COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Project Manager, Close Combat Systems within Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition
TITLE: Product director demilitarization
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 23
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Advanced, program management; Practitioner, engineering and technical management; Practitioner, business – financial management
EDUCATION: M.S. in technology management, Stevens Institute of Technology; B.S. in industrial engineering, Lehigh University
AWARDS: Civilian Service Achievement Medal, Project Director Joint Ammunition and Weapon Systems Establishment (2024); Achievement Medal for Civilian Service, Iowa Army Ammunition Plant Lead (2022); Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, 40 mm Grenade Production (2016); Achievement Medal for Civilian Service, Precision Guided Mortar Munition Milestone B (2003)

James C. Terhune Jr.

by Holly Comanse

For James Terhune, the keys to a long, successful career in acquisition are a willingness to be proactive, persistent and patient. That means asking questions when you don’t know the answer, being quick to respond whenever there’s a call for volunteers and working as long as necessary until the job you really want opens. “Asking questions should not be looked on as a lack of intelligence, but rather a quest for knowledge or a verification of a task required,” Terhune said.

Terhune, who is the product director demilitarization for Project Manager, Close Combat Systems, is responsible for overseeing life cycle management for demilitarization for the DOD. He has been in his current position since 2022. Some of his tasks include research, development, testing and engineering projects, conventional and missile demilitarization, ammunition peculiar equipment and reclamation, recycling and reuse. The DOD munitions in the demilitarization consist of unserviceable, obsolete or excess conventional munitions primarily consisting of bombs, mines, artillery projectiles, rockets and missiles.

Demilitarization encompasses a large range of activities, including providing workload to the DOD Organic Industrial Base and commercial partners with limited and fluctuating budgets, developing new capabilities for the demilitarization of complex items, characterizing older items in the stockpile with limited existing information and educating outside organizations on demilitarization processes.

Terhune explained that minimizing the demilitarization stockpile enables the efficient use of finite space for service production items movement and storage. “My greatest satisfaction is making a tangible, measurable effect on the current stockpile status,” he said. “This includes providing capabilities to our allies while saving taxpayer dollars. Additionally, we’re laying the foundation for future demilitarization through new technology development, optimizing capabilities and educating decision makers on the significance of demilitarization.”

Terhune has no shortage of work experience, and it’s been a long and winding road to get where he is now. He began his career at the Mortars Office at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey in 1990. He spent more than 10 years supporting Mortars as a contractor, and waited out a 10-year hiring freeze, before he was hired as an Army civilian in 2001.

Terhune became a project management officer for the Office of the Product Manager for Medium Cannon Caliber, Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PM MAS), responsible for managing the life cycle for 20, 25 and 30 mm ammunition programs. He was the 40 mm production project lead for the Project Director for Medium Caliber, PM MAS responsible for 40 mm High Velocity and Low Velocity ammunition production programs, and later the 40 mm research, development, testing and engineering project lead.

From July 2020 to May 2021, Terhune participated in Defense Acquisition University’s Senior Service College Fellowship. The course expanded his leadership and communication skills. “The relationships I made, the techniques I learned and the advice I received enabled me to become a better leader capable of taking on greater assignments,” Terhune said. He highly recommends participation in Senior Service College to other Army acquisition employees and is always happy to share his experience with colleagues.

In his work experience, the most important lesson he has learned is to avoid indecisiveness. He believes you must use your personal expertise and experiences to make decisions because often you will not have all the information required to make the perfect decision. “You cannot let the fear of making a mistake or the wrong decision paralyze you or your organization. You need to make the best decision with the information you have at the time and reassess as necessary,” Terhune said.

When he’s not working, Terhune can be found tailgating or watching sports. “Both tailgating operations and my work require detailed coordination and teamwork,” Terhune said. He also enjoys barbequing with a craft beer in hand. “I take pride that my efforts have directly and indirectly supported the warfighter over the last 35 years as a support contractor and civilian employee.”

“Faces of the Force” highlights the success of the Army Acquisition Workforce through the power of individual stories. Profiles are produced by the Army AL&T magazine team, working closely with public affairs officers to feature Soldiers and civilians serving in various Army acquisition disciplines. For more information, or to nominate someone, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/publications/army-alt-submissions/.

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