James E. Atkinson, DBA 

Welcome

 

Hello, my name is James Atkinson.  I am a recovering Baby Boomer.

I speak Geek, Good Old Boy, Texan, Finance, Boardroom, Politically Correct, Not So Politically Correct, Cut-to-the-Chase, Accounting, Business, Electronics, Mechanics, Strategic Planning, Bio-Fuel, Alternative Energy, Waste Management, Maritime, Green Energy, Technology; Program Management, Project Management, Military, Navy, & enough words from several non-English languages to find the bathroom no matter where I am.

I am from Houston, Texas, have been around the world a number of times; lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Holland) for 7+ years (total expatriate immersion without any government or company sponsorship), Germany for 20 months, and currently I live in Edna, Texas.

Impatient to see what life and the world had to offer, in December 1970 I quit school my senior year at Aldine Senior High School, left my home on Aldine Mail Route in Houston, Texas with a banjo case and three changes of clothes, and eventually joined the Navy on 7 May 1971.

 

Enjoying the life of a sailor, I spent twenty-plus (20+) years on active duty and two (2) years as an active reservist, was transferred to the Fleet Reserve on 31 May 1993, and fully retired from the U.S. Navy as a Chief Petty Officer (submarines) on 31 May 2001.

From 1993-1999, I went to school and worked a variety of different jobs, and after subcontracting to other companies for a few years, eventually started two companies of my own in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In 2006, a serious downturn in the economy led to the next phase of life with the Department of Defense; where I was blessed with increasingly responsible positions in Germany, Utah, Florida, and finally as the CFO with the Army Corps of Engineers in Galveston Texas until my retirement in August 2017.

Educationally, I am a graduate of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center, have a dual major Associate of Arts and Sciences with emphasis in criminology and journalism from Olympic College, Bremerton, WA., a dual major U.S. and International Studies Bachelor of Arts with emphasis in pre-law and journalism from the University of Washington, a dual Master of Science in Management / International Management and dual Master of Business Administration in Global Business / Executive Master of Business Administration from Echelon University, The Netherlands in cooperation with Johnson and Whales, Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School, Rhode Island, USA, and a Master of Science Computer Information Systems (MScCIS) and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Phoenix.

I am a Certified Defense Financial Manager - Acquisition (CDFM-A), Chartered Asset Manager (CAM), Chartered Economist (ChE) – Department of Defense Financial Management Certification Program Level 3 (DFMCP3), Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Business Financial Manager (DAWIA BUS-FM-1), Master Financial Professional (MFP), Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), Registered Financial Specialist (RFS), and ACTEDS CP-11, Level IV certified (a U.S. Army-specific financial management, resource management, comptroller certification). – As  note, I am also one of only a very small (<0.01%) of Americans who have earned the Dutch honorific “doctorandus" (drs), a Latin academic title awarded to those earning a master's degree from a recognized Dutch graduate school in a non-engineering program, and I was the recipient of the 2008 Network Professional Association (NPA) Award for Professionalism, Professional Excellence and Innovation - Government Category.

In addition to formal college education, over my lifetime I've completed close to a thousand courses on electronics, nuclear power, security, corrections, drug and alcohol abuse counseling, self-defense, six sigma, lean six sigma, project management, strategic planning, organizational behavior, leadership, capability and capacity analysis, statistics, economics, acquisition, contracting, financial management, resource management, auditing, computer science, programming, information management, information assurance, forensics disaster recovery, Microsoft, and A+.

Along with a colorful and interesting military career, I spent (and still spend) a great deal of time trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up; working over the years as an expatriate merchant marine navigator/second captain, Washington State deputy sheriff, bail retrieval agent, in-home care provider for disabled adults, restraint specialist, janitor, fork lift driver, marshal artist, IT Forensics and Data Recovery Specialist (in my own company), Projected Valuation Analyst (in my own company), bartender, doorman, truck driver, and several other not so glamorous things in my lifetime (kennel cleaner, janitor, day laborer, bar back, bar tender).

I was a British Colonel for about 30 seconds of the Yorktown surrender scene in the 1980s mini-series George Washington, and spent a number of years as an amateur musician from the mid 60s to the late 70s (I originally joined the Navy as a musician).

Right now I am both retired military and a retired civil servant as well as a  professional frog kisser (entrepreneur), university professor, and substitute high school teach.

My experience includes preparing and presenting elevator pitch proposals, investor relation packages, subsidy & grant proposals, and initial public offering packages for startups. The level of my experience includes everything from assisting small startups with few resources build and present proposals to a local bank to making presentations to Virgin, Echostar, European Union Framework Programme, NATO, India Department of Ecology, and numerous US government departments in the areas of eco-technology, information technology, and financial management/investment.

I am a professional member of the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org), Association for Financial Professionals (www.afponline.org), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (www.acfe.com/), Association of Government Accountants (www.agacgfm.org), American Society of Military Comptrollers (www.asmconline.org), Network Professionals Association (www.npanet.org), American Association of Financial Management (AAFM), and Association for Information Systems (http://plone.aisnet.org).

Hobby-wise, I love to fence, engage in medieval recreation, practice martial arts, exercise, and be a bit odd.

Last, but not least, as a renal cancer survivor, this is my personal and professional advice:

 

Remember and practice the "Golden Rule"

 

Always be professional. Get up, dress up, show up, and strive to give your very best to everything you do.

 

Time, Patience, and Clear Thought overcome all obstacles.

 

Never forget that nothing is more important than faith in God and family.

James

Aka
 
James E. Atkinson, DBA, MScCIS, MScIM

Aka

Dr James E. Atkinson

Aka

Dr James E. Atkinson, ICC(SS), US Navy (ret)
CDFM-A, DFMCP3, BUS-FM-I, CAM, ChE, CP-11-IV, MCP, MFP, RFS