Alfred Harlan Paddock Jr., 88, passed away on March 20, 2025, in Huntsville, Alabama.
Al was born on February 11, 1937, in Moscow, Idaho. His family moved around during his earliest years, but ultimately settled in Bogalusa, Louisiana, a place that Al always felt was his true hometown.
He dedicated his life to service to country, scholarship and his bride of 68 years. He had enormous pride in his children and growing family. He was a man who valued integrity and lived by it for all of his days. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Park College before pursuing graduate studies at Duke University where he obtained both a Master’s and a Ph.D. in History. His passion for military history was deeply intertwined with his distinguished career in the U.S. Army.
Al served for 31 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Colonel in 1988. During the 1960s, he was part of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) and the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), completing three combat tours in Laos and Vietnam. In the following decade, he contributed as an instructor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and held key positions within the Politico-Military Division of the Department of the Army Staff in Washington, D.C. He also commanded the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion at Fort Bragg and served as both a faculty instructor and Strategic Research Analyst at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute.
During the 1980s, Al continued to shape military strategy as commander of the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg and later as Chairman of the Department of National and International Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College. His expertise led him to serve as a military member on the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff at the Department of State and ultimately as the first Director for Psychological Operations within the Office of the Secretary of Defense in over three decades.
His career decorations were many, but his most cherished were the Bronze Star with Valor, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He is a member of the Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Psychological Operations Association’s General Richard G. Stilwell Award. In retirement he served as president of the Washington, DC chapter of the Special Forces Association for several years. He was also selected as the first Honorary Colonel of the PSYOP Regiment.
Al was a dedicated historian who remained engaged with military scholarship throughout his life. Always prepared with a pen and a notepad to take down notes, which he carried in his well-worn soft, leather briefcase that was with him always. He authored the book, U.S. Army Special Warfare: It’s Origins, and co-authored and published articles in numerous military journals and forums.
He had a lifelong love of reading, both a wide variety of books as well as his beloved daily editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He enjoyed photography, hiking, cruise travel and ballroom dancing with his bride. As a young man Al had a beautiful tenor voice that earned him a music scholarship to Louisiana State University, which he briefly pursued before changing his path to join the U.S. Army. In the final years of his life Al began working with a music therapist and began singing again. Shaking off the dust of so many years, his lovely voice and love of singing returned to him. His unwavering devotion to his wife came through in the way he always wanted to sing all of the love songs to her. His favorite was their special song, by Johnny Mathis, who never sang it as meaningfully as Al did, “You ask how long I’ll love you, I’ll tell you true. Until the 12th of never, I’ll still be loving you… I’ll love you ‘til the poets run out of rhyme. Until the 12th of never, and that’s a long, long time.”
Al is survived by his beloved wife, Theresa Delphine Paddock (formerly Jenkins); his son Alfred “Butch” Harlan Paddock III and his wife Gina; his daughters, Alicia Anne Ryan and her husband, Joe, and Terri Lanelle Paddock; eight grandchildren, Charles, Jonathan, Andrew, Rachel, Alea, Jason, Jack, and Rosalie; and five great-grandchildren, Laura, Grant, Jude, Zion, and Aaron. He was predeceased by his parents, Alfred Harlan Paddock Sr. and Olivia Jane Paddock (formerly Caston), as well as his brother, Lawrence Caston Paddock.
A memorial gathering will be held on March 29, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Laughlin Service Funeral Home, located at 2320 Bob Wallace Avenue in Huntsville, Alabama.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his memory to Still Serving Veterans located in Huntsville, Alabama.
