James Creighton was raised in Los Angeles, California. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1982, he was commissioned as a Field Artillery officer. He has earned master's degrees from Central Michigan University, the Marine Corps University and the National Defense University. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for 30 years and held key command positions to include: Commander, Combined Team Uruzgan, Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan; Assistant Division Commander for Support, 2nd  Infantry Division, Korea; Commander, 10th Mountain Division Artillery, Fort Drum, New York; Commander, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Commander, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

He served in numerous staff positions including: Chief of Plans, ISAF Joint Command (IJC), Kabul, Afghanistan; Special Assistant to Commander, U.S. Forces Korea; Chief of Staff, Eighth United States Army, Korea; Chief of Staff, Joint Functional Component Command, Space and Global Strike, Omaha, Nebraska; Executive Assistant to the Commander U.S. Strategic Command, Omaha, Nebraska; Chief of Staff, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York; Chief of Operations, Joint Task Force Bravo, Honduras; Division Artillery Executive Officer, 101st Airborne Division Artillery, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Division Artillery Operations Officer, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

James has lectured and participated in seminars at: Columbia University, New York; Yale University, Connecticut; USMA, West Point, New York; Bard College, New York; New York University, New York; Korea University, Seoul South Korea; and numerous military leadership courses.

James is married to Tamasine N. Wood-Creighton of Boston, MA. The Creightons have two daughters: Brianna, 23; and Chelsea, 19.