--- aliases: - James B. Motley - James Berry Motley - Dr. James Motley - Jim Motley - J. B. Motley category: Military created: 2026-10-08 relations: - end: 1983 fn: 1 role: colonel type: employed_by with: '[[United States Army]]' - end: 1985 fn: 1 role: Director, Terrorist Research and Low-Intensity Conflict Studies start: 1984 type: employed_by with: '[[National Institute for Public Policy]]' - fn: 1 role: vice president for national security studies and programs start: 1987-09 type: employed_by with: '[[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]]' - fn: 1 role: associate, advising on low-intensity conflict and political-military analysis start: 1990-06 type: member_of with: '[[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]]' - fn: 1 role: appeared before the task force start: 1985 type: participant_in with: '[[Vice President''s Task Force on Combatting Terrorism]]' summary: Retired Army colonel who wrote his doctorate on United States counterterrorist policy, directed terrorism studies at the National Institute for Public Policy, and from 1987 was a Wackenhut Advanced Technologies vice president. tags: - Person - JamesBMotley - Counterterrorism - LowIntensityConflict - USArmy - Wackenhut - CounterTerrorismConsultants updated: 2026-10-08 --- James Berry Motley is a retired United States Army colonel who wrote on terrorism and low-intensity conflict from the early 1980s and, from September 1987, was a vice president of Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, the Reston, Virginia subsidiary of the [Wackenhut Corporation](/organizations/wackenhut-corporation/). In June 1990 he was listed as an associate of [Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.](/organizations/counter-terrorism-consultants-inc/) ### Army and academic career A resume circulated by CounterTerrorism Consultants in June 1990 states that Motley retired from the [United States Army](/organizations/us-army/) in 1983 in the grade of colonel; that he commanded airborne, Ranger and infantry units with assignments in Okinawa, Vietnam, Germany and the United States; and that he is a graduate of the National War College, the Army Command and General Staff College and the Special Warfare School. It states that he was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart as well as twenty other United States and foreign decorations, and lists a B.A. in political science from The Citadel, an M.A. in international relations from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in world politics from the Catholic University of America.[^1] His dissertation, "U.S. Counterterrorist Policy: An Analysis of Its Strategy and Organization," was submitted to the Catholic University of America in 1983 (188 pages).[^2] The resume lists his former positions as senior fellow of the Atlantic Council of the United States, country director in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, senior fellow at the National Defense University, and political-military analyst in the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and on the Department of the Army General Staff. It credits him with the book *U.S. Strategy to Counter Domestic Political Terrorism* and with expertise in NATO affairs, Soviet studies, security policy and planning and arms control.[^1] ### Terrorism and special operations studies, 1981 to 1987 He published "International Terrorism: A New Mode of Warfare" in *International Security Review* (volume 6, Spring 1981, pages 93 to 123), "If Terrorism Hits Home, Will the Army Be Ready?" in *Army* (as Colonel James B. Motley, Ret.) (volume 34, April 1984, pages 18 to 21) and "Terrorism" in *National Defense* (volume 69, January 1985, pages 39 to 42).[^2] Motley was Director of Terrorist Research and Low-Intensity Conflict Studies at the National Institute for Public Policy during 1984 and 1985, according to the resume, which states that he prepared studies on terrorism and special operations forces.[^1] The proceedings of the tenth Annual Symposium on the Role of Behavioral Science in Physical Security, held at Springfield, Virginia, on April 23 and 24, 1985, list him in that post among the attendees, together with the FBI supervisory special agent [Carter Cornick](/people/carter-cornick/), and record him asking the panel whether a multinational military, paramilitary or law enforcement force would improve international cooperation against state-sponsored terrorism. The program lists [E. Lawrence Barcella](/people/e-lawrence-barcella-jr/), then senior litigation counsel in the United States Attorney's Office, as a presenter on terrorism and the law.[^3] The resume states that in 1985 Motley appeared before the Vice President's Task Force on Combatting Terrorism and that his contributions were included in its report to the President, and that for two years before September 1987 he was director of national security studies at a Washington-based contractor, where he led a team on operational analysis of defense policy and programs for federal agencies.[^1] ### Wackenhut Advanced Technologies, 1987 to 1990 The resume states that from September 1987 Motley was vice president for national security studies and programs at Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation (WATCO), directing operational analyses and assessments of national security issues with a primary interest in terrorism, special operations and low-intensity conflict, and that he was also involved in counternarcotics research, Third World developments and anti- and counterterrorism technologies and programs.[^1] A Wackenhut newsletter in the papers of [Danny Casolaro](/people/danny-casolaro/) describes WATCO as based at Reston, Virginia and specializing in applied research and development in nuclear safeguards and security policy, programs and systems.[^4] The corporation's 1985 and 1986 annual reports describe a wholly owned subsidiary at Reston with a Security Programs division designing security for the Department of Energy's nuclear device assembly facility at the Nevada Test Site and a Systems division engaged in security systems for high-level installations.[^5] ### CounterTerrorism Consultants The June 1990 packet lists Motley as an associate who advises clients in cases involving low-intensity conflict and contributes expertise in political-military analysis and regional assessment. The other associates listed were Cornick, [Eugene Propper](/people/eugene-propper/), Barcella, [Francis J. McNeil](/people/francis-j-mcneil/), Mayer Nudell and a former CIA operations officer whose entry carries no name.[^1] [^1]: CounterTerrorism Consultants, L.P., "Proudly Presents The Resumes of its Associates," fax copy with header "JUN 20 '90," pages 141 P10 and 141 P11 (Motley entry), Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks. [^2]: *Terrorism: A Selective Bibliography*, entries for Motley (dissertation, *International Security Review*, *Army*, *National Defense*), Defense Technical Information Center ADA308348, https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA308348. [^3]: *Supplemental Proceedings of the 10th Annual Symposium on the Role of Behavioral Science in Physical Security: Outthinking the Terrorist, an International Challenge*, Springfield, Virginia, April 23 to 24, 1985, program, participant list and discussion, Defense Technical Information Center ADA161669, https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA161669. [^4]: Wackenhut newsletter, undated issue, passage on The Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Newsletters," https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files. [^5]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual reports for 1985 and 1986, sections on Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks. --- *The Info Web has an MCP server for agents at https://theinfoweb.org/mcp (streamable HTTP, no auth): search by meaning, exact text, source or date, and follow typed, footnoted connections. Setup and the same tools over GET: https://theinfoweb.org/llms.txt*