Military History Center Discussion Series

The Spring 2012 Military History Center Executive Council Discussion Series Lecture was presented on the evening of Thursday, 31 March by Rear-Admiral John "Chris" Sadler, Commander, Naval Air Forces Reserve, Deputy Commander, Naval Air Forces.

In August 2010, Rear Adm. Sadler assumed duties as Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve and Deputy Commander, Naval Air Forces. Rear Adm. Sadler graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (cum laude). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and earned his commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC). He earned honors in all phases of flight training and reported in June 1985 to the Black Aces of Fighter Squadron 41 aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) flying the F-14A Tomcat. He became a wing-qualified landing signal officer and graduated from the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). He then reported to the Challengers of Fighter Squadron 43 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, Va., as an adversary pilot flying the A-4/F-5 and teaching overland strike support.

Rear Adm. Sadler transitioned to the Reserve Component in September 1990 with the Hunters of Fighter Squadron 201 at NAS Dallas, flying the F-14A Tomcat. He deployed with Air Wing Five as an adversary pilot and Fighter Squadron 211 aboard Nimitz for Exercise Surgex. He was selected as the 1996 Air Wing Reserve 20 Junior Officer of the Year. He assumed command of Strike Fighter Squadron 201 in July 1999, leading the squadron through its transition to the F/A-18A Hornet while earning two consecutive Air Wing 20 Retention Excellence Awards and the Naval Air Force Reserve nomination for the Phoenix Award in 2000, recognizing maintenance excellence. His other command tours include Commander Fleet Air Western Pacific 0170, where his unit earned the Captain Barto Award as the best small augment unit in the Naval Air Reserve Force; Chief of Naval Air Training Reserve Component Command; 6th Fleet Detachment 802 and Deputy Reserve Component Commander, Navy Region Southeast. Non-command tours include Carrier Strike Group 0570 and 7th Fleet Detachment 111. He served on active duty in 2007 as the chief of staff for Commander, Navy Region Midwest at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill. He coordinated the efforts of the region staff in providing support to Navy war fighters and families over the 16-state Midwest region.

Rear Adm. Sadler has flown almost 3,000 hours in tactical aircraft and accumulated 388 carrier landings. He is a graduate of Air Command and Staff College and Joint Forces Staff College. Personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Sadler is employed as a 777 pilot for Delta Air Lines, and is an ice hockey player/Dallas Stars/Pittsburgh Penguins/Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

On 30 November 2011, Colonel John Antal, US Army (Retired) presented the Executive Council Discussion Series Lecture on "Warfare in the 21st Century." Colonel Antal, a member of the MHC Executive Council, is a military affairs expert, a magazine correspondent for Military Technology Magazine, the executive producer for the mega-selling Brothers in Arms video game franchise, add a frequent contributor to film and documentaries on the History Channel. His latest History Channel film was the acclaimed series Patton 360, the Story of General George S. Patton.

Colonel Antal is also the author of eleven books on military and leadership subjects. His latest book titles are: Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Random House novel) and Hell's Highway: The True Story of the 101st Airborne Division During Operation Market Garden, September 17-25, 1944 (Zenith Press). These books, both the historical fiction (novel) and the history describe the saga of one of World War II's most daring and unsuccessful missions, the plan to liberate Holland in 1944, Operation Market garden, that resulted in the British attempting to seize a bridge too far.

As a military officer, Colonel Antal has commanded combat units from platoon to regiment and held sensitive key positions on high level Army, joint and combined military staffs, including Special Assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the G3 Operations Officer of the Third Armored Corps at Fort Hood, Texas. He is an Airborne Ranger and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. Colonel John Antal is frequent speaker on leadership and military subject and is a life-long student of leadership and the art of war.

The Spring 2011 Military History Center Discussion Series Lecture was presented on the evening of Monday, 28 March by Dr. Ron Miliam.

After 2nd Lt. William Calley was found guilty of murder for his role in the 1968 My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War, popular culture often portrayed junior officers in Vietnam as poorly trained, unmotivated and lacking talent. Dr. Ron Milam, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, set out to debunk this view by demonstrating that most of the lieutenants who served in combat served with great skill, dedication and commitment to the men they led.

Dr. Miliam will discuss the book that he wrote as the result of his research, Not a Gentleman's War: An Inside View of Junior Officers in the Vietnam War, at the University of North Texas March 28, during the spring 2011 lecture of the UNT Military History Center's Discussion Series. The free lecture, "Not a Gentleman's War," begins at 7 p.m. in Room 122 of UNT's Wooten Hall, which is located one block west of Welch and Highland Streets at 1121 Union Circle.

In his book, Dr. Milam draws on oral histories, after-action reports, diaries, letters and archival sources to present vivid portraits of what platoon leaders faced — training their men, keeping racial tensions at bay and preventing alcohol and drug abuse. Despite these obstacles, most of the junior officers performed admirably, as documented by field reports and evaluations of their senior offices, Dr. Milam notes in the book.

Dr. Milam is an associate professor of military history at Texas Tech University, where he has taught since 2004. He is a member of the advisory board of the Texas Tech Vietnam Center and Archive, which collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War and supports and encourages research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam Experience. Milam is also the academic advisor for student trips to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam that the Vietnam Center has sponsored, and has taught at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in Hanoi.

In addition to Not a Gentleman's War, Dr. Milam has written many articles about the Vietnam War, including a chapter that was published in "Companion to Military History." He is currently writing "The Siege of Phu Nhon: Montagnards and Americans as Allies in Battle" about one of the most significant battles in the last days of the Vietnam War.

His military service includes serving as an infantry advisor to the Montagnard Soldiers in Pleiku Province in South Vietnam from 1970-71, and serving as executive officer of the Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. Milam is a recipient of the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Bronze Star with "V," the Army Commendation Medal with "V," the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Palm, the Bronze Star for Service and the Parachutists Badge. Milam is on the board of directors of the David Westphall Veterans Foundation, which operates the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park in Angel Fire, New Mexico.