United States Army retiree James L. Speicher traveled the nation serving his country during his thirty-year military career. Assisting as the mobilization officer for the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, he assembled several hundred individual reservists for Operation Desert Storm. In addition to commanding a 180-man infantry company at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Speicher was stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He has held numerous government positions, including department director for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; supervisor for the U.S. government in Kansas City, Missouri; second lieutenant in the U.S. Army; and advisor to the Twelfth Special Forces Group's Second Battalion in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Along with his military service, Speicher served as a law enforcement officer with both the Bloomfield Township Police Department and the Oakland County Sherriff's Department.
He is an active member of the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, where he has held office at the national, state, and local levels. In 2000, he helped form and eventually became commander of a camp affiliated with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans called Major Thomas J. Key Camp #1920.
Speicher has contributed to several military publications including Soldier of Fortune Magazine, America's Civil War magazine, Confederate Veteran magazine, and the Civil War Historian Magazine. After obtaining a BA in history from The Citadel, he received an AAS in law enforcement from Oakland County Community College, an MA in public administration from Wayne State University, and an MA in management from Webster University.
Along with his memberships and contributions, Speicher enjoys diving and was a Professional Association of Diving Instructors master instructor for ten years. He has also participated in Civil War reenacting, which is his favorite pastime. He resides in Shawnee, Kansas, with his wife.