Military + War Speakers

Our military speakers offer inspired perspectives from their experiences on and off the battlefield. Their topics include first-hand war stories, in-depth examinations of both current and historical conflicts, and lessons on leadership and resiliency.

Phil Klay

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and author of Redeployment, winner of 2014 National Book Award for Fiction

Travis Mills

Retired United States Army Staff Sergeant and Recalibrated Warrior

Jeff Shaara

New York Times-bestselling author of historical and military fiction

More Military + War Speakers

Omar El Akkad

Award-winning journalist and author of the debut novel American War

Robert Baer

Portrayed by George Clooney in the Academy Award-winning film Syriana, expert on American intelligence and the War on Terror

Ori Brafman

Business strategist, organizational expert, and New York Times bestselling author of Sway and Click

Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Former Washington Post journalist and award-winning author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City (inspiration for the 2010 movie Green Zone), Little America, and For Love of Country

Steve Coll

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, New Yorker staff writer, and author of Private Empire, Ghost Wars and The Bin Ladens

Dexter Filkins

Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent and author of The Forever War

Shane Harris

Investigative journalist and author of The Watchers

James Hatch

Retired member of the Naval Special Warfare Development group, author of Touching the Dragon, and founder of Spike’s K9 Fund

Fredrik Logevall

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of War and Vietnam War historian

Robert K. Massie

Internationally renowned historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer

Ahmed Rashid

Journalist and author of Descent into Chaos and Pakistan on the Brink