Worth County native Walter J. Sams has been promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Sams is the son of Carolyn Sams of Sylvester. William E. Sams, Jr. of Sylvester is his brother and Lila Paramore of Americus is his sister. The general is married to Pamela M. Sams.
He is currently stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, FL. General Sams is the second in recent years from Sylvester to be promoted to Air Force Brigadier General. Brigadier General Robert S. (Scott) Williams, Commander of the Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, MD is also from Sylvester.
Brig. Gen. Walter J. Sams is the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, First Air Force (Air Forces Northern), Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., where he advises on all policies and programs relating to the Air Force Reserve. He assists the Commander to organize, equip and operate air defense forces for the continental U.S., including aerospace warning and control supporting U.S. Northern Command and bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command.
AFNORTH is responsible for more than 15,000 personnel at numerous fighter alert sites, two command and control sector headquarters and more than 100 radar sites that provide tactical warning, threat assessment, counterdrug forces and defense support of civil authorities.
General Sams was commissioned in 1984 from The University of Georgia’s Air Force ROTC program. He completed 15 years in the regular Air Force, four years in the Air National Guard and eight years in the Air Force Reserve. He served as an air liaison officer in Operation Desert Storm and flew 234 combat hours in Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He served as an F-16 instructor pilot, weapons officer, major command branch chief, Air Operations Center Chief of Combat Operations, and commanded a fighter squadron and fighter wing.