Collectively, the essays within this text reveal the innovative thinking, diversity, and depth of thought that is characteristic of the U.S. and foreign military and civilian agency personnel that comprise each class of the U.S. Army War College as they prepare themselves to become senior leaders of their militaries or agencies. The essays also offer key insights at the policy, strategy, planning, and doctrinal levels that can be applied in the current and future strategic environments confronting the United States and its security partners.

About the Author: ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN E. BESSLER, a U.S. Army colonel, is currently the Division Chief in the Security, Reconstruction and Transition Division of the Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He previously served as an Infantry battalion commander stateside as well as Commander, Afghan Regional Security/Integration Team, Western Provinces, in Herat, Afghanistan in 2008 and 2009. He is an Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM veteran. Colonel Bessler holds a master's degree from Central Michigan University and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
LORELEI E. W. COPLEN, a U.S. Army colonel, is currently the Chief, Policy and Knowledge Management division of the Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Her previous assignments include an aviation battalion command with the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division and numerous aviation operations and logistics positions throughout the U.S. and Germany. She is a veteran of the Gulf and the Iraq wars. Colonel Coplen holds a master's degree from the Eisenhower Fellowship at West Point, New York, in Organizational Leadership, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
MICHAEL E. CULPEPPER is a U.S. Army colonel currently assigned as the Executive Assistant to the Director, Joint Staff. He has served in numerous infantry command and staff positions in the U.S. and overseas. He is a veteran of multiple Operation IRAQI FREEDOM tours. Colonel Culpepper is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
GARY D. ESPINAS, a U.S. Army colonel, is currently assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense as an adviser to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Policy, and serves as President of the Foreign Area Officer Association. He is a Foreign Area Officer with previous assignments in the Department of State; Headquarters, Department of the Army Staff; U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia; and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Frankfurt, Germany. Originally commissioned as a field artillery officer, he is a veteran of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. Colonel Espinas holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, M.A. degrees from the U.S. Army War College and Harvard University, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
JAMES F. GLYNN, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is currently the J5, Director of Theater Engagement and Plans, for Special Operations Command-Africa. Prior assignments include command of the Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines deployed to the Al Anbar Province, Iraq, with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Lieutenant Colonel Glynn is a career infantry officer and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master's degree in Military Studies from the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
THOMAS GRAVES is a colonel in the U.S. Army and is currently assigned as the Commander, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Hovey, Korea. His previous assignments were as an infantryman in the U.S. Army for over 23 years. Originally commissioned from the United States Military Academy, he has commanded at multiple levels, most recently as the Commander, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment in Friedberg, Germany. He has served in combat in Panama and Iraq including 10 months as the Deputy Brigade Commander for 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in Ramadi, Iraq and 14 months as a battalion commander in Hit, Iraq. Colonel Graves holds a master's degree in Education from McNeese State University, is a 280 graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
MARCO E. HARRIS is a colonel in the Maryland Army National Guard and serves as the Chief of The Joint Staff, MDARNG. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Baltimore and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
RUSSELL R. HULA, a U.S. Air Force colonel, is currently the Operations Division Chief, Directorate of Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. His previous assignments include command of a Civil Engineer Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, and he twice served as a deployed Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron commander in Iraq and Oman supporting Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM. He also served as a battle staff member aboard USSTRATCOM's Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) and Mobile Consolidated Command Center (MCCC). Colonel Hula holds an M.S. in Science from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
JAMES C. "JAIME" LAUGHREY, a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, is currently the Senior Advisor for Intelligence, Operational Integration Division of the Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He previously served as the executive officer of the interagency CENTCOM Assessment Team formed by General David Petraeus in 2008-09, as a strategic analyst in the CENTCOM Commander's Advisory Group and for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and in a variety of joint and Army intelligence positions both in the United States and overseas. He is a veteran of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, DESERT SHIELD, DESERT STORM, and JOINT FORGE. Lieutenant Colonel Laughrey holds a Master's degree from the National Defense Intelligence College, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
LAURA LOFTUS, a U.S. Army colonel, is currently a Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe/Commander U.S. European Command. She
previously served in engineer units from Platoon to Brigade level and commanded a Combat Engineer battalion in the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq. During that tour, she and her Soldiers experienced first-hand the true nature and complexity of military operations in the 21st century. Colonel Loftus is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
ROGER S. MARIN, a U.S. Army colonel, is currently the Director of the Office of Time-Dominant Operations, Analysis and Production Directorate, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, Maryland. He has served in various command and staff positions at the White House, Joint Staff, and operational and tactical units in the United States, Germany, and Panama. Colonel Marin holds a Master's degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.DENNIS R. J. PENN is a National Security Agency analyst. He previously served in the U.S. Navy as a linguist before joining the Agency in 1998. Mr. Penn is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
TOM RHATICAN, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, is a Group Commander in the 75th Battle Command Training Division at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He served as the commander of an aviation task force in support of the sensitive site exploitation in Iraq in 2003. He is an attorney and has281worked in private practice, the Wisconsin Legislature, and most recently for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Colonel Rhatican is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Law and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
IAN A. RIGDEN, a colonel in the British Army, is currently the Assistant Head of Thematic Doctrine in The UK MOD Developments, Concepts and Doctrine Centre at Shrivenham. He served as a Gurkha Infantry battalion commander in Brunei and Afghanistan, and for a total of 7 years as a Company Commander in Hong Kong, the Falkland Islands (post-conflict), Belize, and Bosnia. He has held staff appointments in the MOD, HQ Land Forces, HQ 1st UK Armd Div and HQ MNF-I, and has been an instructor on the UK Advanced Command and Staff Course. He is a veteran of Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Rigden holds a Master's Degree in Defence Studies from King's College, London, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
ROGER H. WESTERMEYER, a U.S. Air Force colonel, is currently the Director of Contracting, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. He has served in several squadron command and higher headquarters staff positions and most recently served as Principle Assistant Responsible for Contracting-Iraq, Joint Contracting Command, Baghdad, Iraq. In this capacity, he supported the Multi-National Forces-Iraq and oversaw 15 Regional Contracting Centers executing over $6 billion annually. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky, Master's degrees from the Air University and Central Missouri University, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
JONATHAN P. WILCOX, a U.S. Navy commander and Medical Service Corps officer, is currently serving as Medical Plans and Operations Director and Deputy Medical Advisor at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Joint Forces Command Brunssum, the Netherlands. He has held various staff officer positions in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Commander Wilcox served as a Surgical Company Commander in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and as the Medical Operations and Plans director on the International Security and Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan. A board certified Aerospace Physiologist, he holds a military subspecialty in Plans, Operations and Medical Intelligence, and is a warfare qualified Fleet Marine Forces officer. Commander Wilcox holds Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and is a Class of 2008 graduate of the U.S. Army War College.
HARRY R. "RICH" YARGER, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is the Ministry Reform Advisor in the Security, Reconstruction and Transition Division of the Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Institute in September 2009, he served as Professor of National Security Policy in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College where he held the Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies and taught courses in Fundamentals of Strategic Thinking; Theory of War and Strategy; National Security Policy and Strategy; Grand Strategy; Terrorism; and the Interagency. His research focuses on strategic theory, national security policy and strategy, terrorism, irregular warfare, effective governance, and the education and development of strategic level leaders. In addition to teaching positions, he served 5 years as the Chairman of the War College's Department of Distance Education. Dr. Yarger has also taught at the undergraduate level at several local colleges. His latest work is Strategy and the National Security Professional: Strategic Thinking and Strategy Formulation in the 21st Century (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, July 2008). He is a Vietnam veteran and served in both Germany and Korea. He holds a Ph.D. from Temple University with fields in U.S. military history, U.S. diplomatic history, European diplomatic history, and American social history.