Southwestern Welcomes New General Counsel
Southwestern Power Administration
June 22, 2021
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Updated: June 23, 2021 to remove the incorrect statement that John Bremer, WAPA General Counsel, is retiring this year.
TULSA, OK – Joshua “Josh” C. Williams reported for duty on Monday, May 10, 2021, in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, office of Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) as Southwestern’s new General Counsel.
Williams joins Southwestern after retirement from Active Duty Air Force, where he achieved the grade of Lieutenant Colonel.
Prior to his retirement from the Air Force, Williams served as Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, where he managed a team of 45 attorneys and paralegals who provided a full spectrum of legal services in support of Hanscom’s 60 billion dollar Information Technology Systems Acquisition mission.
While serving as Deputy, Williams led his team to more than 30 Agency and Departmental awards including “Legal Office of the Year” for the Air Force Materiel Command.
Prior to serving at Hanscom, Williams worked as a Division Chief for the Air Force’s Environmental Law Field Support Center at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), where he led teams of attorneys supporting a multi-state effort to “beddown”— or provide facilities to accommodate – the next-generation aircraft F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and KC-46 Pegasus Tanker.
Additionally while at JBSA, Williams served as the Air Force’s chief cultural/natural resource law attorney, providing advice on tribal consultation, historic preservation, and natural resource management affecting more than 60 Air Force bases and speaking frequently at Air Force and Department of Defense environmental conferences.
Before joining JBSA, Williams served as an employment litigation attorney at the Air Force’s Labor Law Field Support Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. In this capacity, he advised on more than 245 cases in Federal District Court, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, mitigating approximately 20 million dollars worth of risk.
Williams is a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom, where he served as Chief Trial Attorney for the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. He graduated with highest honors from George Washington University’s Environmental/Energy LL.M. – or Master of Law – program and holds a J.D. – or Juris Doctorate – degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Georgia State University.
John Bremer, who has served as Southwestern’s General Counsel since 2018 in addition to serving as General Counsel of Western Area Power Administration, welcomed Williams to Southwestern, saying, “I want to highlight his experience and his service to our Country, which I believe will be quite valuable as he joins the Southwestern team.”
Williams resides in Tulsa with his wife Major (Ret) Alexandra and their 10-year-old son Teddy.