Vice Admiral Luke M. McCollum, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Luke McCollum retired from the U. S Navy in August of 2020 after completing 37 years of service in the both the active and reserve component. His last assignment was in Washington DC where he served as the 14th Chief of Navy Reserve from September 2016 - August 2020. McCollum’s additional Flag Officer assignments include: Deputy Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Vice Commander, Naval Forces, Central Command, Manama, Bahrain; Reserve deputy director, Maritime Headquarters, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; and Deputy Commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.

McCollum is a 1983 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy holds a master’s of science in computer systems management from the University of Maryland, U.C. McCollum is a graduate of CAPSTONE, the Armed Forces Staff College, Advanced Joint Professional Military Education curriculum and the Royal Australian Naval Staff College in Sydney.

McCollum has commanded at the unit, squadron and Task Group level. In 2008, he commanded Maritime Expeditionary Squadron One were he was mobilized and commanded, Combined Task Group 56.5 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additional sea assignments include service on USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), USS Kinkaid (DD 965) and USS Valley Forge (CG 50), with deployments to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf and operations off South America.

Ashore, he served in the Pentagon as naval aide to the 23rd Chief of Naval Operations.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (4 awards), Meritorious Service Medal (5 awards) and various other campaign medals.

McCollum currently serves as a corporate vice president, Walmart Inc. at its Bentonville, AR based headquarters. He has held key leadership positions in the company’s supply chain, technology, and international divisions.