A native of Houston, Texas, Colonel Walton enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve Delayed Entry Program in 1989 and earned the title of Marine in April 1990. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1992 and was later commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1996.
Upon completion of initial training as a Communications Officer, Lieutenant Walton served as the Communications Officer of the Combined Joint Information Campaign Task Force (CJICTF) in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Upon redeployment, he served as a Communications Platoon Commander, S-6 and Psychological Operations Detachment Commander. In 2000 and 2001, he and his detachment deployed to Morocco for Operation African Lion and to Italy for Operation Veneto Rescue. In 2003, he served as the Psychological Operations Detachment Commander for a Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq. Upon redeployment in 2004, Captain Walton assumed command of C Company, 392d Signal Battalion. In 2005, Captain Walton requested and received an interservice transfer to the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He immediately mobilized and joined 6th Civil Affairs Group at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as it was preparing to deploy to Iraq. He returned to Iraq in late 2005, serving as a Civil Affairs Team Leader and later Detachment Executive Officer in Fallujah. In 2006, Captain Walton joined 3d Force Reconnaissance Company as Communications Officer and Headquarters Platoon Commander. In 2008, Captain Walton led his Marines to El Salvador and Peru as part of Partnership of the Americas; he subsequently returned to Bosnia, leading a Reconnaissance Training Team responsible for building Bosnian reconnaissance capabilities.
In 2009, due to extensive cyber experience gained by working at Google, Major Walton was mobilized to support full-spectrum cyberspace operations and the establishment of US Cyber Command. In 2010, the Deputy Commander of US Cyber Command selected Major Walton as his Aide-de-Camp/Executive Assistant. Major Walton demobilized in 2012 and served as Operations Officer of 4th Force Reconnaissance Company. In 2014, Major Walton joined Marine Forces Cyberspace Command’s Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) detachment and supported activities related to the establishment of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) operations and MEF Information Group (MIG) stand-up. In 2017, Lieutenant Colonel Walton joined 2d Civil Affairs Group as a Civil Affairs Detachment Commander. Upon 2d CAG’s designation as Marine Corps Advisor Company A, Lieutenant Colonel Walton served as the Operations Officer and subsequently Executive Officer.
In June 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Walton assumed command of MWCS-48, the Marine Corps Reserve’s Communications Squadron responsible for providing data, networking, cybersecurity, and transmissions services to the Air Combat Element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
Colonel Walton’s personal awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (second award), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (second award), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (third award), Army Achievement Medal (second award), and Parachutist Badge.
In his civilian career, Colonel Walton designs and implements cloud computing and information security solutions for the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. He is a Director of Information Security for Microsoft Corporation.
Colonel Walton is a graduate of many communications, intelligence, and information operations courses. He is also a graduate of the Army’s Combined Arms Services Staff School (CAS3), the USMC Expeditionary Warfare School Distance Education Program, a distinguished graduate of the USMC Command and Staff College Distance Education Program, Joint Combined Warfighting School-Hybrid (JPME II) and the Air War College Distance Education Program. He holds two master’s degrees: a Master of Arts in National Security Strategy from the United States Naval War College and a Master of Science in Information Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Colonel Walton reads prolifically on topics related to military strategy, geopolitics, military history, information security, intelligence, and information operations.
Colonel Scott R. Walton currently serves as Senior Reserve Advisor to the Commander, Marine Air Control Group 48 (MACG-48).