Special ISSUE: Military Writers' Symposium Associates Newsletter
Summer 2024
Celebrating 30 Years of the Symposium
Chairman’s Letter
By R. Pierce Reid, MAMH ’14
This fall at Norwich marks the 30th anniversary of the Military Writers’ Symposium and the Colby Award. During that time, we have helped launch the careers of some remarkable authors and spotlighted some of the most important – and often timely -- works of military and intelligence literature, fact and fiction. This year’s Colby Award winning book is no different. Author Mariana Budjeryn’s book, “Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine,” is not only an important contribution to the history of the fall of the Soviet Union, but examines some of the roots of today’s conflict.
Thirty years ago on the Norwich campus, another important event was also in its nascent stages. During the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, our campus was host to an annual conference on Information Operations – at the time a relatively new concept in the U.S. military. Through its InfoOps symposium, Norwich served as a focal point for the new field. Each spring, we brought together experts and thought leaders in the field and served as a catalyst for coalescing the diverse skills involved in network attack and defense, electronic warfare, psychological warfare, information assurance and other elements into a single organized warfare doctrine.
This effort was led, in part, by Marine Commandant, General Alfred Gray, a Norwich Trustee and a proponent of Information Operations. Under General Gray’s leadership, the United States Marine Corps were at the forefront of Information Operations doctrine. And with the encouragement of General Gray and Norwich Professor Mich Kabey, PhD., one of the leading academic pioneers in the field, Norwich’s role in Information Operations has helped create a generation of experts, thought leaders and practitioners of I/O who have contributed immeasurably to our national defense strategy. This effort as culminated in the opening of the Leahy Center on campus, one of the most advanced facilities of its type for the teaching and development of Information Operations.
So it is fitting that, for our 30th Anniversary, the Military Writers’ Symposium is focusing on Information Operations – bringing together two of Norwich’s greatest strengths into this year’s event. The roster of speakers is one of the greatest we have seen and sets the stage for the continued growth and success of the Military Writers’ Symposium.
To build on this momentum, we also have some major initiatives and opportunities throughout Military Writers’ Associates. In the months ahead we will be pursuing a significant growth and outreach strategy to grow the MWS in our next years. First and foremost it will be critical that we wrap up the fundraising to match the generous donation from the Pritzker Military Library and Museum, securing a permanent Endowment for the MWS. We are also looking at growing the Associates both in numbers and in our activities. As part of this, we are reviewing our charter and will be making some important announcements in the weeks ahead to increase our visibility and expand the Colby and MWS in the years ahead.
I look forward to seeing our Associates and Friends at the Symposium next month! And to helping secure a bright ‘next thirty years’ for one of our premiere campus events.
THE NORWICH UNIVERSITY MILITARY WRITERS’ ASSOCIATES are an affinity group whose members seek to support the Norwich University Military Writers’ Symposium and its corresponding year-round campus experience through:
Recommending authors
Fostering and encouraging an appreciation of the program by students, faculty and the public
Growing opportunities to attract new interest
Letter from the Desk of LtGen. John Broadmeadow, USMC (Ret.), President
This past spring I accepted the position as Norwich University’s 25th President and have the honor of being the first Marine ever to hold the office. There are many roles that a new leader takes on and one of the most important jobs I have is to ensure the continued success of the events that make Norwich University a special and unique place.
One of those events is the Norwich University Military Writers Symposium which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024. Combined with the Colby Award for military writing which is chosen along with our partners at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, this fall event brings authors, experts and thought leaders to campus for a unique event and one that benefits not just our students, but our entire community.
When I was asked to put together a column for the Friends of the Military Writers Symposium, I had a chance to reflect on the value of supporting military writing and authorship. Why does military writing matter?
In my 37 years as a Marine officer, many things were ingrained in us. Courage, honor, leadership all go into the making of a Marine. But so does scholarship. This was strongly reinforced by one of my mentors, Marine Four Star General and later Secretary of Defense James Mattis. General Mattis was such a strong advocate of scholarship and continued learning that he created reading and book lists for his officers, NCO’s and even his enlisted personnel. Learning was encouraged among all Marines!
Why was ‘reading’ so important for the men and women of the Marine Corps? Because being a Marine or a soldier or an airman or a sailor is many things. It is a calling. It is a career. But above all, it is a profession. And one of the defining characteristics of a “professional” in any field is that continued education and development are necessary and, yes, required!
Doctors, attorneys, engineers, teachers and first responders all have continuing education and training responsibilities. Why? Because in critical and ever-changing/developing fields one needs to stay not just up-to-date, but at the forefront of the profession. And few professions come with more responsibility than that of the warrior for whom life and death is a daily business. As the physician continually educates themselves in order that they ‘first do no harm’ so must the men and women who have chosen the military as their profession. There is great responsibility placed on the shoulders of military personnel at every level… the lives of their troops, of civilians, of property… even the fate of nations rests on the professionalism of its military.
This is why military writing matters. Whether the book is an analysis of historical events; a treatise on leadership or strategy; a thought or policy piece; an honest analysis of failure; or future thinking that direct our missions. All are important to our profession. Even good fiction matters because it can impart lessons just as critical as any formal school or scholarly historical paper. How many young people were inspired or imparted with a life lesson while reading a good book by Tom Clancy or W.E.B. Griffin or John LeCarre? Authors of both fact and fiction in the military, intelligence and political fields teach and inspire people and are often instrumental in helping guide a young person into the military or intelligence profession.
Each year, the Military Writers Symposium and the Colby Award presentation at Norwich recognizes authors and scholars who are at the top of the field. But it also gives our students, both our cadet and civilian scholars, a unique opportunity to interact with some of these thought leaders. Here at Norwich, we are helping our students take their first steps into a wide variety of professions ranging from computer information operations and military leadership to law enforcement and nursing.
Our mission at Norwich has always been to create great leaders and thinkers. And this unique event held each fall is a prime example of how we fulfill that mission in an engaging and memorable way.
Ultimately, events like the Military Writers Symposium are, and always should be, a core part of that mission to create the best professionals.
2024 Richard S. Schultz ‘60 Symposium Fellows
Lucia Frezza, Class of 2024
Lucia Frezza is a Senior from Wintersville, Ohio studying Computer Security and Information Assurance with a concentration in Digital Forensics and a minor in German. As a CyFER fellow, and a member of the CLDP, Lucia is very involved on campus with cybersecurity events, outreach and research. Her research focused on the threat profile of cyber actors and how they use perceptions is a gateway into the minds of independent cyber threat actors. In her spare time, her hobbies include rock climbing, horseback riding and drinking coffee.
Lilian Lu, Class of 2026 (Bachelors), 2027 (Masters)
Lilian Lu is a Junior from Tucson, AZ, pursuing studies in the 4+1 Accelerated Master's Program in Computer Security and Information Assurance with a concentration in Digital Forensics. She is also minoring in Chinese, Information Warfare, and History in Naval Studies. On campus, Lilian is actively involved in several activities, including the Corps of Cadets, CDLP, Women's Rugby, and the Norwich Guidon (campus newsletter). She is currently working towards an Army Intelligence contract with aspirations to serve in a three-letter agency. Through the Schultz Fellowship, Lilian hopes to analyze the ethical implications through real-time news outlets through open-source intelligence on "the Gospel," AI targeting technology in the current Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Richard S. Schultz ’60 Symposium Fellowship was established in 2017 as an endowed fund in honor of “Dick” by his wife of fifty years, Myrna L. Schultz, their children, Marni and Alan, and his classmates and friends.
The fellowship enables Norwich undergraduates, from any academic discipline, the opportunity to pursue areas of inquiry and experiences that will promote and expand their understanding of the past and how it impacts the present and future. Through research, travel, and inquiry the Schultz Fellow and faculty advisor will offer perspectives for us to face the future with better understanding and confidence.
After a wide solicitation and competitive selection process, this annual fellowship is granted by the Norwich University Peace & War Center to an undergraduate student for a single project that may involve additional Norwich undergraduate students. The award includes a $4,00 grant.
Inaugural Dennis E. Showalter Research Fellow
William Bain enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985 and retired in 2012. During his twenty-seven years of service, he was a nuclear-trained submarine electrician on four submarines. Bain accomplished strategic deterrent patrols on a Trident submarine and Special Project Missions on a modified attack submarine. On his last submarine, he was selected for the Limited Duty Officer program and spent the next twelve years serving on “targets” (surface ships), including three Nimitz class carriers. Bain retired as a Lieutenant Commander. He received many personal and unit awards during his service, including a Presidential Unit Citation. Following retirement, he worked for Kimberly-Clark in Paris, Texas, as the platform engineer for Huggies Little Swimmers, Pull-ups, and Good-Nites. He is the inaugural Dennis E. Showalter Research Fellow for Norwich University's College of Graduate and Continuing Studies.
His son graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2022 and is currently a Marine First Lieutenant attending flight school and selected for jets. His wife is an accomplished equestrian and an artist and art instructor at a community college. He studies history, rides bicycles, and fly fishes poorly.
The Dennis E. Showalter Research Fellowship at the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies recognizes Professor Dennis Showalter's contributions to the military history field, its junior scholars, and especially to our M.A. in Military History (MMH) program. The Fellowship, an endowed fund of Norwich University, was named in his memory as one of the founding faculty members for the Norwich Master’s in Military History Program, as a renowned author, an engaging lecturer and professor, and wise mentor over a 50-year career until his passing in 2019.
Author! Author!
Alumni and instructors at Norwich University are actively publishing books on military topics. Their works expand our understanding of causes, conduct, and consequences of conflicts, whether in factual or fictional accounts. Congratulations to these authors!
Kathy Wilson (MMH ’18) has published her first book Marshall’s Great Captain: Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews and Air Power in the World Wars. Wilson is the first author to write a book-length biography of Andrews, most well known as the namesake for Joint Base Andrews near Washington. Andrews spent nearly four decades serving in the U.S. Army before his accidental death in a tragic plane crash in Iceland on May 3, 1943. Andrews enjoyed a very successful career, and he possessed the leadership abilities and the military knowledge to be considered among the outstanding generals during World War II. Most interestingly, Wilson posits that there was a high probability that Andrews, rather than Dwight D. Eisenhower, was General George Marshall's first choice for the office of Supreme Allied Commander.
Anthony J. Piscitelli, Ph.D. (MMH ’09) has published the biography Colonel of Marines: Michael D. Wyly, A Marine with a Vision. Piscitelli tells the story of Michael Wyly who was one of the key players in the development of maneuver warfare as a doctrine in the U.S. Marine Corps. Piscitelli blends Wyly’s own words with running comments that help contextualize Wyly’s ideas and career. This book helps explain the ongoing debates regarding maneuver warfare in the U.S. Marine Corps today. Piscitelli is a long-time instructor in the M.A. in Military History program and Norwich PRO.
Captain Benjamin “B.J.” Armstrong, USN, Ph.D. (MMH ‘07) has published a revised and expanded 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era. Armstrong points out that readers have focused too much on what other authors have written about Mahan, rather than Mahan’s own words. Armstrong includes Mahan’s writings on naval readiness, globalization, leadership, history, and national strategy. Armstrong currently teaches at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he is Deputy to the Dean of Humanities and Sciences and the Admiral Jay Johnson Professor of Leadership & Ethics.
Dan Kemp (MMH ‘12) has published another fiction novel, Doubling Down: Athenaeum Inc., Volume Two. Kemp takes readers into an action-packed story where, after one of their hired hackers got machine-gunned in New York City, it fell to the men and women at America’s most overlooked military intelligence contracting firm to figure out whodunit and, more importantly, why. Then someone tried killing the company’s CEO in his own front yard. Some things just cannot be forgiven, so a discreet war will rage in the shadows where geopolitics and international crime do business. And when the other players in the game are all heading to Nevada to try their luck, it’s time for the Professor and Athenaeum, Inc. to roll the dice again.
Andrew Liptak (MMH ’09) has published a new short story titled “Embers” that is part of the digital anthology Far Futures published by Horizon 45. This collection of short stories looks at a world several decades into the future where nuclear weapons are no longer threats to humanity. In Liptak’s story, the main character and his team hunt down old nuclear weapons still drifting through space or orbiting the earth or other planets. This short story is about one attempt to find a warhead, remove it, and return it safely to earth.