---
alias:
- James B. Channon
- Lt. Col. Jim Channon
category: Intelligence & Government
created: 2026-09-21
location: Fort Monroe, Virginia
summary: Army lieutenant colonel who wrote the First Earth Battalion concept paper
  for TRADOC's Task Force Delta in 1979 and was named in its foreword the battalion's
  commanding officer.
tags:
- Person
- JimChannon
- FirstEarthBattalion
- TaskForceDelta
- TRADOC
- HumanPotentialMovement
updated: 2026-09-21
---

James B. Channon, an infantry officer of the Army from 1962 to 1982 who served two tours in [Vietnam](/places/vietnam/) with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, wrote *[The First Earth Battalion](/programs/first-earth-battalion/)* in 1979 as a concept paper of Task Force Delta at Headquarters, Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia, after a period studying the human potential movement, including visits to the [Esalen Institute](/organizations/esalen-institute/). The paper's title page gives him as "LTC James B. Channon," with Colonel D. H. Malone as author of the foreword and Major M. M. Ischinger and Malone (spelled Melone in the sponsors' line) as sponsors, and its disclaimer states that its views "do not purport to reflect the positions or policies of the Department of the Army." Malone's foreword ends: "Jim Channon is hereby appointed C.O., First Earth Battalion, responsible for assimilating, integrating, and communicating what the future may hold for our Army."[^1][^2]

[^1]: Channon, James B., Lieutenant Colonel. *The First Earth Battalion,* Task Force Delta concept paper, Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia, 1979, foreword by Colonel D. H. Malone; scan at archive.org/details/FirstEarthBattalionManual, front matter and foreword read.
[^2]: Service dates and Esalen visits from Ronson, Jon. *The Men Who Stare at Goats.* Simon and Schuster, 2004, as summarized; not verified against service records.