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Department of Airpower

  • Published
  • Air Command and Staff College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL

Department of Airpower

The Department of Airpower is made up of both experienced civilian and military faculty from across the joint force and includes officers from our nation’s allies and academic specialties. The department develops and delivers two of ACSC’s core courses, Airpower Strategy and Operations and Contemporary and Emerging Warfare, in support of the USAF’s new mission: To fly, fight, and win… Airpower anytime, anywhere. The first course, Airpower Strategy and Operations, examines the emergence and development of airpower from World War I through the early years of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to better understand airpower employment today. The Contemporary and Emerging Warfare course examines capabilities, limitations, threats, and technology in modern conflicts, incorporating joint doctrine and studying great power and peer adversaries. The courses work together to merge lessons learned from historical and contemporary conflicts with emerging technologies and threats to prepare for future conflict. Airpower…Get Some!


 

Dr. Edwin H. Redman, Colonel, USAF (Retired), is Chair of the Department of Airpower and an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies at the US Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). Dr. Redman is a command pilot with tours in each of the Air Force’s bomber aircraft. He served as an instructor pilot in the T-38, B-1 and B-2, and flew combat missions in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM in 2003 in the B-2. He is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, ACSC, and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). Following SAASS, Dr. Redman attended Duke University, where he received his PhD in History. His last operational assignment was Deputy Commander, 509th Operations Group, Whiteman Air Force Base. He completed his active-duty service at Air University, holding several positions, including Director of Warfighting Education at the LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education, and Director of the Grand Strategy Seminar, Air War College. He retired from the Air Force in 2014 and joined Air University as a civilian professor in 2015.

Research Interest/Expertise: Cold War History, Nuclear Deterrence, Civil-Military Relations, and US National Security

Dr. Jared R. Donnelly is an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies and the Course Director of the Contemporary and Emerging Warfare course at the United States Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College. Dr. Donnelly received his PhD from Texas A&M University and was previously on the faculty of the International Affairs Department at the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service. Donnelly's research focuses on war and social change in Germany and Europe with a specific interest in the period since 1945. Additionally, he studies strategic design for future security environments and conducts research on decision making in multi-domain operations.

Research Interest/Expertise: Modern Europe, Modern Germany, European War and Society, Nazi Germany, Multi Domain Operations, Strategic Design, Joint Planning.

Dr. Heather P. Venable is an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies in the Department of Airpower and the Airpower Strategy and Operations Course Director. She has taught Airpower I, Airpower II, and electives on close air support and the historical experience of combat. She also has served as the Airpower II course director. As a visiting professor at the US Naval Academy, she taught naval and Marine Corps history. She graduated with a BA in History from Texas A&M University and an MA in American History from the University of Hawai’i. She received her PhD in military history from Duke University. She also has attended the Space Operations Course as well as the Joint Firepower Course. She has written How the Few Became the Proud: The Making of the Marine Corps’ Mythos, 1874-1918 (Naval Institute Press, 2019). Previous published work includes “‘There’s Nothing that a Marine Can’t Do’: Publicity and the Marine Corps, 1905-1917” in New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Sixteenth Naval History Symposium and “The China Marines and the Crucible of the Warrior Mythos, 1900-1941” in Crucibles: Selected Readings in U.S. Marine Corps History. She is also a non-resident fellow at Marine Corps University’s Krulak Center. Her professional service includes service as a managing editor for The Strategy Bridge. Her current research centers on intersections between theory and pre-war thinking and the application of airpower in combat.
Lt Col Kelsi Baker is an instructor and Director of Staff in the Department of Airpower at the Air Command and Staff College. Prior to instructing, she served as the Executive Officer for the LeMay Center Commander and Air University Vice Commander. As a prior missile officer, she completed 4 years at F.E. Warren with the 319th MS and 90th OSS. As an intelligence officer, she has completed assignments at NSA-Texas, 25th AF, AFGSC, and the ISRD at Camp Arifjan. She received her commission from OTS in 2008. Lt Col Baker graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular/Molecular Biology in 2007 and a Master of Military Operational Art and Science degree in 2020.
Dr. Terry Beckenbaugh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Air Power at the US Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He came to ACSC from the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he taught for nine years in the Department of Military History. Dr. Beckenbaugh received his PhD in 19th Century US History from the University of Arkansas, and his Masters and Bachelors in US History and History, respectively, from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Beckenbaugh has taught at a variety of undergraduate and graduate civilian institutions. He is currently working on a book on the White River Campaign in Arkansas in the spring-summer of 1862, and has numerous publications and conference presentations.
Lt Col John “Garick” Chamberlin, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Military and Security Studies in the Department of Airpower at the United States Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He holds a PhD in History from Purdue University, an MA in National Security Affairs from Naval Postgraduate School, and a BS in Middle East Studies from Excelsior College (USNY). Lt Col Chamberlin has split his Air Force career roughly equally between intelligence and education assignments, having taught at the Defense Language Institute and the US Air Force Academy, and commanded a Student Squadron at Squadron Officers School prior to his assignment to ACSC. In the Intelligence field, he was attached to the RC-135 both as an enlisted aviator and as an intelligence officer, and also served on the 3rd Air Force and US Air Forces in Europe staffs and as the Chief of Wing Intelligence for the 22 ARW at McConnell AFB. Lt Col Chamberlin has over a dozen deployments to the Middle East, as well as one to Kosovo. His research focuses on the diplomatic and military history of the Early American Republic, primarily related to North African affairs.
Lt Col Paulo Costa is an instructor in the Department of Airpower at the United States Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He teaches the Airpower Strategy and Operations and the Contemporary and Emerging Warfare courses. Prior to instructing at ACSC, he was a member of ACSC’s AY21 class. Lt Col Paulo Costa is a senior cargo pilot from Brazilian Air Force with more than 3,200 flying hours in several EMBRAER aircraft, from the turbo-prop Tucano to regional jets. Before coming to the United States, he was the Commander of the Special Transport Group’s 1st Squadron, the airlift unit responsible for transporting the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Lt Col Costa attended the Brazilian Air Force Academy, receiving his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Science and Public Administration. He also holds a Lato Sensu specialization in Institutional Marketing, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Military Operational Art and Science.
Lt Col Hugh Gardenier is an instructor in the Department of Airpower at the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2002. After commissioning, he worked as a Developmental Engineer on various USAF aircraft, satellite, and cyber acquisition programs. In 2015, Lt Col Gardenier attended ACSC and after graduation served as an instructor in the Department of Airpower and member of the ACSC staff. He was selected for the Advanced Academic Degree program in 2018 and started at Ohio State University for a Military History PhD the following year. Currently, he is working on his dissertation, which examines the impact of USAF General (Retired) Nathan F. Twining on the USAF and U.S. national security strategy during the Eisenhower administration.

Research Interests: Military effectiveness, civilian-military relations, the strategy-making process, and American military history

Lt Col Jeremiah Gilmore is an instructor in the Department of Airpower and the Contemporary and Emerging Warfare Deputy Course Director at the US Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). Prior to this assignment, Lt Col Gilmore was a Staff Officer at Air Combat Command (ACC) where he worked acquisition and capability development for several emerging Air force Programs. He holds a Master’s in Military Operational Art and Science from Air University as well as a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Georgia and received his commission from ROTC. He has previously served at Offutt AFB where he deployed with the RC-135 to the CENTCOM and INDOPACOM AORs. He has also completed an instructor assignment at the Combat Systems Officer Formal Training Unit in Pensacola Florida. He is a Senior Combat Systems Officer with over 2000 hours in the RC-135 and T-1A aircraft.
Lt Col Robert Lacy is an instructor in the Department of Airpower at the US Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). Lt Col Lacy is a Senior CSO having flown the EC-130H, MC-130H, and MC-130J. He holds a Master of Military Operational Art and Science from Air University as well as a Master of Natural Resource Development from Texas A&M University. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2006 and commissioned through ROTC. Prior to this assignment he was assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing, AETC’s schoolhouse for Special Operations and Personnel Recovery aviation.
Dr. Joshua A. Sipper is an Assistant Professor at the Air Command and Staff College. He completed his Doctoral work at Trident University in September of 2012, earning a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership (emphasis, E-Learning Leadership). Dr. Sipper’s previous degrees were obtained from Troy University (M.Ed. Education) and Faulkner University (B.S. English). Dr. Sipper is a veteran who served honorably in the U.S. Air Force in the intelligence career field and worked for Lockheed Martin in a similar capacity on the U-2 program. More recently, Dr. Sipper shifted his focus into the cyber realm for seven years as a Systems Engineer, Chief of Cyber Standardization and Evaluation, and Cyber Exercise Manager for General Dynamics at the Air Force’s 26th Network Operations Squadron, followed by a nine-year stint as a civil servant in the Air Force cyber career field at the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education. Just prior to his appointment at ACSC, Dr. Sipper was a Professor of Cyberwarfare Studies at the Air Force Cyber College where he designed several cyber courses including Cyber ISR, Cyber EW, and Cyber and Information Warfare Capabilities and Trends. He has numerous publications including his paper titled “The Cyber Microbiome and the Cyber Meta-reality” published at the IARIA Cyber 2020 conference for which he won a “Best Paper Award” and also has a book titled “The Cyber Meta-reality: Beyond the Metaverse, published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2022. Dr. Sipper’s research interests include cyber operations, ISR, electromagnetic warfare, and cyber warfare.
Dr. Paul J. Springer is a full professor of comparative military studies. He holds a PhD in military history from Texas A&M University. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including America’s Captives: Treatment of POWs from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror; Military Robots and Drones: A Reference Handbook; Transforming Civil War Prisons: Lincoln, Lieber, and the Laws of War; Cyber Warfare: A Reference Handbook; and Outsourcing War to Machines: The Military Robotics Revolution. In addition, he has published hundreds of shorter pieces, on a variety of subjects including military history, terrorism, strategy, technology, and military robotics. In 2019, he was asked by CSAF General David Goldfein to co-author a book on leadership and command, which will be published by the Air University Press. Dr. Springer is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and the series editor for both the History of Military Aviation and Transforming War series, produced by the U.S. Naval Institute Press. Currently, he is completing three books, including a collective biography of the West Point Class of 1829; a military history textbook (co-authored with ACSC Professor S. Michael Pavelec); and an examination of the post-Civil War creation of higher education institutions in the South. Research Interest/Expertise includes: POW operations; military leadership and command; strategy; military technology; artificial intelligence; cyber warfare; and U.S. military history.
Dr. John Terino is an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies at the Air Command and Staff College. At ACSC, he teaches courses on Military Theory, Airpower, Contemporary Warfare, Joint Planning, Joint Air Planning, and an elective on the Air Force in Fact, Fiction, and Film. Prior to teaching at ACSC, he was a professor at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). While at SAASS, he directed the school’s course on Technology and Military Innovation, courses on Airpower History, and the institution’s wargaming activities. Before coming to Air University, he taught for four years at the Air Force Academy in the Department of History. He retired from the Air Force in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel after serving for almost 23 years. He received his BA, MA, and PhD in the History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently researching a couple of book chapters and editing an airpower anthology book.
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Walters is an Assistant Professor of Military and Security Studies in the Department of Airpower and the Airpower Strategy and Operations Deputy Course Director. Dr. Walters received both her MA and PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She teaches Airpower I, Airpower II, War Theory, and electives on War and Genocide in the Balkans and Combat Motivation. She is currently working on an oral history project exploring Operation Allies Welcome, the military support effort by the United States military for the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans spanning 2021-2022. Her second book project, Hospitality is the Law of the Mountains: The 1999 Kosovo War, argues that Albanians – motivated by the Albanian concept of hospitality – took strangers into their homes and communities and changed the course of the refugee crisis. Their actions bought time for the U.S. military to mobilize, rebuild Albania’s shattered infrastructure, and bring in massive amounts of aid. Previous published work includes “‘Tree Hugging Work’: The Shifting Attitudes and Practices of the U.S. Marine Corps Toward Peace Operations in the 1990s” in Marine Corps History and “A Tantalizing Success: The 1999 Kosovo War” in The Strategy Bridge. Before joining ACSC, Walters was an assistant professor in the History Department at Kansas State University.
Dr. Michael E. Weaver is an associate professor of history in the Department of Air Power. He joined the faculty of ACSC in 2002 after completing his doctorate at Temple University under the tutelage of Russell Weigley. Weaver’s first book was Guard Wars: The 28th Infantry Division in World War II (Indiana University Press, 2010). His second, The Air War in Vietnam (Texas Tech University Press, 2022), came out in print in the Fall of 2022. In The Journal of Aeronautical History, Intelligence and National Security, Air Power History, and Diplomatic History he has published articles on the Cuban Missile Crisis, air intelligence during World War II, aircraft capabilities, and air combat training during the Cold War. Weaver specializes in aviation history, the Cold War, and World War II.  

Research Interest/Expertise: Cold War, History of the Vietnam War, U.S. Military History, Aviation History, World War II, Force & Diplomacy, History of the United States.

Maj Justin Wohlford is an instructor in the Department of Air Power at the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He teaches the Air Power Strategy and Operations and the Contemporary and Emerging Warfare courses and the Science Fiction and Strategy elective. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Deputy Chief of Flight Safety, Air Combat Command (ACC) at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA. Maj Wohlford is a Senior Pilot with over 2,000 flight hours in the E-8C JSTARS, including over 850 combat hours flown in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, and Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL. Maj Wohlford received a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, He also holds a Master of Arts in Military History from Norwich University and a Master of Military Operational Art and Science degree from ACSC.