INDIANS

 

Senior Army Instructor - Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (R) James A. Mosser

Lieutenant Colonel Mosser is a native of Minnesota and joined the Army National Guard immediately after his 17th birthday in September 1983 where he served as a TOW/DRAGON Missile Repairman achieving the rank of Sergeant.  He attended Army Basic Combat Training between his junior and senior year of high school at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Advanced Individual Training at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where he graduated at the top of his class.  He was commissioned from the ROTC program as an Armor Second Lieutenant from St. Cloud State University in May of 1988 where he received a Bachelor of Science degree.

    Prior to serving on active duty, LTC Mosser served as a 2LT in the Minnesota National Guard’s 1-194th Cavalry Squadron as a Scout Platoon Leader, Support Platoon Leader and Detachment Commander.  He was selected to serve with the 2nd Infantry Division G-3 Plans Section in early 1990 at Camp Casey, South Korea for the Team Spirit Exercise.  After completion of the Armor Officer’s Basic Course, where he graduated as the First Honor Graduate, he went on to attend the Scout Platoon Leader’s Course and the Tank Commander’s Certification Course. 

    His first active duty assignment was to the 3rd Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Division in Bamberg, Germany as a Tank Platoon Leader in June of 1990.  During combat in OPERATION DESERT STORM, then 2LT Mosser was teamed with 7/6 Infantry as the Task Force mine breeching element and the lead platoon during four separate battles.  His platoon led their Brigade in destroying 13 Iraqi APCs, two tanks, and multiple artillery pieces culminating during the Battle of Medina Ridge.  His platoon also destroyed various bunker complexes and took over 50 prisoners of war.

    After DESERT STORM, LTC Mosser served three more years in Germany in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and culminated when he was chosen as a 1LT promotable to serve as the Battalion S-3 of a 1000 Soldier Corps Support Battalion.  He personally developed the unit’s first simultaneous ARTEP program at the Hoehenfels MOUT site and the German Infantry School site at Hamelburg.  During the exercise, he also initiated an AAR process that used nightly video clips of key events that substantially improved the tactical readiness of the battalion.  He was selected to command the largest non-divisional maintenance company in Europe but was forced to return to the US to attend the Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course (CLOAC) at Fort Lee, Virginia due to having spent almost four and a half years in Germany.

    After CLOAC graduation in April 1995, LTC Mosser was assigned to Camp Red Cloud (CRC), Korea as the Director of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security (DPTMS) while simultaneously serving as the Commander of Headquarters/Headquarters Company (HHC) of Area One West.  His duties included coordinating closely with local Korean Army units to develop the first base defense plan for CRC.  He organized their first base defense exercise that included eight separate installations.  He also conducted the first security assessments of those eight local installations and implemented measures to test the effectiveness of the Korean Security Guards.

    After his tour in Korea, LTC Mosser returned to Fort Lewis, Washington in April 1996 where he served as the Maintenance Management Branch Chief in the 44th Corps Support Battalion.  He was selected over many other Captains to serve as the commander of the 178th Maintenance Company that supported the entire 35th ADA PATRIOT missile Brigade.  He successfully moved the company from Fort Lewis to Fort Bliss, Texas where he served as the company commander for 19 months.  After command, LTC Mosser moved to Camp Shelby, Mississippi where he served as the 2-346th Forward Support Battalion Executive Officer and lead logistics Observer Controller/Trainer for two years.

    LTC Mosser was then selected to a nominative position as the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade S-4 and Secure Contracting Officer in Yongson, Korea where he served two tours from April 2001 to April 2003.  During that time he served as the brigade’s senior logistician for two multi-national UFL and two RSOI/Foal Eagle exercises.  He also served as the Brigade Engineer where he was instrumental in designing new Brigade Headquarters, four new Battalion Headquarters facilities, and the Brigade Dining Facility.  During his watch, the Brigade also won multiple Department of the Army level awards for maintenance and supply management.

    Upon return to the United States, he was again assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi as the 2-346th Forward Support Battalion Executive Officer.  He was selected to serve as the 3rd Brigade, 87th Division S-4 where he spearheaded efforts to design, resource, and construct four Forward Operating Bases, five MOUT villages, two live fire shoot houses, and a multitude of other training venues.  Based upon his performance, then MAJ Mosser was selected to serve as the 3rd Brigade, 87th Division Executive Officer, which is normally held by a senior LTC.  He was cited by the Divison Commander as the best Brigade X-O in the entire Division. 

    LTC Mosser departed in July 2005 to attend the NATO Staff Officers Course in Washington DC, followed by serving as the Corps G-4 Chief of Operations of the NATO Rapid Deployment Corps – Turkey in Istanbul, which consisted of 11 NATO member nations.  His office had over 50 Officers and NCOs from eight nations and his supervisor was a German Brigadier General.  He briefed international officers on a daily basis and developed the logistical support plans to move over 1,000 international troops and equipment by land, sea and air for NATO’s annual exercise.    

    The following two years found LTC Mosser back at Camp Shelby where he was selected to serve as the Brigade S-3, overseeing the mobilization and training of two Brigade Combat Teams and over 20,000 troops bound for Iraq and Afghanistan.  His next assignment was to the 167th Theater Sustainment Command (a unit consisting of active Army and National Guard Soldiers) where he served as the Deputy Distribution Management Center (DMC) Chief.  He developed, organized, trained, and led their first 15 Soldier rapidly deployable JRSOI team that conduct two actual deployments in support of natural disasters.  He also served as the senior active duty officer, coordinating all administrative, training, and logistical support for 70 active duty Soldiers.

    LTC Mosser then volunteered for a one year Afghanistan deployment where he served as the  Chief, Afghan National Police (ANP) Strategic Plans and Requirements Section, CJ4 Logistics Directorate, Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A) from 13 July 2008 to 12 July 2009.

    Displaying extraordinary awareness, he realized that in order to effectively support the ANP in the field and establish formal accountability procedures for ANP equipment, site visits were necessary to gauge the effectiveness of CSTC-A support.   In order to accomplish his mission, he courageously participated in 150 tactical convoys, while leading 83 as the convoy commander.  He also participated in 17 fixed and rotary wing missions, six dismounted movements, and four MRAP convoys.  He covered over 1,400 miles where insurgent contact was possible and the threat of hostile fire, IEDs and VBIEDs were ever-present.  He conducted site visits in 10 Provinces, including Helmand, Wardak, Khowst, Paktya, and Paktika.  LTC Mosser participated in a Battlefield Circulation of the Border Patrol’s 2nd Zone, where he personally conducted weapon and vehicle inventories of three Kandaks, further establishing accurate accountability while mentoring Afghan Kandak logistics officers in weapons accountability.  LTC Mosser spearheaded equipping the ANP with over 1,800 pieces of rolling stock, over 34,000 weapons, over 56 million rounds of ammunition, and OCIE for over 16,000 ANP recruits valued in excess of $262 million.  He immediately became the sought after authority and guiding mentor for all matters relating to ANP logistics. LTC Mosser was also involved in the mentorship of senior Afghan Ministery of Interior (MoI) logistics leaders and Afghan General Officers.  His efforts led to vastly improved MoI coordination between key ANP logisticians at the MoI Headquarters and their counterparts at the regional level and below.  Through his mentorship and with cooperation from MoI logistical General Officers, he also obtained the first ever Afghan Uniformed Police district level accountability of weapons and vehicles for the entire country.  In order to obtain MoI consensus, LTC Mosser personally briefed their Minister on the 2008 winter resupply program.  He then led a team that delivered the first timely push of critical winter items throughout the country before the onset of adverse weather.  His program became the model for all future distribution methods of critical supplies.  Anticipating future crisis’, LTC Mosser obtained a contract for fixed and rotary wing aircraft that greatly enhanced the ability to rapidly resupply ANP forces engaged in combat operations.  During the attack on CSTC-A headquarters in Kabul on 17 January 2009, his convoy barely missed a large Vehicle Borne IED.  His combat injuries included later diagnosis of Mild Tramatic Brain Injury directly attributed to being so close to the blast zone.

    His next assignment was to the 167th Theater Sustainment Command at Fort McClellan, Alabama where he served as the G-5 (Chief of Plans).  He was the senior planner for national level coordination with multiple agencies as he developed logistical support plans that included Defense Support to Civilian Authorities, Pandemic Influenza, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Consequence Management support.

    LTC James Mosser then served as a CBRN Planner in the Homeland Defense Branch for the Director of Logistics and Engineering (J4), Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. He was a principal advisor to the Director on all aspects of logistics planning in support of Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civil Authorities including humanitarian and disaster requirements in the event of a CBRN related incident.  He was also part of the Command’s CBRN Response Operational Planning Team (OPT).  In his position he was  responsible for J4 CBRN OPT functions which was to synchronize stakeholder coordination and planning (including National agencies such as FEMA and DLA), and improving speed of response in order to enable the command to provide timely, seamless, and effective CBRN Response Enterprise management and advocacy.

    Following two years at NORTHCOM, LTC Mosser volunteered for his 10th year overseas in Liberia, Africa from October 2012 to November 2013.  He was selected to serve as the Chief Civil-Military Coordination (CIMIC)  Officer (Civil Affairs) for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  He was also chosen to serve as the US Contingent Commander/Senior US Military Observer (SUSMO) of the largest US military element of any current UN mission.  He was consistently cited as the best leader within the eight US missions.  His duties included representing UNMIL with coordination between over 70 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UNMIL Contingent military units numbering over 8,000 personnel and from 44 nations, and Government of Liberia agencies.  He frequently met with and briefed their Secretaries of Education and Public Works, among many others.  He instituted a unique approach to CIMIC that was more robust and complex than earlier humanitarian type of relief.  His approach emphasized support to capacity development with more effects based management.  The concept gained wide attention from peace operations institutions in Europe and Africa.  He personally obtained the budget, materials, and implemented the UN’s first ever Model Village and Model Orphanage programs with the intent of enabling those entities to become self-sustaining within a one year period.  His articles and program details gained visibility at the UN headquarters level.

    Upon his return from Africa, LTC Mosser was assigned back to the NORTHCOM Joint Logistics Operations Center (JLOC).  Contributing until the end of his service, he volunteered to go forward to Anchorage for the national Ardent Sentry exercise where he used his expertise in earthquake response planning to assist the Alaskan Command’s logistical section.  After being selected for two consecutive years on the alternate battalion command list, he retired from active duty on 1 October 2014.  He completed over 27 years of active duty and over 31 years of combined active and National Guard service as of that date.

    LTC Mosser is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and is the co-author of Cost Avoidance:  Protecting Precious Resources in Theater Immersion, which was published in the May-June 2006 issue of Army Logistician Magazine.  He continues work on a children book series titled “Mad at Dad” which will be published by Tate Publishing in the near future.  He’s also been the subject of eight UNMIL magazine articles and currently holds the Colorado state turkey record which was chronicled in his article published in the annual 2011 Colorado Outdoors Magazine.  LTC Mosser and his wife Patricia have two sons, Jesse James, nine years old and Wyatt, seven years old.  He’s active in his sons’ Cub Scouting where he serves his community as their Wolf and Webelos Den Leader.

 

EDUCATION:

1984     Army Basic Combat Training, Ft Leonardwood, MO

1985     TOW/DRAGON Missile Repair Course (Honor Graduate), Redstone Arsenal, AL

1988     Armor Officer Basic Course (First Honor Graduate), Ft Knox, KY

1988     Scout Platoon Leader’s Course (SPLC), Ft Knox, KY

1989     Bachelor of Science Degree, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN

1990     Tank Commander Certification Course (TC3), Ft Knox, KY

1992     Ordnance Officer’s Branch Transition Course, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD

1994     Company Commander’s Course, Vilseck, Germany

1995     Combined Logistics Officer’s Advanced Course, Ft Lee, VA

1997     Combined Armed Services Staff School (CAS3), Ft Leavenworth, KS

1999     Observer/Controller Certification Course, National Training Center, Ft Irwin, CA          

2003     Army Command and General Staff College (correspondence), Ft Leavenworth, KS

2005     NATO Staff Officer’s Course, National Defense University, Washington DC

2007    Defense Support to Civilian Authorities (DSCA) resident course, Atlanta, GA

2012     (Ongoing) Master of Science Human Resources Management (MSHRM) Trident University

2013    Security Driving Course, Winchester, WV

2013    Tactical Weapons Training Course, Winchester, WV

2013    National Association EMT Tactical Combat Casualty Care Providers Course, Quantico, VA

2013    Mounted & Dismounted Serveillance Detection Training Course, Washington DC

 

ACTIVE DUTY AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:

Bronze Star Medal (two awards)

Defense Meritorious Service Medal (three awards)

Meritorious Service Medal (six awards)

Army Commendation Medal (four awards)

Joint Service Achievement Medal

Army Achievement Medal (eight awards)

Army Reserve Achievement Medal

National Defense Service Medal (two awards)

Southwest Asia Service Medal (three campaign stars)

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (one arrowhead & one campaign star)

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal

Korean Defense Service Medal (three tours)

Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal

Armed Forces Reserve Medal

Army Service Ribbon

Army Reserve Overseas Training Ribbon

Overseas Service Ribbon (numeral seven)

NATO Medal with ISAF Bar

Saudi Arabian Liberation Medal

Kuwait Liberation Medal

UN Medal for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)

Army Parachutist Badge

 

STATE AND OTHER AWARDS:

Valorous Unit Award (3-35th Armor for Operation Desert Storm)

Joint Meritorious Unit Award (CSTC-A for OEF)

Joint Meritorious Unit Award (USNORTHCOM)

Minnesota Good Conduct Medal (for Enlisted Service)

Minnesota Service Medal

Minnesota Distinguished Recruiting Ribbon (awarded as a Sergeant)

Mississippi Magnolia Medal

Order of Saint George (US Army Armor Award)

Order of Saint Maurice (US Army Infantry Award)

Order of Samuel Sharpe (US Army Ordnance Award)

Order of Saint Barbara (US Army Air Defense Artillery Award)

Honorary Kentucky Colonel (Governor Award)

Honorary Alabama Colonel (Governor Award)

Driver’s Badge (M1 Abrams Tank, M998 HMMWV, M151 “Jeep”)

Expert Qualification Badge (M16, 9mm Pistol, Grenade)