Lieutenant Colonel USAF. Candidate for MOL-2 und MOL-3. Waters was a member of the Aerospace Research Pilot School's Class 66B. On 16 October 1972, Waters was flying an Air Force F-4C (upgraded to an YF-4E configuration) Phantom fighter jet with Capt. John Evans as his engineer. They were operating as a chase plane during a test mission of another aircraft over the desert about 10 miles north of Edwards AFB, when, at 4:30 p.m., there was a flight control malfunction accompanied by a pitch-up, and a crash ensued. The Air Force later identified the men as Capt. John D. Evans, 32 years old, of Farmington, Iowa, and Lt. Col. Joseph P. Waters, 40, from New York City.