biography

Jim Rich started a military career by enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1957 where he served four years as a Rescue and Survival Instructor.

After discharge he graduated in 1966 from the University of Nevada-Reno with a BS degree and commissioned as a 2LT in the U.S. Army. Jim attended Infantry Officers Basic Course and Parachute school at Fort Benning, Georgia. His first assignment was with the 4th Armor Division in Germany where he was a Platoon Leader and Company Commander of a Mechanized Infantry Company.

Upon assignment to Vietnam he became Company Commander, B Company, 720th MP Battalion.

CPT Rich commanded the company during the 23 February 1969 Post Tet Offensive attack against Long Binh Post. It was during this attack that the members of the B Company ambush and recon teams were credited with the disruption of the first wave of the attack by the 274th North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Regiment of the 5 NVA Division assault against the southern perimeter of the post resulting in their ultimate defeat.

After that assignment he moved to the 92nd MP Battalion and became Provost Marshal, Vung Tau Area.

After Viet Nam subsequent assignments included: command of a training company in the 4th AIT Brigade (MP); AC of S-G2, Strategic Communications Command-Pacific and Far East; and Battalion Commander, HQ Battalion, Fort Lee, Virginia. He retired from the Army in 1982.

From 1982 to 2002 Jim was employed in various roles for government contract security operations. Those roles included: Security Training Manager, Department of Energy (DOE) Strategic Petroleum Reserve; Assistant Project Manager, DOE, Oak Ridge, TN; and Security Consultant at DOE nuclear weapons complexes throughout the U.S.

In 1999 he was promoted to Region Vice President-Eastern Region, responsible for the eastern half of the U.S., Pinkerton Government Service, Inc. and a Corporate Officer. Jim semi-retired from Pinkerton Government services, Inc. in 2002, and remains on retainer as Vice President-Special Projects.