second son, a Vietnam combat veteran, served  25 years as a diplomat, largely in Asia.

In recognition of his service in both peace and war, on active duty and in retirement, while displaying outstanding qualities of character, distinguished service  and stature which clearly symbolize the highest ideals of West Point, it is most fitting for the West Point Society of the District of Columbia to honor General William Allen Knowlton, USA (Ret), USMA Class of January 1943, with the 2002 Castle Memorial Award.  His classmates have deliberately delayed nominating him for this award until this year in order to nominate a distinguished former superintendent of West Point for this award during West Point's bicentennial year.