Staunch ROTC advocate mourned
APS military instructor dies
Albuquerque’s youths lost a mentor and advocate last week when retired Marine Maj. Bill Barker died after suffering a stroke earlier this month. He was 73. Barker was the military instructor for Albuquerque Public Schools and a staunch supporter of the district’s Junior ROTC program, working for the district for 26 years.
“The Major has done so much for the youth and the students here in New Mexico,” said La Cueva High School Marine Instructor and 1st Sgt. Alberto Griego, who has worked with Barker since 2002. “His absence is going to be felt by everyone throughout APS.”
Barker came to the program’s defense throughout his tenure, as community members protested the district’s military instructor salaries and claimed JROTC is a recruiting tool for the military in 2009 and 2010.
“Our mission is to prepare our young people for life after high school. And college is the focus,” Barker said in an August 2010 Journal article. “They often equate us with recruiters, and we are anything but.”
Griego said though the Cold War Marine veteran sometimes came off as “gruff,” he had a knack for connecting with students, helping hundreds find their paths to colleges and military academies.
Christopher Kirby was a freshman with poor grades in 2001 when he entered the JROTC program at La Cueva High School.
“He didn’t always differentiate between Marines and cadets,” Kirby said, laughing. “He expected our very best.”
A talented member of the rifle team, Kirby said his grades were sometimes low enough to prohibit him from competing.
Barker insisted he improve his grades, if not for himself, then for his teammates.
“Kirby, why don’t you just line your whole team up and go down the line one by one and kick everyone in the balls?” he remembers him saying.
Kirby eventually brought his grades up and attended University of New Mexico, graduating with a mechanical engineering degree.
Today, he’s working on getting his own software company off the ground.
“I’m actually using a lot of the leadership he taught me to assemble a team and get things started,” he said.
A Facebook page, “Friends of Major Barker,” has 699 followers with hundreds posting memories and photos and expressing condolences.
His son, Michael Barker, said there was a line of well-wishers at the door during the final days of his father’s life, hoping to share stories and say their final goodbyes to “The Major.”
“One of the last things he told me was that these kids he worked with were the ones who kept him going,” Michael Barker said. “What he sowed in the students, they reaped in their successes. That fueled him everyday.”
Bill Barker served in the Marines for 25 years. He also served as a shooting coordinator with Wounded Warriors, the state director for the Civilian Marksmanship Program and as a member of the Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission.
HE DIDN’T ALWAYS DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN MARINES AND CADETS. HE EXPECTED OUR VERY BEST. CHRISTOPHER KIRBY FORMER JROTC PROGRAM STUDENT AT LA CUEVA HIGH SCHOOL