BIO: JAMES (JIM) W. MARCUM - RAHS CLASS OF 62

Here's a little snap shot of what I've been doing since 1962:

I'm retired from federal civil service, DOD Navy, and live in La Mesa with my wife Debbie & our two Macaws. I spent almost four years in the Navy, one with the Marines in Vietnam 67-68. Was wounded by a mortar round in the DMZ but it was just a small chunk of iron that is still in my side. I was a hospital corpsman & didn't kill anyone. I did save two NVA soldiers by capturing then & keeping the Marines from killing them. I & a fellow corpsman made the Stars & Striped overseas newspaper for capturing three NVA - some kind of record for "non-combatants" I guess.

I got out of the Navy in 1970 & became a sheet metal mechanic in the shipyards and shops around San Diego. Was going to college at night & met the head of KELCO (a kelp harvesting company in San Diego) dive team while doing a research paper on thermal pollution generated by the San Onofre power plant and it's effects on the giant kelp (Macrocystis Pyferia). They hired me as a diver on the Kelp Habitat Improvement Project team (KHIP) and became the Senior Diver & Captain of a 50 foot dive boat - the WEBFOOT - & supervised our aquaculture dive team for five years.

Kept going to school at night and finally got a BA in business in 1978 - Magna Cum Laude -, quit KELCO, and earned an MBA in 1980. I worked as a stock broker w/Smith Barney, as a Estimator at US Elevator, and a contract specialist at various Navy contractors until I joined the DOD, DCASPRO-FMC, in San Jose in 1981 as a Contract Specialist overseeing initial production the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The Bradley is tracked, tank-like armored vehicle, but is smaller & lighter than the Army's Abrams main battle tank.

I held several different positions in my Civil Service career including: Price/Cost Analyst at the Navy's SUPSHIP, San Diego; Management Analyst and head of the Management Analysis Division at Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital; Management Analyst at SURFPAC, Coronado Amphibious Base; Auditor & Head of Internal Review at SIMA, San Diego; Contract Specialist at SURFPAC, Naval Station, San Diego; and lastly, a Contract Specialist at Naval Facilities Engineering Command, South West Division, San Diego (NAVFAC/SWD). I won the US Secretary of Energy's Federal Interagency Policy Committee 1996 Federal Energy and Water Management Award for my work with San Diego Gas & Electric Company on the Greater San Diego Lighting Retrofit Program for "Exceptional accomplishments in the efficient use of energy in the Federal Sector". The award included a nice plaque, a cash bonus, a trip for my wife Debbie & me to Washington DC for a All Services Award banquet, and a personalized tour of the White House. We saved the Navy & fellow taxpayers millions of dollars in present & future electrical bills. Pretty cool stuff.

I retired as a Contract Specialist from NAVFAC after 23 years of active duty & civil service in 2001. Have two kids from two different wives (out of a total of 4) - daughter Christy, a teacher in Florida 42 years old; and Jim Jr. - 41 and a dry wall installer - who lives nearby in La Mesa. Been married for 20 years now to Deborah (Debbie) Jean (Fitch), who graduated from Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach in 1969, and earned a BA in Education from USIU Cal Western, San Diego in 1973.

I've been into off road vehicles - mostly quads - and have spent years riding the desert & Imperial Sand Dunes. I also enjoy building and operating radio Controlled (R/C) airplanes, off road buggies & trucks, and model off-shore racing boats.

The old power blue 1960 Austin Healy "Bug-Eyed" Sprite I had in High School is long gone. But, I do have a sweet red 1993 Mazda Miata, and a cool 2010 Kia Soul.

Lately, been taking long walks with Debbie on San Diego's great beaches & just enjoying life. Getting old isn't so bad, when you consider the alternative.

PHOTO ALBUMS
Private Beaches (Click Here)