"Air War Over the Ardennes" explores the role of air power during the Battle of the Bulge, focusing on the contrasting situations of the German Luftwaffe and the Allied air forces. Featuring Brian D. Laslie, PhD, and John Curatola, PhD (LtCol, USMC, Ret.) and chaired by Sean Scanlon, PhD the session examines the Luftwaffe's operational struggles, the Allies' superior air coordination, and the pivotal impact of air superiority on the campaign’s outcome, providing a detailed analysis of air combat in this critical WWII battle.
This session is part of The National WWII Museum's 2024 pre-conference symposium "The Battle of the Bulge Revisited: 80 Years On, a part of The International Conference on World War II presented by the Pritzker Military Foundation, on behalf of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. For more information: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/about-us/notes-museum/2024-international-conference-world-war-ii
The International Conference on World War II is the premier adult educational event bringing together the best and brightest scholars, authors, historians, and witnesses to history from around the globe to discuss key battles, personalities, strategies, issues, and controversies of the war that changed the world. Joining the featured speakers are hundreds of attendees who travel from all over the world to learn and connect with each other through engaging discussions, question-and-answer periods, book signings, and receptions throughout the weekend.
Brian Laslie is the Command Historian at the US Air Force Academy and a widely published author on Air Force and air power topics. A 2001 graduate of The Citadel Military College of South Carolina and a historian of air and space power studies, Laslie received his master’s degree from Auburn University Montgomery in 2006 and his PhD in history from Kansas State University in 2013. His first book, The Air Force Way of War: U.S. Tactics and Training after Vietnam (Kentucky, 2015), was included on the 2016 Chief-of-Staff of the Air Force’s Reading List and the 2017 Royal Air Force’s Chief of the Air Staff Reading List.
John Curatola is the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. A US Marine Corps officer of 22 years, he graduated from the
University of Nebraska and is a veteran of Operation Provide Hope in Somalia, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami relief effort. He holds master’s degrees in both American and military history. With a PhD from the University of Kansas, Curatola’s research focuses on World War II, airpower, and the early Cold War period. Previously, he taught history at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His first two books, Bigger Bombs for a Brighter Tomorrow and Autumn of Our Discontent, assess US national security and nuclear capabilities in the early Cold War period. His forthcoming work, Armies Afloat: Development of US Amphibious Capabilities in the European Theater during World War II, is scheduled for release by University of Kansas Press in spring 2025. Curatola’s works can be found in compendium books, popular magazines, and academic journals, and his many presentations are available for viewing on C-SPAN and YouTube.
Sean Scanlon is a Military Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. He received his BA in history and religious studies from Stonehill College and his MA and PhD in history from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. A specialist in 20th-century US diplomatic, military, and political history, Scanlon has done research at six presidential libraries and is a member of both the American Jewish Historical Society and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Before joining The National WWII Museum, Scanlon was a visiting assistant professor of history at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the University of Mississippi, where he taught a wide range of undergraduate courses in modern US history. He is proud to honor his three grandparents who served during World War II, including Thomas S. Scanlon Jr., who joined the US Army Air Forces in 1942 and retired from the US Air Force in 1971 as a Lieutenant Colonel.