Colonel Roderick V. James serves as the Commander, 366th Fighter Wing, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The wing is equipped with F-15E and F-15SG aircraft and 4,200 military and civilian personnel that support 18 squadrons to include an F-15SG squadron of the Royal Singapore Air Force. The wing operates the Mountain Home Range Complex with over 9,000 square miles of diverse airspace and 122,000 acres of land that supports two air-to-ground ranges, and 30 electronic combat sites. The fighter wing shares a unique relationship with the U.S. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington and provides aircrew that operate U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers and command the 390th Electronic Combat Squadron.
Colonel James received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and commissioned as an ROTC Det 880 distinguished graduate in 2004. He completed Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard AFB, TX as a distinguished graduate. His first operational F-15E assignment was in the 389th Fighter Squadron in Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Additionally, he served as a formal training unit instructor pilot, squadron weapons officer, headquarters weapons officer and squadron commander. Prior to his current position, Colonel James was the Chief of Combat Operations at the 603d Air Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
He is married to his wife Michelle, and they have three children, Ellie, Declan, and Ian.
Colonel James is a graduate of the United States Air Force Weapons School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Air War College. He is a command pilot with more than 2400 hours in the T-37, T-38A, T-38C, and the F-15E. He participated in numerous joint, coalition and NATO exercises and deployed in support of Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, SPARTAN SHIELD, and NOBLE EAGLE. Notably, he forward deployed to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff in Kyiv as an air integration and joint fires subject matter expert as well as an air to ground weapons employment advisor on behalf of the Security Assistance Group – Ukraine.
EDUCATION
2004 Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.
2004 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
2009 Distinguished Graduate, Commandant’s Leadership Award, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
2012 Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aero University, Goldsboro, North Carolina.
2016 Distinguished Graduate, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Quantico MCB, Virginia.
2016 Master of Military Studies, Military Operational Art, Marine Corps University, Quantico MCB, Virginia.
2022 Master of Strategic Studies, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.