Board of Directors
Retired OSD Senior Executive & Marine COLONEL
James Durham began serving on the 11th Hour Service Board of Directors in 2019 after 40+ years of experience in or at Joint Advanced Concepts, USD(AT&L); Strategic Analysis, USD(AT&L); Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC); Senior Aviation Analyst, OSD PA&E; Marine aviator, fighter pilot, carrier aviator. Independent Defense and Business consultation.
Office of the Secretary of Defense Experience:
As a Senior acquisition official, Mr. Durham played a critical role in initial development of many weapons systems such as F/A-18EF, F/A-18G, JAST/Joint Strike Fighter, Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, as well as weapons such as the JAGM missile. He led many DoD level reviews such as QDR groups, Program Reviews and Congressionally directed reviews such as The Kosovo After-Action report and the Desert Storm After-Action report to Congress. Mr. Durham also led Joint reviews of Electronic Warfare Systems and Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense (JIAMD). He led development of the only DoD Joint Roadmap, the JIAMD Roadmap. He was the Senior AT&L official on many Defense Science Boards (DSBs), including Advanced Autonomy and other classified programs. Mr. Durham was often involved in SECDEF and DepSECDEF briefings on advanced aircraft and weapons systems. As Director Joint Advanced Concepts, he often visited service development centers such as AFRL, NAVAIR and SPAWAR to participate in program and concept reviews. He also had purview over the complete set of industry cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), often visiting industry development centers to review advanced concepts and techniques.
Marine Flying Experience:
Mr. Durham was designated a Naval Aviator in 1971 and has over 4,500 flight hours in tactical fighters such as F-4 and F/A-18. He has over a hundred arrested landings flying from aircraft carriers Nimitz, Forrestal and Independence. He is a graduate of US Navy Strike Leader Attack Training Syllabus (SLATS), USN HARM/EW school as well as USMC Air Combat Tactics Instructor course. He was an Adversary Instructor Pilot for two years, flying many simulated air combat missions.
Educational Experience:
Mr Durham is a 1967 graduate of Rhodes College with a BS (with Honors) in Physics. He was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to Norway. He holds three Masters Degrees:
Cand Mag from University of Oslo 1969 (Physics); MS in Aeronautical Systems, University of West Florida 1973; MS in National Security Strategy, Naval War College 1992.
He is also a graduate of the MIT Seminar XXI study in National Security (2003), The National Security Studies Program, Syracuse University (2005) and The National Security Studies Seminar, George Washington University (2007).
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