Colonel James M. Brandon was commissioned as an Ordnance Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School, 23 August 1985. His first duty assignment was as a Platoon Leader in the 1st Maintenance Battalion in Boeblingen, West Germany. | His subsequent duty assignments were: Battalion S-1, 1st Maintenance Battalion, West Germany; Company XO, 263rd Maintenance Company, West Germany; Battalion S-2/Assistant S-3, 4-228th Aviation Regiment (SOAR), Soto Cano Airbase, Honduras; Battalion S-4, 4-25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (L), Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii; Alpha Company Commander (UH-1H/UH-60A), 4-25th Aviation Regiment, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii; Brigade S-3 (Air), 25th Aviation Brigade, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii; Executive Officer, Aviation Detachment, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, Camp Smith, Hawaii; Regional Commander, West Point, New York; Battalion S-3 and UH-Lh Instructor Pilot, l-212th Aviation Regiment, Fort Rucker, Alabama; Brigade S-3, Aviation Training Brigade, Fort Rucker, Alabama; Brigade XO, Aviation Training Brigade, Fort Rucker, Alabama, Battalion Commander, 12th Aviation Battalion, Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Military Assistant (Trip Planner) to the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, The Pentagon; Commander, 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan; Chief, Senior Leader Analysis Branch, Department of the Army Inspector General Agency, The Pentagon. | Colonel Brandon's military education includes: The U.S. Army Officer Candidate School, U.S. Army Airborne School, Ordnance Officer Basic Course, U.S. Army Initial Entry Rotary Wing Course (Flight School), Aviation Advance Course, Air Assault School, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, UH-Lh Instructor Pilot Course, UH-60 Helicopter Qualification Course, National War College, Mi-17 Helicopter Qualification Course and The U.S. Army Inspector General Qualification Course.