James C. King

James C. King (born 18 March 1946) is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General. A career Military Intelligence officer, he served on active duty from 1968 to 2001. At the time of his retirement he was serving as the Director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, one of the intelligence agencies of the United States Intelligence Community.

Education King earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from Utah State University and was a distinguished military graduate through the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. He holds a Masters of Science in Public Administration from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. His professional military education included completion of the Signal Officer Basic Course, the Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.

Military career Company grade assignments Upon being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in Military Intelligence (MI), King was first assigned to the Army Security Agency (ASA) Field Station in Hakata, Japan. In that assignment he served as a Company Commander, S1, and S3. His following assignment was to the Republic of Vietnam where he commanded the 509th Radio Research Group. His unit was responsible for tracking North Vietnamese forces during the end of American participation in the Vietnam War. He subsequently served in staff positions at the National Security Agency (NSA) and in the 307th ASA Battalion in Germany.

Field grade assignments King served two assignments at U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, with stint in between in Germany commanding the 307th MI Battalion. His last assignment at PERSCOM was as Chief, Military Intelligence Branch. King went on to serve as Chief of Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition; Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Department of the Army Staff in June 1989. King then went on to command the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade in Germany. After command, he returned to the Army Staff and served as Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Intelligence. MZM was renamed Athena Innovative Solutions, eventually coming under the ownership of Veritas Capital. King stayed on as chief executive officer at Athena. Athena was bought by CACI in 2007.

King was a staff member of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. He served as a commissioner on the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq. King has also served on the boards of Gestalt, LLC. and Salient CRGT.

Accolades and decorations King's awards and decorations include:

James King seamount is named after him.

King was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in 2006.

Utah States University Alumnus of the Year 2016.