Welcoming New Members to the Guild

Strengthening the writing community for over a decade

The Military Writers Guild proudly announces our latest and largest cohort of new members. The pool of great applicants this year was impressive, in both quantity and quality - and our community of writers will be stronger for it.

A very warm welcome to:

• Matt Armstrong (mountainrunner.substack.com; @mountainrunner.us)

  • Matt was as Governor on the former Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Executive Director of a government commission providing advice to Congress, the State Department, and the White House while exercising oversight over US efforts to inform, influence, and understand audiences abroad. He taught graduate courses in public diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School, was an adjunct lecturer with the Joint Special Operations University, and was a guest lecturer at the National War College, the National Intelligence University, the Army War College, the NATO School at Oberammergau, and several NATO Member schools. Matt testified four times before House committees on international information operations, advised Congressional Members and staff, helped cause and write the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, and have written extensively about the legislation. He is honored to have been inducted into the Psychological Operations Regiment at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School as an Honorary Member. And Matt is proud that Russia sanctioned him in May 2022, five years after he left government service. Hopefully, by the time you read this, he’ll have completed his PhD with a dissertation that examined the US institutional response to Russian political warfare in the early cold war of 1945-1965. Matt lives in Boston, moving back to the US in 2023 after living near Zürich for seven years and outside of London for three years. He enjoys sharing evergreen quotes from the past, and one of his favorite quotes is from 1963: “Someday this nation will recognize that global non-military conflict must be pursued with the same intensity and preparation as global military conflicts.”

• Mark Bailey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmbailey/)

  • Mark writes about the intersection between artificial intelligence, complexity, philosophy, and national security. He is an Associate Professor at the National Intelligence University, where he serves as the Department Chair for Cyber Intelligence and Data Science, as well as the Director of the Biological and Computational Intelligence Center. Mark’s writing interests include the fundamental limits of what we can know and how these limits impact strategic warning and analysis. He is also interested in how our relationships with technology affect national security problems. His work has appeared in publications such as the journal Futures, Nautilus, and Homeland Security Today. Previously, Mark worked as a data scientist on several AI programs, as well as various CBRNE defense and nonproliferation roles, within the U.S. Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Mark is the author of the recent book, Unknowable Minds: Philosophical Insights on AI and Autonomous Weapons.

• Joseph “Josh” Bedingfield (https://x.com/ragingmeercat)

  • Josh is an Active Duty Civil Affairs Officer in the U.S. Army, currently stationed at Fort Bragg. He began his career as an Infantryman and then an Infantry Officer prior to his current duty position. Josh has deployed to Afghanistan and several times to Europe in support of Special Operations missions. He is a graduate of and holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma (B.A.), Fayetteville State University (MBA), the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College where I studied as an Art of War Scholar (MMAS), and the Advanced Military Studies Program (MAMO). Josh is a military historian and has written a thesis on how Russian actors weaponized rights through the Russian Revolution 1893-1917 and a monograph on the value proposition of shadow governments to resistance operations. He is also the creator of the School of Advanced Military Studies’ podcast “The Operational Arch” where he hosted the first season before passing the torch to the subsequent class. Most recently, Josh was the lead author of 1st Special Forces Command’s recently published operational concept “How ARSOF Fights: How ARSOF Enables the Army and the Joint Force to Fight in Large-Scale Combat Operations.” He is currently working on some articles exploring resistance operations and operational shock.

• Wes Chaney (https://bsky.app/profile/doctrinatrix.bsky.social; https://x.com/doctrinatrix_C2)

  • Wes Chaney is an Army Foreign Area Officer specializing in Africa, with over 25 years of active service. He has held assignments as a Security Cooperation Officer in Djibouti, as the Southern and Eastern Africa Branch Chief at US Army Africa, as a Senior Defense Official / Defense Attache in Cote d'Ivoire, and as the Branch Chief for FAO at the US Army Human Resources Command. Currently, he manages the Army's Foreign Military Sales portfolio for the US Central Command's area of responsibility. Wes' education consists of a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Univerisity of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and most recently, a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. Wes is working on his second book, which covers the history of the US Army's Functional Area 48 (Foreign Area Officer) from its beginning in Peking, China in 1907, through its creation in 1973, to the modern-day FAO functional area.

• Nikki Dean (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vince-arduaine-di-dato-0547b0208)

  • Nikki is a History PhD student at the University of Kansas, and a retired US Army officer and aviator. She received a B.A. in Journalism and French from Canisius College, where she also commissioned through ROTC in 2001. During her military career, Nikki has served in a myriad of tactical assignments around the world as well as being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Her last assignment was with the US Army Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, where she worked on the 2022 edition of FM 3-0, contributed to the new versions of FM 5-0 and 6-0, and hosted the Breaking Doctrine podcast. Nikki has completed additional graduate work in National Security Studies and in Military Arts and Sciences (through the School of Advanced Military Studies), and recently completed an M.A. in Museum Studies with the University of Kansas in 2023. While all of her graduate studies are decidedly Midwestern, she is a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan. Nikki researches provenance curation and is particularly focused on art and antiquities looting and spoliation in armed conflict, and she also writes about the use of art and museums as tools of military professional development. Nikki currently serve as a Military History Educator and Interpreter for the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City.

• Vincenzo Di Dato

  • Vince is a Designer, Architect, and Military Engineer with a Master in Civil-Military Interaction at the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces of Hamburg. He has experience with Civil Protection, internationally, and with international humanitarian cooperation. Vince is a CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation) Functional Specialist, with missions in Iraq and Aghanistan between 2004 and 1013. He taught Civil-Military Synergies at Centro Addestramento Alpino, in Aosta, between 2010 and 218. He works on conflict evolution and non-lethal activities to prevent and solve them. He has experience in crisis areas worldwide for emergency management, reconstruction, energy, and essential services after wars and critical events. Vince founded Xerdan, Ltd. in Malta, a consulting company working on sustainability, crises, and emergencies. He attained several NATO qualifications; is Member of the AOD – Archipelago of Design (A group of experts in Military Design), Canada; a Member of the ANA – Associazione Nazionale Alpini, ANPdI – Associazione Nazionale Paracadutisti d’Italia, and UNUCI – Unione Nazionale Ufficiali in Congedo d’Italia; and a Member of the jury for the “Ceruglio Literary Award” for military and security books, and the “Military Award” for distinguished military units. His writing experience includes: a 1st Prize at the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces of Germany Literature Award 2024 for “VITAL STRATEGIES - The Hidden Code of Sunzi,” Washington DC: Narrative Strategies Ink, 27 Feb. 2022 (3rd edition, 2025 by Xerdan, Ltd); the Italian translation of “Operative Manual for Spaceship Earth,” Manuale Operativo per Nave Spaziale Terra) of Richard Buckminster Fuller, Il Saggiatore, Milan 2018; and several other publications in magazines, newspapers, and the internet, published internationally and nationally, plus interviews in televisions, radio, and on the web worldwide. He writes academic papers on security, planning, Civil-Military Cooperation, and Civil-Military Interaction.

• Daniel Dillenback (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddillenback/)

  • Dan is an Active Duty FA59 (Strategist) currently serving in the War Plans Division of the U.S. Army Headquarters. His professional military writing centers on opinion columns, with a few publications in Military Review, Military.com and Army Magazine. In 2023, Dan founded Sapper Scribe Publishing to provide a free resource for aspiring writers learning the publication process. He, like many of us, writes a lot for work. So much so that he has taken refuge in creative writing since he started working in the Pentagon. Dan published his first novel in September 2024, a psychological body horror titled "The Voices are Real." In December, after incorporating, he started working on a second book, a cyberpunk novel set in future Alaska. It's inspired by some of his work in Homeland Defense for the Army, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "Useful Fiction" (shout out to August Cole and Peter Singer). It explores typical dystopian, punk concepts with a more neutral, and arguably depressing point of view. Dan would love some additional beta readers as he finishes up the first draft. You can check it out at sapperscribe.com if interested. Dan loves to write, edit, publish, and publicize and he intends to keep it up through retirement and beyond.

• Lee Eysturlid (https://x.com/Leysturlid)

  • Lee is an instructor and writer. His primary focus in research and writing is in Early Modern and Modern European military history. He has published on Napoleonic Habsburg commanders and edited/wrote a general two volume work on military theory. Lee also helped create, write for, and edit ABC-CLIO's War and World History site. Currently he is working on a biography of the Archduke Carl. Lee is interested in all aspects of military history and looks forward to interaction with members of the MWG.

• Steve Ferenzi (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-ferenzi-5513a3296)

  • Steve is a retired U.S. Army Strategist (FA59) and Special Forces officer with recent service as lead campaign planner for U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT). Throughout his career he has led and contributed to the development of special operations and irregular warfare-related strategic guidance and plans from the national though combatant command and service levels. Past service includes with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the 3rd and 5th Special Forces Groups, the 82nd Airborne Division, and as an Assistant Professor of Defense & Strategic Studies at the United States Military Academy. In support of these efforts he has published extensively (“write for purpose”) on deterrence, irregular warfare, and strategic competition (including proxy warfare, resistance, irregular deterrence, influence operations, critical thinking, doctrine and PME, fictional narratives/FICINT, etc.) in War on the Rocks, The National Interest, Military Review, Defense One, Military Times, Joint Special Operations University, Real Clear Defense, the InterAgency Journal, Small Wars Journal, the Irregular Warfare Center, and the Modern War Institute. He holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

• Josh Francis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-francis-885455192/)

  • Josh qualified as high school teacher before commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy as a junior officer soon after the September 11 attacks in the US. A desire to serve on warlike operations saw him resign his commission and enlist into the Australian Army. After qualifying as an infantryman and paratrooper, Josh deployed on peacekeeping operations in East Timor conducting counter-militia operations. After completing basic and specialist intelligence operations training, Josh completed multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, conducting duties in special operations, conventional operations and training roles. He is the author of the military themed personal development books 'The Camouflage Series', and the recently released 'Zach Kryton' thriller series. Additionally, he runs the consulting arm of Red Diamond, providing military technical consulting to media and film productions.

• Lewis Frederickson (linkedin.com/in/lewis-frederickson-75a16178)

• Hayley Hasik (https://bsky.app/profile/hayleyhasik.bsky.social)

  • Hayley received her PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2023. Hayley’s dissertation, “The Helicopter War: Unraveling the Myth and Memory of a Vietnam War Icon,” looks at the promotional culture of the helicopter industry and Army aviation to explore how the military-industrial complex and advertising made the helicopter ubiquitous in both combat operations and the popular memory of the Vietnam War. Helicopter advertising campaigns and corporations’ efforts to win military contracts were central to the creation of the Vietnam War as the “helicopter war.” Immediately following graduation, Hayley spent a year as an Educator at the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site in Denison, Texas, where she developed programs to share the history of the 34th President and the various chapters of his life with the public. In 2024, Hayley went to work for Army University Films as a historian, writer, and director of documentary films developed for the Army. Prior to her work at USM, Hayley co-founded the East Texas War and Memory Project, an oral and public history project designed to collect, preserve, and share the stories of people affected by war. Her early research focused on World War II and the varied POW experiences in Germany, primarily the difference between officers and enlisted men, before expanding to include soldier experiences in the Vietnam War. This was the foundation for Hayley’s work in public history broadly and oral history specifically. Hayley expanded her oral history experience through her work with the East Texas Research Center where she conducted over 100 interviews for projects related to University history, local community history, and veteran histories.

• David Hood

• Jakob Hutter (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakob-hutter/)

  • Jakob is a captain in the Kansas Army National Guard currently serving as the S3 Operations Officer for the 169th Division Sustainment Support Battalion and as a Title 32 Federal Technician as the Brigade Training Officer for the 69th Troop Command. He has been in the Kansas Guard since commissioning in 2016, building his career around operational planning, logistics, and leadership development. From 2018 to 2019, Jakob deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield as a Distribution Platoon Leader supporting Armor and Infantry units. He earned a Bachelor of Science in History with a minor in Leadership Studies from Kansas State University and later completed a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership through Colorado State University-Global Campus. Along the way, Jakob combined his passion for leadership and writing, publishing more than 15 articles on leadership, history, and professional development. He is passionate about helping others grow and making organizations better. Jakob believes leadership happens at every level, and he enjoys finding ways to connect timeless leadership principles to today’s challenges.

• Christopher Izant (https://x.com/ChrisIzant)

  • Christopher is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the author of Final Engagement: A Marine’s Last Mission and the Surrender of Afghanistan (Diversion Books 2024), a memoir of his deployment as a combat advisor to the Afghan Border Police in Helmand Province. Chris’s writing have also been published in As You Were: The Military Review, Harvard National Security Journal, Harvard Journal on Law and Technology, and Al-Noor: the Undergraduate Middle Eastern Studies Journal at Boston College. Chris attended Boston College for undergraduate studies prior to joining the Marines, and, after a medical separation and honorable discharge, completed a joint degree program Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government. Chris is an FBI Special Agent in Maryland, where he lives with his family.

• Nathan Jennings (www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-a-jennings)

  • Nate is an Army Strategist and Associate Professor in the Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations at the US Army Command and General Staff College. With a background in armored warfare, he served as an enlisted cavalry scout with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, as a platoon leader with the 1st Infantry Division in Baghdad, Iraq, as a cavalry troop commander with the 1st Cavalry Division in Kirkuk, Iraq, and as a strategic planner with the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. Prior to his current assignment, Nate taught in the History Department at the United States Military Academy, served as an operational level doctrine writer with the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, and more recently completed an instructor tour in the Department of Military History at CGSC where he served as lesson author, course director, and thesis chair. Jennings holds an MA in history from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in history from the University of Kent where he studied military culture in frontier Texas. He is also a graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies where he studied division cavalry squadron history and application. Nate is the author of, Riding for the Lone Star: Frontier Cavalry and the Texas Way of War, 1822-1865, and has published scholarly articles in Military History of the West, the Journal of the West, the Journal of South Texas, the Mexican War Journal, and Small Wars and Insurgencies. Nate’s professional publications include articles in ARMOR, INFANTRY, Modern War Institute, Strategy Bridge, Small Wars Journal, the Wavell Room, Army Magazine, AUSA’s Land Warfare Papers series, Military Review, Joint Force Quarterly, and the Journal of Advanced Military Studies. Nate hails from Palmer, Alaska, and currently resides in the Kansas City metro with his spouse and their children.

• Adam Karaoguz (https://adamkaraoguz.substack.com/; https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-karaoguz/)

  • Adam recently retired as a Lieutenant Commander after twenty-seven years in the U.S. Navy, completing a variety of enlisted and officer assignments in surface and special warfare units. While enlisted, he served as a search and rescue swimmer and boatswain’s mate on the USS TARAWA (LHA-1), then as a communications specialist, joint terminal attack controller (JTAC), sniper, and team leader in SEAL platoons. After commissioning, he completed multiple leadership tours, to include two troop commander rotations at Naval Special Warfare Development Group, and an assistant professor of Naval Science at the University of Rochester. Adam deployed numerous times to conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, and the Pacific. He’s been writing fiction since age ten and is currently working to publish his debut novel. Adam has a BA from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, a MS in Irregular Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School, and is enrolled in a humanities PhD at Salve Regina University. He writes weekly essays at his Substack, Renaissance Humans.

• David Brock Katz (https://x.com/davebrockkatz; https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-brock-katz-b9358716/)

• Brian Kerg (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-kerg-426644a4/; https://x.com/BrianKerg; https://bsky.app/profile/briankerg.bsky.social)

  • Brian is an active-duty US Marine Corps operational planner, a nonresident fellow in the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and a member of the Modern Warfare Institute's Irregular Warfare Initiative, where he writers in support of Project Maritime. He previously served as the G-5 director of plans, III Marine Expeditionary Force. In this capacity, he directed the deliberate planning efforts for the employment of Marine Corps forces across the first island chain. He is also currently an editorial board member for the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine. His professional writing focuses on future conflict, naval and littoral operations, information warfare, and useful fiction. A former enlisted infantryman, he served in a variety of command and staff positions in the operating forces and the supporting establishment. He previously held fellowships with Marine Corps University’s Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfighting, the Pacific Forum, and the College of William and Mary’s Project for International Peace and Security. He was the US Naval Institute Proceedings 2021 Author of the Year and was recognized by Combat Development and Integration, Headquarters Marine Corps as the 2021 Expeditionary Warfare Officer of the Year. Kerg holds an MS in information from the University of Michigan, an MA in military history from Norwich University, and an MA in operational studies from Marine Corps University’s School of Advanced Warfighting, among other degrees.

• Peter Layton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpeterlayton/)

• Cole Livieratos (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-livieratos-34b007134)

  • Cole is an active duty Army Strategist currently serving as the Army Advisor to the Director of the Office of Net Assessment. He has served in a range of roles with conventional and special operations units in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and he taught in the Defense and Strategic Studies program at West Point. Prior to the Office of Net Assessment, Cole completed a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship at the venture capital firm In-Q-Tel and the State Department’s Office of Critical and Emerging Technology. He is a graduate of West Point and holds a PhD in international relations from Georgetown University. Cole discovered his affinity for writing when he began his PhD program. He has since published a dozen articles and has a chapter in a forthcoming volume on the future of America’s all-volunteer force. Cole is nearly complete with a book manuscript that uses institutional and civil-military relations theories to explain why special operations forces employed strategies after 9/11 that their leaders believed were ineffective long-term approaches to irregular warfare. In addition to special operations and irregular warfare, Cole is interested in writing on military strategy, civil-military relations, military innovation, national security institutions, and U.S.-China competition. Cole is a Term Member in the Council on Foreign Relations and will begin as an adjunct professor at Georgetown this fall. When he is not writing, Cole is probably spending time with his wife and two dogs either out on a hike, playing board games, cooking, jet setting to a new country, or sipping on coffee, wine, or whiskey. He originally hails from Columbia, Maryland and currently lives in Washington, D.C.

• Trent Lythgoe (www.linkedin.com/in/trent-lythgoe)

  • Trent is an associate professor of military leadership and the Fox Conner Chair for Leadership Studies at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He earned his PhD in political science from the University of Kansas, where he studied nonpartisan social norms in the U.S. military. His research interests include adaptive leadership, command and control, civil-military relations, and professional writing. Trent has published in both military and civilian outlets, including Military Review, Joint Force Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, and Armed Forces and Society. In his free time, he enjoys serving as his Golden Retriever’s personal concierge.

• Richard McConnell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-richard-mcconnell-3960a926/)

  • Richard is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a professor in the Department of Army Tactics at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as the principal investigator for the summer 2022 creativity study dedicated to exploring ways to improve creativity among students. The creativity study research report was published in the 2023 Association for Business Simulations and Experiential Learning (ABSEL) Conference proceedings. He received his Doctor of Management in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix and has published several articles on wargaming, exceptional information, creativity, and ethics related topics.

• Michael McKinney (https://www.facebook.com/mikemckinneystudio)

  • Mike is a retired USAF helicopter/tilt-rotor pilot. The majority of his career was spent in Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Mike retired in 2010 as a Lieutenant Colonel and currently works as a Department of Air Force civilian as the AFSOC Weapons & Tactics Branch Chief. His special interests are helicopter special operations, Air Commandos, USAF helicopter operations. He co-authored a book on helicopter special operations in 2001, Chariots of the Damned and has written for Vertical Magazine and Skies Magazine extensively. He has also published in several magazines as a motorsports photographer. Mike lives in Navarre, FL with his wife Kristin.

• Sarah Minnis (https://bsky.app/profile/drseminnis.bsky.social)

• Matt Montazzoli (https://bsky.app/profile/legalleadtheway.bsky.social; https://x.com/LegalLeadTheWay)

  • Matt is an active duty Army judge advocate. He has served with conventional, airborne, and special operations units, to include being on exchange to the Australian Army. Matt’s research interests include the Law of War, especially communicating complicated or counterintuitive law of armed conflict concepts to a broad audience.

• Andrew Morgado (linkedin.com/in/andrew-morgado-2167978)

  • Andy commissioned as an Armor officer in 1994 from the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Government, and was a Distinguished Military Graduate. In over thirty years of Army service, he served on three deployments to Iraq; four operational deployments to Korea; and served in a variety of command and staff positions in the continental United States. He commanded at the battalion and brigade level and served as the chief of staff of both a division and field army. Prior to assuming his current role as Director of Army University Press, he served as the 18th Director of the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). In addition to his undergraduate education at Lehigh, Andy earned a Master of Arts in Diplomacy from Norwich University and a Master of Military Art and Science from SAMS. He also completed the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program (ASLSP) at SAMS. Andy’s special skills include a working proficiency in European Portuguese. He is a native of Danbury, Connecticut.

• Robert Nelson (linkedin.com/in/robertnelson104)

  • Robert retired in 2023 as a Command Sergeant Major from the United States Army after dedicating three decades as a combat medic. He earned his doctorate from Vanderbilt University and holds three graduate degrees. One of his proudest achievements is being the first enlisted Soldier to be selected for and attend MIT's prestigious Seminar XXI program. Robert currently lives in El Paso, Texas, and serves as the Chair for the Department of Army Operations at the Sergeants Major Academy. He have a passion for writing and has published 12 articles in reputable publications such as Army Magazine, the NCO Journal, and the American Journal of Distance Education. Currently, Robert is co-authoring a book with friends from the Sergeants Major Academy and the Army University Press. Collaborating on writing projects is something that he truly enjoys, as he loves helping others to realize the have valuable insights worth sharing.

• J. Overton (https://bsky.app/profile/seapowerbom.bsky.social)

  • J. is a civilian public affairs officer for the US Navy and has held a variety of public affairs, historian, and editor positions for the Navy and US Army, including as PAO for Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was also an adjunct professor for the Naval War College and Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and served in the US Coast Guard. J. has published about 40 articles and book reviews, edited the essay collection "Seapower by Other Means," and presented papers at the US Naval Academy’s McMullen Naval History Symposium, the Society for Military History’s annual conference, and the US Naval Academy’s science fiction convention. He is a newly-installed co-host of the Center for Maritime Security's podcast SeaControl, and volunteers with the Pacific Bonsai Museum and with KEXP radio. J. is a graduate of the Naval War College, the Joint Forces Staff College, and Northern Arizona University. Originally from Tennessee, he lives with his wife and dog in Washington State, and is working on a book project with fellow MWG member Tim Heck, titled "Fighting Surrounded".

• Ryan Pallas (linkedin.com/in/ryan-pallas-a5750975)\

  • Ryan is the proud father to two beautiful girls, a happy husband, and a struggling over-40 athlete fighting off Father Time. He is also a career military officer in the Marine Corps, with a background in aviation, currently pursuing a PhD in political science at the Schar School of Policy & Government at George Mason University as part of the Marine Corps’ Strategist Program. Ryan’s dissertation is built upon archival research and focuses on how military personnel management changes. His broader research interests include security studies, organizational change, culture, technology, and narratives.

• Tanner Port (www.linkedin.com/in/tanner-port-3a06535a)

  • Tanner is a retired Chief Warrant Officer 3 Targeting Officer (131A). He served as a paratrooper out of Fort Bragg, where I still reside. Currently, I'm pursuing my PhD in history through Liberty University and own a small data science company specializing in managing mineral interests. Tanner is also working with the 82nd Airborne Division artillery to establish Cannonball University, an initiative that aligns the academic calendar with the Immediate Response Force (IRF) to support military education. Above all, He is a proud father of three daughters.

• William Prom (https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-prom; https://bsky.app/profile/wjprom.bsky.social; https://x.com/wjprom)

  • William graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2009 and commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps. He spent the next five years as an Artillery Officer with 5th Battalion, 11th Marines and 1st Battalion, 11th Marines. In 2012, he deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan as a Fire Direction Officer and in 2013/14 he deployed on the 13th Expeditionary Unit as the Fire Support Coordinator for Battalion Landing Team 1/4. After leaving the Marine Corps in 2014, William briefly spent time racing marathons professionally and coaching cross country and track. Around the same time, he started writing as a hobby. This hobby eventually coalesced into a full-time career consisting of staff, freelance, and contracted work. William has published dozens of articles and reviews in print and online with topics ranging from military history and national defense to athletics and biography. His work can be found in Naval History magazine, Proceedings, the Center for International Maritime Security, and elsewhere. His research has also been presented in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings Podcast, at NavyCon, and at the Houston Maritime Center. In May 2023, William was awarded the U.S. Naval Institute’s 2022 Naval History Author of the Year for his works on expeditious shipbuilding during the War of 1812 and the introduction of steam power in the U.S. Navy’s suppression of the slave trade mission. Since 2022, William has worked as the Development Director for NextOp, a nonprofit veteran service organization that provides employment assistance and direct placement services designed specifically for enlisted service members and veterans. He lives outside Milwaukee, WI with his wife and three children.

• Manavik Raj (https://www.linkedin.com/in/manavik-r-71952b154)

  • Manavik is a policy analyst, media consultant, and columnist from Bangalore, India. He earned his PhD from the University of Mysore. Manavik's bylines have appeared in Deccan Herald, 9DASHLINE, Qrius (formerly, The Indian Economist), The Political and Business Daily, The Diplomatist, and Indian Defence Review. He focuses on non-traditional security, and policies in India, South Asia and the ASEAN region. His current interests are exploring media policies and their implications for national security. He does engage with universities, corporations, and policy forums across India.

• Jorge Rivera (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrive520)

  • Jorge is a soldier with 25 years of service in the U.S. Army, currently serving as an instructor at the Sergeants Major Academy and an adjunct instructor at Mary Baldwin University. In addition to his teaching roles, he contributes to the profession as a volunteer managing editor for the NCO Journal and Army University Press. Jorge’s work focuses on leadership and national security, areas in which he actively writes and published. He holds masters degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso and Syracuse University.

• Nicholas Romanow (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickromanow; https://x.com/NickRomanow)

  • Nicholas is a U.S. Navy Cryptologic Warfare Officer currently serving aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans, home ported in Sasebo, Japan. Prior to serving in the Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Japan, he was assigned to the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland and served as the Operations Officer within the NSA's Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. Prior to joining the Naval Service, Nicholas graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's in International Relations and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. While studying at U.T., he was an Undergraduate Fellow with the Clements Center for National Security, where he developed a deep interest in leadership, strategy, and security studies. Nicholas has continued to pursue these interests while on active duty and have been fortunate to have multiple opportunities to publish his writing early in his career with outlets such as the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, War on the Rocks, and the Pacific Forum.

• Richard Russell

• Edson dos Santos, Jr. (https://bsky.app/profile/inventinghistory.substack.com)

  • Ed is a storyteller, though no document will spell that out. His diploma will say he can work with bits and bytes. His logbook talks about all the times he didn’t crash a plane. A paper on the wall smirks at his logbook. After all he chose to jump out of a working plane. An Army TRADOC paper speaks of his madness. Scientifically speaking. Another document claims he learnt to pull the trigger, and kick doors, at night. Nice looking coins document that airmen and soldiers appreciated that he breached their digital castle walls. A golden plated, wooden framed reproduction of a page records an idea. An idea that now has a number and a record. Signatures on an old book attest that he met many people with logbooks, medals, and lines in history books. There is also the forest of dead trees at my place, mushed and made into fine rectangles, tattooed with the stories of generals, conquerors, strategists, soldiers, and inventors. Those can tell even more. Another time perhaps. But, where are sleepless nights? The rust iron taste in the mouth with fire or water blinding the sight? Or the breathless moment that the stick hits the wall, the wings still rolling, and the ground getting so close one could touch it? Or the loud silence, slow breath quieting muscle ache, and the metallic flip of the safety before mad minute? Or the bloodshot eyes, empty Red Bull (or Rip-It) cans, as the fist hits the air and the screen tells you what you shouldn’t know? No document has those. Sometimes the real meaningful words are found between the lines. Sometimes, outside the lines. I’m Ed. I’m a storyteller.

• Todd Schmidt (linkedin.com/in/toddschmidt)

• Harold Allen Skinner, Jr. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-skinner-phd-725a1545/)

  • Allen was a uniformed Army historian from 2009-2015, and has been an Army civilian historian since 2015. He completed his PhD in American History from Liberty University in November 2024, with a dissertation on the 81st Division (National Army) during World War I. His secondary research focus is on the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. Allen has published three staff ride books with the latest studying the 1776-1780 Charleston campaign. He is currently writing the Southern Campaign 1781-83 monograph for the Army Center of Military History's 250th commemorative series.

• N. Jed Todd (https://www.linkedin.com/in/n-jed-t-9a964316a)

  • Jed is a Texas refugee, retired US Army Psychological Operations Master Sergeant, and a Russian linguist. He deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Sahel and Central Africa and in non-combat roles to Cyprus, Bosnia, South Korea, and Kuwait. A civil servant until recently, he worked for the Air Force on tech modernization and information warfare. But since the greatest information weapon is hope, he's turned to poetry and fiction for solace, and to his family, his daughter Meera and wife Ami. He's had several poems (and one story) published in the literary journal As You Were and in the Middle West Press collections Giant Robot Poems and Midwest Futures as well as one published in Eye to the Telescope. He is a graduate of the Texas Academy of Math & Science, the University of North Texas, American Military University, and George Mason University, having studied neuroscience and unconventional warfare, though rarely at the same time.

• Nathan Toronto (https://bsky.app/profile/bulletpoints.bsky.social; https://www.nathantoronto.com; https://wandering.shop/@toronto)

  • Nathan works to imagine a more peaceful world. He studies military education, strategy, and Middle East politics, and he has taught at the UAE National Defense College and the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies. He writes fiction in addition to his academic research. He is the author of How Militaries Learn: Human Capital, Military Education, and Battlefield Effectiveness (Lexington Books) and the Saga of the Emerald Moon (Bullet Point Press), a military science fiction trilogy. He is also the editor and publisher of Bullet Points, a quarterly military science fiction magazine. He lives in northern Virginia, where he works his dream job in security cooperation (at the Defense Security Cooperation University) and devotes as much time as he can to writing fiction. He has lived in ten countries and visited some two dozen others, developing a firm belief that Mexican food is the best, at least for lunch and dinner. His breakfast belief is just as unequivocal: no Sunday is complete without waffles.

• Robert Williams (https://bsky.app/profile/rfmwilliams.bsky.social)

  • Rob is a historian with Army University Press at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A former airborne infantry noncommissioned officer, he has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He earned his PhD from the Ohio State University and his first book, The Airborne Mafia, was just published by Cornell University Press.

• Zach Wriston (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachwriston)

• Ambreen Zaidi (https://x.com/Ambreenzaidi)

  • Ambreen is a distinguished author, columnist, dedicated to highlighting the lives and sacrifices of soldiers and their families in India. As an Army wife, her deeply personal insights shape her powerful storytelling and advocacy. She is the author of two acclaimed books: The Warrior Widows, which explores the resilience of widows of fallen soldiers; and Soldiering On: The Remarkable Resilience of India’s Disabled Soldiers, a tribute to disabled soldiers' courage and determination. Her books have been translated into Hindi at the request of the Defence Minister of India and are now in the government libraries of 7 states. Her work combines extensive research with heartfelt narratives, raising awareness about the often-overlooked challenges of military life. Recognized for her impactful contributions, Ambreen was honoured by the Honourable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, amongst other awards she has been honoured with. As a columnist, she previously wrote “Olive Green and Our Heroes” for Hindustan Times and has been penning “Barracks & Beyond” for The Times of India for over six years. This year Ambreen will complete 20 years of active military writing. Her writing goes beyond storytelling; it serves as a powerful tool for advocacy, raising awareness about the often-overlooked realities of military life and the sacrifices made by service members and their families. Through her writing and advocacy, Ambreen continues to champion the cause of military families, ensuring their sacrifices are acknowledged and celebrated.

For more information on the Military Writers Guild, visit us at https://www.militarywritersguild.org.