Episode 37: MG (Ret.) James (Jim) Cravens, Jr. ’66

Major General James J. Cravens Jr., United States Army (Retired)

Jim graduated from North Georgia College in 1966 with a BS degree in Business Administration and was designated a Distinguished Military Graduate and a Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. He was commissioned a Regular Army Second Lieutenant in Artillery (later Air Defense Artillery) on 5 June 1966.

Jim retired from the United States Army on 31 May 1998 after 32 years of active duty. His last assignment was Chief of Staff, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command where he orchestrated the day-to-day efforts of a 1000+ person staff in support of the command’s mission to train soldiers and leaders, develop warfighting requirements and doctrine, and maintain 15 military installations within an annual operating budget of $2.2B. He also synchronized the efforts to redesign the 21st Century Army. Immediately preceding this assignment, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Combat Developments, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command entrusted with overseeing the development of the advanced warfighting experiment process, for realigning the combat development structure organization-wide, and for the early concept development of digitizing the battlefield.

Prior to these assignments, he served a combat tour in Vietnam from March 1970 to March 1971 as an Advisor on Team 55, United States Military Assistance Command, Kien Giang Province, IV Corps. Jim commanded Air Defense Artillery units at every level culminating with his assignment as the Commanding General, US Army Air Defense Artillery Center and School where he provided senior leadership for the Army’s second largest installation comprised of 20,500 soldiers and civilians and an annual budget of $260M. As the Commanding General he was responsible for training, doctrine, combat and materiel development, and leader development of the Air Defense Artillery Force. He provided executive level direction over the development of advanced air defense warfighting systems requirements (Patriot PAC-3, THAAD, and MEADS) and supervised the formulation of the air and missile defense operational concepts for the 21st Century Army. He simultaneously served as the Commandant of the Air Defense Artillery School and as the Chief of Air Defense Artillery. The soldiers and leaders who received institutional training during his tenure as Commandant served in key battalion and brigade leadership positions during the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom and subsequent operations in Afghanistan. Before this assignment, he was the Deputy Commanding General of the Air Defense Artillery Center and School and the Assistant Commandant of the Air Defense Artillery School.

His other key assignment as a General Officer was as Director Requirements, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, HQDA, where he coordinated and supervised the efforts of the Department of the Army staff in developing requirements for, and delivery of, critical air defense artillery, communications, and logistics systems to units during the 1991 Gulf War (Desert Storm).

After military retirement, Jim served in the defense industry from 1998 to 2009. For the first 6 years, he was the Director, PAC-3 International Business Development at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, where he was solely responsible for developing worldwide business opportunities for the PAC-3 Missile and its associated Ground Support Equipment. The PAC-3 missile is the follow-on to the Patriot missile that destroys ballistic missile threats to US interests. Concurrently, he was the Co-Managing Director of GLVS, a Joint Venture between Lockheed Martin and Germany’s EADS/LFK, responsible for managing German production of PAC-3 Missile components as part of a German PAC-3 Offset Program.

Subsequently, he served for 5 years as the President of MEADS International, the tri-national organization responsible for developing the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), and as the Program Director for the MEADS system. At its apex, MEADS International was comprised of over 2,000 American, German, and Italian engineers and administrative and logistics staff members. In the latter capacity, he led the $3.4B MEADS Design and Development effort for the next-generation air and missile defense system that was funded and co-developed by the United States, Germany, and Italy, during which a successful System Requirements Review and Preliminary Design Review were achieved.

Jim retired from Lockheed Martin Corporation on 31 March 2009 and continued service to the corporation as both a part-time employee and consultant until November 2021.

He served as the Chair of the Governance Committee on the University of North Georgia Alumni Association Board during the period 2018-2021. He orchestrated a comprehensive update of the Association Board Bylaws; development and implementation of a Board Member Selection Policy; creation of a Board Turnover Plan; development of a Board Assessment Policy; and development of a Board Action Schedule.

Jim has served on the Corps Advisory Council (CAC) since 2017. He was the Council Chair during the period 2020-2023 when the CAC played a prominent role in helping generate $5M in private funding that led to full funding by the Georgia State Legislature of the Wynne-Mathews Military Science Center.

Jim holds a Master of Science Degree from Clemson University (1968). He is also a graduate of the National War College and the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Legion of Merit (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Meritorious Service Medal (4 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), and the Gold Cross of Honor of the German Federal Armed Forces.

Jim is a member of the University of North Georgia Hall of Fame and the Air Defense Artillery Hall of Fame. He received the El Paso City Conquistador Award recognizing distinguished service to the city of El Paso, Texas. Jim is also a recipient of the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award given to Eagle Scouts who have distinguished themselves in service to the nation and community. Of 2.7+ million Eagle Scouts, less than 2,000 are recipients of the award.

Jim is married to the former Jo Beth Maret (North Georgia College 1965) of Hartwell, Georgia. They have two children, Jay and Tonya, both graduates of Clemson University. One grandson, J.R., is also a graduate of Clemson University, and another, Cole, is a student at Clemson University. Their younger brother, Lincoln, has his sights set on following his older brothers.