CAPT Walter C. Mainor

Past Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15

17 August 2022 Captain Walt Mainor, a native of Alabama, enlisted and served as a Sonar Technician Submarines in USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY (SSBN 657B).  Mainor attended the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program and graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and is a graduate of the Joint & Combined Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC). He is a fully qualified joint specialty officer.  Additionally, Mainor is a 2017-2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow.  
 
Afloat, Mainor served in USS OLDENDORF (DD 972), USS DONALD COOK (DDG 75), USS VELLA GULF (CG 72), MCM CREW CONSTANT, USS PATRIOT (MCM 7) and USS WILLIAM P. LAWRENCE (DDG 110).  Ashore, he served as a manpower specialist/detailer, Navy Personnel Command, PERS 41; Executive Assistant to the Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs; Deputy Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations; Division Chief for Levant, Egypt, and Arabian Peninsula and Principal Division Chief, Deputy Directorate for Politico-Military Affairs, Middle East, Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, Joint Staff (J5).
 
Mainor was Forward Deployed to Naval Forces Japan as Commanding Officer in USS PATRIOT (MCM 7) where PATRIOT was the first US Warship to make a port call to Chittagong, Bangladesh, earned consecutive Battle Efficiency Awards and the 2010 Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Award.  He Commanded USS WILLIAM P. LAWRENCE (DDG 110) where LAWRENCE completed a deployment to Seventh Fleet with the JOHN C. STENNIS Strike Group, conducting numerous high visibility exercises and operations in the South China Sea. His most recent tour was as Deputy Commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15/ Commander Task Force 71 where he served as the embarked Sea Combat Commander in the RONALD REAGAN Strike Group in support of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
 
Mainor took command as Commander, Destroyer Squadron FIFTEEN on August 18th, 2022, after serving as Deputy Commodore since January 2021.
 
Personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (5 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various service and campaign awards.