Chief Warrant Officer Five Gowin was drafted into the U.S. Army and trained at Fort Lee for a supply specialty. He was awarded MOS 76Y10, Unit and Organization Supply Specialist.
His initial assignment was with Company C, 3rd Battalion 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam. He then went to the 12th Personnel Administration Detachment, Fort Hood, Texas, and was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant before a three-and-a-half-year break in service; he reentered the Army as a Private First Class. After completing basic training again, he returned to Fort Lee and was trained in the same MOS (76Y). After a short tour at Fort Ord, California, he was assigned to a Field Artillery Battalion in Germany where he was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant again.
He received an ROTC assignment at Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina, where he was appointed as a Quartermaster Warrant Officer, Unit Supply Technician (761A). He returned to Fort Hood for three years and was assigned to the 13th Corps Support Command, before an assignment as a Support Supply Technician (762A) in Germany. During this tour, he worked as a Class IX accountable officer in the 903rd Maintenance Company, 87th Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Support Command. Returning from Germany, he was assigned to Fort Ord, California to work as the Property Book Officer for the 3rd Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (Light). Another tour of duty in Germany consisted of 10 years of assignments with Intelligence Command in Augsburg and Bad Aibling. Upon return to the United States, he was assigned as the Chief, Chief of Staff Army Supply Excellence Award Team, U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School, Fort Lee, Virginia. He was selected to serve as the Quartermaster Warrant Officer Proponent (QM Regimental Warrant Officer) in the Office of the Quartermaster General.
His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), Joint Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, and various service ribbons and unit awards, including a presidential unit citation.
CW5 Gowin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Regents College and completed the Warrant Officer Senior Staff Course in 1998.