Strategy and Security Studies

Dr. Joseph L. Varuolo, is a Professor of Warfare Studies at Air University’s Air Force Global College. Dr Varuolo is a retired USAF combat aviator (B-1) and Weapon School Graduate with significant combat time including Airbourne Mission Commander in combat multiple times. Additionally, he has an explicit strategy background in two distinct theaters including Section Chief in the CFACC’s Strategy Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom and architect of the Russian sections of the Theater Security Cooperation Plan for EUCOM from 2004 – 2007. Dr. Varuolo served as a senior diplomat at the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia and his expertise has been sought by US Presidential delegations, US Congressional delegations, Council on Foreign Relations, World Affairs Council, American Council on Germany, and academic institutions. Dr. Varuolo’s policy expertise extends across international, national, state, and local government and transverses the spectrum from advice to final written form. His policy experience encompasses multiple US government agencies and has ranged contentious issues such as US military overflight of Russian territory and Russian/NATO interoperability. He has a PhD in Political Science, Comparative Politics, from the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.

Research Interest/Expertise: Centered on Eastern Europe, Dr. Varuolo’s research is concentrated in the fields of comparative politics and international relations. His qualitative and quantitative analysis emphasizes the cultural, structural and rational choice perspectives of secession, Russian nationalism, ethnic minorities of the Russian sphere, non-state entities and political violence.  

Dr. Charles G. Thomas is a Professor of Strategic Studies at the Air Force Global College. During his tenure, he has served as both Course Director and Chair within the Department of Strategy and Security Studies. Prior to joining the Global College, he taught in the Department of History at the United States Military Academy, where he led a team of instructors in redesigning the Africa curriculum. Dr. Thomas’s research focuses on African military history, with particular emphasis on post-colonial military structures and conflicts. He is the co-managing editor and a founding member of the Journal of African Military History. His monograph, Ujamaa’s Army: The Tanzania People’s Defence Force, 1964–1979 (2024), complements a body of work that includes more than a dozen articles and book chapters on topics ranging from East African history to civil-military dynamics and the role of airpower in irregular warfare. He has also coauthored volumes on African security issues and postcolonial secessionist conflicts. Beyond scholarship, Dr. Thomas has applied his expertise through the Department of State’s Africa Military Education Program. In this role, he has worked extensively with the Botswana Defence Force Air Arm, supporting the development of a professional military education system and fostering a multi-year partnership.

Dr. Robert H. Clemm is an Associate Professor of Strategy in the Strategy and Security Studies Department at the US Air Force’s Global College. He joined The Global College from Grove City College, where he taught for six years from 2012 to 2018. Dr. Clemm holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in history from The Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of Rochester. He contributed to and co-edited A Violent Peace: A Global History of the Interwar Period, published in June 2025 by University Press of Kansas. Dr. Clemm is currently researching the USAAF in Northern Ireland with Dr. Augustine Meaher IV and completing a manuscript on the use of cartography during the Scramble for Africa. He also serves as the regional coordinator for the Society for Military History. 

Dr. Augustine (Four) Meaher is an Associate Professor of Security and Strategic Studies at the US Air Force’s Global College. He joined the Global College from the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia, where he taught for six years and also served as a Department Director and Dean. Dr. Meaher received his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne, his Master's from Tulane University, and his Bachelor's in History from Georgetown University. He is currently researching the USAAF in Northern Ireland with Dr. Robert Clemm, also in SSS, and the Stasi in the United States. Dr. Meaher has published widely on various military and diplomatic history topics and has given conference presentations in Australia, North America, and Europe. He is presently serving as the Additional Duty Unit Training Manager of the Global College. 

Dr. Bradley F. Podliska is an Associate Professor of National Security Studies at the Air Force Global College, Air University. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science, with a major in International Relations, from Texas A&M University. Dr. Podliska has worked as an intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense and as an investigator for the House of Representatives Select Committee on Benghazi. Prior to joining GCPME, he worked in the Department of Joint Warfighting at Air Command and Staff College. His publications include the books Fire Alarm: The Investigation of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi (Lexington Books, 2023) and Acting Alone: A Scientific Study on American Hegemony and Unilateral Use-of-Force Decision Making (Lexington Books, 2010), as well as a book chapter on congressional oversight and articles on national security and the military. 

Dr. Carl P. Watts is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Associate Professor of National Security Studies at the Air Force Global College. He is the author of Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence: An International History (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and co-editor (with Sue Onslow and Hugh Pattenden) of Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence: National, Regional, International, and Transnational Perspectives (London: Bloomsbury, 2025). Dr. Watts is currently collaborating with Dr. Charles Thomas on an edited book titled African Airpower: The Evolution and Operation of Airpower in Africa.