COLONEL BARTLEY E. DAY
Colonel Bartley E. Day was born in Fairview, Utah, in 1923. His first exposure to military life was in the Junior ROTC at South High School in Salt Lake City. During his senior year he was the battalion commander of the South Battalion. At the end of the year, he was chosen to command the Salt Lake City High Schools Regiment and was appointed cadet colonel.Day attended the University of Utah for two years and participated in ROTC there prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1942. He won one of fifty-two Army at large appointments to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and graduated in 1949 as second lieutenant, field artillery.
He attended the Ground General School in Fort Riley, Kansas; the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, Texas; and the Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then joined the 517th Armored Field Artillery Battalion in Germany in 1950. He commanded a Field Artillery Battery prior to returning to the United States in 1954 moving thence to his first duty with ROTC as an Assistant PMS at Colorado State University.
In 1957, Day moved to Thule, Greenland, where he commanded Battery B, 548th Air Defense Artillery. Returning to Fort Sill again in 1958, he was an instructor in field artillery gunnery and then the chief of the Rocket and Missile Research Branch of the Research Division at the school.
In 1961–1962, he attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1962, Day assumed new duties at the newly-formed U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and for the first year activated and settled the new headquarters prior to assuming duties in the Field Artillery Research Division.
Following a student officer tour at the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia, Day was assigned to the G3 Division, Central Army Group (NATO) in Germany, working with officers of many other nations throughout three years. During this period, he also attended the NATO Combined Operations School at Old Sarum, England, and also earned his master’s degree in international relations from Boston University, attending at Heidelberg, Germany. In 1967, he returned to Fort Sill again to command the Third Battalion, Thirtieth Field Artillery for eighteen months and then served as deputy commander of the 214th Field Artillery Group.
In 1969, Day joined the Joint Military Assistant Advisor Group, Korea as Secretary of the Joint Staff. Upon return to the United States, he was promoted to colonel in August 1970 and assumed his duties as chief of the Plans, Programs and Operations Division, and as deputy chief of staff of the personnel at the First Army Headquarters in Fort Mead, Maryland.
Day was appointed as the professor of military science at Brigham Young University on 1 July 1972, where he served for five years and then retired from the military to serve for eleven more years at BYU as assistant dean of student life and career education counselor. While serving in this position, he received his Ph.D. in higher education administration.
He served in several callings in the LDS Church. In addition to serving numerous times in his favorite calling as a teacher, he was a bishop, branch president, counselor, member of the stake presidency, member of a mission presidency, and a High Council member. He was active in his community as well, serving as president, vice president and secretary for Kiwanis International, and district chairman for the Republican Party.
Day was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with two Oakleaf Clusters, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal for his exceptional performance of duty in addition to several other service awards.
At the age of 71, while living in Orem, Utah, Day died after a long struggle with diabetes. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Irene, and three daughters, Victoria Hamilton, Janice Wright, and Dean Day. He was preceded in death by a son Carl and daughter Valerie.
