Walter L. Watson, Jr., Colonel, USAF (Retired)
Advisor for Youth Outreach

Walter Watson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., with a mechanical engineering degree and commission as an Air Force Officer via the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) program. Colonel Watson holds a masters degree from Chapman College of Orange, CA, in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. He is the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor (SASI) of the C. A. Johnson Preparatory Academy's Air Force Junior ROTC unit.

He initially served as an avionics maintenance officer, but was later selected for navigator training and became a flight instructor, flight examiner, and flight commander in the F-4C/D/E, F-111D, and SR-71 aircraft. Colonel Watson's distinctive and unique aviation accomplishment is that he was the first and only African-American to qualify as a crewmember in the SR-71, a super secret aircraft that set altitude and speed records that still stand today. The SR-71 routinely cruised at altitudes in excess of 80,000 feet at speeds over Mach 3 (2,100 mph).

He later became Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies at North Carolina A&T State University, and based upon significant accomplishments, led to assignments to a number of leadership positions at HQ AFROTC at Maxwell AFB, AL. including supervising all scholarships for over 5,000 students across the nation with an annual budget exceeding $22 million. While at Maxwell AFB, Colonel Watson was a key decision-maker for Air Force relations with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) creating scholarships especially for HBCUs. In 1998, Colonel Watson was selected Teacher of the Year for C.A. Johnson Preparatory Academy. Additionally he was three times designated by Headquarters Air Force JROTC as an Outstanding Instructor.

SR-71 Aircrew Walter Watson and Brian Shul In 1999, Colonel Watson developed a student award program for the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., award recognizes superior student performance for AFJROTC cadets and impacts over 900 units and 108,000 students around worldwide. In August 2003, the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. awarded him their highest award, the Brig Gen. Noel F. Parrish Award, in recognition of his outstanding endeavors to enhance access to knowledge, skills, and opportunities.