Md. Army Guard welcomed the newest Chief Warrant Officer 5
By 1st Lt. Javier Cox
Col. David M. Paolucci and Chief Warrant 5 Eric L. Hamm stand together at the beginning of the promotion ceremony.
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – The Maryland Army National Guard welcomed its newest chief warrant officer 5 during a promotion ceremony at the Weide Army Airfield on APG South in Edgewood, January 26, 2024.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric L. Hamm, who is the one of five CW5s in the MDARNG, currently serves as the command chief warrant officer of the 29th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade.
“I never dreamed I would be promoted to CW5,” said Hamm, who enlisted in 1985 – six years before the CW5 rank was even created. “I am fortunate to be one of approximately 1,000 CW5s in all three (Army components). That is less than one-tenth of one percent of all Soldiers in the Army.”
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric L. Hamm stands as his children, Alexis and Brayden Hamm, pin on his new rank.
In his role, Hamm serves as the 29th ECAB commander’s personal adviser on matters affecting aviation warrant officers. He also sits on the initial entry rotary-wing boards, safety and standardization councils, and hiring boards.
CW5s hold the highest warrant officer rank in the United States Army and they are master-level experts in their field, leading in both the technical and tactical aspects.
Hamm, a native of Silver Spring, spent the first 10 years of his Army career serving on active duty before joining the Delaware National Guard. He returned to Maryland in 2020.
Through his nearly 40 years of service, Hamm served in Korea and Hawaii and was deployed to Haiti and Iraq. He recalls his return from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and seeing his wife and daughter holding a “Welcome Home” sign as a favorite memory of his career.
As a helicopter instructor pilot who is a master aviator and an air assault school graduate, he is qualified to fly the UH-1 Iroquois, OH-58 Kiowa, UH-60 Black Hawk, and LUH-72 Lakota. Hamm said he enjoys working with Soldiers who are passionate about Army aviation.
Hamm credits retired CW5 Dan Chapman for encouraging him to join the Maryland from the Retired Reserve and says he is “very thankful” for Chapman’s tireless work to make it a reality.
“The 29th ECAB team congratulates CW5 Hamm and his family on a well-deserved promotion and looks forward to his leadership and expertise to help move the organization into the future,” said Maryland Army National Guard Col. Louis Hawkins, commander of the 29th ECAB. “CW5 Hamm joins the ranks that very few will ever achieve in their career as the chief command warrant officer of an aviation brigade and a valued member of the 29th ECAB command team.”
Working at the APG airfield full-time the last couple years, Hamm feels blessed to serve with other senior leaders there but says that the people who had the biggest impact on his career really are his wife and children.
“I’m so very fortunate for my family,” said Hamm about his wife, Janette and two children, Alexis, and Brayden. “Without them I could never have achieved my promotion.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdng/albums/72177720314614218/
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Hamm with his wife, Janette, and two children, Alexis and Brayden.