William Arnold Carter

William Arnold Carter (* June 27, 1907 in Corsicana, Texas; † 18 May 1996 Washington, DC ) was an American engineer, Major General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and from 1960 to 1962 Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.

Life

Parker resigned after attending school in the U.S. Army and was attended by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1930 lieutenant. He then studied civil engineering at the University of California and graduated in 1933 with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Civil Engineering ). 1933 he was appointed to a professorship at the U.S. Engineering School at Fort Belvoir, where he taught until 1934. After that he was in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE ) and worked among others from 1936 to 1937 employees in the Second Engineering District of New Orleans. After use as head of the general affairs department of the USACE 1941 to 1942 Carter took between 1942 and 1945 under the command of General Omar Bradley as an officer of the Second USACE on Africa and Tunisia Campaign and Operation Husky, the Allied conquest of Sicily, as well as participated as chief engineer of the U.S. 1st Army at the landings in Normandy, operation Overlord, and the subsequent battles in Europe.

After the end of World War II, he was first in 1945 administrative officer in the laboratory for engineering research and development and was subsequently 1948-1951 Chief Engineer of the 3rd U.S. Army. In 1953 he was promoted to Major General.

On July 3, 1960 Carter was appointed Governor of the Panama Canal Zone, and held this office until July 1962.

During his tenure, he continued a series of programs that were begun by his predecessors. Among them was a program for the expansion of the Panama Canal and will advance the Thatcher Ferry Bridge (now the Puente de las Américas ) and the construction of new locks for towing by locomotives. In addition, three new tugs were ordered and it came to planning the equipment of the ship traffic control center with electronic operating devices. In addition, new methods were developed for the overhaul of locks to reduce the time of closing times to be drained in the lock chambers for maintenance. Secondly, Carter traveled to other parts of the country of Panama to expand the U.S. relations with Panama.

For his merits Carter was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. After retiring from the governorship and the active service, he was a senior engineer scientific advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank ( IDB).