Photo By Staff Sgt. Adeline Witherspoon | U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Tim Gorden, Command Chief Warrant Officer of the...... read more read more
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After finishing high school, Tim Gorden wanted join the military and follow in his parents’ footsteps. But received a surprising response when he informed his dad.
“I remember going to my dad and said I wanted to go to the military academy, and my dad looked up at me and said, ‘I know you better than you know yourself, maybe go to Washington State University and give Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) a try for a year,’” said Chief Warrant Officer Five Tim Gorden, Command Chief Warrant Officer for the Washington Army National Guard.
Gorden admits that at the time, it was a shocking revelation from his dad, who was a general officer. However, he said his dad was absolutely correct in his assessment of where he was at that time in his life.
“I remember showing up that first day at the WSU Army ROTC office and the lady at the desk saw this gangly kid with Peter Frampton hair and wasn’t going to give me the time of day,” said Gorden. “I introduced myself and she immediately looked up and said, ‘wait, you are General Gorden’s son? Let me get the colonel.’”
If that first impression defined his career, Gorden believes he never would have made it in the long term.
“He looked at me and probably thought, ‘oh boy, what did we get ourselves into,’” said Gorden. “For the first two years, I was really just a participant in ROTC. But then at advance camp that all changed, something clicked.”
Gorden would commission as a 2nd Lt. in January of 1984 as a field artillery officer on active duty.
“We were so under-staffed at the time. I was a junior lieutenant in positions well above my grade,” said Gorden. “It was a great learning experience.”
Gorden later served as the aide-de-camp for the commanding general of 4th ROTC at Fort Lewis, Wash. He had the opportunity to travel to programs across the region and talk with cadets, including his alma mater in Pullman where he met future Guard officers, Bryan Grenon and Damon Hunt. As his active duty commitment was coming to an end, he made the decision to move to the Washington Army National Guard, joining the 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery Regiment in January 1989.
“I loved my time in 2-146. (There were) so many great people I had the chance to work with,” said Gorden.
However, life takes weird turns. One day Gorden was talking with the then battalion commander about his next steps in his career and which course he would take. After some disagreements, Gorden said his anger got the best of him and used a choice word and walked out.
“This wasn’t our first run-in, but this was the culminating event,” said Gorden. “That is how I went from Captain Gorden, battery commander to Sgt. Gorden, standing in the formation with my troops.”
The experience was one he grew from and admittedly cherished.
“It was nice being just a ground level troop. They still called me sir, they still came to me with O-3, O-4 level problems and questions. But at the end of drill, I had the freedom to go home with no extra responsibilities.”
For the next few years Gorden would rise through the enlisted ranks. He promoted to Sgt. 1st Class and moved to the 81st Brigade Combat Team headquarters to support the fire support section. His expertise as a field artillery officer made him uniquely positioned to support entire section.
“At that time, we didn’t have a fire support warrant. I put together a packet for the position but kept being told no because I couldn’t get a waiver for a previous neck injury,” said Gorden.
As a kid, Gorden suffered a neck injury playing baseball, essentially ending his catching career. It wasn’t devastating enough to hold him back from military service.
“I didn’t understand how I could be a commissioned officer in the field artillery with the same injury, but couldn’t become a warrant officer,” said Gorden.
As the 81st BCT was training for deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Gorden took his packet with him everywhere knowing that at some point, he would have a chance to hand it to the right people.
“We were down at the National Training Center and Lt. Gen. Schultz, who was then the director of the Army National Guard, came to visit us. I saw this young captain and knowing what an aide looked like, I walked up to him and started talking with him. After a few minutes I handed him a copy of my packet,” said Gorden. “As they were walking out, I could see the aide hand General Schultz the packet through the window.”
That next day, Gorden received his medical waiver and shortly after was appointed as a Chief Warrant Officer Two.
“If not for that chance run-in, I wouldn’t have gotten that waiver,” said Gorden.
After returning from deployment in 2005, Gorden went to work at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. He had carved out a niche in the department based off his previous civilian experience and was ready to retire from service after 25 years.
“I was happy at DSHS, but the Washington National Guard gave me an opportunity I couldn’t refuse,” said Gorden.
Because of his knowledge and experience, Gorden was asked to help develop the state warrant officer program.
“I told them the only way I am staying is if you make me a human resources warrant, which they did. I moved to the 205th Regimental Training Institute and took over as the Warrant Officer Candidate School program manager,” said Gorden.
His work in that position helped lay the foundation of today’s Warrant Officer Candidate School in the state. Knowing that he had a chance to help develop and grow the program, he made a move that many wouldn’t volunteer for – recruiting.
“I went to then-Colonel Sabatine and told him with my sales background, I could be good at recruiting warrant officers. I told him I just wanted the warrant officers,” said Gorden. “He agreed and let me get to work.”
He was in recruiting for nearly six years before being selected for the Command Chief Warrant Officer position in July 2018.
“I have a lot of respect for our recruiting force. They have to grind and nothing is guaranteed that it will lead to an accession,” said Gorden. “Knowing the amount of work it takes, I made sure in this position I increased the warrant officer recruiting force from one to two.”
Gorden has continued to watch the growth and development of the warrant office corps.
“None of this is because of something I did or didn’t do. It is a result of everyone buying in, coming together and supporting the Corps,” said Gorden. “I was uniquely positioned, having been an officer and having the ability to talk with them about the importance. But all the credit goes to the team that put in all the hard work.”
As Gorden passes the guidon to Chief Warrant Officer Five Marc Brackett, the next Command Chief Warrant Officer, he passes along one last message to the organization from his nearly 40 years of service.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for making the last 39 years a special place. I will forever hold a special place in my heart for you all,” said Gorden.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2023 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 453271 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 346 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Serving his way: Chief Tim Gorden retires after nearly 40 years, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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