Air War College Faculty, “Regional Tours of the World: the Reports”

Air War College Faculty, “Regional Security Studies Tours of the World: the Reports”

Please note the shift to THURSDAY evening, when our speakers and venue are available. As usual, the reception begins at 5:30 pm Central, the Zoom at about 5:45 pm, and the introductions at about 6-6:15 pm. The presentation begins about 6:15 pm, and question time runs about 6:45-7:15 pm.

The Zoom and Facebook live stream are both recorded  from the introductions forward. Both are available a few hours later on our Google drive and on Facebook. 

Mark Conversino; David Bottomlee

Ashly Townsen; Margaret Sankey's book

Regions and speakers for 2023

The Baltic sea region, by Provost Mark Conversino and a Senior Foreign Service Officer

East Africa, by Dr Ashly Townsen, AWC Great Power Studies Course Director, and Lt Col Adrianne Ketelsen, Flight Nurse, USAF

South Asia,  by Dr Margaret Sankey, Air Univ Research Coordinator, Sponsored Programs, and Lt Col William “Dice” Yoakley, Fighter Pilot, USAF

The moderator will be ALWAC’s Executive Director, Col. Mark Conversino, CAO of the Air University, who toured Finland and the Baltic Region.

The Air War College’s Regional Security Studies (RSS) course prepares senior leaders to evaluate the economic, political, cultural, and security issues within a particular region; and provides the opportunity for students to gain unique perspectives by studying and visiting one of approximately 13 international regions.

This will be a hybrid event, so that you may register either for the reception and in-person event -- or for the Zoom only.

This event is traditionally the grand finale of our ALWAC program, and often produces the liveliest exchanges of the year. 

Faculty Panelists, 2023

Colonel J. David "Rock" Bottomlee, USAF, Dean of the Air War College

An F-16 pilot with 30 years' experience, Col. Bottomlee's assignments included NATO Director of Air Operations in Kabul, Afghanistan. His degrees include the PhD in Public Administration & Leadership from Auburn University; the MA in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College; the MA in Leadership from the University of Colorado; the MBA from California State University; and the BA in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Dr. Ashly Townsen, Assistant Professor of International Security Studies, Great Power Studies Course Director

Dr. Townsen joined AWC from Washington State University and received his PhD from the University of Illinois. His interests lie in civil and international conflict, African politics, rebellion, development, and political psychology. His research has been published in numerous academic journals and he is working on a book about the psychology of rebel group participants.

Dr. Margaret Sankey, Air University's research coordinator in the Office of Sponsored Programs (“The Hub”)

Sankey earned a PhD at Auburn University in European military history, and taught military history, security studies and political science at Minnesota State Moorhead before joining the staff at the USAF Air War College as the director of research and electives.

She is the author, most recently, of Blood Money: How Criminals, Militias, Rebels, and Warlords Finance Violence (Transforming War) (USNI Press, 15 Oct 2022).