COL James “Jim” Gifford, Ph.D, Senior WMD Effects Officer, Deputy - Plans, Exercises, and Wargaming Department (CZ-PL), DTRA

COL James (Jim) Gifford is the Senior WMD Effects Officer and Deputy of the Plans, Exercises, and Wargaming Department (PL), Combat Support Directorate (CZ), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). He provides briefings and mentorship on nuclear weapons and their tactical level effects, operational impacts, and strategic implications as well as managing the budget and contract actions for the CZ-PL department.

COL Gifford’s previous assignments include assistant professor at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University; and DTRA’s Chief of Nuclear Wargaming, in the Nuclear Technology Department, Research & Development Directorate. In this position he developed and delivered a “Nuclear Weapons Effects 101” briefing to educate all levels of government on the realities of nuclear weapons effects, an official recording of this briefing has over 53,500 views online (available on DVIDS). COL Gifford also supported the Army Science Board’s 2023 study “An Independent Assessment of the Army's Ability to Fight and Win on a Nuclear Battlefield” as a senior military advisor.

COL Gifford has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the United States Military Academy, a Master of Arts degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University, a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University. His dissertation is titled “Characterizing Variance in Fallout Composition Due to Uncertainty in Thermodynamic Models of Fractionation”. COL Gifford is the author of A Teen’s Guide to Engineering: Learning the Disciplines and Finding Your Passion from Turner Publishing set to be published on December 8, 2026.