On Hallowed Ground

Bill McWilliams was born in Brownsville, Texas, and was raised in small towns in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point through competitive examinations in the third congressional district of Colorado. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree, and earned a master of science degree in business administration from the George Washington University while attending the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. He later attended the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, where he completed ten months of senior management training, equivalent to a master's degree in public administration. McWilliams's Air Force service included assignments as a flight and classroom instructor in undergraduate pilot training and fighter training; a US Air Force Academy Air Officer Commanding and flight instructor for cadets receiving familiarization training in light aircraft; and a seven-month combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam where he flew 128 fighter-bomber close support and interdiction missions. Later, he served in the Republic of Korea for two years, and at the Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. After leaving the Air Force, McWilliams served for more than eight years in systems engineering and management positions in industry, including work on a concept development study for the integrated defense systems for the Air Force's newest fighter, the F-22 Raptor; systems engineering for the missile sight on the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the ground mapping and navigation sensors for the Navy's Tomahawk cruise missile; and management system evaluation and auditing in various production programs, including Hughes Aircraft Company's satellite production program. While serving in operational and management positions, McWilliams conducted investigations and internally published reports on contentious and sensitive management, civil service, and military personnel issues. He also helped to investigate and report on the causes of fourteen major US Air Force aircraft accidents. He negotiated government employee union contracts, resolved trade union disputes and personnel complaints, worked with state and local governments as a major installation commander, and led and completed numerous management system analyses, evaluations, and audits. ...