William M. (Ret) Col. Mannel

Evans, GA - Colonel William M. Mannel, USA (Ret.) passed away on October 26, 2013 at Doctors Hospital. He was the son of the late William F. Mannel and Lillian G. Mannel of Randallstown, Maryland. He is survived by his beloved wife, Leah P. Mannel.
He is also survived by his daughter, Dr. Barbara J. Mannel, M.D. of Denver, Colorado and his son, William David Mannel and daughter-in-law, Lori Pfeifer Mannel of Pacific Grove, California and his grandchildren, Clara Lynn Mannel and William Pfeifer Mannel.
William was born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 13, 1932, and lived in Randallstown, Maryland for approximately 15 years. In his early years, he lived on a large dairy farm where he was very active in the 4H Club of America. He was president of the Randallstown 4H Club and won numerous prizes and awards for farming activities. He was a State of Maryland outstanding 4H achiever, winning trips to Saratoga Springs, New York and Chicago, Illinois.
He did not pursue his early farming activities but decided on an engineering career. He was a graduate of the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute where he graduated with Honors for the Advanced College Preparatory Course and was a member of the National Honor Society.
He continued his higher education earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSSE) from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University; a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) from Pennsylvania State University, College Park, Pennsylvania. During his military service, he also received a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey.
During his undergraduate college career, he was elected to membership in Eta Kappa Nu-National Electrical Engineering Honorary Fraternity and Tau Beta Pi – National Engineering Honorary Fraternity. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the National Scouting Service Fraternity and Theta Xi- National Social Fraternity while at Carnegie Mellon University.
Colonel Mannel’s military career started with his commissioning as a Second Lieutenant from the Carnegie Institute of Technology’s Army ROTC into the Signal Corps, United States Army in 1949. His military career of 33 years ended at Fort Gordon, Georgia as the Deputy Commander and Director of Combat Developments. In the intervening years, he served in Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America as well as U.S. Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories. He also served in the Army’s Communications and Electronics Research and Development Command as a Branch Chief in the Solid State Branch also at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. During his time as Branch Chief, the Branch started the initial studies of nuclear radiation effects on electronic components and small solid state networks.
Other significant military assignments were as Commander of the 335th Signal Group, Commander of the 1023rd Logistics Command and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the U.S. Army Materiel Command in Washington, D.C.
His first and last duty stations were at Fort Gordon, Georgia. One significant assignment in his military career was his being detailed to the Department of the Navy and assigned to develop the Radiation Monitoring System for America’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus. During this assignment, he worked directly with then Captain (USN) Hyman Rickover, who later was promoted to Vice Admiral.
His military education included the U.S. Army Signal Corps Basic and Advanced Courses, The Army Command and General Staff College, The Air War College, the Naval War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He also taught at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit with an Oak Leaf Cluster, The Meritorious Service Medal, The Army Reserve medal and numerous campaign ribbons.
During his military service, he was associated with numerous U.S. Government Military Equipment and Systems Standardization programs with our allies as representative to the NATO Standardization Committees for Communications and Computers and with three Quadripartite Working Groups (QWGS) of the American, British, Canadian and Australian Standardization Program.
He was also a military aviator and a commercial pilot with both multi-engine land and sea plane ratings. He held a Certified Instrument Flight and Ground instructor certificate. He was the Assistant Chief Flight instructor at the Fort Gordon Army Flying Club at Bush Field, Augusta as well as an instructor at Augusta Aviation at Daniel Field. He was also a flight instructor with the Fort Monmouth Army Flying Club located at the Monmouth County, New Jersey Airport.
He was the author of numerous operational and technical articles stressing military applications in such prestigious publications as the “Military Review”, a quarterly publication of The Army Command and General Staff College; “Signal”. The official publication of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association; and the “Communicator” a periodical of the institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Following his active military career, he became an Army civilian employee at Fort Gordon as the U.S. Army Signal Center’s first Scientific Advisor and Technical Director of Combat Developments. During his Army civilian career, he also graduated from the U.S. Government’s Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.

After these careers he became a Scientific Consultant and established Southeast Consulting Services located in Augusta, Georgia. He consulted for the following companies; Xetron Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northrup Grumman Corporation, Westinghouse Electric Company, Unisys Corporation, Canadian Marconi Company, CMC Electronics of Canada, the Tactical Communications Systems Division of Ultra Electronics of the United Kingdom, ITT and the Office of Home Land Security. He also served as a special advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense during the first Gulf War (Desert Shield/Desert Storm) on the deployment of the Patriot Surface to Air Missile batteries in various areas of the Middle East.
He was active in numerous military associations. Colonel Mannel was a Life Member of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) formerly known as the Retired Officers Association of America (TROA). He had held a number of leadership positions in the Augusta chapter of the Georgia Military Officers Association of America to include President as well as Vice President for Membership of the chapter. He was a member of that Chapter’s Board of Directors for a number of years and he served as the Editor-in-chief of that chapter’s monthly newsletter.
He had served on the Mayor of Augusta’s Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee and has been an active member of the Fort Gordon Retiree Council, as well as a member of the Columbia County, Georgia Military Affairs Committee.
Colonel Mannel had a long association with technical and professional societies around the country. He was a Distinquished Life Member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronic Association and served on its National Board of Directors, as well as the President of the local Augusta Chapter’s for two terms and was on that chapter’s board of Directors for a number of years.
He was a Life Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEFF) where he held all of the leadership positions of the Central Savannah River Section to include Section Chairman. He also served in leadership positions with the South Carolina Council of the IEEE to include Treasurer, Secretary and Vice Chairmen of the Council.
He has been a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia for over 37 years and had held several offices in the church to include being a Ruling elder, Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee, The Buildings and Grounds Committee, and the worship Committee. He had previously served as a Ruling Elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Freehold, New Jersey; The Shrewsbury Presbyterian Church of Shrewsbury, New Jersey and the Ambler Presbyterian Church of Ambler, Pennsylvania.
In Civic affairs, Colonel Mannel served on the Transportation Committee of the Augusta Chamber of Commerce and was an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Augusta for over 30 years.
In the Kiwanis Club of Augusta, he was selected for the prestigious award as a George Hixon Fellow of Kiwanis International, a Legion of Honor Member of the local chapter, as well as serving on the Club’s Board of Directors. He was also the Chairmen of the Club’s Major Emphasis and Inter Club Committees for several years. For about five years, he served as the Editor of the Club’s Weekly Kiwanotes.
To honor his commitments to his professions, he was included in Who’s Who in America; Who’s Who in the Southeast; Who’s Who in American Aviation; International Organization of Science Professionals and Who’s Who in Science.
To respect the wishes of Col. Mannel, funeral services will remain private.
As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project
P.O. BOX 758517 Topeka, KS 66675.