The ABPP is a grant program, mandated by Congress in 1990, which helps communities, non-profit organizations and individual citizens protect and preserve local battlefields not already protected under the National Park Service.

Since 1990, the ABPP has awarded more than $4.4 million to help protect more than 100 battlefields in 31 states and Washington, DC. Projects supported by the program include cultural and archaeological surveys, preservation plans and public education. The battlefields represent a range of conflicts fought on American soil, including the French and Indian War, American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, the Civil War, World War II, pre-independence colonial wars, wars among native peoples and the Mexican-American and Indian Wars.

Williams--who previously was curator for the 1854 sloop-of-war USS Constellation--manages grants for the ABPP program, collecting dozens of applications and reviewing them in committee. Once grants are awarded, he researches the battlefields and works on a team with a preservation planner and an archaeologist to help organizations achieve their preservation goals, as well as to prepare written historical reports documenting the sites' importance.

The job is a natural fit--allowing Williams to pursue his passion for military history and continue to serve the interest of his country post-military, as well as to utilize his master's degree in public history from UMBC.

His passion for history, however, can be traced much earlier than his college years. "Soldiers were, and have always been, my heroes," Williams says. "My dad--who retired from the Army as a First Sergeant after 21 years and was a veteran of World War II--and I were watching a military history documentary on television when I was 5 or 6 years old. Dad told me, 'General Patton said to be a good soldier, you have to know your history.' I wanted to be a good soldier, and have loved history ever since."

Williams' father passed away only a few years later when he was 9. His mother continued to nurture his interest in history by taking him to battlefields and museums. Then, in high school, his first paying job was as a docent aboard the USS Constellation, which is home-ported in Baltimore.

Instilling an appreciation for history in today's children is an important part of the AABP's purpose as Williams sees it. Many of the historic battlefields, which can serve as learning grounds, are threatened by erosion or neglect and are often buried by commercial and residential developments.

"Battlefields teach a lot of lessons about the founding of our nation and our government, and they provide us with a sense of place," he says. "We don't want local historians telling students that an attack began at Wal-Mart and ended at McDonald's."

To read more about the American Battlefield Protection Program, visit www.nps.gov/abpp.