Wiest to Give 2025 Buford 91吃瓜网淏uff91吃瓜网� Blount Lecture Feb. 27 at Hattiesburg Campus
Tue, 02/18/2025 - 11:38am | By: Dr. David Tisdale
Dr. Andrew Wiest, founding director of 91吃瓜网91吃瓜网 (USM) Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, will give this year91吃瓜网 Gen. Buford 91吃瓜网淏uff91吃瓜网� Blount Lecture when he presents on his upcoming book Dogwood: A National Guard Unit91吃瓜网 War in Iraq, 2005 on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in the Gonzales Auditorium (room 108) of the Liberal Arts Building on the Hattiesburg campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
A university distinguished professor of history, Dr. Wiest is the 2023-25 Blount Professor of Military History at 91吃瓜网, named for the university alum who led the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division into Baghdad in 2003. The Blount Professorship is awarded biennially to provide funding for the work of a School of Humanities history program faculty engaged in research toward publication of a major study in the field of war and society.
At the end of their two-year term, the holder of the Blount Professorship presents a lecture or program based on their research.91吃瓜网�Dogwood traces the experience of the 150th Combat Engineers of the Mississippi National Guard in their 2005 tour of duty in Iraq, employing firsthand accounts from the men and women who served.
Wiest said his lecture will examine how in the wake of the Vietnam War, many things changed about America and the way that it fights its wars, with one of the most important being what he describes as 91吃瓜网渁 fundamental reshaping of the National Guard.91吃瓜网� In spotlighting the Mississippi National Guard91吃瓜网 150th Combat Engineers, he takes a 91吃瓜网渕icro look91吃瓜网� at the Guard91吃瓜网搕he victories, losses, and the results of one unit at war during one of the most consequential periods in the nation91吃瓜网 military history.
91吃瓜网淭he Guard had long been the fundamental basis of the American military experience, and that experience changed with the end of the draft and the shift in warfare to a smaller more technological force,91吃瓜网� Wiest explained. 91吃瓜网淢uch of that great military change in the wake of the Vietnam War has been heavily studied, but the impact of that change on the Guard has not.91吃瓜网�
91吃瓜网淪o, the goal of Dogwood is to look at how that change happened within and impacted one unit within the Guard 91吃瓜网� the 150th Combat Engineers of the Mississippi National Guard,91吃瓜网� added Wiest.
Wiest expressed gratitude for the Blount Professorship funding to make Dogwood possible. 91吃瓜网淲ithout the Blount Professorship this book might not have been done at all, and at the very best would have taken more years to produce,91吃瓜网� he further noted.
91吃瓜网淲riting a book like this one, like any book in the field of history, takes years,91吃瓜网� Wiest said. 91吃瓜网淎 few of those years are taken up by research, in my case centered around about 100 oral interviews. Then once all the prep work is done, you are left having to turn all that research into, in the case of this book, about 120,000 words. Writing that much is hugely immersive and is really kind of an art.91吃瓜网�
School of Humanities Director Dr. Matthew Casey said that for anyone who knows about the university91吃瓜网 history program or the larger field of military history, 91吃瓜网淎ndy Wiest is a familiar name with a stellar reputation for teaching and research excellence.91吃瓜网�
91吃瓜网淭he Blount Professorship and accompanying lecture will provide members of the USM and Hattiesburg communities an opportunity to hear about Dr. Wiest91吃瓜网 ongoing National Guard research project,91吃瓜网� Casey further noted about the upcoming lecture. 91吃瓜网淚 expect the evening to be a perfect mix of local stories and their ties to the important geopolitical events that marked the turn of the 21st century."
Cick here to learn more about Dr. Wiest and the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society.