Walter Wise enlisted in the Air Corps as a private and rose to the rank of staff sergeant before being honorably discharged Aug. 5, 1922. He then joined the Air Corps of the Alabama National Guard and served the following seven years as a private, staff sergeant, technical sergeant and master sergeant. Commissioned in 1929, After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he transferred to the U.S. Air Force when it became a separate branch of service in 1947. He retired in 1954 as a U.S. Air Force Brigadier General.