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James Zumwalt is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam war, the 1989 intervention into Panama and Desert Storm.

Lt Colonel Zumwalt writes extensively on foreign policy and defense issues, having written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines, including USA Today, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Washington Times, The LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, The San Diego Union, Parade magazine and various online publications.

Jim's Op-Eds have been consistently posted to American Thinker, World Net Daily, Stars & Stripes, and Breitbart, etc.  He's a "GO TO" source.

His articles have covered issues of major importance, often providing readers with unique perspectives that have never appeared elsewhere. This has resulted, on several occasions, in his work being cited by members of Congress and entered into the US Congressional Record.

While the CPD, in an earlier manifestation was a non-partisan organization with one goal ”to stiffen American resolve to confront the challenge presented by terrorism and the ideologies that drive it,“ the group more recently re-emerged with a goal to educate and inform American citizens and policymakers about the existential threats presented by the Peoples Republic of China.

LtCol Zumwalt is featured as one of 56 US military professionals in “Leading the Way,” a book by best-selling author Al Santoli, which documents the most critical moments of the interviewees' combat experiences from Vietnam to Somalia. 

He has also been cited in numerous other books and publications, including TIME magazine, for unique insights based on his research on the Vietnam war, North Korea (a country he visited ten times and about which he is able to share some very telling observations) and Desert Storm.

LtCol Zumwalt received a presidential appointment to be the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, in which capacity he served from 1991-1992. 

Because of his expertise, he also was asked to participate in a very unique educational project conducted at a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he voluntarily contributed time and resources to educating students on issues of international importance.

LtCol Zumwalt is the author of three books: (1) Bare Feet, Iron Will: Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam’s Battlefields, (2) Living the Juche Lie: North Korea’s Kim Dynasty, and (3) Doomsday Iran: The Clock is Ticking as well as a chapter contributor to two books on leadership by Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic, USN (Ret).

LtCol Zumwalt speaks on many of the issues about which he writes, including lessons learned from the Vietnam war based on interviews with those who served on the opposite side of the battlefield. 

In interviewing nearly 200 former North Vietnamese veterans (including their celebrated top General, Nguyen Vo Giap), he gained crucial insights as to how a fighting force, weak in technology but strong in commitment and ingenuity, was able to wage an effective war against a vastly superior high-tech enemy. 

Based on his personal interrogations of dozens of senior enemy officers during Desert Storm, he is able to contrast his findings of the Vietnamese mindset with that of Iraqi fighting forces which, while stronger in technology but weaker in commitment and ingenuity, proved unable to meet the same challenge.

LtCol Zumwalt can provide key observations on the Middle East and on the global war on terrorism as well as the tangled causes of Islamic extremism. He speaks about potential conflicts of the near future that are posed by the thinking, aims, and goals of North Korea, Iran, Russia and China.

Moving just "a bit slower" in his seventies, James Zumwalt still strives to make a humanitarian contribution when and where he can. This led him to spend most of April 2022 at the Ukrainian border assisting a non-governmental group relocate orphans out of the lethal impact of harm’s way.

The Zumwalt family has a tradition of military service going back to the defining days and battles of the American Revolution. 

LtCol Zumwalt is the son of one of the 20th-century’s great naval figures, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.  The Admiral appeared on the cover of TIME magazine (21 December 1970) and was recognized in 2018 by Military Officer magazine as one of the one hundred most impactful military leaders over the previous 100 years.

LtCol Zumwalt also speaks about leadership and the characteristics thereof that contributed to his father’s tremendous success. The Navy honored the Admiral with a most unique ship—the world’s first stealth destroyer--now bearing his name.

He has spoken at numerous high schools and colleges, was a Veterans Day guest speaker at the Reagan Library, and has spoken to both civilian and military groups. The latter includes the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 2019, LtCol Zumwalt was honored by his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, receiving the NROTC’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is the father of two adult children.

His daughter is a prosecutor in Maryland while his son served two tours in Iraq as a Navy bomb technician (defusing more than 150 explosive devices) to become the fourth generation of Zumwalts to earn the Bronze Star before moving to the less mortal profession of insurance adjusting.

These days, LtCol Zumwalt and his wife, Karin, reside in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. They are the adoptive parents of two young and very energetic boys who keep them active.  He has much to be thankful for.