Colonel John J. Walsh, Jr. was commissioned and Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School on 18 September 1943, class number 297.  His first duty assignment was as Training Officer, I.R.T.C., Fort McClellan, Alabama. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Platoon Leader, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, European Theater of Operations and Assistant Battalion S-3, Camp Butner, North Carolina; Company Commander, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, Osaka, Japan and Gifu, Japan; Company Commander and Assistant S-3, 14th Infantry RCT, Camp Carson, Colorado; AD.C. to Commanding General, Headquarters USARAL; Test Officer, Infantry Band, Fort Benning, Georgia; G-2 and G-3 Advisor, ARSEC, MAAG, Taiwan, Kinmen, Taiwan; Test Officer, Armor Board, Fort Knox, Kentucky; Brigade XO, 2d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Division G-2, Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; XO, Scientific and Tech Info Division, Army Research Office, Washington, D.C.; XO, Director of Army Research, Chief of R&D, Pentagon; Deputy G-2, Headquarters, II Field Force, Vietnam; XO to Deputy CG Material Acquisition, Headquarters USAMC, Washington D.C. | His awards and decorations include: Combat Infantryman Badge (2 awards), Beligian Croix De Guerre, Army Commendation Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart, Air Medal (V Device), Bronze Star Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Legion of Merit.