Sergeant 1st Class (retired) Thomas “Clark” Taylor 

A Vietnam veteran decorated for both heroism and wounds in battle, Thomas “Clark” Taylor was a legendary military broadcaster with a career that spanned 40 years of dedicated service to the United States Army. 

In 1980 he became the first enlisted AFN station manager, a job which until then, was entrusted solely to commissioned officers. His success directly contributed to NCOs being charged with leading all remote AFN broadcast stations worldwide, a practice which continues today. 

Well before the era of social media, Clark created the largest Army Public Affairs outlet with a direct connection to the American public. Soldiers Radio and Television, or SRTV, was widely recognized as the premier assignment for Army broadcast journalists. 

Clark taught, coached and mentored more DoD and Army Broadcast Journalists of the Year than anyone in Army Public Affairs history. During his tenure (1983-2006), Mr. Taylor’s broadcast troops earned a staggering 90% of all Army (and DoD) Broadcast Journalist of the Year awards. This was not by mistake. Mr. Taylor fostered a professional environment which nurtured young broadcasters into seasoned, world-class storytellers. He continually pushed his NCOs to be better versions of themselves. 

When the broadcast portion of the Army’s Major General Keith L Ware competition was placed in his charge, he recommended an additional category to recognize the Broadcast Journalist of the Year. He named the award after Master Sergeant John T. Anderson, a Vietnam veteran who was held as a prisoner of war for 7 years prior returning to the United States. In addition to creating the Broadcast Journalist of the Year award, Mr. Taylor also introduced the Rising Star award, which years later, would be awarded in his name.  

In 1994 Mr. Taylor, recognized that the Army was the only military service without its own television newscast, created the flagship broadcast “Army Newswatch,” which debuted June 1, 1994. It would go on to air on more than 900 civilian television stations nationwide, broadcasting in parallel to millions on the American Forces Radio and Television Service. It won multiple military and civilian awards throughout its run. Independent polling at the time indicated the newscast was the most widely recognized service newscast in the United States.  

By 2004, Mr. Taylor had transformed the DoD’s only 24-hour radio service (Soldiers Radio) to an internet streaming site called Soldiersradio.com. This also represented the first 24/7 internet streaming presence in the DoD’s history. He retired from civil service in 2006 after more than four decades of government service, having revolutionized Army broadcasting and touched the lives of so many. 

Clark Taylor passed away Sept. 21, 2021. While he’s no longer with us physically, his presence will continue to be felt by those whose lives and careers he positively impacted over his 40 years of service.