Past Events

Our morning speaker will be General Anthony C. Zinni, a retired four-star General of the United States Marine Corps and former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command. General Zinni joined the Marine Corps Platoon Leader Class program in 1961 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant in 1965 upon graduation from Villanova University. He held numerous command and staff assignments that included platoon, company, battalion, regimental, Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Marine Expeditionary Force command. His staff assignments included service in operations, training, special operations, counter-terrorism, and manpower billets. He has been a tactics and operations instructor at several Marine Corps schools and was selected as a fellow on the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group. His deployments to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Western Pacific, Northern Europe, and Korea. He has also served tours of duty in Okinawa and Germany. His operational experiences included two tours in Vietnam, where he was severely wounded. General Zinni's 23 personal awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and Gold Star; the Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star; the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" and Gold Star; the Navy Achievement Medal with Gold Star; the Combat Action Ribbon; and personal awards from Vietnam, France, Italy, Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen, and Bahrain. He also holds 37 unit, service, and campaign awards.

General Zinni has participated in presidential diplomatic missions to Somalia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, and State Department missions involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and conflicts in Indonesia and the Philippines. He has worked in mediation and negotiation efforts with the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the US Institute of Peace, and the Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva. He has also been President of UCLA's Center for Middle East Development, a Distinguished Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Honorary Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chairman of the Council's Middle East Forum, a board member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Affairs, Co-Chair of the American Security Project, member of the board of the Henri Dunant Centre, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Policy Advisory Group, and Co-Chair of The Center for U.S. Global Engagement's National Security Advisory Council.

General Zinni was the Terry Sanford Lecturer in Residence and Visiting Professor of Public Policy Studies at Duke University and currently holds the Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professorship at Cornell University. He has held academic positions that include the Stanley Chair in Ethics at the Virginia Military Institute; the Nimitz Chair at the University of California- Berkeley; the Hofheimer Chair at the Joint Forces Staff College; the Weisberg Chair at Beloit College; the Harriman Professor of Government Chair and membership on the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary; membership on the board of Villanova University's Center for Responsible Leadership and Governance; membership in Villanova's President's Club; and selection as a Carter O. Lowance Fellow in Law and Public Policy at the William and Mary Law School. He has also lectured at numerous colleges and universities in the U. S. and abroad. General Zinni's presentation for the 2011 Hurley Military History Seminar is titled: "The Generals' Dilemma: Aligning Warfighting With Politics, from the American Revolution to the War in Afghanistan."

Our luncheon presentation will be given by Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Frietze of the United States Marine Corps. A graduate of New Mexico State University and commissioned in 1991, LtCol Frietze has completed the Amphibious War School, the U.S. Army Engineer Officers Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Joint Forces Staff College. In 1994, LtCol Frietze reported to Marine Wing Support Group-37 and served as Commanding Officer - PSD, Plans and Assistant Operations Officer. This marked the beginning of an outstanding career that has thus far seen LtCol Frietze serve as the Inspector-Instructor, C Co, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division; the Commanding Officer of the Engineer Support Company and the Operations Officer of the 9th Engineer Support Battalion; and the Special Action Committee/Facilities Implementation Officer at Marine Corp Base Japan.

He received an appointment to the Marine Corps Command & Staff College (CSC) in 2002. Mid-term, he deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) I as the Engineer Plans Officer, with the Coalition Force Land Component Command. Returning from OIF I and completing his coursework at CSC, he received assignment to Joint Task Force North as the USMC Engineer Plans Officer. In 2006, he reported to Combat Logistics Battalion-22, 2d Marine Logistics Group and served as the Executive Officer. During this assignment, he deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa as the Civil Military Operations Plans Officer. During the deployment, he served as the Mission Commander for both Unity Night (Ethiopia), Unity Eclipse (Kenya) and later as the Military Training Team Commander to the Ugandan Peoples Defense Force (African Union Mission to Somalia) to relieve Ethiopian forces in Somalia. Returning to 2d Marine Logistics Group in 2007, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and served as G3, Operations Officer.

In 2008, he was assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force as the G4, Engineer Officer. LtCol Frietze served as the G7 Engineer for OIF FY09. While preparing for deployment, he was command selected, reassigned to 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade as the G7 Engineer, and deployed to Afghanistan to facilitate the introduction of forces into the Helmand Province. In May 2009, he assumed command of 7th Engineer Support Battalion and deployed the battalion to the Helmand Province of combat operations. LtCol Frietze was selected to attend Top Level School at the Argentine Defense University in Buenos Aries and is currently studying Spanish in Monterey, California. His personal decorations include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy/Marine Commendation Medal with two Gold Stars, Navy/Marine Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon. He is married to the former Katherine M. Holmes, they have four children, Kaitlyn, Victoria, Jacob, and Ethan. LtCol Frietze's luncheon presentation is titled: "U.S. Marine Engineers in the Helmand Province: The Big Red 7."

Our afternoon talk will be given by The Honorable Francis J. "Bing" West. An author of eight books on national security, he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. Other posts he has held include: Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Vice President of the Hudson Institute and Dean of Research at the Naval War College. He has also been an analyst at the Rand Corporation, a visiting professor at Tufts University and president of GAMA Corporation.

A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton Universities, he also studied at Fribourg University in Switzerland and was Woodrow Wilson fellow at Princeton. A Marine platoon commander in Vietnam, he was a member of the Force Reconnaissance team that initiated Operation Stingray - small unit attacks behind enemy lines. While serving as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he chaired the United States Security Commissions with El Salvador, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, South Korea and Japan.

Among other awards, he is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal and Tunisia's Medaille de Liberté, awarded for an action following a raid from Libya. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Middle East Institute, the Infantry Order of St. Crispin and the Newport Reading Room, he appears frequently on C-SPAN and The News Hour.

His books include The Village, a narrative of 485 days of combat in Vietnam that has been on the Marine Commandant's Reading List for 40 years; The Pepperdogs: (a novel); The Strongest Tribe, a history of the Iraq war that was a New York Times Bestseller; and The Wrong War, a history of the Afghanistan war. His web site is www.bingwest.com.

He is the recipient of Marine Corps Heritage Award, the Colby Military History Award, the General Goodpaster Prize for Military Scholarship, the Free Press Award, the Marine Corps Russell Award for Leadership and the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Media Award. His articles appear regularly in The Wall St. Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The National Review and The Washington Post. He and his wife, Elizabeth, reside in Newport, RI. Colonel West's talk is titled: "The Public's Dilemma: Who Will Fight for Us?"

2010 Military History Seminar

28th Annual Alfred & Johanna Hurley Military History Seminar
University of North Texas - ESSC 255, Silver Eagle Suite
October 23, 2010 from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

"Graveyard of Empires or New Dawn in the Middle East? Fresh Perspectives on the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Guest Speakers: Dr. Hew Strachan: "The British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Captain David Musick: "Combined Operations in Iraq in 2005 - 2008."
Dr. Seth Jones: "Afghanistan's Local War."

Our morning speaker will be Dr. Hew Strachan, the Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford, and co-editor (along with Geoff Wawro) of the Cambridge Military Histories, and author of many books including European Armies and the Conduct of War, Wellington's Legacy, The Politics of the British Army, and the new three volume Oxford History of the First World War. At Oxford, Dr. Strachan teaches military history from the 18th century to date, including contemporary strategic studies, but with particular interest in the First World War and in the history of the British Army.

Our luncheon presentation will be given by one of UNT's West Point Fellows: Captain David Musick. Captain Musick's Army career began on 3 January 1992 when he enlisted as a Chemical Operations Specialist and attended Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. Upon graduation, Specialist Musick was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Group at Camp Williams, Utah. Over the next seven years he was promoted to Sergeant and Staff Sergeant and served faithfully in a variety of leadership assignments in Utah, Alaska, and Washington until selected in 1999 to attend language training in Tagalog at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Upon graduation in 2000, Staff Sergeant Musick was retrained as a Cryptologic Linguist and assigned to the 115th Military Intelligence Group at Kunia, Hawaii. After two years of exceptionally distinguished service, he accepted an offer to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia in January 2003. Staff Sergeant Musick was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Military Intelligence on 10 April 2003. In August 2003 he was assigned to 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and served as the inaugural Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platoon leader for the 172nd Stryker Infantry Brigade. After establishing UAV operations for the Brigade, Lt. Musick was transferred to 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry regiment in April 2005 and was deployed that August to Mosul and later Baghdad, Iraq as the Battalion Tactical Intelligence Officer. Upon redeployment in December 2006, Captain Musick was reassigned as the Battalion Intelligence Officer for 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment as part of Army force restructuring efforts. In October 2007, Cpt. Musick was selected for short notice deployment as the Brigade Intelligence Officer for Task Force 49 Combat Aviation Brigade and returned to Iraq that November. From November 2007 until July 2008 Cpt. Musick's 18 Soldier intelligence section handled all strategic and operational aviation intelligence for the Iraqi Theater of operations. In late July 2008, Cpt. Musick's unit was transferred to Multi-national Division Center and assumed responsibility for tactical and operational intelligence support to aviation in the southern half of Iraq until their return in November 2008. Upon his return, Cpt. Musick attended the Military intelligence Captain's Career Course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and graduated in June of 2009. Musick is currently assigned to United States Army Student Detachment preparing for a follow-on assignment as an Assistant Professor of Military History at the United States Military Academy. He is pursuing a PhD in Military History at the University of North Texas. Captain Musick is working under Dr. Robert Citino in studies on the U.S Army in the 20th Century. His planned dissertation is on the effects of soldier motivation on battlefield tactics in the 20th Century. He believes this will help explain the impact of political decisions on armies at war. Captain Musick has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Chaminade University. He is a graduate of the Army Chemical Operations School, the Army Airborne School, Army Military Intelligence Basic Non-commissioned Officers Course, the Defense Language Institute, the Department of Defense Signal Intelligence School, the Intelligence Officer Basic Course, and the Military Intelligence Captains' Career Course. His awards and decorations include: the Bronze Star (two awards), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (three awards), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (four awards), the Combat Action Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

Our afternoon talk will be presented by Dr. Seth Jones. Dr. Jones was most recently a plans officer and senior advisor to the Commanding General, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan. He is the author of In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan (W. W. Norton, 2009) and The Rise of European Security Cooperation (Cambridge University Press, 2007). He is a Senior Political Scientist at RAND and has taught at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He has visited Afghanistan and Pakistan regularly since September 11, 2001 to assess the state of the insurgencies. Jones has published articles on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other national security issues in a range of academic and policy journals such as International Security, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, Security Studies, Chicago Journal of International Law, International Affairs, and Survival. He has also published widely in a range of newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Newsweek. Among his many RAND publications are Counterinsurgency in Pakistan (2010), Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan (2008) and How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering Al Qa'ida (2008). Jones received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Registration will take place in the lobby outside ESSC 255 at 8:30 AM. This year's Alfred & Johanna Hurley Military History Seminar will include:
Registration is $40.00 by invitation only before 5:00 PM October 16, 2010. Sorry, no day-of registration. Click here for a flier and registration form.

2006 Military History Seminar

Sir Michael Howard, one of the world's leading military historians, gave the keynote address at the 23rd Military History Seminar at University of North Texas on October 14, 2006. His topic was “War Among the Peoples” and his talk was a consideration of 21st century strategy and warfare.

In 1983, Dr. Alfred F. Hurley, then the relatively new Chancellor and President of UNT, initiated the annual Military History Seminar Series. Listed below is a survey of the topics and speakers for the first twenty such events in the Series.

A military historian, Dr. Hurley came to UNT as Vice President for Administrative Affairs in September1980, after completing a thirty-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Some nineteen of those years involved service as a History faculty member at the Air Force Academy, to include fourteen years as Permanent Professor and Head of the Department. Upon assuming that role, he supported the suggestion of a fellow faculty member to create in 1967 the annual, and five years later, bi-annual, Military History Symposia that have evolved into two and one half day events. The Twentieth Academy Symposium will quite appropriately focus in October 2003 on the historical implications of the Centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers first powered flight.

The strong interest in military history among several UNT History faculty and among Texas business and professional people during Dr. Hurley's first months following his appointment as Chancellor and President in February 1982, prompted him to start the Seminar Series in 1983.Sensitive to the work schedules of the potential audience, he chose a Saturday morning/early afternoon format. A well-recognized military historian begins each program followed by a discussion with the audience. After lunch, a retired or former officer or enlisted man offers his perspective on the topic, followed by another discussion with the audience that ends at 2:30 p.m.

In choosing topics and speakers, Chancellor Hurley consults with his many contacts among leading military historians and knowledgeable senior officers. Outstanding local sources have included military historian Dr. Calvin Christman of Cedar Valley Community College and retired Lieutenant General Charles Hamm, USAF.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the series has been the high quality of audience participation. Virtually every speaker has acknowledged the stimulation such a well-informed audience provides. Importantly, this dimension seems to have figured in the audience's continuing growth past 150 business and professional people from throughout Texas.

The Amon Carter Foundation of Fort Worth, thanks to the help of its board member and regular Seminar attendee, Dr Bobby Brown , has stepped forward to help fund both the Series and a subvention to the UNT Press that will enable the publication of at least the first volume of Seminar papers. Also, but quite belatedly, each of the last three Seminars has been videotaped and archived.