James T. Born, CFEI, INCI, PI, MIAAI
Private Investigator
Be it as it is, finding oneself having to talk about your qualifications is never an easy task; especially when you have to express it in a lifespan of some 78 years. Nevertheless, here it is: I served 11 years in the U.S. Navy, both regular and reserve service. I graduated from High School and attended college for a semester. I entered into my active-duty obligation and was stationed with Naval Special Warfare Group (BSU-1) at the Naval Amphibious Base, located at Coronado California. Following some of the most intense warfare training in the world; I eventually found myself forward deployed and embedded with SEAL Team One and with SEAL Team Two; living and fighting alongside them on the coast of the South China Sea, its tributaries,, and rivers, canals, mangrove swamps, and the crock, snake and enemy infested back waterways of the infamous Mekong Delta region, of South Vietnam; as a SEAL Team Assault Boat (STAB) Captain, with MST-2, Detachment Alpha (1967); operating from a River Patrol Base near the City of MyTho, 4th Core Area.. More about my unit can be found on www.warboats.com, I performed 39 combat missions (some lasting several days long) , all deep into Viet Cong Guerilla and Cambodian Khmer Rouge (famous for the Killing Fields) held enemy territory, and was highly decorated for my actions. Among them, I received The Bronze Star Medal with the Combat Distinguishing Device, the Nation's fourth-highest medal for valor, three South Vietnam Gallantry Crosses, four Presidential Unit Citations, two Navy Unit Commendations, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, Combat Action Ribbon and others. I returned from Vietnam in 1967, reentered the Navy Reserve, where I was the Petty-Officer-in-Charge of NRSD 11-35L "Counter Insurgency Team One"; testing and evaluating the security of Niki sites, war ships, In Shore-Undersea Warfare Units, and other military units; I went back to college, and In 1968, I entered into my law enforcement career. I graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy, later the California Highway Patrol Accident Investigation School in Sacramento; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations School in Alabama; the U.S. Postal Police Academy in Oklahoma; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) School, at Hamilton Air Force Base CA; and further graduated from many other notable peer-recognized career-enhancing training programs. My 25-page resume is available upon request.
In the years to follow; I served 10 of them in law enforcement, as a city, county, and federal law enforcement officer. My highest rank held was Sheriff's Captain (Chief of the Detective Bureau, Chief of the Training Bureau, and Chief Deputy Coroner Investigator), for the Mineral County, Nevada Sheriff's Department. In my spare time, through all of these life events, I still managed to receive my AA Degree in Police Science, and my BS Degree in Criminal Justice. I became licensed as a California private investigator in 1978; after qualifying with over 20,000 hours of law enforcement experience, and concurrently licensed as a private investigator in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988; I still hold both licenses. Several years after receiving the Navy rank of Boatswain's Mate First Class (E-6), and twice passing the Chief Boatswains Mate examination (E-7), with high scores; in the upper ninety percentile range, but not being advanced due to the draw-down of wartime quota limitations, I transferred into the U.S. Army Reserve, where after another 12 years, I retired as a Master Sergeant (E-8), having retired with 23 years total service. I was the senior Military Police Instructor at the 6th U.S. Army, Camp Parks, MOSTC Military Police School, in Pleasanton, California, and was the Senior Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare Instructor; (one of only two selected soldiers, in all the Army, authorized by the Pentagon to teach both active and reserve forces). The senior officer that trained me was a Nuclear Scientist at the Laurence Livermore Labs and was able to provide me NBC Warfare insight, beyond that of what the Army required of their instructors. I was also an advisor to President Ronald Reagan's, then-top secret, Rapid Deployment Force (RDF-A), consulting his general officer's staff on Military Police wartime deployments, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal for my part in that position. I was the First Mate, and an assistant Vessel Master, as well as the unit's senior instructor in Marine Engineering, and Seamanship; while attached to the 6th Army, 481st Heavy Boat Transportation Battalion, in Rio Vista California. I have attended 278 law enforcement courses, that collectively comprise 5,337.5 hours of training. As a private investigator, it was my investigation, that was provided to the Nevada State Gaming Commission, that finalized the opening of the New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. I have been seen on "The Jenny Jones Show" (Sex, Lies, and Private Eyes), I made six appearances on the national NBC television series "Case Closed", and I appeared on other television and radio private investigator themed talk shows. During my career, I was employed by several famous attorneys, such as the late San Francisco attorney Melvin Beli and, Las Vegas attorney Bob Massi. I was a court appointed "Track Investigator" for the 8th Judicial District Court, working with famed attorney Alan Harter, where I re-investigated eleven death row cases. At times, I have been called upon to look into police use of force abuse and have found that my being a certified Monadnock PR-24 and Straight Baton Instructor, Police Self Defense Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor, provided me an edge and clear understanding of what was proper and what was improper in making my case determinations. I am a regular author for the International Association of Marine Investigator's monthly Investigator magazine. I have authored and published five books and several technical manuscripts. The Governor of the State of Nevada appointed me as a Captain, later promoted to the rank of Major, to train the Nevada National Guard Reserve Military Police Corps (State Defense Forces). The U.S. Congress had an American Flag flown over the United States capitol Building, in my behalf, for my collective military service of 30 years. My greatest accomplishment, however, is that I became a Christian.