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U.S. Army Operational Testers' Hall of Fame
Maj. Gen. Stewart Canfield Meyer
Inducted September 12, 2013
April 14, 1921 -
December 31, 2012
Test Officer
Director
Commanding General
Commanding General |
Maj. Gen. Stewart Canfield Meyer was the son of a brigadier general and a veteran of three wars on foreign soil. Wounded in action, he was the definitive American patriot, fully living the Army values of duty, honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity, and selfless dedication for 36 and a half years. A field artillery officer, Meyer briefly served as a test officer at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for less than a year in 1950. It would be 21 years before he returned to the testing community in 1971 as the Director of Research, Development, and Engineering, Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Washington, D.C., where he served until 1974. He was then assigned as commanding general, Headquarters MASSTER (Modern Army Selected Systems Test, Evaluation, and Review) at Fort Cavazos, Texas, where he led the command through a major transfer of authority, reduction in force, reorganization of mission, and a name change. MASSTER was transferred from Forces Command to Training and Doctrine Command with the new mission emphasizing large-scale combined armed forces test and experimentation. TRADOC Combined Arms Test Activity (TCATA), as MASSTER would now be called, would also be responsible for evaluation and analysis of training developments, support of command systems testing and cost, and operational effectiveness and analysis. The work performed by TCATA employees would help shape the Army's training, weaponry production, and tactics and instrumentation used on the modern battlefield. Immediately, TCATA was directed
to conduct a DRS (Division Restructuring Study) of the 1st Cavalry Division into
an air mobile division to deal with the conflict in Vietnam. The
operational test included a full division exercise of the First Team to test and
validate fully the concepts that had been developed. Another operational
test was conducted to determine if combat support hospitals could keep up with a
fast-moving armored division. TCATA also conducted a stockpile reliability
test on the Shillelagh missile and studied the use of motorcycles for tank
platoon leaders. Immersing himself in continued public service, Meyer served on the new Harker Heights library board of directors; as senior warden of the vestry of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Killeen; as chairman of the Fort Cavazos Retiree Council; as president of the local Kiwanis Club; on the board of the directors of the Killeen and Harker Heights Rotary clubs; and as vice president of the Central Texas College Foundation board of directors. He was elected mayor of Harker Heights in 1993, serving in that capacity until 1997. He is known today as the catalyst for the modernization of the City of Harker Heights. For his military service, Meyer was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (5 oak leaf clusters) with "V" device, Air Medal (16 oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (1 oak leaf cluster), Purple Heart, EAME Campaign Medal (4 campaign stars), WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), National Defense Service Medal (1 oak leaf cluster), Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and Vietnam Service Medal (4 campaign stars). |