U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan recently announced U.S. Air Force Col. William Woodard Butler as the 2025 Veteran of the Year for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District.

“My Veteran of the Year Program seeks to celebrate our district’s veterans, their loved ones and their service community,” McClellan said in a statement. “This year, I am honored to recognize U.S. Air Force Colonel William Butler as our Veteran of the Year for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District. 

“With over 30 years of service between active duty and reserves, Colonel Butler has devoted his entire military career and beyond to improving the lives of our service members, advancing medical research and giving back to his community. I thank him for his service to our nation and admire all he has done for those he swore to protect and defend.” 

Butler served for more than three decades in active duty and reserve roles focused on surgery, tropical medicine, hyperbaric medicine and aerospace medicine. He logged more than 980 flight hours, including more than 65 hours in combat, and completed overseas deployments to Okinawa and Qatar. He later taught aerospace medicine at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, earning international recognition for his work on altitude-induced decompression sickness and aeromedical evacuation. 

After his retirement, Butler continued a decade of service as an aerospace medicine consultant for the Air Force. He has authored more than 150 publications, including a 200-plus-page academic monograph on aeromedical evacuation of critically ill and injured patients. 

In the Tri-Cities, Butler serves as a trustee of the John Randolph Foundation and sits on the Hopewell City Planning Commission. He also helped create a permanently endowed scholarship for students in Chesterfield, Hopewell and Prince George who are pursuing medical careers. 

His work as a theater validating flight surgeon, aeromedical evacuation researcher and professor has influenced “hundreds, if not thousands” of people in the region, according to McClellan’s office. 

McClellan announced the honor during a speech on the House floor on Nov. 20.