"The A6A Intruder: Up, Close & Personal"

May 25, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

Colonel James Holman, USMC (ret.)

This presentation reveals the A6A Intruder as the author "remembers it”! The operational capabilities made it unique and one of the few aircraft designed for a specific mission! All Weather, All Attack! First, the presentation will detail the impressive combat capability! Then, Col. Homan will apply those capabilities to missions he flew in Vietnam and Laos: Close Air Support (CAS), Beacon, Armed Reconnaissance (AR), Mining Operations, Tactical Interdiction,

Commando Bolt, Landing Zone Prep, and wild weasel simulation!

Colonel James Homan joined the Marine Corps as part of the Platoon Leader Commission (PLC) Program in 1965. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt upon graduation from Creighton University with a Bachelor’s Degree in History & Economics in June 1967. He earned his Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Wings in 1968 and flew 250 Combat Missions as an A6A Intruder Bombardier/Navigator (BN) with VMA (AW) 225 out of DaNang RVN over ICorps and Laos1969-70. He earned 16 Air Medals and claims responsibility for expending 3 Million Lbs 500, 1000 & 2000 Lb bombs. He left active duty in 1971 but remained in the Marine Corps Reserves until 1997 in various aviation command and control billets, most importantly as USPACOM Deputy Director Crisis Action (DDCA) during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Colonel resides with his wife of 55 years in Northern Illinois and has 3 children and 12 grandchildren!

"Cold War Termination"

June 22, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

Sarah C. M. Paine, William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy, Strategy & Policy Department, U.S. Naval War College

There is much dispute how and why the Cold War ended when it did. I will present differing internal, external, and overarching explanations. The five external explanations are: Ronald Reagan crushed them, the Helsinki Accords undermined them, Nixon’s China card played them, cumulative presidential effects overwhelmed them, or submarines cornered them. The four internal explanations are: imperial overextension, sick satellites, economic decline, or flawed leadership ruined them. The two umbrella explanations are: either any of the above (i.e. the outcome was inevitable) or all of the above plus careful coordination between President Bush and Chancellor Kohl (i.e. the West barely won).

Professor Paine, William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy, has taught at the U.S. Naval War College since 2000. She lectures on geopolitics, Mao Zedong, World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the Russo-Japanese, Korean, Vietnam and Cold wars. She has spent over eight years overseas, with multiple yearlong stints in Taiwan and Japan, and a year each in China, Russia, and Australia. Her publications rely on archival research in thesecountries and focus on the relations among China, Russia, and Japan as well as on the operational and strategic effects of naval blockades, commerce raiding, naval coalitions, peripheral operations, and non-military uses of navies.