Edward J. Erickson

Edward J. Erickson is a Ph.D and now a retired U.S. Army officer at International Research Associates and is an eminent and leading authority on the Ottoman Army during the Great War, a subject on which he has written widely.

He was born in Norwich, New York, USA. After military service as an infantry non commissioned officer, he was commissioned in the Field Artillery in 1975. During his career, Ed Erickson served with the 509th Airborne Infantry Battalion, the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division, the 24th Infantry Division, the 528th Field Artillery Group, and the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade. During the Persian Gulf War, he served as the Operations Officer (S3) of the 2nd Battalion 3rd Field Artillery in the 3rd Armored Division at the Battle of Wadi Al Batin. In the latter phase of his career, he served in NATO assignments in Izmir, Turkey and in Naples, Italy as a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Turkey and the Middle East. In 1995 he was assigned to the NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he served as a Military Assistant to COMIFOR.

Lieutenant-Colonel Erickson retired in October 1997 to teach world history at Norwich High School, but was recalled to active duty in March 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom and was assigned as the Political Advisor to Major General Ray Odierno, 4th Infantry Division. After six months in Tikrit, Iraq, Lieutenant-Colonel Erickson returned to civilian life and now works as the Dean of Students at Norwich High School. During his military service Ed Erickson won many awards, including the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster. In 2005 he got his Ph.D in history at the University of Leeds in United Kingdom.

Edward J. Erickson now lives with his wife in Norwich, New York and teaches Social Studies at Norwich High School since 2004.

Writings

• Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313315167
• Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913, Praeger Publishers, ISBN 0275978885
• Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: A Comparative Study, Routledge (2007), ISBN 978-0415770996
• The Euphrates Triangle: Security Implications of the Southeast Anatolia Project, Natl Defense Univ Pr, ISBN 1579060218
• The Sultan's Army, A History of the Ottoman Military, 1300-1923, Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers (2007)

Medals

• Bronze Star Medal (1st Oak Leaf)
• Legion of Merit