Jennifer Walters Class Of 2011
Biography
Maj Jennifer Walters is an active-duty Air Force pilot and Olmsted Scholar. From 2020 to 2022, Jennifer served as lead speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As a KC-10A instructor pilot, she led aircrew on air refueling, humanitarian, and contingency operations across the globe. Jennifer has deployed four times in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, FREEDOM’S SENTINEL, INHERENT RESOLVE, and RESOLUTE SUPPORT, completing over 100 combat sorties. She is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and holds a Master of Philosophy and PhD in policy analysis from the RAND Graduate School. As co-founder of Air Mobility Command's Reach Athena, she developed an organization that continues to identify and address female and family-centric barriers to military readiness today. Through the Language Enabled Airman Program, Jennifer has maintained fluency in both Russian and French. Committed to the impact of mentorship, Jennifer volunteers with Girl Security and Service to School. She is an alumna of the CNAS Next Generation National Security Leaders Program and Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Program while she remains a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations. Jennifer has served on the AOG Board of Directors since May 2023.
Candidacy Statement
I am committed to connecting the innovative talent of our younger classes to the dedicated engagement of our more senior classes. To this end, I am passionate about cultivating a Board that delivers smart, balanced, and thoughtful decision-making to our graduates. I strongly believe the Board should include elected representation spanning all alumni decades. In my current role as a Director, I will shadow the role of Secretary to ensure continuity for when the position soon vacates while also managing to attend 100% of meetings while being stationed in Europe. Prior to joining the Board, I volunteered as an Air Liaison Officer for several years and have led Congressman Mark DeSaulnier’s USAFA nomination committee for nearly a decade. My husband Clark (2007) is also a grad and we both come from military families; we share an immense gratitude towards USAFA – for the career and educational foundation but moreover for the values that anchor our lives today. In 2025, I’ll be returning to USAFA as an instructor and am thrilled to have the chance to give back and engage with the broader alumni community. Our AOG Board can and must be a relevant, representative voice for all grads.