User:RRM8993/sandbox

Jimmy Franklin Blackmon (/blækmən/; born November 4, 1968), is a retired Army Colonel, author, professional speaker, and Managing Partner at Exactus Advisors. Blackmon began his military career in 1986, when he enlisted in the United States Army. He attended the University of North Georgia (then North Georgia College), one of the four senior military colleges in the US. During his senior year, Blackmon served as the Commander of the Corps of Cadets, and graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Blackmon was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Aviation in 1991. For the next three decades, he served in various command and staff positions throughout the Army, both in the United States and Europe. Blackmon served two tours of duty in the Balkans. In 1998 he was an operations officer for an Infantry Brigade in Tuzla, Bosnia. In 1999, Blackmon deployed as an operations officer in the Battlefield Coordination Element during Operation Allied Force.

After graduating the Command and General Staff College in 2003, Blackmon reported to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) where he was assigned as the Operations Officer (S3) for 2-17th Cavalry Regiment. Upon reporting, Blackmon immediately flew to Iraq where 2-17 Cavalry was already operating. While in Iraq, he served as the air mission commander on the operation that netted #2 and #3 in the famous Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards (Iraqi deck of cards), Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein.

In 2016, Colonel Blackmon retired from the Army to pursue a career as an author, professional speaker, and consultant. Today, Blackmon is a managing partner at Exactus Advisors, a Chicago-based advisory firm, where he leads the Leadership & Strategy business.

Military career
Blackmon enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in February 1986. He graduated from University of North Georgia in 1991, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in aviation. Blackmon's first duty assignment was the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, then stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. While assigned to the 3d ACR, Blackmon served as the 4th Squadron (Longknife) training officer, then platoon leader in Pegasus Troop, and finally as the Squadron S1 (Human Resources Officer).

Blackmon was promoted to the rank of captain in December 1995. Upon being promoted, he traveled to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he attended the United States Army Armor School, Officer's Advanced Course. The Army was then fielding the Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior Helicopter. Blackmon was selected for a transition to the Kiowa, so he spent the next four months at Fort Rucker in the aircraft qualification course. Blackmon was on orders to 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment (Blackhawk). 1-1 Cavalry had just turned in their Bell AH-1 Cobras and OH-58C helicopters, so Blackmon then traveled to Fort Hood, Texas where he spent a year at the Combat Aviation Training Brigade fielding OH-58D Kiowa helicopters.

In the summer of 1997, Blackmon and his family moved to Gelnhausen, Germany where Blackmon was selected to command Delta Troop, 1-1 Cavalry. After two years of command, Blackmon moved to Hanau, Germany where he served as the Assistant Operations Officer for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division (United States). During the summer of 1998, Blackmon deployed to Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a part of NATO's Stabilisation Force to serve as an assistant operations officer for 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division (United States).

In 1999, Blackmon was selected to serve as an operations officer for the European Battlefield Coordination Element for Operation Allied Force. Upon return from that assignment, Blackmon moved to northern Virginia where he was assigned as the Operations Officer (S3) of the 12th Aviation Battalion at Davison Army Airfield, just outside Washington, D.C.

In the summer of 2000, then, Blackmon, was selected to serve as a Board Recorder for the Department of the Army Secretariat. In this assignment Blackmon ran Army promotion and selection boards.

In 2003, Blackmon moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where Blackmon attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College. While at Fort Leavenworth, he was promoted to the rank of Major.

The US Army and coalition forces invaded Iraq in April 2003. Leading the charge for the 101st Airborne Division was 2-17 Cavalry, the 101st Airborne Division's air cavalry squadron. After the initial invasion, 2-17 Cavalry was stationed at Qayyarah Airfield West, just south of Mosul. Blackmon joined the squadron in June 2003, and assumed duties as the Squadron Operations Officer (S3).

Upon return from Iraq in February 2004, Blackmon assumed duties as the Squadron Executive Officer. For the next twelve months, the unit prepared for a return to Iraq. During that time, Major General Thomas R. Turner II selected Blackmon to serve as the Secretary of the General Staff. He would serve in that role for the next eighteen months, including a year based in Tikrit, Iraq.

Blackmon returned to Iraq from 2005 - 2006 as the Secretary of the General Staff in the 101st Airborne Division. In the fall of 2006, Blackmon was selected to serve as the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade Operations Officer (S3). In 2007, Blackmon was selected for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Upon being promoted, Blackmon became the Deputy Brigade Commander of the 159th.

In May 2008, Blackmon assumed command of 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment (Pale Horse). As the unit prepared for deployment to Afghanistan, Blackmon traveled to Eastern Afghanistan for a Pre-deployment Site Survey. The unit 7-17 Cavalry would be replacing at Jalalabad Airfield (FOB Fenty) was Blackmon's previous unit, 2-17 Cavalry. During that visit, the Battle of Wanat occurred in the Waygal Valley.

7-17 Cavalry assumed responsibility of the area know as N2KL in January 2009. N2KL is the acronym for the four provinces that make up the area of provinces: Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman which is the area where the attacks of 9/11 were planned and rehearsed. The 7-17 Cavalry was the aviation component in the in the Battle of Ganjgal, where Marine Corps Corporal Dakota Meyer and Army Captain William D. Swenson earned the Congressional Medal of Honor, and the Battle of Wanat, where Sergeant Clinton Romesha earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. In that same year, they would serve as the aviation component in the Battle at COP Keating.

In the summer of 2010, Blackmon was selected to attend the National War College in Washington DC. where he earned a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy. While attending the War College, Blackmon was selected for promotion to the rank of Colonel and to assume command of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

From 2011 - 2012, Blackmon served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the 101st Airborne Division, and in 2012 he assumed command of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade. Colonel Blackmon was the last commander of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade. Upon his return from Afghanistan, the unit was deactivated.

The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade assumed responsibility for all rotary-wing aviation support in Regional Command - East (RC-E) and Regional Command - North (RC-N) in January 2014. While in Afghanistan, the unit was notified that upon return to Fort Campbell, Kentucky the brigade would deactivate. In 2015, the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade was deactivated.

Blackmon reported to the Joint Staff in Washington DC in 2015. He served as the Director of Joint Operational War Plans Division in the J5 Plans and Policy. Blackmon led a team of strategists as they developed war plans and policy for the Department of Defense.

In October 2016, Blackmon retired from the US Army to pursue a career as an author and professional speaker.

Retirement from the U.S. Army
Blackmon retired from the Army in 2016.

Overview
Blackmon is a recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, the Bell Helicopter Leadership Award, and he was the 2017 Vistage International Breakout speaker of the year.   

Post military career
Following Jimmy's retirement from the Army in 2016, he began speaking professionally, started the Leadership Practice as a Managing Partner at Exactus Advisors, and has written three non fiction books. Within Jimmy's Leadership Practice, he leverages his combat experiences to tell powerful stories that describe the complexity of the 21st Century environment. In 2017, Blackmon was selected as the Vistage Breakout Speaker of the Year.

Leadership practice
In December 2019, Blackmon became a managing partner at Exactus Advisors, a Chicago-based firm that solves complex business problems by creating simple practical solutions that drive operational improvement. Today, Blackmon heads up the Leadership & Strategy business at Exactus.

Works
Southern Roots

Southern Roots is Jimmy's first book and is the story of his poor upbringing in Northern Georgia. Southern Roots is now out of print, but Blackmon is presently working on an expanded version of the original work.

Pale Horse - Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division

Pale Horse - Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division is Blackmon's second book. Pale Horse tells the story of an army aviation task force during combat in the Afghan War, told by the commanding officer who was there.

Cowboys Over Iraq - Leadership From the Saddle

Cowboys Over Iraq - Leadership From the Saddle is Blackmon's third book. Cowboys Over Iraq tells a story of leadership, innovation, and initiative demonstrated by a brotherhood that was forged in the crucible of combat during the invasion of Iraq.

Early life and family
Blackmon was born the son of Carl Edmond Blackmon and Betty Louise Walraven of Ranger, Georgia. Jimmy enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1986. Blackmon graduated from the University of North Georgia in 1991, and was commissioned a Second lieutenant in aviation. In the thirty years that followed, Blackmon served in various command and staff positions throughout the Army.

Education
Blackmon earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Georgia, a Master of Science in Education from Old Dominion University and a Master's degree in National Security Strategy (United States) from the National War College in Washington, D.C. Blackmon is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.

Running
Blackmon began running competitively when he was nine-years-old. He placed 7th in The Athletics Congress (TAC) cross country nationals in 1982. He went on to run the mile and 2-mile in high school. Desiring to serve in the military, Blackmon chose to attend University of North Georgia, then North Georgia College, which did not have a track and field program. Upon entering the Army, Blackmon began competing on the All Army and US Armed Forces Teams. Blackmon was a member of the 1998 U.S. Armed Forces World Cross Country, which competed in the World Championships in Curragh, Ireland. He was also 3rd in the 2000 Richmond Marathon running 2 hours 33 minutes.

Archery
Jimmy has won numerous local, state, and national titles for archery. In 2011, Blackmon won the International Bowhunting Organization World Championship in the Recurve Unaided class. In 2012, he won the International Field Archery Association World Championships in two categories: Adult Male Barebow and Adult Male Bowhunter.