By MOAA Staff

MOAA and the Army Warrant Officer Career College joined forces last week to honor a retired soldier for his contributions throughout 40 years of uniformed service, including 27 years as a warrant officer.

CW5 Charles Wigglesworth, USA (Ret), was the first chief warrant officer of the Adjutant General Corps. He enlisted in 1971 and retired in 2011, serving in multiple roles — as first sergeant of 1st Ranger Battalion’s headquarters company, in two decades’ worth of leadership positions within the Adjutant General Corps, and as part of warrant officer training and education efforts at Fort Rucker, Ala., including as deputy commandant of the career college.

He returned to Fort Rucker on July 10 to be inducted into the Order of the Eagle Rising Society, an annual award established by MOAA and the career college in 2004 to honor “one individual who has contributed significantly … to the promotion of the warrant officer community in ways that stand out in the eyes of recipient’s seniors, subordinates, and peers.”

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Wigglesworth, a MOAA Life member, found out about the honor while delivering Bibles to high school and college students in Romania as part of his work with Gideons International, he said in an Army.mil article about the event.

“I really was at a loss for words,” he said in the article. “I didn’t anticipate ever being in this society. I never looked to ever be honored for anything in my life, only to serve God and take care of soldiers.”

MOAA Vice President of Government Relations Maj. Gen. April Vogel, USAF (Ret), spoke at Wigglesworth’s ceremony and highlighted his “family legacy” – his wife, Lt. Col. Claudia Wigglesworth, USA (Ret), is also a MOAA Life member, and his son Wayne is a former Army staff sergeant.

“We hope that this award in some small way challenges the entire warrant officer cohort to keep sharpening the expertise and skill that mission accomplishment demands,” Vogel said, according to the Army.mil report.

MOAA Vice President of Government Relations Maj. Gen. April Vogel, USAF (Ret), offers remarks during a July 10 ceremony honoring CWO5 Charles Wigglesworth, USA (Ret), at Fort Rucker, Ala. 

Charles Wigglesworth was inducted into the Adjutant General Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Melvin Jones Fellowship for service work with Lions International. The CW5(R) Charles Wigglesworth Leadership Award is given to leadership graduates of the Warrant Officer Adjutant General Basic Course.

After retiring from the Army, Wigglesworth served as human resource manager for military personnel at the Army Combat Readiness Center, also at Fort Rucker.