Walter Hudson is a native Louisianan who was reared in the city of New Orleans. After graduating high school, he attended college at  the University of Southwestern Louisiana (currently the Univ. of Louisiana at Lafayette). In 1989, Walter joined the United States Army as an infantryman and was stationed at various duty stations around the United States. While in the Army, he volunteered to attend the US Army Ranger School, which is the Army’s toughest course and the premier small unit tactics and leadership school. The Ranger Course is a mentally and physically challenging school that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battle. After completing Ranger school, he volunteered again to be assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, the U.S. Army’s premier large-scale special operations force that is made up of some of the most elite Soldiers in the world. The Rangers specialize in joint special operations raids and joint forcible entry operations, airfield seizures and counter-terrorism operations. In the year 2000, Walter left the military and went back to college and worked for the Defense Contractor Northrop Grumman in their shipbuilding division. He supervised the shipyard’s nighttime safety and security program and participated in the building process of various military vessels and oil tankers. As his career started to develop, he used his military experience in leadership to promote and create programs to drive productivity. Walter was instrumental in training shipyard personnel in (International standards Origination) ISO 9000-01,ISO 14000-01. These programs are designed to drive quality and environmental management systems. Walter was also influential in getting the shipyard management’s first ISO certification and becoming a 5s site. In 2005, Walter was offered an opportunity to move into the oil and gas industry after gaining employment with British Petroleum. However, this opportunity was short-lived because of Hurricane Katrina. His family was displaced from New Orleans and is now residing in Houston TX. Once getting his family situated in a new environment after experiencing such devastation, he was contacted about becoming a contractor to the US military in the Middle East. Walter would spend the next five years as a military contractor in Baghdad, Al Anbar Province, and the border areas of Iraq.

Upon his return to the United States, Walter would join another oil and gas operator as a Global Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Manager, for their Drilling and Completions division. He would also continue supporting Iraq by providing oversight and EHS management support. Walter was later employed by HESS Corporation for his leadership and his ability to work internationally, as well as his knowledge of oil and gas operations and the ability to work in remote locations with limited resources. He was responsible for personnel in France, China and in HESS’ Marine Vessel Global Operations. Several years later, Walter went on to work for several other oil and gas operations, which were very successful. He managed seismic operations, spool base operations and shore base operations.

In 2017, Walter (owner and president) and several of his colleagues/friends decided to start VSMGROUP. The company provides corrosion material and equipment to various organizations. Their product is designed to prevent metal corrosion, which provides a cost savings to their clients. With the US military and the US government historically spending between 20-30 billion dollars a year fighting corrosion, their company’s focus is on the US Navy, which spends approximately $7.5 billion dollars every year to combat this issue.