Board of Trustees

Lieutenant Colonel
James P. Atkins
USMCR (Ret)

Audit Committee

LtCol James P. Atkins USMCR(Ret) is the owner and president of Homes For Leaders Real Estate which finds residences for senior leaders and physicians of Northern Virginia businesses and health institutions.  Before real estate, he was president of BBJ Environmental Solutions, a chemical manufacturer for the cleaning industry, and president of Spectrum Signal Processing(USA), which supplied signal processors to NSA and various US and foreign radio manufacturers .

Prior to his selection as the president of Spectrum, LtCol Atkins was a vice president of Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics, a regional sales manager with Rockwell Collins Government Systems, Director of Air Force Business Development at Kaiser Electronics, Director of F-18 Marketing at Northrop Aircraft, a marketing representative at Hughes Aircraft, and a Continental Airlines pilot. The Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation, created after the death of his first wife to breast cancer, he has also served as an executive, an officer, and a board member of several community organizations and corporations. He and his wife live in Middleburg, VA.

Commissioned in 1970 through the PLC program, upon receipt of his Naval Aviator wings in August 1971 Lt. Atkins reported to 3d MAW at El Toro and the Black Sheep of Marine Attack Squadron 214. Flying the A-4M, he was sent to Light Attack Weapons School at NAS Lemoore, to Landing Signal Officer training at NAS Meridian, MS, and then became the Adjutant of MAG-13. Next he was sent to 1st MAW and VMA-211 in the summer of 1975 as Assistant Operations Officer and LSO. During that tour he waived 211 on the USS Hancock and USS Oriskany out of NAS Cubi Point.  In December 1976, as a captain, he transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserve’s MAG-46 at El Toro where he continued flying and serving in VMA-134, H&MS-46, VMFA-134, and MABS-46. He retired from the Reserves in late 1989 but was commissioned in June 2010 as a captain in the Virginia Army National Guard’s Defense Force, where he now serves as a pilot.