Two serving Army Colonels will talk about their recent combat
experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and provide their assessment of the problems with the current American approach to Afghanistan.
Colonel Gian P. Gentile graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986 and was commissioned through ROTC as second lieutenant of Armor. He has served in command and staff positions in the continental United States, Germany, and Korea, and in Iraq in 2003 and 2006. In 2003 he was a Brigade Combat Team Executive Office in the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit. In 2006 he commanded a Cavalry Squadron in the 4th Infantry Division in west Baghdad. He is a graduate of the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) and he holds a doctorate in history from Stanford University. His book How Effective is Strategic Bombing? Lessons Learned from World War II to Kosovo, was published by New York University Press in 2000. He has had articles published in the Pacific Historical Review, Air Power History, Journal of Military History, Joint Forces Quarterly, and Armed Forces Journal. Currently he directs the Military History Program at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Colonel David R. Gray is a 1980 Distinguished Military Graduate of Western Illinois University. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College (JPME II), and the US Army War College. He has earned a masters degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College and masters and doctorate degrees in Military History from The Ohio State University. He served as the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division (Light) Division’s G3 (Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training) during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. Colonel Gray was selected as the 2004 US Army Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institute, where he worked on national security and foreign policy issues. He then commanded the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) in Iraq in 2006. He currently holds the Class of 1969 Chair of Officership and is the Director of Policy, Strategic Planning, and Assessments at the United States Military Academy.
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