A 1994 Quitman High School graduate has been promoted to lieutenant colonel by the U.S. Army. 

James Attaway’s promotion became official May 8 in a ceremony held at Stephen F. Austin (SFA) State University in Nacogdoches. Attaway serves as the chair and professor of military science at the university, a position he has held since May 2018. Attaway is the first SFA grad to assume responsibility of the ROTC program at the school.

Attaway joined the SFA program after serving the Army as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. Attaway is also a 2004 graduate of SFA. His interest in the ROTC program at SFA was sparked when a friend suggested he take a military science elective course. He joined the ROTC program at SFA in the fall of 2001.

In an article written for the SFA publication Sawdust, Attaway addressed his reason for going into the ROTC program.

“After getting to know the military science professors, it felt like a close-knit team and environment. It was something I wanted to be a part of,” Attaway said. “I immediately fell in love with the program and felt connected.”

Two weeks into the program Attaway stood with others in a classroom as they watched the twin towers fall on Sept. 11, 2001. Since he had just left active duty at that time, he seriously considered leaving SFA and joining the fight against terrorism.

His Dad, retired Quitman attorney and former military judge Jim Attaway, visited his son on campus to talk him out of it. The elder Attaway encouraged his son to stay in college.

“I remember my Dad saying, ‘I know what you are considering. Don’t do it. You need to finish college first.’ He told me if I was going to fight, I needed to do it as an officer,” he said.

He took his father’s advice. After graduation from SFA, Attaway served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea as well as assignments at Alabama, Florida and Kentucky. He served in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a CH-47D Chinook Flight platoon leader. Attaway’s latest deployment before going to  SFA was to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom where he was an aviation liaison officer to 14 U.S. Army Special Forces teams and one SEAL platoon. 

For the first time in the SFA’s program history, the Ranger Challenge team was set to compete in the prestigious Sandhurst Military Skills competition hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The SFA team is one of just 16 teams in the competition. They were going up against teams from Penn State, Brigham Young University and teams from Canada, Australia and Colombia.