History Commons^™

Polybian Warfare: The First Punic War As A Case Study In Strategic Competition And Joint Warfighting, Casey B. Baker

Joint Force Quarterly

This article uses the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage as a case study in strategic competition and joint warfighting. The 23-year conflict demonstrates how enduring political, economic, and geographic interests can produce prolonged competition marked by shifting fortunes, costly stalemates, and repeated reversals. The author highlights the importance of alliances, partnerships, and mercenary forces, showing how changes in military strength, domestic politics, and economic pressures can reshape relationships over time. Rome’s effort to challenge Carthaginian maritime dominance also illustrates the difficulty of building advantage in a new warfighting domain, requiring rapid acquisition, technological innovation, sustained investment, and operational …

It’S The Chain That Broke It: The Strategic Supply Chains Underpinning National Security, Gregory M. Tomlin

Joint Force Quarterly

Strategic supply chain vulnerabilities threaten the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ability to maintain readiness and protect national security. Global supply chains, often dependent on multiple subcontractor tiers, are highly prone to disruptions from geopolitical events, foreign interference, cybersecurity risks, and shortages of critical materials, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and in delays like those affecting F-35 production. To address these challenges, the DOD must adopt "strategic supply chains" as a core concept in its doctrine, emphasizing continuous risk assessment and safeguards like multisourcing, supply chain nerve centers, and contingency planning. Updating key policies and doctrines, such as Joint Publications …

Bullets, Bandages, And Fairy Dust: Improving Dmo Health Services Support With Wargaming, Debra D. Buckland-Coffey, Robert P. Gerbracht, Kengo Nishida, William R. Gureck

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that health services support remains insufficiently integrated into planning, wargaming, and exercises for distributed maritime operations and expeditionary advanced base operations. The authors describe the common practice of “fairy dusting,” in which planners accept unvalidated assumptions about medical support, casualty movement, logistics, and sustainment in order to keep exercises moving. In a contested Indo-Pacific environment, however, high casualty rates, extended evacuation timelines, dispersed forces, vulnerable supply chains, and limited medical capacity could place severe strain on existing health services systems. Drawing on doctrine, after-action reports, and interviews with Navy, Marine Corps, medical, and logistics leaders, the article …

Updating The Tacs/Aags For Large-Scale Combat Operations, Matthew Neuenswander

Joint Force Quarterly

This article reviews the evolution of the Theater Air Control System/Army Air-Ground System (TACS/AAGS) and assesses whether its current structure is adequate for large-scale combat operations. Since the Vietnam War, TACS/AAGS has provided the command-and-control framework for integrating Army and Air Force operations involving joint fires, close air support, air interdiction, airspace control, intelligence, and other air-ground missions. The author argues that decades of counterinsurgency operations, changing Army force structures, emerging long-range fires organizations, dispersed command posts, and Air Force reductions in Tactical Air Control Party personnel have created new challenges for joint air-ground integration. Additional complications include unresolved questions …

Determining Political Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains how political objectives shape grand strategy and national or coalition security strategy and argues that they must be realistic, achievable, and clearly articulated before military options are developed. Political leaders bear primary responsibility for determining these objectives but should incorporate the professional advice of senior military leaders. The author outlines a process that begins with a strategic estimate, identification and prioritization of national interests, and assessment of the enemy, available resources, and political assumptions. Political objectives may be offensive or defensive and limited or unlimited in scope, with their value and ambition affecting the level of effort, …

Is The Pla Overestimating The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence?, Koichiro Takagi

Joint Force Quarterly

This article analyzes how the People’s Liberation Army views the military potential and limitations of artificial intelligence as part of China’s broader drive toward “intelligentization.” Drawing on approximately 370 military theory articles published in PLA Daily in 2023, the author identifies four principal areas in which the PLA expects AI to transform warfare: situational awareness, military decisionmaking, unmanned weapons, and cognitive domain operations. PLA writings also discuss applications in training, logistics, and weapons development. At the same time, the PLA acknowledges significant risks, including unreliable or biased data, system malfunction, loss of human control, unintended escalation, legal and ethical concerns, …

Celtic Security In The Atlantic: How Does Ireland Secure Europe’S Western Flank?, Patrick J. Smith

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Ireland has become a critical vulnerability on Europe’s western flank as Russian military activity exposes gaps in Irish air, maritime, and undersea infrastructure security. Ireland’s limited naval and air capabilities, lack of military radar, and geographic position near major transatlantic sea lanes and undersea cables create risks not only for Ireland but also for NATO and the broader transatlantic security architecture. The author considers two options for strengthening Irish defense: NATO membership or Major Non-NATO Ally status with the United States. Major Non-NATO Ally status could improve Ireland’s access to U.S. equipment, technology, training, and bilateral …

The Urgency Of Warfighting Renewal: Five Principles For Today’S Professional Military Education, Christopher M. Marcell, Gaylon L. Mcalpine, Reagan E. Schaupp, Joseph L. Varuolo

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Professional Military Education must renew its focus on the art and science of warfighting in response to senior Department of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff guidance. Although PME programs have added content on China, Russia, and other contemporary challenges, the authors contend that topical updates alone do not address deeper concerns about whether military education is adequately preparing leaders for future conflict. They present five principles for reform: make warfighting the central purpose of PME; define and prioritize warfighting-related study more clearly; recognize PME degrees as professional degrees; treat joint and Service leadership as PME’s …

Being Believed: Persuasion And The Narrative In Military Operations, Brent A. Lawniczak

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores the role of persuasive narratives in military operations and argues that being truthful is not enough; joint force narratives must also be believable and persuasive to intended audiences. Narratives provide context, coherence, and meaning to military actions and can shape perceptions, influence behavior, and support objectives across the competition continuum. The article identifies the core elements of a narrative, including setting, characters, plot, and moral, and explains key factors that contribute to persuasiveness, such as emotional appeal, simplicity, consistency, identification, trust, resonance, coherence, and alignment between words and actions. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding audience …

The Art Of Campaigning: Joint Planners Working At The Intersections Of Everything, Mary Bell, Edgar M. Hollandsworth, Thomas J. Snukis, Jeffrey Turner, Luke P. Bellocchi, Nicholas Anthony, Steve Tribble, Chris Botterbusch, Justin D. Harper

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains the evolving concept of military campaigning and the complex role of joint planners in developing and executing Combatant Command Campaign Plans. Modern campaigning encompasses not only combat operations but also persistent activities intended to shape the strategic environment, create favorable conditions, and advance U.S. national objectives. The authors describe how joint planners translate strategic guidance and a combatant commander’s vision into operational approaches by integrating doctrine, operational design, intelligence, assessment, and activities across the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. The article also highlights the importance of strategic wargaming, collaboration across combatant commands and external partners, …

Adopting A Data-Centric Mindset For Operational Planning, Jeremiah Hurley, Morgan Greene

Joint Force Quarterly

The Department of Defense is investing in advanced technologies to maintain a competitive military advantage, but realizing their full value requires a data-first approach to operational planning. Jeremiah Hurley and Morgan Greene argue that DOD must improve how it collects, organizes, integrates, and uses data so commanders and staffs can understand the operational environment and develop and execute courses of action faster than adversaries. The article critiques current planning processes that rely on static products such as PowerPoint slides, spreadsheets, and email, and recommends incorporating standardized data collection templates, plans, matrices, automated data pipelines, and dynamic visualizations into joint and …

Preparing For Adversary Employment Of Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons: Tactical Effects, Operational Impacts, Strategic Implications, James H. Gifford

Joint Force Quarterly

For more than 30 years after the Cold War, the United States largely operated without facing the threat of nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Recent nuclear threats from adversaries such as Russia, however, have renewed the need to prepare for the possible use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons. This article explains the distinction between strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons and assesses the consequences of limited nuclear use at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war. A nuclear strike could produce severe casualties and equipment losses at the tactical level, create medical, logistical, and civilian challenges at the operational level, and …

Risk: A Weak Element In U.S. Strategy Formulation, Frank Hoffman

Joint Force Quarterly

Strategic risk is an inherent element of national security decisionmaking, yet it is often insufficiently incorporated into U.S. strategy formulation. Frank Hoffman argues that risk analysis should be a routine and continuous component of strategic planning rather than an exercise conducted primarily during implementation. Drawing on joint doctrine and case studies involving the Iraq War, Operation Neptune Spear, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the article illustrates how assumptions, institutional biases, and inconsistent approaches to risk can shape strategic outcomes. Hoffman calls for a broader, shared understanding of strategic risk across the national security community and recommends developing an interagency …

Executive Summary, William T. Eliason

Joint Force Quarterly

This executive summary introduces Joint Force Quarterly 116 against the backdrop of the fall of Bashar al-Asad’s regime in Syria and considers the implications for U.S. strategy, regional security, and future military posture in the Middle East. The issue addresses strategic risk in U.S. national security decisionmaking, adversary use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons, and the adoption of a data-oriented approach to operational planning. Additional articles consider joint campaign planning, military influence operations, professional military education, the potential for Ireland to join NATO, and the implications of artificial intelligence for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Feature articles address political objectives in …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 116, 1st Quarter 2025, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint Force Quarterly 116 explores key challenges and innovations in military strategy, operations, and global security. The Forum section examines how the U.S. approaches risk in its strategy, the impact of nonstrategic nuclear weapons, and the importance of using data-driven methods in planning military operations.

In JPME Today, articles focus on how joint military campaigns succeed, the role of storytelling and persuasion in operations, and the urgent need to modernize professional military education.

The Commentary section highlights Ireland's strategic role in securing Europe’s western flank and evaluates whether China’s military overestimates the potential of artificial intelligence.

The Features section dives …

The Growing Rift Between Holocaust Scholars Over Israel/Palestine, Shira Klein

History Faculty Articles and Research

"A chasm has formed between Holocaust scholars concerning Israel/Palestine, deepening immeasurably since 7 October 2023. Unlike previous controversies in the field, the divide is not just historical or methodological; it revolves around academics’ role in the world today, particularly the public stand they choose to take on Palestine/Israel and Zionism. Two main camps have formed. Put reductively, one camp defends Israel, while the other defends Palestinians, although differences between individual scholars within each camp make for more of a spectrum than a clear-cut divide. How, despite a diversity of ideas and foci within each camp, did two academic-political antipodes solidify …

The Unknown Turning Point: How Operation Pedestal Secured Allied Dominance In Europe, Brian Zachary Williamson

All ETDs from UAB

Operation Pedestal was a World War II convoy operation in the Mediterranean that successfully resupplied the island of Malta in late 1942. The convoy fought through constant Axis air raids and submarine attacks, which resulted in high British losses. The operation was overshadowed by the Allied invasion of North Africa during Operation Torch, which was launched soon after. Malta’s role throughout the war in the Mediterranean made it vital for the British to hold and the Pedestal convoy’s successful effort to keep the island from capitulation should make the operation be considered as a turning point. The few military historians …

British And South African Perceptions Of African Participation In The African Military Campaigns Of World War One, Eric Mathew Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Historians interested in reconstructing the events of World War One have consistently noted that the military campaigns that occurred in sub-Saharan Africa have been given scant attention. It is commonly accepted among researchers that while there has been some focus on the impressions of the individual European soldiers involved in this conflict, wide gaps still exist in the literature. Very significantly, a thorough search of the literature clearly reveals that the perceptions of whites towards their African counterparts who participated in the military campaigns has been very much neglected. This dissertation helps to close this gap by focusing on the …

Roger B Crosskey - Cwgc Certificate, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Roger Bensley Crosskey

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Certificate for RAF cadet Roger B Crosskey who was killed in a plane crash on January 20, 1942, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the CWGC British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia.

Roger B Crosskey - Biography, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Roger Bensley Crosskey

Biography of RAF cadet LAC Roger B Crosskey who was killed in a night flying accident on January 20, 1942, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia.

Thomas J Parry - Biography, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Thomas John Parry

Biography of RAF cadet Thomas John Parry who was killed in a plane crash on January 14, 1944, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia alongside his co-pilot, Anthony J Oakley who died in the same crash.

Thomas J Parry - Cwgc Certificate, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Thomas John Parry

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Certificate for RAF cadet Thomas John Parry who was killed in a plane crash on January 14, 1944, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the CWGC British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia.

The Shadow Of Exceptionalism: Morality, Pragmatism, And Covert Action In American Cold War Foreign Policy, Kyle Stacy

History Theses - Archive

The complex forces of national identity, economic ambition, and ideological justification created a dynamic and contested landscape that shaped America’s Cold War policies. A carefully curated useful past, bolstered by religious convictions, fostered a belief in American exceptionalism and moral leadership that provided both the impetus and justification for 11 America’s actions abroad. Yet, America’s stated ideals—freedom and democracy—existed in stark tension with the pursuit of its national interests, often clashing with its self-perceived moral superiority. The Cold War environment fostered a culture of secrecy within the highest levels of government. Here, transparency and accountability were readily sacrificed for strategic …

Into Eternity: Legacy Of The Saint Patrick's Battalion, Preston S. Dyess

2025 Symposium

“The Saint Patrick’s Battalion” was a rogue unit of Irish-Catholic soldiers who deserted from the U.S. Army shortly before or during the Mexican-American War. Disillusioned by their mistreatment in the American army, they found common ground with the Mexican people over their shared faith and national story. John Riley, the battalion’s eventual leader, deserted shortly before the war broke out and was captured by Mexican forces. After some convincing, he was given a commission by Mexican General Pedro de Ampudia and instructed to raise a company of fellow deserters. The unit served courageously, garnering praise and honor in the eyes …

Soldiers, Alcohol, And Insanity At Richmond Asylum, 1860s-1900s, Amy Milne-Smith

History Faculty Publications

This article examines the role of alcohol in the etiology of madness through a case study of soldiers and veterans at Richmond Asylum in Dublin. It argues that the diagnostic process was a complex practice informed by medical and military authorities and patient and family histories. Like any medical records, Richmond casebooks are mediated through the medical gaze, but they do contain significant glimpses into what role patients and families believed alcohol played in soldiers’ mental health. The study highlights moments of consensus and disagreement rather than a singular theory on the role of alcohol in mental illness. Through a …

Charles Forbes 'Beano' Russell. Cwgc Certificate, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Charles Forbes (Beano) Russell

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Certificate for RAF cadet Charles Forbes ‘Beano’ Russell who died on July 22, 1941, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the CWGC British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia.

2nd Iowa Supply Co, Handwritten Receipt, United States. Army.

Fort Brown Mexican Border War Records

No abstract provided.

Mexican Border War Records, Brownsville District, 1916 - 015, United States. Army.

Fort Brown Mexican Border War Records

No abstract provided.

Ink And Internment: The Wartime Artistry Of Japanese Americans And Spaniards During World War Ii, Avery Calvert

Theses

World War II displaced millions of people around the world. “Ink and Internment: The Wartime Artistry of Japanese Americans and Spaniards During World War II” evaluates the internment experiences of Japanese Americans and Spaniards through the lens of art with a special focus on two artists: Miné Okubo and Josep Bartolí. Okubo, a Japanese American artist born in 1927, experienced internment in the United States as a young adult. Her artwork reveals her personal experience as well as that of her fellow internees. Okubo created her art memoir, Citizen 13600, to share the internment experience of Japanese Americans with others. …

Michael K Hinds - Cwgc Certificate, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents: Michael Kevin Hinds

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Certificate for RAF cadet Michael K Hinds who was killed in a plane crash on July 13, 1944,, while training to be a pilot at 5BFTS. He is buried in the CWGC British Plot. at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Arcadia.