'Intelligence in the Ardennes' with Gregory Fontenot, Bradley W. Hart

"Intelligence in the Ardennes" examines the critical role of intelligence and command decisions during the Battle of the Bulge, with insights into U.S. Army intelligence structures, methods, and shortcomings. Featuring Gregory Fontenot (COL, USA, Ret.) and Bradley W. Hart, PhD, the session explores the challenges of synthesizing intelligence data, and how human factors shape decisions. 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. Gregory Fontenot is a consultant on threat emulation for US Army experimentation, a working historian, and a retired Colonel of the US Army. He was lead author of On Point: The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, published by CGSC Press, and is the author of The 1st Infantry Division and the US Army Transformed: Road to Victory in Desert Storm, 1970–1991, winner of the 2017 Army Historical Foundation award for Unit History, as well as Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge. Bradley Hart is a Military Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. Hart earned his PhD in history from Churchill College at the University of Cambridge and is the author of two books, including Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States (2018), recipient of the 2019 German Studies Association Sybil Halpern Milton Memorial Book Prize. Hart has also published numerous articles on interwar politics, diplomacy, and intelligence history. His current research focuses on information warfare in World War II. Before joining the Institute, Hart taught at California State University, Fresno and worked as an international affairs fellow on Capitol Hill.