Major General Carroll was commissioned as an Infantry Officer upon graduation From Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia on June 17, 1943. (Serial # O-1321152).

He enlisted in the Army National Guard as a private in Company A, 100th Quartermaster Regiment on February 10, 1937. He re-enlisted on February 10, 1941 and later went to Europe as part of the 34th Infantry Division. He returned to the United States in 1943 to attend OCS.

As a Lieutenant he served with the 79th Infantry Division during World War II, taking part in the Normandy Invasion and the Allied advance across France, as a rifle Company Commander. He was cited for gallantry in action against a German machine gun platoon. His company came under heavy fire, and Lieutenant Carroll, being on the company’s flank and not so exposed to the machine gun fire, stood up and wiped out the machine gun platoon. He was later wounded and returned to the United States for hospital care. He left active duty in 1946.

When the Alaska National Guard was formed in 1950, he joined and as a Captain, he served with the 207th Infantry and later the First Scout Battalion. He assumed command of the 207th Infantry in November 1954. He was named Adjutant General of Alaska as a Colonel in November 1957 and was promoted to Brigadier General on December 15, 1958 and Major General on March 16, 1961.

Major General Carroll had flown to Valdez with then Governor William Egan from Juneau, to survey damages there resulting from the Good Friday Earthquake in March of 1964. Shortly after taking off from Valdez to return to Juneau, the C-123 cargo plane he was a passenger on suddenly and inexplicably plummeted into Prince William Sound. He was killed along with three crew members in the crash on April 25, 1964.

His highest military awards include the Silver Star, The Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.