Colonel William E. Eaton was commissioned a Signal Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class Infantry 12-69 at Fort Benning, Georgia, 22 March 1969. His first duty assignment was as Communications Officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Third Battalion, Twenty Sixth Artillery (Target Acquisition), Fort Sill, Oklahoma. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Assistant Corps Artillery, Twenty Fourth Corps, Republic of Vietnam; Signal Officer, Artillery, Republic of Vietnam; Assistant S-3, 212th Signal Battalion, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Signal Center Platoon Leader, Company D, 212th Signal Battalion, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Company Commander 131st Signal Company, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Company Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 937th Signal Battalion, Fayetteville, Arkansas; S-4, 937th Signal Battalion, Fayetteville, Arkansas; S-3, 937th Signal Battalion, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Executive Officer, 937th Signal Battalion, Fayetteville, Arkansas; S-4, Detachment 1, State Area Command (STARC), Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Battalion Commander, 937th Signal Battalion, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Safety Officer, Detachment 1, State Area Command (-), Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas; S-3 Detachment 1, State Area Command (Troop Command), Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Commandant, Officer Candidate School, Arkansas Military Academy Detachment 3, State Area Command, Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Superintendent, Regional Training Institute, Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas.