Colonel Samuel T. Williams
From the time I started school at Vineland Elementary in 1956 until I graduated in 1969 I considered myself blessed. I always had a large circle of friends, a natural ability to play sports and I was just smart enough to get passing grades.
But, I always knew that I would not stay in Rio Linda. It's a feeling that is very hard to explain but I always felt that there was so much more out there and I wanted to find out what it was.
The day after graduation Jim McAdams and I left for Redding, California to work in a lumber mill. 3 months later I was a freshman at Chico State College were I quickly found out that at eighteen years old that I was not ready for college.
I left Chico and started working for the State and within a year I had saved enough money to travel to Europe and so I did. After 2 years of traveling around Germany, France, Spain, Holland and Switzerland I headed back to America. I really enjoyed my travels in Europe and I knew that I would return. What I learned most about myself during this time was that I really enjoyed traveling and meeting different people. This desire would be my compass for the next thirty-four years.
So in February of 1974 I cut off my long blond locks and enlisted in the United States Army. Boot camp at Fort Ord, California then off to Fort Carson, Colorado. After a year I put in my paperwork to attend Officer Candidate School and headed to Fort Benning, Georgia. After 6 months of training I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. After Airborne and Ranger training I received advanced training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I trained at Fort Sill for 6 months and then was assigned to South Korea for 18 months.
It was in Korea that I discovered I loved to fly. I applied for flight school and started training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Was there every a moment in your life when you said to yourself "I know how to do this?" That's how it was with me and being a pilot. I was born with a natural ability to fly and that was to come in very handy over the next thirty years. During this stretch of time I survived many helicopter accidents and one airplane crash. Engine failures were the cause of all these accidents. I received several "Broken Wing" awards for landing a damaged aircraft and never having anyone get hurt. After flight school I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. God, life was good, I was young, married, little kids running around and of course I was flying everyday and loving life.
In between all my training and assignments I found out that I really did have what it takes to graduate from college. In 1983 I received a Bachelors degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In 1985 I graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College. In 1989 I received a Masters degree in Airline Management from Embry-Riddle.
I continued to be promoted and in 1980 I was a Captain and an Aviation Company Commander. Assignments' to California, New York, Massachusetts and Texas then back to Alabama, a promotion to Major and Command of a Helicopter Evacuation Unit in California brought me to our twenty year class reunion in 1989. I did receive a lot of negative remarks about being in military uniform at the reunion but that is truly one of the wonderful aspects of our country, as a citizen you have the freedom to express your views.
Right after the reunion I was mobilized to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I spent the next year in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. When I got back to California I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of a Battalion. In 1992 I was selected to attend the Army's airplane flight school. This was quit an honor as only a handful of Army pilots ever get to fly both helicopters and airplanes. I attended the U.S. Army Command and Staff College in Kansas and taught 2 years at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Then the big surprise in my military career, I was promoted to Colonel. I could never have imagined as a youth growing up in Rio Linda that I would be flying helicopters and airplanes in the Army and also be a Colonel.
In 2004 I was mobilized to attend advanced communications training at Fort Bliss, Texas. I would spend the next eighteen months in the Middle East. My 9 months in Iraq were by far the most fulfilling of my career. I worked closely with the Iraqi people and grew to admire and appreciate them and there culture. As the senior military officer in charge of all transportation and communications reconstruction I got to know the nineteen different tribes and even learned to speak Iraqi. During my tour in Iraq I was sent to Berlin, Germany to factory test classified communications equipment. I called Brenda and she was able to meet me in Berlin and we spent the weekend in Prague, Czechoslovakia for our honeymoon. I am extremely pleased and content with the work I did in Iraq and know that they will have a great country someday.
As with all things in life my career with the Army came to an end. Over the course of thirty-four years I traveled to almost every country on the planet, even learned to speak several languages and learn about many cultures. During my career I was fortunate to work for good people and receive great assignments. I was awarded many of our nation's highest honors to include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. During the course of those years I became a pilot-in-command of 6 different types of helicopters and 3 types of airplanes. My biggest thrill and honor came in March of 2007 when I was nominated for and elected into the "Military Officers Hall of Fame". My wife, Brenda and I attended the ceremonies and I was very humbled by the expression of gratitude from our country.
Brenda and I currently live in Sacramento and are looking to purchase land in Northern Nevada so that I may enjoy the rest of my years as a "Gentleman Farmer." We have 5 children between us and 2 wonderful grandkids. It will be an honor and a pleasure to see all of you again.
NOTE: Bio was prepared for our 40 Year Reunion in 2009.
This photo was taken from the roof of the Presidential Palace in downtown Baghdad, Iraq 2006. The building in the background is the "Baath Party Headquarters."