GARY J. OHLS is currently a freelance researcher, writer, and lecturer. The focus of his work is military and naval history and affairs. He has published two books, contributed to a third (edited edition), and published various articles on related subjects. His book entitled American Amphibious Warfare: The Roots of Tradition won the John Lyman award for excellence in the category “U.S. Naval History” for books published in 2017. He holds a Ph.D., three master’s degrees and is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. Previously, Colonel Ohls spent thirty-six years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps serving as an enlisted man, regular officer, reserve officer, and reserve officer on activity duty. His areas of specialty in the Marine Corps include operations, logistics, communication, and security. During his career, Colonel Ohls served in both command and staff positions at various locations worldwide and at sea. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Colonel Ohls served on the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California. As a professor for the Naval War College, he taught the subjects of operational warfare and strategy & war to professional career officers of the U.S. military. Before teaching courses, he served as a member of the Maritime History Department. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He previously taught at the NROTC program at the University of Colorado and in the history department at Texas Christian University (TCU) while working on his Ph.D.
HOMEPORT: Monterey, California
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Amphibious Operations, American military and naval history, U.S. Involvement in Somalia, currently conducting research on the Black Sea dimensions of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:
Book – American Amphibious Warfare: The Roots of Tradition to 1865, Naval Institute Press, December 2017. (Received John Lyman award for Naval History)
Book – Somalia…From the Sea. Naval War College Press, Newport Papers #43, August 2009.
Chapter – “Naval Aviation in the Korean and Vietnam Wars,” in 100 Years of Naval Air Power, U.S. Naval Institute, 2010.
Article – “The History of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Relationship and its Impact on Amphibious Warfare,” Navy League of the United States Magazine, Published by
FaircourtMediaGroup, April 2013 (Issued in conjunction with the commissioning of the USS Arlington).
Article – “The Main Battery,” with David F. Overton, First Responder Magazine, November 2009 (Issued in conjunction with the commissioning of the USS New York).
Article – “The History of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Relationship and its Impact on Amphibious Warfare,” First Responder Magazine, November 2009 (Issued in conjunction with the commissioning of the USS New York).
Article – “Eastern Exit: Rescue “…From the Sea,” Naval War College Review, Autumn 2008.
Article – “Fort Fisher: Amphibious Victory in the American Civil War,” Naval War College Review, Autumn 2006.
Article – “Semper Fi Bladensburg: A Birth of Tradition in the United States Marine Corps,” The Journal of the War of 1812, Fall 2003/Winter 2004.
Article – “No Premium on Killing,” with General Anthony C. Zinni, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, December 1996.
Book Review – “Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps,” by Aaron B. O’Connell, Harvard University Press, 2012, published in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, April 2013.