PROFESSOR OF MILITARY SCIENCE:
LTC James Spence

Current Assignment: Battalion Commander, MSIV Class Instructor

Biography:

LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES SPENCE (U.S. ARMY), a native of Illinois, entered active duty in 1989 following graduation from the U.S. Military Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace Systems).  LTC Spence was commissioned as an Infantry officer and completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course and U.S. Army Ranger school enroute to his first assignment with the 4th Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, where he served as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Support Platoon Leader, and Rifle Company Executive Officer.  During this tour among other exercises, LTC Spence led elements in joint exercises with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force and the Army of the Republic of Korea on exercises Orient Shield and Team Spirit.  LTC Spence volunteered for Special Forces duty and completed the selection course in 1993.  By 1995, having completed the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course and Thai Language training, he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis Washington.  LTC Spence served two and one half years as Detachment Commander, Operational Detachment Alpha-196, then as 1^st Special Forces Group Assistant Operations Officer, then Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company.  During this tour he commanded or supported numerous training deployments and joint exercises with the Korean, Royal Thai, and Malaysian special operations forces.  In 2000, LTC Spence was assigned to Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC) at Camp Smith, Hawaii, serving as Chief, Ground Operations Branch, Current Operations Division and executing joint training exercises with the Royal Australian Army and Army of the Republic of Korea.  LTC Spence was then assigned as Chief, U.S. Pacific Command Special Operations Counterdrug and Demining Programs.  LTC Spence worked with the Royal Thai Army, Thai Border Patrol Police and Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau, executing training and equipping programs to empower affected nations to manage smuggling of illicit narcotics.  LTC Spence also served as Humanitarian Demining Program Manager for SOCPAC, working throughout Southeast Asia, providing U.S. assistance to nations seeking to clean up unexploded ordnance and landmines from the multiple past conflicts in the region.  This position included providing oversight and support to demining programs for the Laotian People’s Democratic Republic’s humanitarian demining center (UXO LAO), the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) and the Army of Vietnam’s Bomb and Mine Committee (BOMICO).

In 2002, LTC Spence was assigned as a student at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he completed the one year mid-career course for Army and sister service officers focusing on joint and multi-national land warfare operations.  During this year, LTC Spence also enrolled in and completed most of his Masters in Business Administration from Webster University, concluding the degree after several deployments, in 2008.

Upon graduation from USACGSC in 2003, LTC Spence was assigned to 2^nd Battalion, 1^st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Washington, where he assumed command of C Company, 2^nd Battalion.  LTC Spence commanded C Company for two years, during which time the company deployed its headquarters and/or assigned ODAs or “A-Teams” to Nepal, Bangladesh, Korea and Thailand, as well as a full company rotation to Afghanistan.  In Afghanistan, the company executed operations across Khowst, Paktia and Paktika provinces, including the border with Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.  The company’s assigned A-Teams worked throughout these provinces, training Afghan military forces, executing security patrols and capturing several dozen key enemy individuals.  Most importantly, like all forces in the region, the unit worked to integrate regional elected, appointed and tribal officials into a coherent government, focused on providing security and stability to the Afghan population.

Upon return from Operation Enduring Freedom, LTC Spence was assigned back to Fort Leavenworth at the Battle Command Training Program, where he served from 2005-2007 as an Observer Trainer (coach-evaluator) for pre-deployment exercises for Army divisions enroute to Iraq and Afghanistan.  LTC Spence was then assigned as faculty to the Command and General Staff College where he served from 2007-2009 as a Special Operations Instructor; and then as Chief, Special Operations Forces Education Element, overseeing the Special Operations curriculum for the U.S. Army’s special operations branches of Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces, as well as all officers of other branches on assignment to special operations units. 

LTC Spence’s awards & decorations include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters, the GWOT Expeditionary and Service Medals, and the Humanitarian Service Ribbon.  He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Special Forces Qualification Course, Thai Language school and the Army Command and General Staff Officer Course.  His military schools include Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger, Special Forces Qualification Course, Static Line Jumpmaster, Military Freefall Parachutist, Special Operations Training and the Command and General Staff Officers Courses.

LTC Spence and his wife Lisa have two children, Allison and Nathan.

 

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