Big Red One in WWII topic of Distinguished Speaker Series event

The CGSC Foundation and its Simons Center hosted the third lecture of the 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series at the Riverfront Community Center in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas on Sept. 26, 2024. In this installment of the series, Retired Army Colonel Greg Fontenot provided details on the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division experiences in WWII that he researched and wrote about in his recently published book No Sacrifice Too Great.

The evening began with a reception, followed by Simons Center Deputy Director John Nelson welcoming the attendees. Toward the end of the dinner period Nelson introduced Fontenot to the gathered audience from Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth and the Kansas City metro.

(Top photo and above) Colonel (Ret.) Greg Fontenot delivers his presentation on the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division experiences in WWII that he researched and wrote about in his recently published book “No Sacrifice Too Great” during the Distinguished Speaker Series event hosted by the CGSC Foundation and its Simons Center at the Riverfront Community Center in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas on Sept. 26, 2024.

In his presentation, Fontenot discussed how the 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), familiarly known as the Big Red One, adapted to dynamic battlefield conditions throughout the course of its deployment during World War II by innovating and altering behavior, including tactics, techniques, and procedures. Both the division’s leaders and Soldiers accomplished this by thinking critically about their experiences in combat and wasting little time in putting lessons learned to good use. Simply put, they learned on the job — in battle and after battle — and did so quickly.

After the presentation and a Q&A period, Simons Center Director Bob Ulin presented Fontenot with a gift in appreciation for his participation in the Distinguished Speaker Series.

Colonel (Ret.) Gregory Fontenot served in the U.S. Army as an armor officer for more than 28 years at duty locations in the United States, Europe, the Balkans and Southwest Asia. His key assignments included commanding a battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Storm and a brigade in Bosnia. As an educator he taught history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was director of the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In his last assignment he commanded the Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth.

After his military retirement in 1999, Fontenot embarked on a second career as a Department of the Army Civilian in the military intelligence specialty. In this capacity he served as director of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s wargaming directorate and later as director of the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, the Army’s “red teaming” school. He served on campaign plan assessment teams in Iraq in 2010 and Afghanistan in 2011. He left the civil service in 2013 to pursue his interest in writing military history.

Col. (Ret.) Greg Fontenot’s book No Sacrifice too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II was published in June 2023.

Fontenot has authored numerous articles and book reviews in Army magazine, Military Review and other publications, and is co-author of On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In 2017 he published The 1st Infantry and the US Army Transformed: The Road to Victory in Desert Storm 1970-1991, which earned him the 2017 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. In 2019 he published Loss and Redemption at St Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge and his most recent work, No Sacrifice too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II was published in June 2023.

Fontenot continues to support the U.S. Army as a consultant on threat emulation and leadership.

This lecture was the third of four in the 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series presented by the CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center for Ethical Leadership and Interagency Cooperation. The final lecture is scheduled for Nov. 20 and will focus on the Iraq War. Details will be published at a later date.

For more photos see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album

The CGSC Foundation through its Simons Center conducts the Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) program to offer extracurricular, educational lectures intended to help enrich the Command and General Staff School curriculum and provide opportunities for outreach to the public. Topics covered in the Distinguished Speaker Series of lectures span the gamut of leadership and ethics, organizational effectiveness, collaboration, as well as current events and issues in business, government and the military.  

~ Thank you to our 2024 DSS Sponsors ~

Five Stars
Col. (Ret.) Tim and Karen Carlin
(The Tim and Karen Carlin Family Foundation)

Four Stars
Col. (Ret.) Bill and Marge Eckhardt
Mr. John Ferguson (Ferguson Properties)
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) George Harris (First Command)
Ms. Jody Kaaz (Kaaz Construction)
Mr. Jerry Reilly (Reilly Holding Company)
Col. (Ret.) Bob and Terri Ulin

Three Stars
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Rich and Mary Ann Keller

Two Stars
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Stan Cherrie
Ms. Sherry DeMaranville (DeMaranville and Associates)
Col. (Ret.) Tom and Candy Dials
Mr. Art Fillmore
Mr. Bill Geiger (Geiger Ready Mix Foundation)
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Bill West

One Star
Lt. Col. (Ret.) William and Kathleen Connor, Sr.
Ms. Tina Farr (Armed Forces Bank)
Mr. Curt Gilfert (Advantage Printing)
Mr. Rick Schneider (Exchange Bank)