![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/07\/174A0007-scaled-e1753213722982-683x1024.jpg\")
James Bonner, enclave manager with the Maryland Military Department, poses for a photo in front of the Montrose Mansion located at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Maryland, on June 6, 2025.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n BALTIMORE\u2014<\/b>James Bonner’s journey through six decades of commitment to the Maryland Army National Guard as a light wheeled vehicle mechanic and the Maryland Military Department as an enclave manager stands as a testament to the spirit of service and camaraderie that define our nation’s armed forces. Reflecting on the motivations that propelled him to enlist in 1962, Bonner shares the pivotal moment that connected his path to a legacy of military service, inspired by the valor of those who came before him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was dating a girl whose dad served in World War II,\u201d said Bonner. \u201cHe said he was in the Guard full-time and I thought that was interesting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bonner\u2019s interest was also mixed with surprise, having previously believed that all Guard personnel served one weekend a month and two weeks a year for annual training, a stark contrast to when he started out. Bonner said his training days (drill) typically took place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t start doing drill weekends until \u201865,\u201d said Bonner. \u201c<\/span>The weekends turned out to be better because it paid more and most people didn\u2019t have to get up and go to work the next day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pvt. James Bonner, 1962.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Bonner\u2019s life as a traditional Guardsman lasted for three years before making the transition to becoming a full-time mechanic technician with the organization. Before being formally trained, he received a lot of hands-on experience at a young age.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was a truck driver,\u201d said Bonner. \u201cAt six or seven years old, we would work on his truck all the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not to limit himself, Bonner acquired a secondary military occupational specialty as a supply specialist.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSoldiers always had to show they were trying to advance in their careers and if you did something different that is related to your current occupation, it meant you had initiative, ambition, and that you\u2019re willing to learn to be a part of the bigger picture,\u201d said Bonner.<\/span><\/p>\n Chief Warrant Officer 2 James Bonner, right, provides maintenance instructions to a Maryland Army National Guard unit during annual training at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, in 1981.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Demonstrating career growth was essential to promotion during Bonner\u2019s time in the MDNG. His willingness to learn and always strive for more eventually led to his becoming a warrant officer and the third service member to make the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 in the MDARNG\u2019s history in 1997.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal was to make CW4,\u201d said Bonner. \u201cAnd then to get CW5, it was like adding sprinkles on top of the cake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n At the time of Bonner\u2019s promotion, the CW5 rank was relatively new to the Army. The idea for the CW5 grade was first proposed in 1966. It was one of a series of recommendations from a Department of the Army study group that was chartered to develop a formal <\/span>Warrant Officer Career Development Program<\/span><\/a>. The study group recommended not only a CW5 grade, but also a CW6 grade. Ultimately, the 1966 proposal failed to win approval; nonetheless, the army didn\u2019t give up on the idea and over the next 25 years, at least 13 different studies and surveys addressed the senior warrant officer grades in one form or another. Eventually, U.S. Congress finally approved the CW5 authorization on December 5, 1991.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCW5 is a unique rank,\u201d said Bonner. \u201cThe warrant officer corps itself is unique. You can become very proficient at your job and be a master at your craft.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Chief Warrant Officer 5 James Bonner, 2003.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Bonner continued to master his craft as CW5 for three years before retiring after 25 years and joining the Maryland Military Department 30 days later as an enclave manager. In his 38-year role, Bonner is responsible for maintaining MDNG facilities and their grounds for the service members and civilians who use them on a daily basis. Still, much like his military career, retirement in his civilian life inches closer each day.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am 82 and my goal is to at least get through this year,\u201d said Bonner.<\/span><\/p>\n Bonner has lived in Maryland his entire life and currently resides in the childhood home where he grew up. When retirement happens, Bonner said he will spend more of his free time on house and car projects, and helping out around his next-door neighbor\u2019s home, who just so happens to be his daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Chazz Kibler BALTIMORE\u2014James Bonner’s journey through six decades of commitment to the Maryland Army National Guard as a light wheeled vehicle mechanic and the Maryland Military Department as an enclave manager stands as a testament to the spirit of service and camaraderie that define our nation’s armed forces. Reflecting on the motivations that propelled Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[811,11,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-i-am-the-mission","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10700"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10737,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10700\/revisions\/10737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-10.29.10-AM.png\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-10.31.06-AM-1024x713.png\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2025\/07\/IMG_0813-802x1024.jpg\")