About James Sfayer
Senior Marine Instructor, Marine Corps JROTC Program, Abraham Clark High School, Roselle, NJ

Lieutenant Colonel Jim Sfayer was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY where he attended St. Francis College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies. He received an MBA in Business Administration from Long Island University. Jim was commissioned in November 1973 and upon completion of Basic School he served as a platoon commander and instructor for 360 US Naval Academy midshipmen. Jim taught leadership and military science during midshipman professional training. Upon completion of airborne training at Fort Benning he reported to the third Marine Division as an infantry platoon commander. During his tour in the Third Marine Division, Jim served in a variety of infantry and reconnaissance units serving with the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines and 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion.

In March of 1976, Jim reported to Naval Weapons Station Earle as a guard platoon commander. In June of 1978, he reported to Recruiting Station Edison and served as the Officer Selection Officer and eventually as the executive officer. Jim reported to the Amphibious Warfare School. He graduated as an Honor Graduate in 1982 and reported to the 1st Marine Division as a Company Commander in A Co. 1/5 where he was nominated for the Leftwitch Trophy for outstanding leadership. In June of 1984 Jim reported to the United States Military Academy at West Point as the Marine Corps Representative where he taught leadership and infantry tactics. He was selected from 600-faculty members as the 1987 recipient of the Superintendent’s Award for Instructor of the Year at West Point. In 1987, he was selected for Command and Staff College where he graduated from in June of 1988. In July of 1988, he reported to the Commander of Naval Forces Korea as the Assistant for Marine Corps Issues.

Jim reported to Headquarters Marine Corps for duty as an action officer for the development of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Annual Report to Congress from 1988-91. He developed speeches and replies to congressional inquiries from the Senate Armed Service Committee and House Armed Service Committee for the Commandant of the Marine Corps. While serving as a Plans Officer in the Emerging Issues Branch of Headquarters Marine Corps, Jim developed speeches and testimonies for the Commandant of the Marine Corps justifying the end strength, roles and functions of the Marine Corps in the Maritime Strategy. In 1991, Jim served in the Persian Gulf on the Battle Assessment Team which was responsible for assessing the damage to Iraqi armor by coalition forces.

Later, in June of 1991, Jim was selected as the Commanding Officer and Deputy Director of the Marine Corps Institute. He was responsible for managing 150 course developers and instructional system designers for 240 distance learning courses for 180,000 Marines throughout the world.

Jim retired in 1994 from active duty and began his second career as an educator. He started the Marine Corps JROTC program at Tottenville High School in Staten Island NY, where he was selected by the New York Post as one of the top 200 teachers in NYC. In 2002 he moved to Colts Neck High School where he started another successful Navy JROTC Program. In 2003 Jim served as a “military expert” on Fox 5 NY during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was selected as a one of 45 teachers honored as 2005 Walt Disney Teachers. He has presented his lectures on leadership to parent groups, teachers and Fortune 500 companies.

In the summer of 2006 he developed the Marine Civilian Development Program for transitioning Marines and presented the program for the next two years to over 500 young Marines and their spouses.

In the fall of 2008, he returned to the Marine Corps JROTC Program. His most recent effort for transitioning veterans is called the Veterans Transition Initiative (VTI). This non-profit effort is presently serving 65 Marines and helping them t