Gen. Walter L. "Skip" Sharp, USA (Ret), was born in Morgantown, W.Va., while his father was fighting in the Korean War. General Sharp graduated from West Point in 1974 and was commissioned as an armor officer. He earned an M.S. in operations research and system analysis from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a graduate of the Army War College.

General Sharp commanded the United Nations Command, Republic of Korea-United States Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea from 2008 to 2011. He also commanded troops in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti and the Multinational Division (North) of the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia.

General Sharp had four assignments at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff. He was the deputy director, J5 for Western Hemisphere/Global Transnational Issues; vice director, J8 for Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment; director for strategic plans and policy, J5; and the director of the Joint Staff.

General (Ret) and Mrs. Sharp live in the Washington, D.C. area. He is consulting for and on the BODs of several U.S. and Korean companies and The Korea Society. He is involved in Northeast Asia and especially Korea strategy and policy discussions at several Washington, D.C. area Think Tanks.