Bio
James D. Bryan graduated from the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Jacksonville State University and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps on 23 January 1970.
From 1971 to 1972, he was an instructor and operations officer in the Communications Division, U.S. Army Institute for Military Assistance, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He reported to the 7th Special Forces Group in February 1973, serving in various staff positions before taking command of its Signal Company from December 1975 to September 1977.
After several conventional Army assignments, Major Bryan returned to Army Special Operations Forces in 1984, becoming the Assistant Chief of Staff/Communications and Electronics Officer, 1st Special Operations Command.
In 1986, Bryan became the first commander of the 112th Signal Battalion, the Army’s only dedicated Special Operations signal unit. He departed in 1988 to attend the Army War College.
In the 1990s, he commanded the 35th Signal Brigade and was the Director, Command, Control, Communication and Computer Systems, J-6, U.S. Pacific Command. He concluded his career dual-hatted as Vice Director, Defense Information Systems Agency and Commander, Joint Task Force for Computer Network Operations and retired 1 October 2004 as a Major General.