Austin Bay Austin Bay is author of three novels. His third novel, The Wrong Side of Brightness, was published by Putnam/Jove in June 2003. He has also co-authored four non-fiction books, to include A Quick and Dirty Guide to War: Third Edition (with James Dunnigan, Morrow, 1996). Bay writes a syndicated column on international affairs for Creators Syndicate. He is a commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, covering foreign affairs but often addressing issues in Texas that have a national interest. Bay has appeared as a guest commentator on Fox News Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and ABC News' "Nightline," as well as on numerous regional radio and TV shows. As a journalist, he has filed reports from throughout Europe, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He is a contributing editor to FYEO, an Internet foreign affairs newsletter found at www.StrategyPage.com, and writes a weblog on his home page, www.austinbay.net. Bay, who has had two commercial wargames published, worked for four years as a special consultant in wargaming in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (1989-1993). He is a colonel (retired) in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2004, he was recalled to active duty and served in Iraq as chief of strategic initiatives, Multi-National Corps-Iraq (May-September 2004). He received the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Iraq. Bay also served on active duty in the Pentagon during Operation Desert Storm (1991). On active duty in the 1970s, Bay served in Germany as a tank platoon leader in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and as an assistant operations and chemical/nuclear defense officer in the headquarters of 1st Infantry Division's forward brigade group. (Goeppingen, Germany). While with 1st Infantry Division, his duties included liaison work with NATO allied units - in particular with West German, Canadian, and French forces. In 1995, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization sent him to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to observe anti-ballistic missile training exercises. In 1999, Bay accepted a special reserve tour in Guatemala, where he was deputy commander of a Hurricane Mitch recovery operation and medical relief mission. In October 2001, Bay served a two-week tour with Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Bay has a bachelor of arts from Rice University (1973) and has a Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from Columbia University (1987). He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and the U.S. Army War College. He currently teaches a course in strategy and strategic theory for the University of Texas' PLAN 2 undergraduate honors program. Recent projects include organizing a micro-development aid project for the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Texas. Bay is a member of The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, The Modern Language Association, The Reserve Officers Association, The National Conference of Editorial Writers and The Society of Professional Journalists. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2009 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:01:00 GMT Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ On Nov. 9, 1989, large crowds of German citizens from both East and West Berlin approached the Berlin Wall. At several border crossing points, East Berliners began shouting at the armed communist guards, demanding they... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/11/04/cracking_the_berlin_wall 888198e8-8038-4b4f-8885-491626d5326a Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:01:00 GMT Maintaining a competent military organization is a challenge for wealthy nations, even in times of relative peace. Bureaucrats and politicians hijack budgets as politically connected officers wrangle promotions at the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/10/28/building_an_army_under_fire 646a8583-b449-4acd-9663-bcd32807a666 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:01:00 GMT Action in the world ought to trump worlds evoked by words, especially when awarding a global prize allegedly recognizing sustained, courageous effort on behalf of peace in our world's deeply conflicted corners. We... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/10/14/what_kind_of_action_in_the_world_justifies_a_nobel_peace_prize f4646f46-cacd-4362-9ae3-701e1f8547eb Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:01:00 GMT Eliminate commercial jet transports connecting continents, and the tangled tribal, economic, anarchic and ideological problems vexing Afghanistan become more localized torments afflicting Afghanis and their neighbors.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/10/07/afghanistans_changing_battleground f98e2b0e-530d-4ec2-a2e0-34bc7d723bcc Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:01:00 GMT Sudan's genocidal Darfur war still attracts international attention, and though large battles pitting national government troops against Darfur rebels are less frequent there, violent anarchy still afflicts that sad... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/09/30/sudans_simmering_north-south_war f31d22ea-3f38-4260-8502-b1ce2d16c123 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:01:00 GMT When it came to acting on behalf of peace in the 21st century, the Obama administration weighed "sphere of influence" against "sphere of security" and came down solidly on the side of the Russian czars. I am... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/09/23/obama_lets_sphere_of_influence_trump_sphere_of_security d4487fb7-8079-461e-a2f4-715a7e455e37 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT When American special operations forces (SOF) operating in Somalia killed a terrorist mastermind this past week, media reports focused on the drama and the bombast. The drama was palpable. U.S. SOF used helicopters... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/09/16/sof_targets_and_soft_targets 8cb1f6d8-bff1-49d6-bbb3-6bd4301ab798 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:01:00 GMT Morale matters -- especially in a time of war. Morale even matters in an "overseas contingency operation," the hazy bureaucratic phrase the Obama administration sought to substitute for "The Global War on Terror."... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/09/09/dont_damage_the_first_line_of_defense 0f30bb47-fc31-43a3-8669-88507b916a0d Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:01:00 GMT Unleashed in the early hours of Sept. 1, 1939, Germany's "lightning war" -- the blitzkrieg -- quickly pierced Poland's border forces and sliced through the Danzig Corridor. As the German Luftwaffe hammered Poland's... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/09/02/two_septembers_1939_and_2001 981c2a43-e931-4b9d-bf25-b92b4445fa5b Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:01:00 GMT "Communazi" became magazine shorthand for their collaboration, dark slang connecting the two totalitarian ideologies of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany after they ratified the Hitler-Stalin Pact. That faux-peace... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/08/26/seventy_years_after_the_hitler-stalin_pact f79d8941-a8d3-4973-ae9a-6adf5e3cff9a Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:01:00 GMT Credit Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, with vision and guts. In the midst of the Cartel War's vicious bloodletting, Calderon continues to pursue his "systemic revolution" on multiple fronts, and he's doing so... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/08/19/mexicos_complex_free_trade_initiative e2f3dd33-7256-4b72-8ce7-7aadd5649dc7 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:01:00 GMT Iran's Information Age demonstrators, exploiting the capabilities of the social networking and "micro-blogging" service Twitter, surprised then threatened Iran's tyrannical mullahs. Tehran's thugs in robes suddenly... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/08/12/strategic_twitter 2c36d4b2-79cd-4367-bc59-c0107e4ce004 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:01:00 GMT Is it reset or repeat? This past week's rhetorical exchanges between Russia and the Republic of Georgia is a definite reminder that the complex political, historical and geographic issues at play in the Russo-Georgia... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/08/05/russo-georgia_one_year_on_from_reset_to_repeat 66a7ced2-ad83-40db-ad66-b8b10cc6e76c Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:01:00 GMT "I am now only an American professor," Gen. Bela Kiraly said with a grin. His grin was a survivor's grin -- a charming, elegant East European survivor with a sense of humor about himself and perhaps the end-of-1984... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/07/29/remembering_a_hungarian_freedom_fighter 4dfe45ca-7f93-42bb-a9d5-766bf5df785c Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT In November 2008, a terrorist assault team recruited and trained by the Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) terror organization attacked Mumbai, India, and murdered 166 people. The attack -- which featured the random slaying... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2009/07/22/mumbais_surprising_aftermath 260d8960-74ec-42bf-8f8b-49a4633dd293 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT