Major General Retired, Theodore W. Paulson, former Commander of the 63d United States Army Reserve Command at Los Alamitos, California, passed away on November 17, 2011. MG Paulson was a long time member, supporter and historian of the 63rd Infantry Division Association, USAR.

Funeral Services for MG Theodore W. Paulson were held on 28 November 2011 at Riverside National Cemetery.    The service was officiated by MG (Ret) John Scott former Commander 63d RSC and Deacon in the Catholic Church and COL (Chaplain) (Ret) Donald Forden past chaplain 63d RRC.   MG Mark McCarley former aide de camp for MG Paulson and currently Deputy Commander First  Army  escorted Mrs. Pat Paulson, MG Paulson’s widow.  He cased MG Paulson’s GO flag and presented the American Flag to Mrs. Paulson.  The service was well attended and supported by past and current commanders and deputy commanders of the 63d ARCOM, RSC and RRC, and 311th COSCOM.

A Memorial "Celebration of Life" Service was held at the ELKS Lodge in San Pedro, California on 10 December.

 

Photos taken by SGM (Ret) Geroge Ichimura

 

 

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MAJOR GENERAL (RETIRED) THEODORE W. PAULSON
 

Major General Theodore W. Paulson, USAR Retired, was born in Los Angeles, California on 30 March 1937. His initial military service was as an enlisted person in the California National Guard from 1954-1958 at which time he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation from Artillery Officer's Candidate School at Fort Sill Oklahoma,

In 1959, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in Geography, He also held a Masters of Public Affairs and Administration, CORD
Foundation, Los Angeles and completed executive programs in public utilities management at the graduate schools of business at both the University of Michigan and the University of Idaho. General Paulson was also a graduate of the Harvard University National and International Security Program. As part of his military education, General Paulson was a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.

Throughout his military career General Paulson held a wide a variety of command and staff positions. They included service as "A" Battery Commander. 3rd Battalion, 77th Artillery. and Battalion S-4 of the same Battalion. He served as Headquarters Commandant for both the 63rd Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) and the 311th Logistical Command. He commanded the 309th: Army Security Agency Battalion, and then became Chief of Staff at the 311th Support Brigade (Corps). He returned to the 63rdARCOM as Chief of Staff and became the Deputy Commander in 1979. In April 1980, General Paulson was designated as the Commander of the 311'" Support Command (Corps). June 1984 saw him assigned as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisitions for Mobilization and Reserve Affairs (IMA), Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon.  In June 1987, General Paulson was assigned as Commander, 63" United States Army Reserve Command. Upon completion of his four year command tenure in June 1991,General Paulson was reassigned as the Deputy Commanding General (IMA) Bold Shift, Headquarters, FORCES COMMAND, Atlanta, Georgia. General Paulson retired in May 1993 following more than 39 years of service.

His awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with two Ten-year Devices, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon with bronze Arabic numeral 2. General Paulson was inducted in to the Artillery OCS Hall of Fame, Fort Sill in 1982. In February 1997, General Paulson was inducted in to the Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association Hall of Fame.

General Paulson served as the Sixth U.S. Army's Principal Member of the Secretary of the Army, Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee 1983-1985. He was also appointed in 1985 to serve on the General Officer Special Advisory Group for the Secretary of the Army directed study on Training of the Army Reserve Logistics Officer and again in 1986 for a second special study on the Army Reserve Personnel Management System,

During 1991, General Paulson was appointed and served as a member of the Department of Defense Reserve Forces Policy Board. This board serves as a principal policy adviser to the Secretary of Defense on reserve component matters,

In civilian life Ted Paulson retired in June of 1996 after a long career with Southern California Edison, beginning in 1970 as the Division of Community Activities Representative and retiring as Manager of Geographic Information Services. From 1968-1970 prior to working for SCE, Ted was a consultant for the Real Estate Research Corporation of Los Angeles working in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Los Angeles, From 1965-1968 Ted served as General Manager of the Carson-Dominguez Industrial Council. Ted began his civilian career as Assistant to Corporation Assistant Secretary, Richfield Oil Corporation, Los Angeles.

When his children were young Ted Paulson was an active volunteer with Boy Scouts of America, AYSO, Job's Daughters and the YMCA. In retirement he became a tireless community volunteer, serving on the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission, as President of the Palos Verdes Library District Board of Trustee and as President of the Friends of the Library along with supporting many local campaigns.

In recent years, he and his wife Pat traveled extensively, often with friends and last year celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii.

General Paulson is survived by his wife of 51 years, Patricia Susan Klein, his daughter Hilary, her husband Ralph Spickermann and their daughters, Audrey, Claire and Ellis, and his son Jon, Jon's wife Renee and their sons Jared and Graeme.

General Paulson became a member of the 63rd Infantry Division Association,USAR in 1967 and served on the Board of Governors of the Association from 1967 to 1968. He became a life member in 1984. 

General Paulson’s suggestion that something should be done with the 63rd’s memorabilia was key in initiating   63d Infantry Division Association Memorabilia Project.  The Association took up the challange and began work. General Paulson contributed much of his time and effort to our memorabilia committee assisting in sorting and inventorying items relating the 63d Infantry Division and the 63d USAR organizations.  These items were eventually hand receipted to the current 63d RSC for display and storage at their new headquarters building at Moffett Field.