Inside the home office of retired Lt. Col. Cedric Williams, decades of global military service are organized with quiet precision. Among the diplomas, commendations and challenge coins, two items command the space.
The first is a custom wooden footlocker featuring a wooden tray crafted to honor both his own military career and that of his father, a Korean War veteran. Though Williams was not raised by his father, carrying on his military legacy remained a cornerstone of his identity.
“I wanted to make sure I recognized him in there,” Williams said softly, pointing to the photographs nestled alongside his medals.
Cedric Williams keeps a custom-made wooden footlocker on prominent display in his office to commemorate his dedication to military service. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Specially designed to rest inside the wooden footlocker is a wooden tray crafted to honor both Cedric Williams and his father’s military careers. Slots hold memorable challenge coins collected throughout Willliams’ career. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Cedric Williams keeps a framed Certificate of Appreciation signed by former President Barack Obama on a shelf in his office. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Nearby sits his official Army retirement certificate, bearing the distinct signature of former President Barack Obama.
“I’m one of the rare ones to get his signature on my retirement document. I don’t know if I can put it into words, but that was a significant milestone. It felt like recognition,” Williams recalled, holding back emotion.
For Williams, receiving that recognition carried a weight that transcended standard military protocol. It led him to use his retirement from active duty as an opportunity to pursue an unyielding civilian calling. His journey proves his philosophy of service was not bound by a military contract, but carried forward in a hands-on investment for those in the next generation.
Branch: United States Army
Rank: O-5, Lieutenant Colonel
Years in service: 1988 – 2014
Current title: Director for JROTC programs for Fort Worth ISD
Definition of service: Unselfishly giving your time and resources to improve someone else’s situation
Learned from the line
Williams grew up in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, raised alongside three siblings by a hardworking single mother. His military path was solidified through Army ROTC at Grambling State University in Louisiana. Commissioning as an infantry officer, he immediately sought out the hardest test the military could offer: U.S. Army Ranger School.
Stories of Honor is a Fort Worth Report weekly series spotlighting 12 Tarrant County veterans who are serving beyond the uniform.
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In November, the veterans will gather for a luncheon where the Report will honor their service at Texas Wesleyan University.
During his journey through the course, Williams suffered a severe back injury in the freezing mountain weather of Dahlonega, Georgia, when a falling soldier sent a domino line of equipment and fellow soldiers cascading onto him.
Despite swelling around his spine and a doctor threatening to drop him from the Ranger course, Williams refused to quit. He was forced to restart cycles of training twice during the grueling course, spending nearly four months pushing through six phases before earning the coveted Army Ranger tab.
“I was determined,” Williams said. “They made you write why you wanted to recycle, and I wrote it in the third person: ‘Lieutenant Williams will complete. Lieutenant Williams will not quit.’ They were like, ‘You’re pretty serious about it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not gonna quit. You’re gonna have to kill me in here.’”
When he arrived at his first duty station at Fort Hood, Williams’ battalion commander touted his double-recycle record not as a failure, but as proof of unyielding character. Soldiers even painted “Ranger One” on the side of Williams’ Bradley fighting vehicle in recognition of an officer achieving the title of Ranger.
Cedric Williams’ tank shows the words “Ranger One” spray-painted on it by his subordinates when he took command of the unit. Williams deployed and fought side-by-side with those same soldiers with this vehicle during his first combat deployment during operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. (Courtesy | Cedric Williams)
The view shown is from a Bradley tank in Cedric Williams’ mobilized unit as they enter an Iraqi mine field, advancing through the breached berm toward Kuwait, Feb. 24, 1991. The berm was the first defensive position U.S. forces breached as part of combat maneuvers during the liberation of Kuwait. (Courtesy | Cedric Williams)
A signpost constructed by homesick soldiers was photographed in December 1991 in Iraq during operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield. After receiving mail from home, soldiers in Cedric Williams’ unit would mark the distances their mail had traveled. (Courtesy | Cedric Williams)
Despite his rank and training, Williams quickly realized true education in leadership would not come from fellow officers or textbooks. It came from the enlisted noncommissioned officers.
“From that very first platoon sergeant I had, he was very direct. He said, ‘Your name is on the top of this paper, but I’m in charge. If you listen, I will teach you how to be a good leader,’” Williams recalled. “From that point on, I paid attention. I think more like an NCO because that’s where I learned how to take care of troops and their families.”
From soldiers to students
After 26 years of active service, including leading mechanized infantry in Desert Storm, executing humanitarian operations in Haiti and managing global transportation logistics, Williams retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
By all measures, his obligation to the nation was fulfilled. But his deep-seated need to serve pulled him directly back into the community. Williams immediately accepted an Army JROTC instructor position at Fort Worth ISD’s Eastern Hills High School.
The transition from commanding soldiers to instructing high school students presented a learning curve to the battle-hardened veteran.
“As an officer, you give directives and expect people to move. In an inner-city school, the kids look at you like, ‘Who are you? Why are you talking to me?’” Williams said. “It took about 90 days before I created a presentation to show them where I came from in Oak Cliff. Once they realized my upbringing was just like theirs, they realized, ‘This guy gets it.’”
Williams poured five years of his life into his young cadets at Eastern Hills. He fought to stay on campus even when potential district promotions threatened to pull him into administrative roles, realizing these young men and women needed a stable, present mentor.
Specific students have left a permanent mark on his heart. One young cadet facing severe domestic trauma walked into his office asking where to obtain an autopsy report to help her father who was on death row. Williams helped lift that burden from her shoulders. She stopped fighting in school, joined the Marine Corps after graduation, and today is a calm mother of five who still calls Williams to express her gratitude.
Another student had severe learning disabilities and desperately wanted to join the JROTC’s armed drill team. Recognizing the safety risks with spinning heavy wooden rifles, Williams created a brand-new role for him: drill team manager.
An Army dress uniform displays a lifelong career of service through various medals, embellishments and pins. The uniform is hung with care in Cedric Williams’ home as a reminder of the life he has led. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Cedric Williams speaks to his JROTC cadets prior to their performance at the Armed Forces Bowl Game at Texas Christian University in January 2022. (Courtesy | Cedric Williams)
“That kid was the happiest kid in the world,” Williams recalled. “His mom came up in tears because nobody had ever treated him like he wasn’t different. He wasn’t different, he just needed a mission like the rest of the kids.”
For another cadet, Williams personally drove the valedictorian to Grambling State University, his alma mater, helping her set up her dorm room as if she were his own daughter. Years later, Williams walked her down the aisle at her wedding.
An unyielding legacy
Today, Williams serves as the school district’s deputy director of JROTC programs, overseeing programs reaching thousands of students. An example is launching the first-ever robotics and cybersecurity teams, equipping students with career skills in demand in today’s job market.
For Williams, JROTC is not simply a military recruitment tool, but rather a framework to teach young people how to navigate the obstacles of adulthood. Whether leading soldiers on a base or mentoring teens in Fort Worth, his leadership style has never been about rank, authority or status.
“Even at his rank, he was a soldier’s leader,” Williams’ wife, Regina, said. “He saw himself in those young people and knew one adult could make all the difference.”
That philosophy of meeting people where they are continues to dictate his life. Though his operational scope expanded to district policies and boardrooms, his definition of service remains anchored in personal, one-on-one connection.
“Serving the nation is a big picture, but community service has a hands-on, direct impact,” Williams said. “Service is giving unselfishly to improve someone else’s situation with resources, housing or time, which is the most valuable thing you can give because we don’t know how much of it we have left.”
Joseph Morgan is a contributor and former reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at joseph.morgan@fortworthreport.org.
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