Lieutenant Colonel Merle L. Goodrich was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School in 1941, Class Number 1-41. His first duty assignment was as Company Commander, Company B, 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 3rd Armd Division, Camp Polk, Louisana and Desert Training Center, California. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Company Commander, Company B, 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 3rd Armd Division, Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania and England; XO Bn, 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 3rd Armd Division, European Theater of Operations; S-3, 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armd Division, European Theater of Operations; G-3 Section, Chief Tank Gunnery, ARTC, Fort Knox, Kentucky; Student, Advance Officer Course, Fort Knox, Kentucky; XO 2nd Battalion, 505 AIR, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; CO, 1st Bn, 505 AIR, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Recorder, Arctic Test Branch, Big Delta, Alaska; Student, Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; CO, 13th Tank Battalion, 1st Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas; G-3 Sec. Chief Tng Br, Army Section, MAGG, Taipei, Taiwan; G-3 Sec. Chief Insp Branch, Army Section, MAGG, Taipei, Taiwan; Advisor, CCA 50th Armored Division, USAdvisory Group, New JerseyNG, Camden, New Jersey.