By Renee Hatcher
NAWCWD Public Affairs

Whether he’s building a new warhead or sewing a costume, Jim Williams is happy as long as he’s creating something and having fun.

Williams, production manager for the High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) Program at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, recently marked 50 years of government service, 30 of those at China Lake.

“What impresses me most about Jim is that he is very excited about continuing to serve the U.S. Navy,” said Capt. Mark Storch, acting NAWCWD commander. “He is very exuberant and youthful, and I have no doubt that he will continue to do great things for the Navy.”

After graduating from high school in Maywood, Ill., Williams spent two years at Blackburn College in Illinois. Not knowing exactly where his life was headed, Williams decided to check out the military. The Air Force and the Navy recruiting offices happened to be side-by-side. At the time of his visit, the Navy’s door was closed so he ended up enlisting in the Air Force.

Williams’ 20-year military career started with basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas before reporting to his first duty station at Boron Air Force Station in California. Little did he know that about two decades later, he would find himself back in the Mojave Desert only about an hour north at China Lake.

With the encouragement of his bosses, Williams applied for and was accepted into the Officer Candidate School (OCS). After completing OCS, he remained in Lackland as a training officer for a year before going through the Accounting and Finance School. Following a few years as an accounting and finance officer, he applied for the Air Force Institute of Technology Training Program which enabled him to get a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M. From there, he went to NASA in Houston and trained for the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory project, and was a member of the NASA Astronaut Recovery Team.

His next duty station was the Los Angeles Air Force Station where he worked on the Minuteman radar fuze program. The Air Force took him to Turkey just before retiring at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

The only thing Williams was unsuccessful at was retirement.

“I was sitting around the house doing crossword puzzles and going to the library every day,” he said. “So, I started applying for jobs.”

It didn’t take long before Williams had a job offer from the Navy. He and his wife, Paulette, moved from Los Angeles to Ridgecrest in 1978.

His first job was with the Warhead Development Branch, and later he worked on a low-cost seeker program before it merged with HARM. Williams also spent a few years as deputy program manager for Tomahawk before returning to the HARM program. More than half of his 30 years so far at China Lake was spent working on HARM.

“The best part of working here is getting to blow stuff up,” he said

With his years of experience, Williams had some advice for young engineers.

“Don’t fall in love with your first rotation,” he said. “Go work in as many different programs as you can and learn something new at each one. Get to know the people because those connections will come in very handy later.”

In his free time, Williams participates in the Single Action Shooting Society, is building an Aerolite single-passenger plane, restores old cars, and likes to sew. He has made many costumes for his wife and him to wear to plays like “Grease” and “Cats”.

“On the job, I work with drawings all the time,” Williams said. “Drawings are like blueprints and patterns. What’s the difference between creating something out of a piece of metal or a piece of fabric?”

Also a dog lover, he is enjoying raising a new puppy which is his fourth German shepherd. Williams, 72, and his wife have three kids and four grandkids. He recently flew to Chicago to spend Mother’s Day with his mom, 99.

“With longevity in my genes, I could be working on HARM for another 20 years,” said Williams, who has no immediate plans to retire because he’s “still having fun.”

Photo by John Perrige
Capt. Mark Storch, acting NAWCWD commander, presents Jim Williams a Secretary of the Navy Career Service Award in recognition of 50 years of government service.