The Honorable Bing West was the guest lecturer at the first Newport Lecture Series of the 2021-2022 academic year, hosted by the Naval War College Foundation. His lecture, “How the Tragedy in Afghanistan Unfolded Over 20 Years,” provided a perspective on the war in Afghanistan, informed by Mr. West’s personal experience of being embedded in the war with over 40 military units.

The Honorable Bing West is the co-author of The New York Times #1 bestseller, ­Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, written with General Jim Mattis.

A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton Universities, he fought as a Marine grunt in Vietnam. He later served as Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. His ten books include The Village, which has been on the Marine Commandant’s Reading List for 40 years; The Strongest Tribe, a history of the Iraq war that was a New York Times Bestseller; and The Wrong War, a history of the Afghanistan war.

He is the recipient (twice) of Marine Corps Heritage, the Colby Military History Award, the General Goodpaster Prize for Military Scholarship, the Free Press Award, the Father Clyde Leonard Award, the Marine Corps Russell Award for Leadership and the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Media Award. His articles appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The National Review and The Washington Post.

To watch the lecture: Newport Lecture Series with the Honorable Bing West