Colonel Billie Edward Lauderback was commissioned an Anti Aircraft Artillery Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class number 34, 25 November 1942. His first duty assignment was as a Personnel Officer, 15th Anti Aircraft Artillery Group, Camp Haan, Riverside, California. | His subsequent assignments include: Battery Commanding Officer, 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Desert Training Center, California; Assistant S-3, 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, Admiralty Island; Adjutant (S-1), 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, Morotai, Netherlands, East Indies; Assistant S-3, 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, Philippine Islands; Company Commander, 167th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Islands; Instructor, Field Artillery, 6229 U.S. Army Reserve School, Vancouver, Washington; Instructor, Command and General Staff, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Instructor, National Security Management Center. | His military awards and decorations include: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.