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Colonel John M. Collins, USA (ret.)
is a “distinguished visiting research fellow at the National Defense University. Collins culminated his military career
as the director of military strategy studies and then as chief of the Strategic Research Group at the National War College.
He was subsequently the senior specialist in national defense at the Congressional Research Service for twenty-four years.”
Moreover, John M. Collins, “enlisted in the Army as a private in 1942 and retired with the rank of colonel in
1972. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas City and holds a master's degree from Clark University, Worcester,
Massachusetts. He is also a graduate of the Army Command General Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College, the Industrial
College of the Armed Forces, and the National War College. He was chief of the Campaign Planning Group, Vietnam, in 1967-68.”
Colonel John M. Collins is the
author of Military Strategy: Principles, Practices, and Historical Perspectives; Military Geography: For Professionals
and the Public; Green Berets, Seals and Spetsnaz: U.S. and Soviet Special Military Operations; Grand Strategy; Military Space
Forces: The Next 50 Years; America's Small Wars: Lessons for the Future; U.S.-Soviet Military Balance 1980-1985; and,
Special Operations Forces: An Assessment.
The MOAA said of Military
Strategy: Principles, Practices, and Historical Perspectives, “Collins' book provides an overview
of the principles, theories, policies, and other fundamentals of modern warfare and their applications in the 21st century.
"On the surface, the events of Sept. 11 and the following months would appear to have changed the relevancy of Military
Strategy," Collins says. However, Collins' "structured approach to national security problem-solving helps readers
sift mountains of raw information rapidly and form their own opinions concerning elemental issues and options." Collins
illuminates practices that worked well or poorly in the past, together with reasons why. Included is a discussion of national
security interests, strategic building blocks, military strategies across the conflict spectrum, methods for developing talent
and strategic acumen, and recent case studies that put principles into practice. Also included is a glossary of key military
terms.”
According to one reader of Military
Geography: For Professionals and the Public, “If you are a serious reader of military history, a serving
military professional, or a specialist in international security and defense issues, this book is worth your time. As an introductory
text, it covers many topics that are crucial to military planning but often receive only brief mention in histories or briefings.
Collins, a former Army officer, stresses land geography, but does not stint oceans, the atmosphere or interplanetary space.
His discussions of urban areas are too brief, given the increasing amount of large-scale violence in cities since the end
of World War II. More maps would also be an improvement. Nonetheless, highly recommended.”
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