Steve grew up in a New Jersey suburb surrounded by returned citizen soldiers, sailors, and marines. He listened to their stories and developed a lifelong interest in military history, especially the Civil War and World War II. As a result of a number of boyhood experiences during which he learned about a long-forgotten hero, Steve became “Citizen Historian” of the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Division Association. Under their auspices Steve co-authored a biography of their wartime commander. Major General Maurice Rose: World War II’s Greatest Forgotten Commander, (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003), tells the story of that boyhood hero, one of the greatest warriors who ever served our country.
Steve has rapidly established a niche as a writer who focuses on unknown heroes and battles, inspiring leadership models, and the lessons of command failure. Steve was the recipient of the 2003 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for his article, ”Command Failures: Lessons Learned from Lloyd R. Fredendall,” (Army Magazine, March 2003). His articles have also appeared in Army History, World War II Magazine, WW II History, Military Heritage, Military History and America’s Civil War Magazines, as well as the Wharton Leadership Digest.
For more than two decades, Steve worked as a technology analyst on Wall Street before establishing a second career as a military historian and consultant. He followed a broad range of companies and sectors, pioneered coverage of several new analytic sectors, including Computer Disk Drives & Peripherals, Electronic Manufacturing Services and Business Process Outsourcing, and participated as lead analyst in many of the most important Initial Public Offerings of the 1980’s and 1990’s. During his time on Wall Street, Steve worked with many legendary entrepreneurs, corporate managers, analysts, bankers, venture capitalists and investors responsible for our PC and internet culture, and continually evaluated them against history’s great battlefield commanders.
A featured speaker on TV, radio and in the national print media as an expert on technological innovation, Steve has also spoken at reunions of veterans and memorial dedication events. He is currently the Senior Managing Director of APPLIED BATTLEFIELD CONCEPTS LLC, a company that takes the lessons of military history to CEOs and top managers using a corporate adaptation of the US Army's time-tested Battlefield Staff Ride training experience.
He holds a BA with Honors in Philosophy from Wesleyan University, an MA degree in the History of Political Philosophy from the New School for Social Research, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ed grew up in the coal fields of Western Kentucky, not far from Fort Campbell, home of the famed 101st Airborne Division. The tradition of service and sacrifice runs deep in his family. His father served in the Army Air Forces in World War II and an uncle, who enlisted in the pre-war horse cavalry, was killed in action in Italy. Another family member received a Silver Star - posthumously - for heroism in Normandy. When Ed chose the path of a professional army officer, it was natural that he would bring to his career an intense interest in military history.
Commissioned into the Armor Branch, Ed served 20 years on active duty including stints with the 37th Armor Regiment, which relieved the besieged 101st paratroopers at Bastogne in the WWII Battle of the Bulge, and the 1st Armored Division - the outfit his uncle was with when he was killed in Italy.
Ed worked at the Pentagon, where he was a member of the Department of the Army Staff. He was an advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army on the investigation of the 1950 Korean War incident at No Gun Ri, Korea, and on the Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
He was named a "designated historian" for his contributions, including organizing battlefield staff rides for his units. Based for many years in Germany, and very familiar with the terrain, he wrote A Dark and Bloody Ground (1995), the definitive account of the World War II Hurtgen Forest Campaign and Winner of the 1996 Forrest C. Pogue Award.
Ed is the author of Master the Future, A History of the USAF Judge Advocate General’s Department 1950-2000, written for the US Air Force, 2000 and has published articles in World War II, Ordnance, and Armor Magzines. He is a consultant for Fox News Channel's War Stories segment on the Hurtgen Forest battle. He also assists the military's Central Identification Laboratory (Hawaii) in identifying remains of WWII soldiers killed in Europe. His most recent work is Nothing Less Than Full Victory: Americans at War in Europe, 1944-1945, which chronicles the transformation of the tiny prewar army into the vast machine that defeated the greatest danger ever faced by free men and women.
Ed holds a BA degree in history (1979) and a master’s degree in public administration (1980) from Western Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army’s Armor, Ordnance and Military Intelligence Schools.
Since leaving the Army, Ed has worked for a Fortune 50 media company designing PC hardware inventory and budgeting systems and recently for a top tier management consulting firm. He has effectively blended his professional experience as an officer, his achievements as a historian, and his expertise in logistics/supply chain management and oversight – honed during his management of the $17B/yr Army Commissary, Exchange and Soldier Support business.
