J.P. Clark
Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
jpclark@jpclark.works
Education
Ph.D., History, Duke University, 2009
M.S.S., Strategic Studies, U.S. Army War College, 2020
M.A., History, Duke University, 2006
B.S., Russian-German with Systems Engineering Concentration, U.S. Military Academy, 1997
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor of Strategy, Basic Strategic Art Program, U.S. Army War College, 2023-
Army War College Professor (FA47W)/Assistant Professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, U.S. Army College, 2022-2023
Director, National Security Affairs, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2018-2019
Assistant Professor, Department of History, U.S. Military Academy, 2008-2009
Instructor, Department of History, U.S. Military Academy, 2006-2008
Current Project
Acts of Madness: U.S. Military Strategy in the Pacific, 1898-1941 (under contract with University Press of Kansas)
Books and Monographs
With C. Anthony Pfaff, Striking the Balance: U.S. Army Force Posture in Europe, 2028 (Carlisle, Pa.: Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, 2020)
Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815-1917 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2017)
Chapters
“The Arctic Dilemma: Force Generation Considerations for Land Forces,” International Competition in the High North, eds. Michael E. Lynch and Howard G. Coombs (Carlisle, Pa.: Army War College Press, 2024), 63-76.
With Francis J.H. Park, “Practical Strategists: The Perspective and Craft of the General Staff Officer,” On Strategy: A Primer, ed. Nathan K. Finney (Fort Leavenworth, Ks.: Army University Press, 2020)
“Military Operations and the Defense Department,” Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security, ed. Derek S. Reveron, Nikolas K. Gvosdev, and John A. Cloud (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018)
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
“U.S. Army Reforms in the Progressive Era,” Parameters 51, no. 1 (Spring 2021): 133-138
“Organizational Change and Adaptation in the U.S. Army,” Parameters 46, no. 3 (Autumn 2016): 23-39
Lead Author for a Government Document
Headquarters, Department of the Army, The Army in Military Competition, Chief of Staff of the Army Paper #2 (2021)
U.S. Joint Staff, Competition Continuum, Joint Doctrine Note 1-19 (2019)
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, The U.S. Army in Multi-Domain Operations, 2028 (2018)
U.S. Joint Staff, Joint Concept for Integrated Campaigning (2018)
Headquarters, Department of the Army, Future Force Development Strategy (2017)
Other Publications
“Knowing is Half the Battle: Organising Expertise for All-domain Operations,” Ares & Athena: The Occasional Papers of the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, #25: Human Fundamentals of Organisational Design (July 2024): 12-16.
“John Wayne at His Writing Desk: Lessons from the Origins of the Army’s Professional Journals,” Modern War Institute, 26 February 2024; reprinted in Military Review, Professional Military Writing Special Edition, September 2024.
“Back to Normal?” War Room, 30 June 2023
“Godfathers, Dialogue, and Fun: A New Editor’s Thoughts,” War Room, 11 August 2022
“Chasing the Delta: A Pitfall of the Military’s ‘Can-do’ Ethos,” War Room, 1 August 2019
“‘Good Allies’: International Perspectives on Afghanistan, War Room, 29 March 2019
“We Want It, What Is It? Unpacking Civilian Control of the Military,” Strategy Bridge, 4 April 2017
“In Defense of a Big Idea for Joint Warfighting,” War on the Rocks, 22 December 2016
“Thinking and Codifying: The U.S. Army Operating Concept and Army Warfighting Challenges,” The Three Swords, no. 30 (June 2016): 59-66
“Win in a Complex World: The New U.S. Army Operating Concept,” British Army Review, no. 164, (Autumn 2015): 80-87; reprinted in Journal of the Royal Artillery 137, no. 1 (Spring 2016): 8-11
“The Army #Operating Concept and Allies,” Strategy Bridge, 16 October 2014
“The Challenges of Uncertainty: Forging an Adaptable Army for an Unpredictable World,” Strategos: The Journal of the United States Military Strategists Association, no. 9 (Fall 2012)
“The Missed Opportunity: A Critique of ADP 3-0, Unified Land Operations,” Military Review 92, no. 4 (July-August, 2012): 46-52
“A Lieutenant’s Plea to Company Commanders,” Armor (November-December 1999): 40-41, 47
Book Reviews
Reviews published in Parameters, British Journal of Military History, Strategy Bridge, Army, and Strategos.
Endowed Lecture
“Preparing for War: Four Generations of the U.S. Army, 1815-1917,” Association of the U.S. Army Lemnitzer Lecture, 2017
Papers Presented at Conferences
“General Wood’s Wild Ride: A Case Study in Civil-Military Dysfunction,” U.S. Army War College Civil-Military Relations Center Inaugural Conference, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 5 May 2023
“Acts of Madness: Analyzing the Logic of Military Illogic,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, San Diego, California, 26 March 2023
“Acts of Madness: Toward a New Understanding of Strategic Decision,” International Studies Association Conference, Montreal, Canada, 18 March 2023
“Insights from the U.S. Army Arctic Strategy and Wargame,” Kingston Conference on International Security, Kingston, Ontario, 12 October 2022
“Union Rules: The Enduring Myth of Huntingtonian Self-Regulation in the U.S. Army,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, Norfolk, Virginia, 22 May 2021
“Military Adaptation through the Generational Lens: The Origins of the Progressive Era American Military Profession,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, 2 April 2017
“The Regular and the Radical: Emory Upton, Leonard Wood, and the Role of the U.S. Army,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, Arlington, Virginia, 12 May 2012
“Modernization without Technology: U.S. Army Organizational and Educational Reform, 1901-1911,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, Ogden, Utah, 18 April 2008
Lectures, Seminars, and Talks: International
British Army Center for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research Virtual Interview Professional Development Series, 2024
Multi-Domain Operations in Professional Military Education Conference, Royal Danish Defense College, 2023
Oxford University Changing Character of War Program, 2016
Defence Entrepreneurs Forum (UK), 2016
Lectures, Seminars, and Talks: U.S.
FBI Counterintelligence Center Lync & Learn, 2024
Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association, 2024
The Citadel, Graduate Seminar in U.S. Military History (MLTH 503), Guest Lecture, 2021, 2024
Army Heritage Center Foundation, 2023
Military Classics Seminar, 2023
Texas National Security Innovation Council, 2023
Distance Education Class of 2022, U.S. Army War College, 2022
Chief of Chaplains, Strategy Leader Training: Developing a Strategic Mindset, 2022
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 2021
Texas A&M University, History of Military Strategy (HI 445), Guest Lecture, 2020
Texas A&M University War, Violence, and Society Working Group and Albritton Center for Grand Strategy, 2020
New Oxford (Pennsylvania) Historical Society, 2019
Carlisle Strategy Sessions, 2019
U.S. Army War College Noontime Lecture Series, 2017
DePuy-Starry Hampton Roads Chapter, Army Strategists Association, 2017
Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group, 2017
Institute of World Politics sponsored by the Center for Military and Diplomatic History, 2017
Scotch, Cigars, and Strategy, 2014
New York Military Affairs Symposium, 2008
New York-New England Chapter of the Western Front Association, 2008
West Point Summer Seminar in Military History, 2007, 2008
West Point Faculty Development Forum, 2008
Panels and Roundtables: U.S.
Army Futures Command, Deliberative Thinking Series, 2023
Strategic Landpower Symposium, Army War College, 2022
Society for Military History Annual Conference, 2022
Workshop on U.S. and Allied Defense Strategies in the Arctic, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Center, 2021
Arctic Security Dialogues, Wilson Center, 2020
Joint Staff Strategic Multi-Year Assessment Conference, 2019
Air War College Faculty Development Seminar, 2018
Defense Entrepreneur’s Forum D.C., 2018
Air Command and Staff College, 2018
Podcasts: Host
“On Writing: Colonels Writing for Colonels,” War Room, 30 July 2024
“On Writing: Military Authors and the Harding Project,” War Room, 7 May 2024
“Horseshoes, Relationships, and Shared Understanding: Chester Nimitz’s Art of Command,” War Room, 26 March 2024
“Teaching the Professionals: Shaping the Profession,” War Room, 12 March 2024
“Hope then Disappointment: Historical Patterns for the Post-War U.S. Army,” War Room, 13 February 2024
“Army War College 360: A Conversation with MG David Hill,” War Room, 24 October 2023
“Campaigning in the Pacific: A Conversation with GEN Charlie Flynn,” War Room, 14 March 2023
“Confusion or Clarity: Great Power Competition,” War Room, 9 August 2022
“Fighting Over the Law of War,” War Room, 28 April 2020
“The Man in the Machine: Is Aviation’s Weakest Link the Pilot?” War Room, 14 April 2020
“It’s Only a Pre-War Period in Hindsight,” War Room, 29 February 2020
“The General Staff that Wasn’t,” War Room, 13 September 2019
Podcasts and Media Appearances: Guest
“U.S. Military Myths Debunked,” Times Radio History, 25 September 2024
“No Longer Skinny, But Does the NSS Have Heft?” War Room, 25 October 2022
“The Passing of the Baton: A New Editor-in-Chief,” War Room, 1 August 2022
“J.P. Clark—U.S. Army War College,” Military Historians are People, Too!, 26 July 2022
“Military Strategist Examines Evolution of U.S. Army War Preparations on Eve of Second Seminole War,” Seminole Wars, 17 April 2021
“Applying Classic Prussian Military Strategist’s Insights, Maxims to Second Seminole Conflict,” Seminole Wars, 10 April 2021
“U.S. Army Reforms in the Progressive Era,” Decisive Point, 26 March 2021
“The Strategist and the General Staff Officer,” Strategy Bridge, 24 July 2020
“#OnWriting author interviews, On Strategy: A Primer,” Military Writers Guild, 20 June 2020
“U.S. Army Professionalism and Preparations for War, 1815-1917,” Strategy Bridge, 20 May 2019
Select Professional Duty Assignments
Chief, Strategy Division, G-35, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 2020-2022
Chief, Joint Concepts Branch, U.S. Army Capabilities and Integration Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia, 2016-2018
Exchange Officer, Chief of the General Staff’s Initiatives Group, London, United Kingdom, 2014-2016
Military Assistant for Strategy to the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC, 2011-2014
Army Transition Team, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Washington, DC, 2011
Executive Officer to the Commanding General, United States Division-North, Tikrit, Iraq, 2009-2010
Tank Battalion Headquarters Company Commander, Camp Casey, Korea, 2003-2004
Tank Company Commander, Camp Casey, Korea, 2001-2003
Tank Battalion Headquarters Company Executive Officer, Fort Stewart, Georgia, 1999-2000
Tank Company Executive Officer, Fort Stewart, Georgia, 1999
Tank Platoon Leader, Fort Stewart, Georgia, 1998-1999
Editorial Service
Editor-in-Chief (2022-present) and Senior Editor (2018-2020) War Room: The On-line Journal of the U.S. Army War College
Contributing Member, Editorial Board, Emergent Defense, 2024-
Manuscript Reviewer: Harvard University Press, Cambridge University Press, University Press of Kansas, University of Oklahoma Press, University of Missouri Press, Army University Press, Association of the U.S. Army Books/Naval Institute Press, RAND Corporation, Parameters, Strategic Studies Quarterly, and Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Courses Taught
Strategic Theory and Practice
Military Strategy and Campaigning
Joint Warfighting in 2030
History of Science and Technology
War and its Theorists
History of the Military Art from Antiquity to the Present
U.S. Army Force Posture in Europe (Integrated Research Project)
Winning the Civil War Staff Ride
Gettysburg Staff Ride
Antietam Campaign Staff Ride
Additional Academic Service
Member, Society of Military History Professional Development Committee, 2024-
Doctoral Dissertation Committee Member, Texas A&M University, 2023-2024
Chair, Excellence in Public Scholarship Award Committee, U.S. Army War College, 2023, 2024
Society for Military History Mentorship Program, 2023, 2024
U.S. Army War College Faculty Council, Executive Committee Member, 2019
U.S. Army War College Faculty Search Committee Member, 2018, 2022, 2023
U.S. Army War College Strategic Research Project Advisor, Fellows Faculty Mentor, and Seminar Affiliate, 2018-2019
West Point Summer Seminar in Military History, Director (2008) and Deputy Director (2007)
West Point Department of History Faculty Development Goal Team and Community of Scholars Goal Team, 2008-2009
West Point, Professional Military Ethic Education Program, Company Team Leader, 2006-2009
Fellowships, Affiliations, and Recognitions
U.S. Army War College General Maxwell D. Taylor Chair of the Profession of Arms, 2024-
Affiliate, U.S. Army War College Civil-Military Relations Center, 2022-
General of the Army Omar N. Bradley Research Fellowship in Military History, 2020-2021
Military Fellow, College of William & Mary Project on International Peace & Security, 2016-2017
Featured Contributor, The Bridge, 2017
Professional Military Education
Resident Course (Distinguished Graduate), Carlisle Scholars Program, U.S. Army War College, 2020
Basic Strategic Art Program, U.S. Army War College, 2011
Intermediate Level Education, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2011
Defense Strategy Course, U.S. Army War College, 2007
Combined Armed Services Staff School, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2001
Armor Captains Career Course, 2001
Armor Officer Basic Course, 1997
Select Military Awards and Qualifications
Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Army Strategists Association Order of St. Gabriel the Archangel (Gold Medallion)
U.S. Armor & Cavalry Association Order of St. George (Bronze Medallion)
U.S. Armor Center Draper Leadership Award
Department of State Meritorious Honor Award
Army Staff Identification Badge
Professional Affiliations
Society for Military History
Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Society of Civil War Historians
American Historical Association
Army Strategists Association
Military Writers Guild