Photo By Kevin Robinson | Edward W. Walters III has been selected as executive director of the Defense...... read more read more
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By DeCA Corporate Communications
FORT LEE, Va. – Edward W. Walters III has been selected as executive director of the Defense Commissary Agency’s Sales, Marketing and Logistics Group, announced Bill Moore, DeCA director and CEO. Walters’ selection is effective Aug. 8.
Walters comes to DeCA from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), where he served as GSA’s chief customer officer, a Senior Executive Service position.
He follows Jim Flannery, the agency’s chief transformation officer (CTO), who also served as acting executive director of the Sales, Marketing and Logistics Group upon the departure of previous director Christopher T. Burns in November 2021.
“Mr. Walters brings a wealth of government and private sector experience that will help us deliver this vital commissary benefit to our patrons,” Moore said. “His background in planning, communications, marketing and brand management checks all the boxes we need as we move forward.”
Walters now oversees the sales, marketing and logistics directorates with missions that directly impact the agency’s annual sales of nearly $5 billion.
As GSA’s chief customer officer since 2020, Walters led the Office of Customer experience, where he focused on improving customer experience and fostering a customer-first mentality throughout GSA’s workforce.
From 2018 to 2020, Walters served as a senior advisor for the Army in the Pentagon, advising senior leaders on marketing research, analytics, return-on-investment and moving greater media mix to digital advertising. There, he oversaw the Army’s restructuring of its customer marketing, customer market research, communications planning, systems and processes as well as customer insights and market segmentation.
Walters is a 1992 graduate of the United States Military Academy, and later graduated from the Army’s Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1998 as a captain.
After the Army, Walters worked in a variety of government and private sector positions, starting with Kraft Foods, where he became brand manager. In 2004, he was a management strategy consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked on several strategic planning and communications projects for clients like the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Department of the Army’s G-1 and the Army Information Technology Agency.
Walters returned to government service as an Army civilian in 2006. First, as deputy assistant secretary for Strategy and Performance Planning and later as principal deputy assistant secretary for Recruiting and Retention. As the Army’s chief marketing officer, he managed a $250 million budget, provided oversight of the Accessions Command and promoted several national multimedia initiatives – most notably the “Army Strong” campaign.
From 2009-2017, he returned to the private sector, where he worked in various positions related to marketing and communications at ConocoPhillips, ACT Inc, Defense Mobile and StreetShares.
“I am excited to join the DeCA team in delivering the best shopping experience, savings and overall value to our nation’s service members, disabled veterans, and their families,” Walters said. “As a former Army officer and Pentagon civilian, I am delighted to return to our military community to deliver such a meaningful benefit to our customers.”
Walters earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1992; a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 2002; and a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2004.
He is also a graduate of the Infantry Officer Advanced Course; Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape-High Risk (SERE-C); Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3); Pathfinder School; Ranger School; and Airborne School.
-DeCA-
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2022 13:25 |
| Story ID: | 425731 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 675 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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