Dr. Walter James is a native of Houston, Texas and has made Shreveport, Louisiana his home after a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Dr. James served as Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Barksdale AFB for six years before retiring in the rank of Colonel in 2003.  Currently his primary practice is at Shreveport Oral Surgery, but he is also employed on a part-time basis at Willis-Knighton Health where he provides specialized services as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. 

He received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 1978 and later earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School in 1983. His Air Force career began at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea with later assignments at Lackland AFB, Texas and Wiesbaden Regional Medical Center, Germany as a staff General Dentist.

Dr. James served on multiple medical humanitarian missions to remote jungle locations in the Republic of Liberia, remote sites in the Andes Mountains of Peru, and remote site care in Germany and the BENELUX. 

In 1991, Dr. James entered the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center located in San Antonio, Texas. During the six years of training, he earned his Medical Doctor degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1995 and completed an Internship in General Surgery at Wilford Hall in 1996.  He earned his Certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1997 and earned certification from the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1999.

Dr. James’s Professional Memberships include:

• Fellow American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• Diplomate American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• Fellow American Dental Society of Anesthesiology
• Diplomate National Dental Board of Anesthesiology
• Member American Dental Association
• Member Acadamy of Osseointegration
• Northwest Louisiana Dental Society
• Member Society of Air Force Clinical Surgeons
• Member 38th Parallel Dental Society // Tri Service Dental Association of the Far East

He is happily married and has one daughter.