USAHEC Perspectives Lectures Series (Audio)

As the Commander of U.S. Central Command, General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., USMC (Ret.), oversaw some of the most important — and controversial operations in modern U.S. military history. He had direct operational responsibility for the strikes on Qassem Soleimani and two successive leaders of ISIS, the many months of deterrence operations against Iran and its proxies, and the methodical drawdown in Iraq. He directed the noncombatant evacuation operation in Afghanistan, and our final withdrawal from that tortured country.His book, The Melting Point has three themes which are as follows.The first one is the importance of the primacy of civilian control of the military. The second theme is the uniqueness of being a combatant commander. Combatant commanders participate in the development of policy, although as junior partners. Finally, the third theme that McKenzie argues is that leaders matter, and the decisions they make have a profound effect on what happens on the battlefield. McKenzie provides a vivid portrait of leadership in action in one of the most volatile regions of the world.Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr. graduated from The Citadel in 1979 and was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer, beginning his notable military career as an infantry officer, which would ultimately lead to his appointment as Commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

Who were the British soldiers who fought in the American Revolution? What sort of men filled the ranks of the regiments that fought for the King? Far from ruffians or conscripted criminals, the British army of the era was largely a force of career soldiers who had voluntarily enlisted after trying their hands at other trades. This talk will look at the demographics of a typical British regiment serving in America during the war, presenting the nationalities, ages, background and experience of the common soldiers that served in it. It will show the diversity of the army by detailing the careers of several individual soldiers. The real stories of these professional soldiers are sure to be surprising. Don N. Hagist is the managing editor of Journal of the American Revolution (http://allthingsliberty.com) and author of several books focusing on common soldiers during the American War for Independence, including These Distinguished Corps: British Grenadier and Light Infantry Battalions in the American Revolution (Helion: 2021), Noble Volunteers: the British Soldiers who Fought the American Revolution (Westholme, 2020), and The Revolution's Last Men: the Soldiers Behind the Photographs (Westholme Publishing, 2015).

During the 1930s, as Europe was teetering on the brink of crisis, Winston Churchill found himself out of government and with little political influence. In these years, his country home in Kent, England, “Chartwell”, became the center of his campaign against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. Churchill invited a diverse group of trusted advisors and informants, including Albert Einstein and T. E. Lawrence, to provide him with valuable intelligence and support as he tirelessly worked to sound the alarm about the looming threat of war.Katherine Carter's book provides a fascinating account of the remarkable but little-known meetings that took place behind closed doors at Chartwell. From high-profile figures to political leaders, diplomats to spies, Carter reveals a fascinating cast of characters who each made their mark on Churchill's thinking and political strategy. With Chartwell as his base, Churchill was able to gather critical intelligence about Germany's preparations for war, ultimately positioning himself to have a significant impact on the course of history.

Author, historian, and veteran Michael S. McGurty discusses one of the last critical moments of the Revolutionary war based on his book "George Washington Versus the Continental Army: Showdown at the New Windsor Cantonment, 1782-1783 (2023).

Noted Civil War Historian and US Army War College Professor, Dr. Christian B. Keller, discusses his analysis of the failure of Confederate strategic leadership during the American Civil War based on his two books, "The Great Partnership (2019)" and "Southern Strategies: Why the Confederacy Failed (2021)."

Presenting USAHEC's General Omar N. Bradley Memorial Lecture to kick off the Fall 2024 season of the Perspectives in Military History with Civial War historian D. Scott Hartwig. Mr. Harwig will discuss the Battle of Antietam and his book I Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign.

Supply and logistics are an integral component of military operations, which influences every aspect of military planning, operational art, and strategy. Among the many challenges faced by the fledgling Continental Army was establishing secure sources of supplies. That challenge came on top of developing effective and efficient lines of communication, creating functional and reliable transportation systems, finding reliable and secure logistical bases, and successfully managing what was often an ad-hoc and improvised supply and logistical system.  In his most recent book “Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778”, U.S. Army War College professor Dr. Ricardo Herrera outlines how this system catastrophically failed at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778. Dr. Herrera discusses the causes of this failure; and how Washington and his logisticians overcame it to enable the Continental Army to fight the British army to a standstill at Monmouth that spring.   

Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. In this lecture historian, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg. Using Meade's published and unpublished papers alongside diaries, letters, and memoirs of fellow officers and enlisted men, Brown highlights how Meade's rapid advance of the army to Gettysburg on July 1, his tactical control and coordination of the army in the desperate fighting on July 2, and his determination to hold his positions on July 3 insured victory.

Military expert Dr. Michael O’Hanlon examines America’s major conflicts since the mid-1800s: the Civil War, the two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. O’Hanlon addresses profound questions. How successful has the United States been when it waged these wars? Were the wars avoidable? Did America’s leaders know what they were getting into when they committed to war? And what lessons does history offer for future leaders contemplating war? —including the prospects for avoiding war in the first place.

Defeat is a possibility in almost any undertaking. Understanding how to turn failures into lessons learned is a key contributing skill to bringing about future success. In two of his recent books, Dr. David L. Preston, the General Mark W. Clark Distinguished Professor of History at The Citadel, provides a framework of how to draw constructive criticism out of defeat.Both “Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution” and “The Other Face of Battle: America’s Forgotten Wars and the Experience of Combat” analyze key takeaways hidden behind the immediate sting of failure, and the dangers of not dedicating time to bring those lessons to light.

This lecture was recorded at the open house for the USAHEC's newest exhibit, “Ka-Pow Boom! Understanding the Soldier Experience through Comic and Illustrative Art.” Writer, former military strategist, and U.S. Army veteran Steve Leonard delivered a presentation on his comic series “The Further Adventures of Doctrine Man” In his presentation discussed the origins and inspiration for the iconic comic strip, and the impact it’s had on the U.S. Army.

In her award-winning novel “I Will Die In A Foreign Land”, author Kalani Pickhart offers an opportunity to connect with the human aspect of the conflict. The novel, winner of the 2022 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, lets readers experience the complex, and often intensely personal, circumstances leading up to the conflict through the stories of its main characters.

The harrowing experiences of Major Dick Winters and Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Spiers, along with their abilities to successfully lead solders, provide deep insights for anyone interested in leadership and small unit dynamics. Frederick explores the specific elements, personal and professional, which enabled Winters and Spiers to become legendary leaders.

 Lecture at the USAHEC with U.S. Army War College professor Dr. Kevin J. Weddle:In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany. When British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga with unexpected ease in July of 1777, it looked as if it was a matter of time before they would break the rebellion in the North. Less than three and a half months later, however, a combination of the Continental Army and Militia forces, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates and inspired by the heroics of Benedict Arnold, forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. The American victory stunned the world and changed the course of the war.

In the lecture Dr. Nolan will discusses the misconception that major battles determine clear-cut outcomes of wars, questioning the decisive power of even the most lopsided battles and debunking the concept of prodigies and geniuses of military strategy.