Major General William E. Whitworth was commissioned an Armor Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class NGOC #1 51st Co., 12 August 1958. His first duty assignment was as a Fixed Wing Aviator with the 130th Aviation Company, Tennessee Army National Guard, Nashville, Tennessee. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Section Commander, A Company, 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion 11th AAD, Fort Benning, Georgia; Commander, D Troop 3/17th Cavalry, 11th Air Assault, Fort Benning, Georgia; Platoon Leader, A Company, 101st Aviation Battalion enroute to Vietnam on the USS Iwo Jima; Platoon Leader (Blue Tigers), 121st Aviation Company, Soc Trang, Vietnam; Assistant S-3, 13th Aviation Battalion, Can Tho, Vietnam; Stage Field Officer, Stagefield Operations, Army Fixed Wing Flight Training, Fort Stewart, Georgia; Assistant Operations Officer, Liberty Army Airfield, U.S. Army Fixed Wing Flight Training Facility, Fort Stewart, Georgia; Instructor/Student, First AH-1G Attack Helicopter (Cobra) Class, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia; Operations Officer, D Troop 3/5 Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division, Bear Cat, Vietnam; Executive Officer/Mission Commander, D Troop 3/5 Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division, Vietnam; Commander, B Troop 7/17 Cavalry, U.S. Army Armor Center, Fort Knox, Kentucky; Commander, 155th Aviation Company, Attack Helicopter, Fort Ord, California; Training Officer, Forces Command, Race Relation/Equal Opportunity Division, Forces Command, Human Resources Division, Fort McPherson, Georgia; Staff Officer, Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, Deputy Chief of Staff, Resource Management, Personnel Staff Officer for Resource Management of Personnel Spaces in Europe; Professor of Military Science, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee; Cartographic Staff Officer, Headquarters Defense Mapping Agency, Washington, D.C.; Executive Officer to D.C.S, Requirements and Programs Defense Mapping Agency, Washington, D.C.; Cartographic Staff Officer, Defense Mapping Agency, Hydrographic and Topographic Center, Brookmont, Maryland; Inspector General, Defense Mapping Agency, Hydrographic and Topographic Center, Washington, D.C. He retired as a Regular Army Lieutenant Colonel in October 1988. | His military education includes: Armor Advanced Non-Commissioned Officer Course, U.S. Army Fixed Wing Flight Training, Rotary Wing Transition Course, Army Aviation Instrument Flight Training and IP Course, Fixed Wing Flight Instructor Standardization and Qualification Course, AH-1G Attack Helicopter (Cobra) Transition Course, Armor Officer Career Course, USAir Force Command and Staff College, Inspector General Training Course.