On March 7, 2026, the 174th Attack Wing bid farewell to Command Chief Master Sgt. Sonja Williams after 28 years of military service during a retirement and change of responsibility ceremony at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base. During the ceremony, Williams turned over her authority to Chief Master Sgt. Corey LaRock who became the seventh command chief of the 174th Attack Wing.
Williams was the first woman to ever serve as the 174th Attack Wing’s command chief.
Williams assumed the role of command chief on February 4, 2023. She joined the U.S. Air Force in December of 1997 and after completing basic training, went on to Keesler Air Force Base to attend personnel specialist school.
Upon her return to the 174th, she was assigned to the commander support staff of the 174th Logistics Readiness Squadron.
In August 2006, she cross-trained into the education and training career field and transferred to the 174th Civil Engineer Squadron where she became the Unit Education and Training Manager (UTEM). In this position, she was instrumental in the squadron’s transformation of training records from paper based to a digital format.
In May 2011, while assigned to the 174th Civil Engineer Squadron, Williams deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to the Manas Transit Center located near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
In May 2012, Williams was selected as the Wing Human Resources Advisor (HRA) and received national recognition for her accomplishments.
In 2018 she was selected to be the 174th Mission Support Group Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL). Afterwards, deciding to leave to fill a one-year position as the 174th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron SEL in 2019.
Prior to her current position, Williams returned to her previous position as SEL for the 174th Mission Support Group. Williams said that one of the biggest accomplishments in her career was initiating the formal mentorship program at the wing.
Williams set up a speed mentoring event, where new Airmen at the 174th met with the Chiefs and spent five minutes getting to know one another. After five minutes they would with rotate and speak to another Chief.
“After each Airmen spoke with all the chiefs, I would match them with their first and second choices and have them exchange information,” said Williams. “Because of that the younger Airmen were able to make connections, and until this day those connections are still going strong.”
Williams wanted younger Airmen to have a way to speak to chiefs to be able to pick their brain and get guidance on how to move forward in their career.
Williams is also a high school Spanish teacher. She has held this position for 24 years and plans to return to teaching.
Williams plans on taking a couple months off before coming back to finish the school year. She’ll then finish another two years before retiring from teaching.
Once Williams retires from teaching, she plans on doing a lot of traveling abroad.
The message she wanted to leave with the Airmen and future Airmen of Hancock Field is "take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. Make sure your professional military education is all done, and capitalize on volunteer opportunities,” said Williams. “This way when it comes time to move forward in your career, you’ll already be ready for the challenge. If you stay ready, you’ll never have to get ready.”
Williams is also the former President of the Jefferson County Branch of The American Association for University Women. She is also a member of numerous community and military advocacy groups to include the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, the Non-commissioned Officer Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the National Council for Negro Women.