William Kaler

Lieutenant Colonel William R. Kaler “Billy Bob”, age 88, a resident of Union City, passed away Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, Veterans Day morning, at Obion County Nursing and Rehab. Funeral services will be at held 11 a.m. Wednesday at White-Ranson Funeral Home with Bro. Eddie Mallonee, Art Sparks and Denver Johnson officiating. Burial will follow in East View Cemetery with full military honors. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. today (Tuesday), at White-Ranson Funeral Home and again Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m. until the time of service. The military will serve as pallbearers. Jim Rippy, Jerry Carpenter, Led Symmes, Denver Johnson, Johnny Bruff, Tom Denny, former and current UTM Athletic Department members, former coaches and former players will serve as honorary pallbearers. “Billy Bob” was born in Bardwell, Kentucky on Oct. 4, 1934, to the late Lewis Edward Kaler and the late Francis Chumley Kaler. On June 9, 1957, he married Shirley Wright Kaler, and they were married for sixty-five and a half happy years. He was raised in Clinton, Kentucky, where he was a member of First United Methodist Church. He attended school in Clinton and graduated from Clinton High School where he was an outstanding basketball and baseball player. After graduation, he played baseball with a men’s team in Clinton and worked for Kentucky Highway Surveying. Two years after graduating high school, he attended Murray State where he was a member of the Murray State baseball team and graduated in 1959. On April 3, 1953, he began his military career when he enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard in Union City. While at Murray State University, he enrolled in the Army ROTC. In 1956, he was discharged from the TN National Guard and enrolled in Advanced ROTC at Murray State and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant United States Army, Armor in January of 1959. Upon completion of the basic course, he was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 37th Armor at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. His duty was training support for the US Armor School. He then applied and received orders to the United States Army Aviation School in Ft. Rucker, Alabama, where he completed Fixed Wing Aviation training in May of 1960, and was assigned to the 18th Fixed Wing Aviation Company in Ft. Riley, Kansas. They were deployed to the Republic of South Vietnam in January of 1962. He flew over 400 hours of combat support during the eleven-month tour and was awarded ten Air Medals. He returned to the States in December of 1962 and attended Helicopter Transition at Ft. Wolters, Texas, and completed helicopter training in April of 1963, and was assigned to the US Aviation School’s Department of Tactics at Ft. Rucker, where he was promoted to rank of Captain.In June of 1965, he received orders to the Armor Officer Advanced Course at Ft. Knox and completed the Advance Course in April of 1966. Upon completion, he was assigned as Troop Commander of “D” Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Calvary, 9th Infantry Division in Ft. Riley. After deployment and training preparation, the 9th Division was moved to South Vietnam in the first part of 1967. He commanded the “D” Troop until July of 1967. The troop was involved in search and destroy missions, long range recon patrol insertions, night counter-mortar standby, armed helicopter support to supply missions and support to the Australian Army Brigade. He was promoted to rank of Major during this tour. He was reassigned to the 9th Aviation Battalion from July thru December of 1967 and served in the 9th Division Tactical Operation Center as the night aviation representative. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Distinguished Flying Cross during tour. He returned to the U.S. in December of 1967 and was assigned to the US Army Aviation School, Director of Instructions Office serving as an evaluator of all classroom instruction at the Aviation School. He then received orders to attend the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas from July of 1968 thru June of 1969 at which time he was assigned temporarily to Troy State University to complete the requirements for a Master’s Degree. Original orders to Germany on completion of the Master’s Degree program were changed and a new assignment was taken to the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel of the Army staff in the Pentagon in January of 1971. He served two and a half years as the Desper’s Representative on the Army’s Military Construction Committee overseeing 350-500 million dollars of personnel related construction projects each year and oversaw all aspects of the Army bachelor housing.In July of 1973, he was reassigned to the Army Personnel Center in Alexandria, Virginia to serve as the overseer of the selection and assignment to the US Army War College for senior officers where he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during tour. He was selected for Battalion Command but elected not to accept the assignment and rather was assigned to be a Professor of Military Science at The University of Tennessee at Martin in July of 1976 and served in this assignment until retirement in August of 1980. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for Army Services. After a 27-year career as a military officer, Kaler left the Pentagon for UT Martin in 1976. He was a professor of military science for four years and joined the athletic department under Ray Mears as an academic coordinator in September of 1980. Overall, Kaler worked under eight athletic directors at UT Martin – ensuring the departmental academic success as the program transitioned into the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. In 2014, Kaler became only the fourth athletics administrator to be enshrined into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, joining James C. Henson (1984), Bettye Giles (1985) and Mears (1990) in that prestigious group. In addition to his wife, Lt. Col. Kaler is survived by three children, Tammy Sparks and her husband Art, Billy Kaler and Amy Bobo; three grandchildren, Jeni Beth Vincent and her husband Josh, Emily Anne Sparks and Kaler Bobo; two great-grandchildren, Logan and Allie Vincent; and very close family friend, Denver Johnson and family. In lieu of flowers the family request donations be made to the University of Tennessee at Martin Athletic Department or to a charity of your choice.