Wallace graduated from the
United States Coast Guard Academy in 1949. He was then assigned to the
USCGC Mendota (WHEC-69) and the
USCGC Finch (WDE-428). After completing flight training, Wallace became a search and rescue pilot at
Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco in 1953. He would later be stationed at
Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak,
Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City and
Naval Air Station Barbers Point. In 1968, Wallace enrolled at the
Air War College. After graduating the following year, he assumed command of
Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans. From 1975 to 1977, Wallace was Chief of Public and International Affairs. He then became the first executive director of the Maritime Safety Task Force in the Office of the
United States Secretary of Transportation. In December 1978, he retired from the Coast Guard, accepting a position as Counsel to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, then under the jurisdiction of the U.S. House of Representatives. ==References==