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ALICIA WILLARD
WEST VIRGINIA AIR NATIONAL GUARD
When Dreams Take Flight
Brigadier General
Christopher Walker
With his sights set on the heavens, as
a boy Christopher “Mookie” Walker
dreamed only of flying. Soon after grad-
uating from the U.S. Air Force Academy,
he found himself on a career path that
allowed him to spread his wings and
explore his passion for flight. An adven-
turous career during which he traveled
the world, flew C-130s into hurricanes
and fought to defend freedom has culmi-
nated in his appointment as the brigadier
general of the West Virginia Air National
Guard (WVANG).
In this role, Walker serves as the assistant
adjutant general and commander, giving
him command and control of all opera-
tions for the WVANG and making him
the principal advisor to West Virginia’s
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
adjutant general on all matters related
to the reserve military force. The formal
change of command ceremony that took
place in February 2019 made history as
Brigadier General Paige Hunter, the first
female assistant adjutant general in the
state’s history, transferred responsibility,
authority and accountability to Walker,
the first African-American to hold this
position in the Mountain State.
Born to Fly
Growing up in Jamaica, a neighbor-
hood in the New York City borough of
Queens, Walker remembers watching TV
programs about the Apollo space mis-
sions. At the age of 5, he shared with his
mother his dreams of flying and being an
astronaut, and as he grew older, he realized
those dreams—which were fueled by his
love of science fiction and space-faring
heroes—were not out of reach.
“This was the sort of thing I saw on
TV, and at a very young age I knew that’s
what I wanted,” says Walker. “I did not
become an astronaut, but it’s not too late.
Maybe before I retire, I’ll get a chance
to go on one of those SpaceX missions.
You never know.”
As a teenager, he did what most ad-
olescents do: he set out to make money
where he could. He landed a job as a
telemarketer for the National Survey
Research Group. He knew he didn’t want
to survey people about their opinions on
movies for the rest of his life, though, so