Lt. Col. James J. Walton, 41, died of wounds suffered June 21 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when the vehicle he was traveling in struck an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.
Walton was an Aviation Officer serving on a Military Transition Team assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. His home of record is Rockville, Md. He entered the Army in May 1989. He began serving with the 1st Inf. Div. in October 2007. This was his second deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
To date, 151 Fort Riley servicemembers have died while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Transition team training is a 60-day training cycle at Fort Riley to prepare small teams of American Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors to advise, teach, mentor and coach their Iraqi or Afghan counterparts.