Jennifer Walters

2023 Next Gen National Security Fellow

Major, U.S. Air Force

  • Press: comms@cnas.org

Major Jennifer Walters is an active-duty Air Force pilot and current Olmsted Scholar. Most recently, Jennifer served as the lead speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C. 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. She is the co-founder of Air Mobility Command's Reach Athena that identifies and addresses female and family-centric barriers to military readiness. Additionally, Jennifer is a mentor for Girl Security, a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member, and serves as the executive director of the Irregular Warfare Initiative.

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