Chief Warrant Officer Five
James A. Jackson  

James A. Jackson was born in Greenback, Tennessee on January 21, 1946. In October 1964, he enlisted into the United States Army and completed Basic Training at Fort Eisenhower, Georgia. He was then assigned to the 504th Signal Company in Mannheim, Germany where he served as a Field Radio Repairman.

In October 1980, Sergeant First Class Jackson received a direct appointment to Warrant Officer One as an Electronics Communication Technician. His first Warrant Officer assignments were from 1980-1983 as a Communication Repair Maintenance Technician with the 327th Signal Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Camp Humphreys, Korea.

Following an assignment as an Avionics Maintenance Technician and Platoon Leader, 507th Company, 5th Transportation Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Jackson served as a Communication Electronics Technician, HHC 11th Signal Battalion, Darmstadt, Germany from 1986 to 1988. Jackson provided extensive coordination with material managers and was credited with the successful exchange of critical communication equipment throughout the 32nd Air Defense Command’s area of operation. In 1988, CW5 Jackson returned to Fort Campbell as an Aviation Maintenance Technician, Unit Calibration Coordinator and Platoon Leader with B Company, 8th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment.

From 1990 to 1991, CW5 Jackson served as a Signal Systems Maintenance Technician, Charlie Company, 122nd Main Support Battalion, US Army Europe. During his unit’s deployment to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm over 4200 communications and electronics work requests were completed in record time.

Next, CW5 Jackson traveled to Fort Polk, Louisiana and subsequently at Fort Hood, Texas. During this period Jackson served as a Communication and Electronics Maintenance Technician in support of the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood and the 5th Infantry Division at Fort Polk. In his assignment with the 142nd Signal Battalion, Jackson was credited with maintaining an operational readiness rate above 95 percent and reducing the maintenance backlog by 25 percent.

In 1994, CW5 Jackson was assigned as a Signal Systems Maintenance Technician for 3rd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea. He served as the platoon leader and the primary manager and supervisor for intermediate maintenance repairs of aircraft communications, radar, navigation, flight control and aircraft survivability systems for over 350 aircraft.

CW5 Jackson returned to Fort Campbell in 1996 as a Signal Systems Maintenance Technician for HHC 8th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He served as the Division’s liaison with XVIII Airborne Corps, CECOM and the Department of the Army Staff. He managed the battalion’s avionics operation readiness float assets and coordinated and managed avionics maintenance support for 284 helicopters throughout the division.

Following a year in Korea as the Electronic Systems Maintenance Technician with HHC, 8th Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, in 2000, he reported to the United States Army Ordnance Munitions and Electronics Maintenance School (OMEMS), Redstone Arsenal, Alabama where he served in positions as the Chief of Administration and Operations Division and Chief, Warrant Officer Training Division. CW5 Jackson supervised the training of the Ordnance Corps annual course load for the Warrant Officer Basic Course for Ammunition Technicians, Electronic Systems Maintenance Technicians and Electronic Missile Maintenance Technicians and served as the Warrant Officer Senior training Advisor to the Director of Instruction and the brigade commander and staff.

CW5 Jackson culminated his career in 2004 with his assignment to the 5th Signal Command’s G4 Support Operations Division. Jackson served as the 5th Signal Command’s single point of contact for RESET and liaison with USAREUR, NETCOM and CECOM to ensure 600 items of ground and communications equipment were reconstituted to standard. Jackson served as team leader of the G4’s Command Logistics Review Program (CLRP), responsible for subordinate unit supply and maintenance assessments.

CW5 James A. Jackson retired in 2008.