radm_helis_official_1

RADM James A. Helis, USMS, Superintendent

Rear Admiral James A. Helis, United States Maritime Service Superintendent, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Rear Admiral James A. Helis, United States Maritime Service, was appointed the twelfth Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy on 23 July 2012.

Rear Admiral Helis began a thirty year career as an Army infantry officer upon graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1979. His key assignments included the 82nd Airborne Division, Joint Task Force Bravo in Honduras, and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. He commanded the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment and the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion, Columbia, South Carolina. Rear Admiral Helis also served as Chairman, Department of National Security and Strategy at the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. He is a master parachutist, an Army Ranger, and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.

Rear Admiral Helis earned a Bachelor of Science from West Point, a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Military Art and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was a Visiting Defence Fellow at the Queen’s University Centre for International Relations in Kingston, Ontario.