Robert Walker

Robert James Walker, Sr. (February 2, 1929 – February 15, 2016) was a senior sailor in the United States Navy who served as the third Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. He was born in Baldwin, New York, and attended grammar and high school in Oxford, New York.

Naval career

Enlisting in the United States Navy in 1948, Walker received his recruit training at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, where he was cited as company honorman. He then attended Radarman "A" School in Boston, Massachusetts and was assigned to the destroyer . Walker was a much more conservative, traditional MCPON than his predecessor, John Whittet.

Advocacy During his term, Walker often raised the ire of some by identifying directors of Navy programs who were not serving the best interests of the navy (such as a director of the Board of Corrections of Naval Records, and a commander in Pearl Harbor who was separating sailors for being overweight even though he himself was obese) and saw to their quick removal. He was instrumental in creating the Navy's Senior Enlisted Academy, from which virtually all subsequent MCPONs were graduates. He also brought about the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist program, to add the same professionalism and thorough platform knowledge within the surface community that had been present for decades in the submarine community.

Walker fought for increases in sea pay, improvements in off-duty education opportunities, consolidation of the three-form system of enlisted evaluation reports into a uniform format, and a return to the traditional "crackerjacks" phased out by ADM Zumwalt. Personnel records were moved to microfiche vice paper to streamline archival, storage and retrieval. They have since been completely computerized. Many of these changes would not take effect until after Walker's MCPON tour ended, but he was the driving force behind their implementation.

Retirement and later life Walker retired on September 28, 1979, immediately after the swearing in of his successor, Thomas S. Crow. He remained active following his retirement, serving as President of the Non-Commissioned Officers Association. In 1990, Robert J. Walker Hall, the home of Operations Specialist "A" School at Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic, Dam Neck, Virginia was named for him. He died February 15, 2016, at the age of 87.

Military awards and decorations

Senior Enlisted Advisor Badge. 7 gold Service Stripes.