Jim Walker was born on October 5, 1959, at Fort Benning, Georgia. He is the oldest son of a career Army officer father and school teacher mother. His father hails from Tennessee and his mother’s family hails from Alabama and Tennessee. Director Walker spent his youth moving from Army base to Army base in the southeastern United States. He attended Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee on an ROTC Scholarship, graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He also holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, and, in conjunction with an American Political Science Association Fellowship, studied Congress and Foreign Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington D.C.

Walker served in the Army from 1981-2002, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. An Infantry officer and Airborne Ranger, he served in both the 25th Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He has more than seven years experience as an Army Congressional Liaison and Government Affairs Officer.

His additional military assignments included service as aide-de-camp to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, operations briefer to General Colin Powell during Operation Desert Shield, aide to President Ronald Reagan, and congressional fellow and legislative assistant to Congressman John Tanner (D-Tennessee) who, at the time, was a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.

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