State Command Chief Retires After 27 Years of Service

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U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kassidy L. Snyder, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Maj. Gen. Dennis L. Celletti, the Illinois National Guard Assistant Adjutant General-Army, presents Chief Warra

SPRINGFIELD, IL (03/26/2012)(readMedia)-- Story by Sgt. Zachary Zimerman, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

SPRINGFIELD- After 27 years, the Illinois National Guard is losing an experienced leader. Chief Warrant Officer 5, James J. Gaddis of Springfield, the 4th Command Chief Warrant Officer of the State of Illinois is retiring June 30. Gaddis is the youngest Soldier ever to serve as a Command Chief of the nation.

In 1985 after graduating high school in Herrin, Ill. Gaddis met his recruiter to start the paperwork to become an infantry scout. Gaddis said he chose the scout platoon because it was the most challenging job his recruiter could offer. Gaddis was following in the steps of the men in his family before him. His father was a military police officer in the Army in Germany and his uncle was a helicopter mechanic during the Korean War.

Gaddis understood the pride attached to the title of citizen-Soldier.

"I was proud to be signing up for six years and really proud to be able to pay my way through college using the Guard scholarship," said Gaddis. "My goal was always to be a professional pilot and I wanted to attend the Southern Illinois University (SIU) Flight Program."

Gaddis attended Warrant Officer Flight Training in Fort Rucker, Ala., in 1989 where he learned to fly the Universal Helicopter and OH-58, and in 1990 he reached his goal and graduated from SIU with a bachelor's degree in aviation management. In 1991 Gaddis started working for the Illinois National Guard Counterdrug (CD) Program as a full-time investigative aide at the Illinois State Police station in Collinsville and flew the UH1 on drug missions.

"I had the pleasure to serve with Jim Gaddis for over 14 years in Counterdrug Operations," said (retired Command Sergeant Major) Bobby Gillmore, of Petersburg. "Gaddis continually strived to improve the support we provided to our law enforcement partners."

In 1994 Gaddis was given two days notice to attend the Fixed-Wing Transport Aircraft Specialist (C12) course that he said changed his life.

"That school changed the direction of my life and First Sergeant Jay Rogers, now command sergeant major retired, was the reason that I was able to attend and keep my full-time CD job after I completed the course. His tenacity over upholding the standard for a junior chief warrant officer 2 impressed me to a point I will never forget," said Gaddis.

In the late, 1990s, Gaddis flew the C12 for several Special Operations Command (SOCOM) missions over the Caribbean to include the Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize, Panama and Puerto Rico.

"I'm a history buff so flying over the Spanish trade routes and conquests was a lot of fun and the flight planning process was challenging," said Gaddis. "We were supporting real-world missions, so it felt good to be contributing to the drug trafficking fight in the southern hemisphere."

In 2000 to 2001 Gaddis wrote a proposal for a Counter Drug Reconnaissance and Air Interdiction Detachment (CD RAID) Helicopter Unit for the Illinois National Guard. He travelled to Washington D.C., and spent most of his time pitching the idea. In 2002 the proposal was accepted and Gaddis accepted a full-time position as the CD RAID commander and built the unit. In 2004 the CD RAID became the first and only government approved unit to carry weapons with ammunition to support the president of the United States. Those missions were the most memorable of his career he said.

"They expected a professional aircrew to show up and execute their security plan and we did it numerous times," said Gaddis. "It definitely made you feel that you were doing something important."

In 2007 Gaddis became the Illinois Command Chief Warrant Officer (CCWO). He is the youngest, nationally, to be named at 39 years old. During this assignment he recruited more than 150 warrant officers to grow Illinois' warrant officer strength from 57 to 95 percent.

"I have served as the command chief warrant officer for a little over five years and there are others ready to step up and lead the warrant officer corps," said Gaddis. "I don't want to stand in the way of someone with new ideas and energy when I am eligible for retirement. It's the right thing do and the timing is right."

Gaddis is going to use this opportunity to be closer to his wife Annette and two daughters Cassy and Alyssa in Tennessee.

"The Guard is my family and I have nothing but great memories here. The Soldiers and families make great sacrifices to serve and that makes them very special to me," he said. I have to mention and pray for the Soldiers and families who paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Guard. We will never be the same organization as we were pre-9/11."