The 2008 Castle Memorial Award is presented to Major General Carl H. McNair, USA (Ret) for outstanding service to the Nation, to the U.S. Army, and to West Point.  General McNair  has exemplified “Duty, Honor, Country” throughout his active duty and subsequent career and retirement and has been a true representative of the ideals of West Point both as a Career Army Officer and in his Civilian endeavors for the past fifty-three years.

Graduating from West Point in 1955 General McNair became a member of an early Army Aviation Class and completed his flight training at Gary Air Force Base, Texas and Fort Rucker, Alabama with subsequent Airborne training and duty with the 82^nd Airborne Division. Upon completion of the Basic Infantry Officer Course and Ranger training, General McNair was assigned as an aviation and operations advisor to the Second Field Army of the Republic of China in Fengshan, Taiwan from 1957 to 1959.  Upon completion of the Infantry Career Course he served on the demilitarized zone in Korea as a company commander and S3, 2d Battle Group, 4^th Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry Division.  His next assignment was with the Air Mobility Division, Office of the Chief of Research and Development, Department of the Army.  General McNair then served repetitive combat tours in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969 to include command of the 121^st Assault Helicopter Company, the 164^th Combat Aviation Group and Commander 145^th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1968-1969.

Upon completion of his tour in Vietnam General McNair was selected to attend the Armed Forces Staff College, Virginia followed by attendance at the Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  In 1971 he was assigned to West Point in the Department of Tactics and was the coordinator of cadet summer field training.  He then served subsequent assignments as Director, Command Control and Communication Systems Test, MASSTER at Fort Hood, Texas and Command of the Army Aviation Troop Brigade, Fort Rucker, Alabama.  In 1975 he returned to Washington for duty as Deputy for Aviation to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research and Development) followed by assignment as Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development.

As a new Brigadier General he became Deputy Director Requirements and Army Aviation Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Department of the Army.  In 1979 General McNair returned to Fort Rucker first as Deputy Commanding General, then as Commanding General of the Army Aviation Center.  In July 1980 he was appointed Chief of Army Aviation. Prior to his retirement in 1987 General McNair was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Combat Developments and was the Chief of Staff of TRADOC for his last two years of service.

During his thirty-two years of commissioned service, General McNair earned his master aviator wings with 4,300 flying hours, 1,500 hours accrued in combat in Vietnam.  He earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech and a Masters degree in public administration from Shippenburg University.

His decorations include two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, three awards of the Legion of Merit, four awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device and Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with 51 clusters.  Foreign awards include Aviator Wings from China, Korea and Thailand, numerous decorations from the Vietnamese government, the Korean Order of Merit and the French Legion of Honor.

Following his retirement from military service General McNair was employed as the Vice President, Army Programs, for Burdeshaw Associates from 1988 to 1990.  In June of that year he was selected to be President, Support Services Division of DynCorp in Reston, Virginia.  In 1994 he was elevated to Corporate Vice President and in 1995 he became President of Enterprise Management, responsible for contract operations in areas of Range Support, Base Operations, Marine Operations and Biotechnology and Health Services supervising over 5,000 personnel with annual revenues exceeding $400 million dollars which position he held until April of 1999 when General McNair retired from this position to become Special Assistant to the President and CEO of DynCorp for Government Relations and Legislative Affairs.  Upon the acquisition of DynCorp by CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) in 2003, General McNair continued in his Government Relations role as Special Assistant, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs, Corporate Communications and Marketing and is the principle advisor to the CEO, CSC in the areas under his responsibility.

In 2004 General McNair was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame.  At the induction ceremony part of the tribute included the fact that General McNair  had devoted 48 years to building Army Aviation into the highly respected Aviation Branch it is today and while many aviators contributed to the development of Army Aviation to include the strategic and tactical employment of the Helicopter along with its combat capabilities; Army Aviation’s first Branch Chief (General McNair) deserves special recognition.  “Since retirement General McNair has been the unofficial voice of Army Aviation with literally dozens of activities and top offices in the Army Aviation Association of America.” 

In addition to this prestigious award, General McNair has been a member of “Who’s Who in America” since 1978, recipient of the Army Public Service Award, Virginia man of the Year (2006), Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army Order of AARON and HUR Medal, Past President of the Army Aviation Association of America, past President of George Washington Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army, Past President of the Washington Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association, President of the Arlington National Cemetery Commemorative Foundation, Past President of the Uniformed Services Benefit Association, Past Secretary and Treasurer of the Washington Area Easter Seals and member of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.

General McNair’s, United States Military Academy, West Point Alumni and Class Activities include Senior Army member of the Flight Memorial Fundraising Committee (1988-1991), member of the West Point Fund Committee, Board of Trustees, Association of Graduates (1992-1999), Vice President and then President of the West Point Society of D.C. (1989-1994), Washington Liaison for AOG and Board of Trustees (1992-1994) and President of the West Point Class of 1955 (2005-2010).

The Class of 1955 can think of no one better qualified and who better represents the embodiment of the ideas of the Castle Award by distinguishing himself in exemplifying the ideas of West Point in both the military and civilian capacity and possessing outstanding qualities of character and distinguished service and who has served our country well in the military and a distinguished career outside the military in the area of public service than Carl H. McNair, Jr.