禁漫天堂

The General Buford 鈥淏uff鈥� Blount Professorship in Military History was founded in honor of General Buford 鈥淏uff鈥� Blount, who graduated from the University of 禁漫天堂 Mississippi in 1971 and went on to a distinguished career in the U.S. military, which included leading the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division into Baghdad in 2003.  The Blount Professorship is awarded biennially to provide funding for the work of a member of the History program in the School of Humanities who is engaged in research toward the publication of a major study in the field of War and Society.  At the end of their two-year term, the holder of the Blount Professorship will present a lecture or program based on the findings of their research. 

 

The General Buford 鈥淏uff鈥� Blount Professor of Military History, 2025-2027:  Dr. Kevin Greene

The Dale Center for the Study of War & Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Kevin Greene is the 2025-2027 General Buford 鈥淏uff鈥� Blount Professor of Military History.  Dr. Greene is an Associate Professor of History, a Fellow in the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society, Director of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, and one of two Founding Directors of the Center for the Study of the National Guard. He is a specialist in American History with a focus on race, music, the military, and oral histories from World War I to World War II, as well as the history of the National Guard. 

During his appointment as the Blount Professor, Dr. Greene is working on two projects. The first is on the Victory Disc (V-Disc) program. As in V for Victory, the V-Disc project was a massively successful US Army and Navy music recording program lasting from 1942 to 1949, featuring over eight hundred releases of various popular and classical music recordings pressed to over eight million, 12鈥� 78 rpm vinylite and/or formvar discs. The discs were designed to boost morale for American armed services personnel around the world. The book argues that the V-Disc program represents fascinating intersections between American cultural creativity, marketplace ingenuity, negotiations with organized labor, the evolution of military science, and the transnational dissemination of entertainment as propaganda in an atmosphere of total war.  Dr. Greene is in contract negotiations with the University of North Carolina Press for the book鈥檚 publication.  The second project connected to the Blount Professorship investigates the careers of Black National Guard officers from 1980 to 2020, a period when many Deep South states began commissioning Black officers as part of their officer corps. The project will center on MG (Ret.) Augustus 鈥淟eon鈥� Collins, the ceiling breaker for Black officers in the Mississippi National Guard (MSNG), and many of his contemporary minority officers.

Former Holders of the Blount Professorship:

• 2023-2025   Dr. Andrew Wiest       Project:
• 2021-2023    Dr. Douglas Bristol    Project:
• 2019-2021    Dr. Allison Abra     Project: Love and War: An Emotional History of British Espionage during World War II
• 2017-2019    Dr. Heather Stur     Projects: and
• 2015-2017    Dr. Kenneth Swope     Project:

• 2013-2015    Dr. Susannah J. Ural     Project:

Biography: Major General Buford "Buff" Blount

Major General Buford "Buff" Blount retired from the Army on January 1, 2005 after serving as the Army鈥檚 Deputy G-3 (responsible for operations, including staff duties, exercise planning, training, operational requirements, combat development & tactical doctrine) since Oct 2003. Previously he was the Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.  Major General Blount gave up command of the 3 ID after bringing them home from Iraq where they were the lead force in capturing Baghdad after 21 days of continuous fighting.  Before his command of the 3rd ID, Major General Blount was stationed in Saudi Arabia where he was the Program Manager for the Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program.

Major General Blount has served in a variety of command and staff positions.  His command assignments include Commander, Combat Support Company and B Company, 3d Battalion, 77th Armor, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Polk, LA; Commander, A Troop, 15th Cavalry, 197th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, GA; Commander, 3d Battalion, 64th Armor, 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), USAREUR and Seventh Army, Germany; Commander, 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Carson, CO.  Between command assignments he has served as the Operations, Plans and Training Officer, 2d Battalion, 69th Armor, 197th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, GA; Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Polk, Louisiana,Chief, Test Support Division, United States Army Infantry Board, Fort Benning, Georgia Chief, Armor Plans and Operations Officer, Office of the Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program, Saudi Arabia; Executive Officer, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor, and 2d Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart, GA; and Division Chief of Staff, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Hood, Texas.

Major General Blount is a graduate of the University of 禁漫天堂 Mississippi and was commissioned an armor officer in 1971.  He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic Course, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Naval War College where he earned a Master of Science Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (with six Oak Leaf Clusters), and the Army Commendation Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters).