FORT SILL, Oklahoma (Sept. 21, 2018) -- Serving the Army as the "Quiet Professional" often means that a unit could ride in the wake of the tireless efforts of its warrant officers with no historical record of who those warrants were.
A record would serve to honor the most influential and pioneering warrant officers in the Air Defense Artillery Branch. It would provide a historical record for warrant officers to learn from, and set examples for its junior warrant officers to emulate. Such is the purpose of the ADA Warrant Officer Wall of Honor in Hopkins Hall. It also serves to honor warrant officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in combat while serving in or assigned to an ADA unit.
The ADA WO Wall of Honor was first envisioned by Chief Warrant Officer 5 Nathaniel "Nate" Jones while serving as the third Chief Warrant Officer of the Air Defense Artillery Branch (CWOB).
It was Jones' vision that a wall be created to record the lineage of warrant officers in the air defense artillery branch. The first ADA Wall of Honor was in the warrant officer training wing at McClymont Hall, the Patriot missile instructional facility.
Upon assumption of responsibility as the fourth CWOB, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christopher Wehmeier oversaw the relocation of the honor wall to Hopkins Hall, to ensure that it would have visibility to all ADA warrant officers as they rotated through the school for their primary military education.
On Aug. 30, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Maule, ADA Chief Warrant Officer of the Branch, unveiled the restoration of the ADA Warrant Officer Wall of Honor, and christened this occasion by inducting arguably the most influential warrant officer in the history of the ADA Branch -- retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jones.
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 5 JONES
Jones set the standard for all ADA WOs to emulate. He was one of the first warrant officers in Army history to graduate from the Command and General Staff College, and was the first warrant to earn a certification from the Army War College in Strategic Leadership and Strategy and Defense Policy Development. All of which he brought to bear as he assumed responsibility as the third Chief Warrant Officer of the Air Defense Artillery Branch.
Jones was instrumental in the development of the 140E Military Occupational Specialty split and corrected enduring disparities in 140A promotions.
Jones established ADA's first command chief warrant officer positions and re-aligned the CWOB position to nest within the ADA Commandant's command group.
As a tactician, Jones defined excellence for all ADA Warrant Officers. Throughout his career, Jones pioneered the expanse, reach, and influence of the ADA Warrant Officer through multiple operational, multinational, and international assignments normally reserved for senior ranking officers.
Some of his duty positions were Red Team Leader for the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command G-3/5 (Strategic Plans), senior air defense adviser to the Kuwaiti Air Force, and U.S. representative to the NATO Low-Level Ground Based Air Defense Standardization Board.
When not resetting the bar in the national and international communities, Jones was accepting challenges in the Training and Doctrine Command, such as the first full-time course manager to the newly developed Patriot Top Gun course, the Air and Missile Defense Planner's Course, and as the life-cycle manager for the Patriot weapon system.
His efforts in all of these endeavors will have resounding effects in the ADA community for decades.
Even in retirement, Nate continues to serve the ADA community not only as a contractor in the defense industry, but also as the first-ever warrant officer to be appointed to an executive position within the Air Defense Artillery Association.
Col. Brian Gibson, Air Defense Artillery School commandant and chief of ADA, congratulated Jones.
"The legacy you left for our Soldiers matters, and I cannot think of a better model for our warrant officers today," Gibson said.
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