CHUCK STEELE is a former history professor serving at the United States Military Academy (2002-2006) and the United States Air Force Academy (2006-2025). He was a course chair for USAFA's offerings in naval history, military thought and strategy, technology and warfare, Russian history, and other topics in modern military history. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BA, History 1987), King's College, the University of London (MA, War Studies 1990), and West Virginia University (PhD, History 2000). Along with John Jennings, he is a co-editor and contributing author of The Worst Military Leaders in History.
One of USAFA’s original 63 tenured professors, Chuck was chosen by cadets in the class of 2017 as the Humanities and Social Sciences recipient of the William H. Heiser Award. The award is presented annually to USAFA’s “Outstanding Senior Faculty Educator." He was the first member of the Department of History (DFH) to be so honored. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Department of the Air Force Civilian Achievement Medal, the John F. Shiner Award for “Teaching Excellence in Military History,” the Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, and, in 2005, was recognized with a United States Military Academy Department of History Excellence in Teaching Award. Chuck was also the first Defense Editor of rotor & wing magazine.
Chuck maintained Interdisciplinary competence in oceanic studies and maritime history through the following: regular participation in conferences of the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH), service as Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Naval History (Dec 2011- Jan 2024), participation in the NEH/Munson Institute Fellowship in American Maritime Studies (2016), developing basic competence in nautical archeology developed through elementary training in underwater and foreshore archaeology from Britain’s Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), and participation in the Queen Anne’s Revenge Dive Down underwater archeology project in 2009.
Fun Fact: Chuck played professional American football in the United States and Europe. His football adventures included playing for the following teams: Detroit Lions, National Football League (22 September 1987 – 2 December 1987), three seasons of American Football in Europe (two seasons, 1987-1988, in the Vaahteraliiga/the premier league of Finnish American Football and one in the Budweiser Premier League of American Football in the United Kingdom 1989).
HOMEPORT: Portland, Oregon
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: World War I, the Cold War, Russia, military education, the Baltic Sea, and modern Germany
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:
The Worst Military Leaders in History (co-editor and contributing author), Reaktion Books, UK/University of Chicago Press, 2022
Harmon Memorial Lectures Volume II (Section editor), Air University Press, 2020
NAVAL REVIEW, UK
“Urgent Fury: The Risks of Turning Operational Ineptitude into Strategic Success” Naval Review (Online-November 27, 2025)
“The Best Bellwether is a Bad Navy: The Russian Navy as a Metric for Modernity,” Naval Review Volume 112, Number 4, (Autumn/November 2024)
“In Praise of Naval History (again),” Naval Review 105, no. 1(February 2017)
“Don’t Give up the Ship: The Continuing Need for Naval History in the Education of Young Leaders of Character (an American’s Perspective),” Naval Review 99, no. 1(February 2011)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY
"David Beatty: The Royal Navy Incarnate," International Journal of Naval History, vol. 16, no. 2 (December 2021/January 2022)
NAVAL HISTORY, USNI
"William S. Sims: The Greatest of America’s Great War Flag Officers," Naval History 27, no. 3 (June 2013)
"A Brave Band of Britons," Naval History 11, no.2 (March/April 1997)
HEADMARK (JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVAL INSTITUTE)
"The War of 1812: What it Means to the United States" Journal of the Australian Naval Institute (June 2014)
"The Influence of History Upon Sea Power," Journal of the Australian Naval Institute (March 2009)
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SWEDISH SOCIETY OF NAVAL SCIENCE (Tidskrift i Sjöväsendet)
“Sea Power: The Missing Dimension” Journal of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Science Tidskrift i Sjöväsendet N:r 3 (June 2020)