CW4 Paul Williams was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduated from Scipio A. Jones High School in 1969. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1969 at the age of 17. He attended basic training and his job specialty training at Fort Polk Louisiana, his MOS was in supply and logistics.
His first overseas assignment was Southeast Asia Thailand, he had a tour in Germany. In December 1972 he enlisted in the Arkansas National Guard as a Specialist 4. He started working with the National Guard in 1977 and in 1978 he became the first black unit administrator for the 39th Infantry Brigade. In 1980 he was appointed to the rank of warrant officer.
Also, in 1980 he decided to return to active-duty status and in that same year, he was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant and was recognized as the first black First Sergeant of the 39th Infantry Brigade.
In 1986 he was transferred to Camp Robinson as the accounting supervisor, of the 54 entities on Camp Robinson he was one of four blacks in a leadership role. After a few years, he was promoted to Budget Officer and became staff accountant for the Arkansas National Guard until his retirement in 2002 as a CW4.
During his career, CW4 Williams received the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Accommodation, the Good Conduct Medal the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and numerous other awards and decorations.
CW4 Williams believes that one of his greatest accomplishments was after being promoted to accounting supervisor he was told that the department he had acquired was one of the worst in the nation and within two years he, along with his staff became one of the top five departments in the nation.
In 1980, when the Arkansas Active Guard Reserve program was started, he was very instrumental in getting black troops into the Active Guard Reserve program. He provided help with the application process and was present on job panels to assist with other required paperwork.
CW4 Williams is Married to Doris Williams, and they have 2 adult children and one deceased child. He also has two grandchildren and one deceased.
He has always believed in helping people.
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