Lieutenant Colonel
William J. Sidebottom

Lieutenant Colonel William Sidebottom was born on July 18, 1945 in Long Beach, California and graduated from Arkansas Technical University in 1967. Through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), he received a commission in the Ordnance branch with a detail to the Armor Branch.

In 1968, LTC Sidebottom volunteered for the first of two tours in Vietnam and joined the 11th Armored Cavalry REgiment as a platoon leader with Troop F, 2nd Squadron. On February 17, 1969m as his patrol led a search through an enemy base camp, his unit was hit with small arms fire and grenades. During the engagement, he would evacuate four wounded soldiers to safety despite himself being wounded by grenades. For this action, he received the Silver Star. Following his return to the U.S., he attended rotary wind-flight school and returned to Vietnam as a CH-47 Chinook pilot with the 159th Combat Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division in 1970.

Upon his return to the U.S., he remained with the 101st Airborne Division as Commander of A Company, 159th Combat Support Battalion and A Company, 801st Maintenance Battalion.

Following several staff assignments, in 1982, LTC Sidebottom was assigned to the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools and served in the Directorate for Combact DEvelopment (DCD) where he worked on force structure issues for the Army's Division 86 restructuring. Next, he was assigned as Director of the Mobility Training Department (MTD) which trained more than 6,000 mechanics annually. He culminated his military career in 1988 with his appointment as the Director of Depot Maintenance with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM).

Following his retirement from the Army in 1990, LTC Sidebottom served as account manager and executive with SAP, and was a catalyst for the Army transition from Standard Army Management Information Systems to commercial off the shelf Enterprise Resource Planning systems.