Biography;

Military officer; historian; professor of history.  Born August 17, 1945, St. Petersburg, Florida. Parents– Earl H. and Norma Davis Tilford.  Married– Grace Finnegan, April 27, 1974.  Children–two.  Education–University of Alabama, B.A., M.A., 1969; George Washington University, Ph. D., 1984.  Served in U.S. Air Force, 1869-89; retired as major.  Associate professor of history, Troy State University in Montgomery, 1990-91; professor of military history, U. S. Air Force Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base; director of research, U. S. Army Strategic Studies Institute; professor of history at Grove City College, Pennsylvania.  Edited the Air University Review. Member American Historical Society, Society for Military History, U. S. Naval Institute, Inter-University Seminar of the Armed Forces and Society. Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal; the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry; the Hoyt S. Vandenburg Award for Educator of the Year, U. S. Air Force,1992.

Source;

Contemporary Authors online.

Publications;

Crosswinds:  The Air Force’s Setup in Vietnam.  Texas A&M University Press, 1993.

A History of USAF Search and Rescue Operations, 1961-75.  Office of Air Force History, 1980.

Halt Phase Strategy:  New Wine in old Skins.  U. S. Army War College, 1998.

The Revolution in Military Affairs: Prospects and Cautions.  Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: U. S. Army War College, 1995.

Search and Rescue in Southeast Asia:  the U. S. Air Force in Southeast Asia.  University Press of the Pacific,2005.

Setup:  What the Air Force Did in Vietnam and Why.  Air University Press, 1991.

Turning the Tide: The University of Alabama in the 1960s.  Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2014.

Joint_Publications;

Russia’s Invasion of Chechyna: A Preliminary Assessment.  U. S. Army War College, 1995.

Two Perspectives on Interventions and Humanitarian Operations.  U. S. Army War College, 1997.

Editor;

The Strategic Challenge: Toward Century XXI. U. S. Army War College, 1995.

Traditional Military Thinking and the Defensive Strategy of China. U. S. Army War College, 1997.

World View: The 1998 Strategic Assessment from the Strategic Studies Institute.  U. S. Army War College,1998.

Joint_Editor:

Does Russian Democracy Have a Future?  U. S. Army War College, 1994.

The Eagle in the Desert:  Looking Back on U.S. Involvement in the Persian Gulf War.  Westport, Ct.: Praeger, 1996.