Lieutenant Colonel James J. Carafano, PhD, U.S. Army

Lieutenant Colonel James J. Carafano, PhD

U.S. Army, Retired

Inducted 2023

James J. Carafano was born in 1955 in New York City, NY. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1977 and was commissioned as a Field Artilleryman.  Carafano later earned an MA in British and Early Modern European history from Georgetown University, an MA in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College in Carlisle, PA, and a PhD in Diplomatic History from Georgetown University. He completed the Lance Missile Course, the Field Artillery Target Acquisition and Survey Course, and Nuclear and Chemical Target Planning Course. He commanded Alpha Battery 6/33 FA, taught history at West Point then served in VII Corps FSE and as a DIVARTY S-3. He also served as a member of Task Force  2000. He was known as a prolific writer and served as the speechwriter for the COS of the Army, and Executive Editor of Joint Force Quarterly. He retired in 2002 after 25 years of active service.  Since his retirement, Carafano has taught at Mount Saint Mary College in New York and served as a fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He has been an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and as of 2011, he serves as a visiting professor at the National Defense University at Fort Lesley McNair in Washington and at Georgetown. Dr. Carafano joined The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. in 2013 as an adjunct professor. He is a member of the National Academies Board on Army Science and Technology, the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and is a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. Carafano is an advisory board member of Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and local people and partners they seek to help. He co-authored the homeland security report, Homeland Security 3.0: Building a National Enterprise to Keep America Safe, Free, and Prosperous. He also co-wrote A New Strategy for Real Immigration Reform. In 2013, Carafano co-produced a short documentary, Veteran Nation, about the experiences of veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The film was created in partnership with Cold Water Media and Esprit de Corps and screened at The Heritage Foundation in February 2013. Carafano is also a Contributing Editor to the online national security publication 1945. He serves as the Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and is a renowned academic and historian.