White Sands Missile Range Hall of Fame

Paul Arthur was born in Kansas City on 14 January 1931. He graduated from Lafayette High School, Ohio, in 1948 and enlisted in the Navy a year later. After four years, he left active duty and joined the Naval Reserve, where he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral and mentored generations of Sailors and leaders.

Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1956 and began working that year as an electronics engineer in the WSMR Missile Flight Safety Office. He transferred to the Army Materiel Test and Evaluation Directorate in 1962.

Strong leadership abilities and a willingness to accept increasingly challenging roles launched Paul up the hierarchy at WSMR. He served as Chief of the High Altitude Air Defense Projects Branch, Chief of the Air Defense Test Division, Deputy Director and Director of the Materiel Test Directorate, and Deputy Commander and Executive Director of the White Sands Test Center. Paul inevitably rose to the highest civilian position at WSMR, Technical Director and Deputy to the Commanding General, from which he retired in October 2004 after 55 years of service to the U.S.

Paul’s service was characterized by his customer focus and exceeding mission requirements. He was known for his relentless drive to ensure the installation’s ability to meet the nation’s future test-and-evaluation demands. In this quest, he became a statesman, meeting with legislators and working with the Range Commanders Council, the Bureau of Land Management, the New Mexico State Land Office and the New Mexico Space Commission.

Paul died on 31 January 2014.