Editorial Advisory Panel

Kevin C.M. Benson

Kevin C.M. Benson

Kevin Benson taught at the U.S. Army’s Red Team School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from 2007 to 2017.  He served in the U.S. Army for 30 years.  His final assignment in the Army was Director, School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth Kansas, from 2003-2007.  He was the Director of Plans for Third U.S. Army and the Combined Forces Land Component Command at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, from July 2002 to July 2003.  He had the privilege of commanding the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry from 1998-2000, at Fort Hood, Texas.  In October 2010 he returned to Baghdad at the request of the Commanding General, US Forces-Iraq to assist in planning the successful conclusion of US operations Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn in Iraq.

In February 2018, at the invitation of the commanding general, Kevin supported a two week long classified theater level war-game for US Army Pacific in February 2018.  In 2019 he supported a similar level effort of three weeks in duration for the US Central Command J-4, a strategic level war game analysis of the theater based upon the 2018 National Defense Strategy.  He moderated a four day seminar on planning for the commanding general and staff of the 2nd Marine Division, August 2019.

Kevin is a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Academy.  His military education includes; the U.S. Army Armor Officer Basic Course (1977), U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School (1983), U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (1991), and the School of Advanced Military Studies (1992).  He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program as a War College Fellow in 2001.  He earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Kansas in 2010.  He was a SEN Robert J. Dole Fellow at the Dole Institute of Politics in 2011.

Kevin writes for a number of professional journals and web sites ranging from Parameters, the Journal of the U.S. Army War College, Military Review, the Journal of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and ARMY Magazine, the magazine of the Association of the U.S. Army, to Time.com, POLITICO, Infinity Journal, Strategy Bridge, Modern War Institute, War on the Rocks, and Military Strategy Magazine.  He is also regular book reviewer for ARMY magazine.

Kevin’s military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal (Hurricanes Andrew [1992] and Katrina [2005]), and the United Nations Medal for service in Haiti [1995].


Publications

Selected Current Publications:

 

 

Book Reviews:

  • World War II Infographics,” by Jean Lopez, Nicolas Aubin, Vincent Bernard and Nicolas Guillerat, in the May 2020 edition of Army Magazine.
  • Taliban Safari: One Day in the Surkhagan Valley,” by Paul Darling, in the September 2019 edition of Army Magazine.
  • War in 140 Characters How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century,” by David Patrikarakos, in the June 2018 edition of Army Magazine.
  • The Final Mission of Extortion 17: Special Ops, Helicopter Support, Seal Team Six, and the Deadliest Day of the U.S. War in Afghanistan,” by Ed Darack, in the February 2018 edition of Army Magazine.