Walter E. Gaskin

Walter Edward Gaskin Sr. is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who served as the 19th Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from May 2009 to August 2013. In that role, he served as Acting Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from November 2011 to January 2012. He was the first African American to be appointed as deputy chairman and chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

Gaskin currently serves as an Institute for Defense and Business Executive Fellow. In January 2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper named Gaskin the next Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Marine Corps career
Gaskin served as the Commanding General of the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from June 2006 until July 2008. In addition to this role, he simultaneously served as the Commanding General of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). During this tour, Gaskin led II MEF (FWD) during its year-long deployment to Al Anbar Province, Iraq as the Commanding General of Multinational Forces-West.

Previous assignments as a General Officer include service as the Vice Director of The Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. from July 2008 until May 2009 and as the Commanding General of Marine Corps Recruiting Command in Quantico, Virginia, beginning in September 2002. Additionally, he served as the Chief of Staff, Naval Striking and Support Forces-Southern Europe and as the Deputy Commanding General, Fleet Marine Forces-Europe in Naples, Italy from 2002 to 2004. Gaskin's first assignment as a General Officer was the Commanding General, Training and Education Command in Quantico in March 2000.

In addition to his time as Commanding General, Gaskin served four times with the 2d Marine Division (3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines; 6th Marine Regiment; and 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines). During his assignment to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Gaskin was the Commanding Officer and also served as the Commanding Officer of Battalion Landing Team 2/2 when the battalion was assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), II MEF for deployment as Landing Force-6th Fleet (LF6F) during Operations Assured Response and Quick Response in defense of American Embassies in Liberia and The Central African Republic.

Gaskin's other previous assignments with II MEF include service as the G-3 Current Operations Action Officer and Operations Officer for II MEF (FWD) supporting Exercise Battle Griffin in Norway; Head of Expeditionary Operations for II MEF G-3; and as Commanding Officer of 22nd MEU (SOC) during deployment as LF6F, participating in Exercises Bright Star 99/00 in Egypt and Infinite Moonlight in Jordan and acting as the Strategic Reserve for operations in Bosnia and Kosovo.

In addition to his service at Camp Lejeune, Gaskin has also served with 3rd Force Service Support Group (Echo and Foxtrot Logistics Support Units); 3rd Marine Division (Division Command Center) in Okinawa, Japan; and with Combined Forces Command C/J-3, Seoul, South Korea as the Head of Ground Forces Branch. Gaskin's supporting establishment service includes assignment as Series Commander and Company Commanding at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina; Marine Officer Instructor, Savannah State University NROTC Unit; Assistant Officer Selection Officer, Recruiting Station Macon, Georgia; Action Officer in charge of Unit Environmental Training Programs for Marine Corps Combat Development Center; and Ground Colonels' Monitor at Headquarters Marine Corps. Gaskin retired from the United States Marine Corps on 31 October 2013.





Education
A 1974 graduate from Savannah State University's NROTC Program with a Bachelor of Science, Gaskin also earned a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1992. He has also completed the Senior Executive Seminar from the JFK School of Government, Harvard University, in 2002. His professional military education includes The Basic School and Amphibious Warfare School (1982–83) in Quantico; the United States Army Command and Staff College, Leavenworth, Kansas (1986–1987); the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (1993–1994); and the Combined/Joint Force Land Component Command (C/JFLCC) Course, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (2009).

Awards and decorations
Lieutenant General Gaskin's personal decorations include:

Post-military career
After retiring from the Marine Corps, Gaskin worked as the Managing Director in Charge of Operation Management Complex of Global Bank in Irvine, California, and then as Chief Executive Officer of La Porte Technology Defense (LAPORTECH).

In January 2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper named Gaskin the next Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. In July 2023, Gaskin was implicated in the stolen valor case of Billy Zinnerman, a disgraced former PFC (E-2) that received an Other Than Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps, who had been posing as a decorated SgtMaj (E-9). Gaskin wrote a letter of recommendation for Zinnerman, in which he stated that "I've had the opportunity to witness first-hand his superior performance, bravery, and dedication to duty while in combat in Desert Storm/Desert Shield in Iraq and the Liberation of Kuwait." However, neither Gaskin, nor Zinnerman served in Iraq during Desert Storm/Desert Shield.

A Non-Profit Organization operating under the name The Wine Country Marinesexposed Zinnerman, and made public the letter by Gaskin in a June 23, 2023 blog article titled Semper Fraud: Unveiling the Stolen Valor of 'SgtMaj' Billy Zinnerman and SSgt L.E. Michael Johnson. The article, which exposed three senior leaders of the Montford Point Marines Association for stolen valor, also linked Gaskin to the organization, who is a life member of the organization and wrote the aforementioned letter of reference.

The stolen valor case was covered by ABC7 News' I-Team Reporter Dan Noyes. and subsequently covered by ABC11 News Akilah Davis, wherein she confronted LtGen Gaskin in his office about the letter. During the interaction, Gaskin admitted to writing the letter stating "Of course I wrote the letter. You saw the signature on the letter. The letter is not the issue." Gaskin went on to state that he saw Zinnerman in Kuwait when he was present to examine the aftermath of the war, however in the letter written by Gaskin, he stated that he witnessed "first-hand" Zinnerman's "superior performance, bravery and dedication to duty while in combat in Desert Storm/Desert Shield in Iraq and the Liberation of Kuwait."

In 2016, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

In 2020, he endorsed Joe Biden for president.