Dr. Douglas Winton joined the Eisenhower School faculty in 2022 after his Army career which included two years teaching Economics at the United States Military Academy and culminated with seven years teaching Military Strategy at the Army War College. While there he served as the Chair of the Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations for four years and as the Henry L. Stimson Chair of Military Studies for three.
His PhD is in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Winton’s dissertation research examines the role of technology in urban combat and argues that militaries that wish to pursue technological capabilities as their source of asymmetric advantage can effectively employ those capabilities when operating in cities. This conclusion, based on an examination of urban battles in Grozny, Fallujah, and Gaza, refutes the common perception that urban combat is a “great equalizer”.
Military effectiveness in cities, information as an element of combat power, military strategy, and campaign design comprise Dr. Winton’s ongoing research interests. His publications include “The Role of History in Understanding Modern Urban Warfare,” Chapter 1 in Urban Battlefields: Lessons Learned from World War II to the Modern Era, ed. Gregory Fremont-Barnes (Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute Press, April 2024); “The Battle for Fallujah: Exploiting Technological Advantages in Urban Combat during Operation Al Fajr, November 2004,” Chapter 9 in Urban Battlefields: Lessons Learned from World War II to the Modern Era, and “Economic Statecraft: China in Africa,” in Parameters 43(4) Winter 2013-14.
When in uniform, Dr. Winton served as a Field Artillery officer with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), 41st FA Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (including two deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom), 214th Fires Brigade, and 4th Infantry Division (including a deployment for Operation Enduring Freedom). Dr. Winton commanded 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery from 2009-2011.
Dr. Winton is an active member of his parish. He and his wife enjoy kayaking on the creeks and hiking the trails of northern Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania when they are not visiting their grown children or traveling to new adventures with friends.