Alonzo J. Walter Jr.
Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force

Alonzo J. Walter Jr. was born in Morgan City, LA., in 1928. He received his commission as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps program and a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1949. He earned a Master of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology in 1952, and graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in 1961, and the Air War College in 1966.

After his graduation from VMI, he attended pilot training and received his wings at Randolph Air Force Base, TX. In 1950, during the Korean War, he was assigned to the Fourth Fighter Group as an F-86 fighter pilot and flew 48 combat missions. Fresh out of flying school, he flew only as a wingman. In fact, he had never fired the guns on the F-86 jet that he was flying into combat . . . until his first combat mission.

From 1952 to 1956, Walter served as a Fire Control Branch project officer and test pilot with the Air Force Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. During this period, he also completed Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. In July 1956 he entered the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, and after graduation in 1957, he returned to Eglin Air Force Base where he served as a test pilot and fighter operations officer for the Air Proving Ground Command. In September 1960 he entered the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base.

In July 1961, Walter went to Headquarters Space Systems Division in Los Angeles, CA, and served as Project Officer in the Advanced Plans Group. He later became special project officer for the Directorate of Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, in Washington, DC.

Walter was transferred to the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, CO, in March 1964 and served for a year as Third Group air officer commanding. He left to enter the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, and after graduation attended combat crew training. In November 1966 he was assigned as plans officer at the Aerospace Studies Institute, Maxwell Air Force Base.

Walter left for the Republic of Vietnam in July 1969, where he served as XXIV Corps Air Liaison Officer and director of a direct air support center at Da Nang Air Base. He returned to the United States in August 1970 to become a plans officer in the Directorate of Doctrine, Concepts and Objectives at Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

In June 1971, Colonel Walter became Vice Commander and later was Commander of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Force Base, FL, and flew F-4 Phantom IIs.

In May 1978, he assumed duty as Deputy Director of Operations, J-3, National Military Command Center, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, DC.

Brig Gen Walter, a Command Pilot, retired from the Air Force on 1 June 1979.

Medals, Awards & Badges

Legion of Merit with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Meritorious Service Medal
Air Medal with 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
National Defense Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars
Vietnam Service Medal
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Gold Star
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Air Force Command Pilot Badge

Two Items of Interest

Walter was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on 1 July 1974, with date of rank 26 June 1974, and is the first AFROTC graduate of the Virginia Military Institute to be so honored. On 10 September of that same year, his daughter, Terry Lee Walter, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. When she retired on 1 January 2010, Lieutenant General Terry Lee Walter Gabreski was the U.S. Air Force's highest-ranking active-duty woman. [Honoree Record ID 229635]

Second, when Walter was flying combat missions in the Korean War, he flew as a wingman for the famous WWII and Korean War ace, Gabby Gabreski [Honoree Record ID 229364]. In 1989, his daughter Terry Lee Walter, then a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, married USAF Lt. Col. Donald Francis Gabreski, son of Gabby Gabreski. It truly is a small world.