Jim was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY where he attended St. Francis College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies. He received an MBA in Business Administration from Long Island University. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Marines in November 1973. During his 21 year career he served in many leadership positions in the United States and throughout the world.
Upon completion of airborne training at Fort Benning he reported to the third Marine Division on Okinawa as an infantry platoon commander. He has served as an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he taught leadership and infantry tactics. He was selected from 600-faculty members as the 1987 recipient of the Superintendent’s Award for Instructor of the Year at West Point. Jim was an honor graduate from the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School and is a graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
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As an action officer at Headquarters Marine Corps, he developed speeches and congressional testimony for the Commandant of the Marine Corps and wrote the Marine Corps’ Annual Report to Congress. He served in the Persian Gulf on the Battle Assessment Team. He assumed the duties as the Commanding Officer and Deputy Director of the Marine Corps Institute where he was responsible for managing the center for distance learning that consisted of 150 course developers and instructional system designers for 240 Distance Learning Courses serving 180,000 Marines throughout the world.
When he retired from active duty he began his second career in 1994 as an educator in the Marine Corps Junior ROTC Program. In 2003 Jim served as a “military expert” on Fox 5 NY during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the May of 2005 he was selected as one of 45 Walt Disney Teachers of the year selected from 45,000 nominees. He is a Marine Corps JROTC Instructor in Roselle, NJ and is entering his 24th year as a JROTC Instructor.
He has developed and presented courses on leadership, management, communication skills and project leadership. He has also developed and Uncommon Educator’s Leadership Course which he has presented at Alan November’s annual BLC Conference. He has also developed and presented a Parent Leadership Course.
In 2006 he developed the Marine Civilian Development Program for the former Commandant of the Marine Corps which served over 450 Marines and their families in making the transition and adapting their skills to the business environment. He is also founder of the Veterans Transition Initiative in New Jersey a not for profit organization that also supports Veterans from all services in their transition from active duty. He is presently a founder on the Board of the Veterans Transition Initiative designed to support Veterans in their transition to the business community.
He is presently writing a book on leadership. The title is “Uncommon Leadership is a Common Virtue the story of Veterans who have achieved success in business, government and education and in life.
He has served on the boards of the following foundations:
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Friends of the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center
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The Patrolman Rocco Laurie Foundation
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The Colts Neck Education Foundation
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Monmouth County Crime Stoppers Foundation
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Holiday’s for the Homeless and Underprivileged Foundation
Jim is the father of two daughters Kathryn a graduate of Ramapo College and Lauren a graduate of the University of Rhode Island. He is a resident of Colts Neck, New Jersey.
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