Jeff Lemmons is a defense consultant and an equipment manufacturing business owner. A 1979 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, he served 35 years in naval service, both on active and reserve duty, retiring as a Rear Admiral from the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2014. His final assignment was as the Director of the Inter-American Defense College at Fort McNair from 2012 to 2014, where he was responsible for preparing military officers, police officials, and civilian ministers from Western Hemisphere American nations for senior national leadership responsibilities.

He has completed the Naval War College and the National Defense University Reserve Component studies curriculum and served on the Secretary of Defense Reserve Force Policy Board.

Lemmons is a Harvard University Kennedy School Senior Executive National and International Security Fellow and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Seminar XXI Fellow.

During his civilian career, he spent 35 years as a commercial airline pilot, flying international routes as a Captain for American Airlines. He is a board member and principal at Gator Pump, Inc., a manufacturing company in Brownwood, Texas. He also owns J. Lemmons Consultants and provides consulting services for the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), a federally funded research facility in the Washington, DC area.

He farms and ranches in Brown County, Texas, and serves on the Central Texas Veterans Memorial Board of Directors.