NAS MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – Naval Technical Training Center Meridian welcomed a new commanding officer Friday morning during a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Meridian, where Cmdr. Daniel Walker was relieved by Cmdr. Lynn M. Wall.
Walker, who has led the schoolhouse since June 2024, is departing for a new assignment at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium. Speaking after the ceremony, he said he hopes the students he has trained and mentored will continue to grow within the Navy.
“Hopefully my legacy will be for the students to stay here, stay Navy,” Walker said. “Hopefully they’ll come back wanting to be instructors, and hopefully some will come back and actually take the ranks as the commanding officer.”
Walker, who previously served as an enlisted sailor before commissioning, said Belgium was one of the assignments he had hoped for. He added that he is looking forward to reuniting with family, working alongside international officers and watching his children attend a Department of Defense school with students from more than a dozen nations.
Wall, who enlisted in the Navy in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become an officer in 2006, said she is honored to take command of the center, which graduates roughly 3,500 sailors annually from its administrative and supply programs.
“I’m just really excited to lead this team and the professionals here,” Wall said. “I’m excited to train these sailors and get them ready to be the war fighters in the fleet that our nation needs them to be.”
Wall became emotional during the ceremony, reflecting on the many mentors and colleagues who shaped her nearly 34 years of service.
“You start to think about all the people that have poured into you,” she said. “It’s inspiring. It’s humbling. I came in as an undesignated E1, and to be here now, leading the sailors who will go into the fleet — it’s amazing.”
NTTC Meridian is the Navy’s primary training facility for enlisted administrative and supply specialties, preparing thousands of sailors each year for fleet service.
Wall said she looks forward to carrying that mission forward. “I have such an amazing staff, and we’re going to be able to push these sailors out as great sailors to go do their nation’s work,” she said.