Chief Warrant Officer 5 James M. Woodworth will retire from the Vermont National Guard on Nov. 23, after more than 40 years of service.

A full-time member of the Vermont Army National Guard Technician workforce since 1991, Woodworth most recently served as the Vermont command chief warrant officer.

Maj. Gen. Greg Knight, Vermont adjutant general, reflected on Woodworth’s years of service.

“I have served with Jim for nearly 30 years, and value his mentorship, expertise and candor, he exemplifies what it means to be a Warrant Officer, with his decades of service, I cannot imagine how many careers he positively influenced,” Knight said.

In 1979 Woodworth began his military career in the U.S. Navy’s Silent Service as a submariner, specifically a nuclear weapons missile technician assigned to the Nuclear Missile Submarine USS Ulysses S. Grant SSBN-631.

Woodworth joined the Vermont Army National Guard after completing six deterrent patrols.

“I have been very fortunate in all the experiences I had during almost 42 years of military service,” said Woodworth. “I was particularly honored to have the opportunity as a Senior Leader to sit at the table as an influencer to the success of the VTARNG, as the representative of the Warrant Officer Cohort I was able to provide insight and perspective at all levels of the organization.”

In 1995 Woodworth attended Warrant Officer Candidate School as a general supply technician Warrant Officer and was assigned with Headquarters 1/103rd Aviation Battalion.

In 2000 Woodworth changed branch to the Signal Corps and was assigned to Joint Force Headquarters as the computer network defense team chief and senior network operations technician.

During this assignment, he deployed in 2008 with Task Force Stone as the signal officer to Camp Stone in Herat, Afghanistan.

Woodworth was selected and assigned as the Vermont command chief warrant officer on April 1, 2018.

Woodworth’s many awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal, and Navy Good Conduct Medal.

Woodworth and his wife Kim have been married for 33 years, they have an adult son, Don Dakota, and a daughter, Georgia. Woodworth resides in St. Albans.