?»?Colonel Walker received his commission and Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from the United States Air Force Academy in June, 1973. He graduated from pilot training at Reese AFB, Texas in 1974.

In 1975 he was assigned to the 340th Bombardment Squadron, Blytheville, AFB, Arkansas, as a B-52G pilot. In 1979, after serving in the 97th Bomb Wing Standardization and Evaluation Division, he was selected to conduct initial operational testing of the air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), and was assigned to the 4200 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), Edwards AFB, California. In 1980, he conducted the operational flight test of the B-52?€™s Offensive Avionics System upgrade at the Boeing Test Facility in Wichita, Kansas. He returned to Edwards AFB in 1981, as Chief of B-52 Flight Test for the 4200th TES where he conducted early testing of the Advanced Cruise Missile and conventional ALCM variants. After completing Air Command and Staff College, he was assigned to Strategic Air Command Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, as the Advanced Technology Bomber (B-2) Acquisition Manager responsible for defining the new Stealth Bomber?€™s operational requirements. In 1990, he returned to Edwards AFB, as Deputy for Operations for the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center?€™s (AFOTEC) B-2 Test Team. He later became the Test Director and managed a team of 230 operations, engineering, logistics, and administrative personnel responsible for conducting operational testing of the B-2 and reporting the results to the Air Force Chief of Staff. Colonel Walker was among the first operational pilots to fly and evaluate the B-2, testing every aspect of its capabilities, including extensive terrain-following tests and the first live releases of the Join-Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). Under his direction, the B-2 test team completed the most comprehensive aircraft survivability evaluation ever conducted and largely defined the baseline tactics for the B-2A. In 1998, Colonel Walker assumed the position of Commander of Detachment 5, AFOTEC. He directed the operational test and evaluation of numerous major weapon systems, such as the B-2, B-1B Block D/JDAM, C-130J, T-6B Join Primary Advanced Trainer System, T-38 Avionics Upgrade Program, T-3A Firefly, F-15 APG-63v1 Radar Upgrade, and the CV-22 Osprey.

Colonel Walker retired in 2000, as a command pilot with over 4000 hours.