Oregon Guard Commander wins Douglas MacArthur Award
By Dan Thesman on Thursday, October 27th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon Army National Guard Captain Taylor B. Frye from Pendleton, Oregon assigned to the 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment, is the recipient of the General MacArthur Leadership Award, that was announced Wednesday at the Pentagon. The prestigious award was given to 28 Army awardees, with a majority of those selected coming from active duty service.
Gen. Randy A. George, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, and Richard G. Diamonstein, General Douglas MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors, spoke and made the award presentations at the ceremony.
“I want to thank you for the positive impact upfront that you had on soldiers, Gen. George said, while addressing the awardees, “Being a great leader takes energy, and I want to thank you for the energy and commitment you put into doing that.”
A Pentagon statement noted that “The General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award recognizes company-grade commissioned officers and warrant officers in the Active Army, the Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard that demonstrate the ideals for which General MacArthur stood: DUTY, HONOR, and COUNTRY. The award promotes and sustains effective junior officer leadership in the United States Army. Selection is based on overall leadership performance throughout the calendar year.”
When asked what leadership means to him, Capt. Frye said, “It’s all about caring, just taking the time to care about your soldiers, to care about your subordinates, to care about your leaders, and giving them the dedication they deserve.”
The recipients receive an engraved 15-pound bronze bust of General Douglas MacArthur mounted on a walnut pedestal. The statues are cast in Chester, Pennsylvania, and sculpted by Zenos Frudakis, director of the National Sculpture Society.
From a speech giving at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York on May, 12, 1962, General Douglas MacArthur emphasized these three leadership traits: Duty, Honor, and County. “Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”
Pictured from L to R: Gen. Randy A. George, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Cpt. Taylor B. Frye, and Richard G. Diamonstein, General Douglas MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors. Photo by Maj. W. Chris Clyne, Oregon National Guard Public Affairs.
