Ashland City Native Retires from Tennessee Military Department

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After serving the nation and state of Tennessee for more than three decades, Ashland City native William Jones retired from the Tennessee Military Department last week.

For more than 25 years, Jones primarily served as an Audio-Visual Production and Public Affairs Specialist for the Tennessee Military Department’s Joint Public Affairs Office. It is responsible for communications and media relations for the Tennessee Army and Air National Guard, Tennessee State Guard, and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. 

“Bill has been a staple of the Public Affairs Office and has devoted his career to telling the story of our organization,” said Capt. Kealy Moriarty, the Tennessee Military Department’s Communications Director. “He is truly an irreplaceable member of our team and will be greatly missed.”  

Jones began his military career after graduating from Cheatham County Central High School in 1988. As a trumpet player in the school band, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army as a musician and eventually served at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York. While serving, he became interested in communications and broadcasting, working with Fort Hamilton’s signal unit before returning to Tennessee in 1992. Once he returned home, he worked as a Disc Jockey for Ashland City’s WQSV radio station and then became a broadcasting engineer for Nashville’s WKRN News 2 in 1995. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from Trevecca Nazarene University while working as a student employee at Trevecca’s radio station, WNAZ.

By 2000, Jones continued his military service by enlisting in Ashland City’s M Company, 3/278 Armored Cavalry Regiment. With his interest in broadcasting, a year later he transferred to Nashville’s

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment as a combat journalist and was hired full-time by the Tennessee Military Department as an Audio-Visual Production Specialist.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the technology behind broadcasting as well as the products we create to use in that medium,” said Jones. “Getting to do that for the military was a great fit.”

For the next 25 years, Jones served the department in various positions helping tell the story of Tennessee’s Soldiers and Airmen. He created videos and news reports for the National Guard’s Soldier Readiness Support Center, managed communication assets for the Guard’s Signal directorate, and photographed, wrote stories, and promoted community support efforts in the Joint Public Affairs Office. As a Soldier, he deployed to Iraq in 2006 as a journalist with the 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, embedding with the 101st Airborne Division.

“I had the chance to see a lot of interesting things over my career and share with the public all of the great things our Soldiers were doing,” said Jones. “It was an honor and I will miss is greatly.”

While serving in the National Guard and working for the Tennessee Military Department, Jones managed to find time to earn a master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in mass communications and a Doctor of Education from Trevecca Nazarene University while raising his two sons, Aaron and Joshua.

“It was busy, a lot of work, and an honor to be able to have the career I did,” said Jones. “I had tremendous support from my family, which I cannot thank enough. Now I look forward to teaching the next generation of broadcast journalists.”

Jones retired from the Tennessee National Guard in 2018 and is now retired from the Tennessee Military Department, ready to begin his new career as an Adjunct Professor in media studies at Lebanon’s Cumberland University.

“I can’t wait to begin teaching,” said Jones. “But before I stand at the podium to begin my first class, I plan to complete a solo, cross-country motorcycle trip.”

Author: Lt. Col. Darrin Haas
Last Updated: May 12, 2025
Category: Retirement