Editor's note: In celebration of African-American/Black History Month, the Army Flier is highlighting the accomplishments of prominent leaders of African-American descent.
FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- CW4 Christopher Hall's Army career has had many eclectic turns.
He served as a signal Soldier, as an infantryman, in the ROTC and in the Army Reserves.
He obtained a bachelor's degree, two master's degrees and is nearing a doctorate.
But no matter at what point a Soldier may be in his career, the 1st Warrant Officer Company commander believes each Soldier needs at least one essential person to further them along: a mentor.
That belief comes from personal experience.
Hall enlisted in the Army in December 1983 out of his hometown of Suffolk, Va.
"I enlisted in the Army because I was interested in phones and computers," he said. "I was interested in electronics. My mother worked for General Electric, and I used to go with her when they had open houses."
Hall's father also had an impact on his choice to serve.
"My father was a pastor. My community was about service," he said.
The Army provided an opportunity to marry both interests. Hall became a signal Soldier and completed training at Fort Gordon, Ga.
For the next few years, Hall served in the infantry until he went into the Army Reserves in order to attend college at Old Dominion University.
In 1990, he joined the Army ROTC program there at the behest of his brother, now a lieutenant colonel.
But while in the ROTC, he felt the need to become a warrant officer, reflecting back on his first encounter with someone in that rank structure.
"I was stationed in Panama in 1984. I had never met a warrant officer until then," he said. "All I saw was nobody talked to him unless it was a last resort on technical problems. Everyone called him 'chief,' and that's what really sparked my interest."
In 1993, Hall submitted his warrant officer packet and was selected as a signal warrant officer. He completed his training at Fort McCoy, Wis.
A few years later, he began to realize why Soldiers need mentors.
In 1997, Hall became a Training, Advising and Counseling officer at the Warrant Officer Career College here.
That is when he met now-retired CW5 Charlie Wigglesworth, a former WOCC deputy commandant, and CW5 Thomas Elder, current WOCC U.S. Army Reserves deputy commandant.
Hall immediately became attached to the senior warrant officers.
"They saw something in me. They have been guiding me since then," he said.
"He was just a go-getter. He never let off. In a job like this, you need people like that: self-starters, self-motivators," Elder said.
The guidance Wigglesworth and Elder provided has kept him in the Army until this point.
Hall deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006 and contemplated retirement after returning home, however, Elder and Wigglesworth convinced him otherwise.
"I was thinking about retirement, and my mentors called me," he said, noting they had jobs lined up for him. "That's what got me back here. Now, I'm promotable to CW5, and they've got two other jobs for me."
"His service was much needed -- when Mr. Hall talks, people listen," Elder said.
Now that Hall leads the unit that teaches warrant officers leadership, he can instill the mentorship lessons to those in his command.
"The first nine years (of my career) just happened," Hall said. "We used to just be on our own -- now we teach (mentorship). We actually have mentors while they train."
And that mentorship message is not lost on Soldiers like CW2 Wesley Hall, a 1st WOC TAC officer.
"He allows each TAC to use personal experiences to better mentor candidates. We can sit and read from a manual or (standard operating procedure), but the candidates may not get it," he said. "When you throw personal experience in there, they have a better understanding of what goes on in the field."
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