 In 1938 Walker began a three @-@ year tour in Hawaii , where he was operations officer of the 5th Bombardment Group at Luke Field , executive officer at Hickam Field , and then commander of the 18th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field . Commanding a pursuit group involved a considerable change of pace for a man whose career thus far had been spent in bombers . His adjutant , First Lieutenant Bruce K. Holloway felt that Walker never demonstrated the " emotional exhilaration toward flying a high performance machine that is so typical of fighter pilots . " Nor did he warm to the Curtiss P @-@ 36 Hawk fighter , especially after a near @-@ fatal accident . 
