Lester W. Grau is the Research Coordinator for the

Foreign Military Studies Office The Foreign Military Studies Office, or FMSO, is a research and analysis center for the United States Army that is part of the United States Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. It manages the Joint Reserve Intelligence Center there. Mi ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army

Defense Language Institute The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other f ...

(Russian) and the U.S. Army's Institute for Advanced Russian and Eastern European Studies. He retired from the US Army in 1992 at the rank of lieutenant colonel. His military education included the Infantry Officers Basic and Advanced Courses, the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

and the U.S. Air Force War College. His Baccalaureate and master's degrees are in International Relations. His doctorate is in Military History. He served a combat tour in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, four European tours, a

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n tour and a posting in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He has traveled to the Soviet Union and Russia over forty times. He has also been a frequent visitor to the Asian subcontinent, especially

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He visited

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in October 2003. He is a recent CENTCOM Fellow.

Publications

Grau has published over one hundred articles and studies on tactical, operational and geopolitical subjects. WorldCat Identities
/ref> His book, ''The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan'', a translation of a study by the Soviet

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

was published in 1996. ''The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War'', co-authored with Ali Jalali, was published in 1998. ''The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost'', a translation from a study prepared for the Russian General Staff, was published in 2000, and is almost 700 libraries. WorldCat
/ref> ''The Partisan's Handbook'', first published in the Soviet Union in 1942. and ''The Coils of the Anaconda: America's First Conventional Battle in Afghanistan'' were published in 2011. He is also republishing General Skeen's 1932 ''Passing It On: Short Talks on Tribal Fighting On the North-West Frontier of India.'' He is an occasional contributor to the Journal of Slavic Military Studies.

Books

*Grau, Lester W., and Dodge Billingsley. ''Operation Anaconda: America's First Major Battle in Afghanistan.'' Lawrence:

University Press of Kansas The University Press of Kansas is a publisher located in Lawrence, Kansas. Operated by the University of Kansas, it represents the six state universities in the US state of Kansas: Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas ...

, 2011. *Grau, Lester W., and Michael A. Gress. ''The Red Army's Do-It-Yourself Nazi-Bashing Guerrilla Warfare Manual: The Partisan's Companion.'' Havertown, Pa: Casemate, 2011. *Lester W. Grau, and Michael A. Gress. ''The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost.'' Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas, 2002. **Review, by Robert V Barylski, '' Slavic Review,'' Spring, 2003, vol. 62, no. 1, p. 193-195 **Review, by Eliot A Cohen, ''Foreign Affairs'', May - Jun., 2002, vol. 81, no. 3, p. 157 **Review, by Odd Arne Westad, ''The International history review.'' 24, no. 4, (2002): 975 **Review, by David C Isby ''The Journal of military history.'' 66, no. 3, (2002): 923 *Lester W. Grau and Timothy Smith
A 'Crushing' Victory: Fuel-Air Explosives and Grozny 2000
APAN Community 2000-08-01 *Jalali, Ali Ahmad, and Lester W. Grau. ''The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War''. Quantico, Va: U.S. Marine Corps, Studies and Analysis Division, 1999. **Review, by Keith Dickson, '' Journal of Military History,'' Apr., 1999, vol. 63, no. 2, p. 502-503 *Grau, Lester W. ''The Bear Went Over the Mountain Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan.'' Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 1996. *Grau, Lester W. ''Russian Urban Tactics: Lessons from the Battle for Grozny.'' ashington, D.C. National Defense University, Institute for National

Strategic Studies Strategic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field centered on the study of peace and conflict strategies, often devoting special attention to the relationship between military history, international politics, geostrategy, international ...

, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grau, Lester W. Living people American male writers United States Army officers United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Air War College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)