Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

For more than a half century, the Department of Defense (DoD) has worked to address the issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), but bias, prejudice, and the negative impacts of these realities have continued (DoD Board on Diversity and Inclusion, 2020). In a policy memorandum, senior DoD executives have committed to affecting an enterprise-wide, organizational, and cultural shift; however, apathy and cynicism among active-duty servicemembers has created a barrier to successfully achieving the mandate. Study findings showed that engaging leadership to overtly display their commitment and support, exposure to intentional and inspiring bias awareness training, and empowering and energizing staff members to embrace the multicultural environment are keys to successfully realizing a DE&I-focused organizational climate.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, History

The United States Army at the start of the Northwest Indian War was a small garrison force meant to occupy the frontier and stop violence between Native Americans and white settlers. Over the course of the war, bloody lessons would be learned that would turn the US Army into a force of professional soldiers who main goals were the imperialist expansion of the United States. However, the Army could not have fought the war alone, the Army was too small and needed the manpower of the state militias to provide the necessary manpower to win the war. In the historiography of the conflict authors take the side of either the US Army or the militias, arguing the other organization was incompetent and prolonged the war. However, both military forces had positive and negative qualities, making mistakes in some areas but at other times performing well in combat. This thesis demonstrates that both the Army and militias were integral to American victory in the Northwest Indian War. The militias needed the Army's centralized planning, organization, and the disciplined backbone professional soldiers provided. The Army needed the militia's numbers, flexibility, and the ability for mounted militia to form a mobile reserve during battle. Overall, what was needed most was a commander who understood the conditions of the frontier, how to shape the army into an effective fighting force, and how to effectively use the militia. The Army and militias needed one another during this war to achieve American victory, and this complicated relationship between them needs to be better understood to gain better insight into the political and military situation of the early American Republic.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2024, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

This study applied a qualitative methodology and generated descriptive data while exploring the food insecurity (FI) of student service members and veterans (SSM/V). Thematic data analysis was used to rigorously interpret the participant's reporting's (Braun, & Clarke, 2006; Terry, et al., 2017). The conceptual framework that informed the study was the multi-theoretical model of student persistence (Falcone, 2011). The following research question (RQ) guided the researcher: How do food-insecure military student service members and veterans describe their post-secondary food-insecure lived experiences? The study's in-depth semi-structured interviews applied five open ended questions The guiding research question and four research sub-questions. In sum 15 SSM/V participants were recruited online and interviewed from five different states, along the east coast, and the central U.S. (Maramwidze-Merrison, 2016). Participants were from various postsecondary institutions. Three support services professionals were interviewed each having completed a doctoral degree, from two different states, and familiar with FI. The researcher developed codes were read and reread during coding and analyzed on an Excel Spreadsheet, for recurring and critical themes that developed throughout the interviews (Creswell, 2014; Pajo, 2017). Categorization, and consolidation of the intersecting codes and themes found four informative themes critical to the topic of the FI SSM/V. This exploratory study provided rich descriptive data on the following four FI SSM/V themes: 1) intersecting stressors, 2) consider seeking help, 3) accessing Food, 4) coping strategies. The researcher also integrated content gleaned from experiential observations, and reflections, to add context to the experiences of the FI SSM/V (Maramwidze-Merrison, 2016). Key terms: DFAC, food security (FS), food insecurity (FI), military discharge, military student service member and veterans (SSM/V), postsecondary.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

John M. Sant was a World War II bomber co-pilot who was shot down over German-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1944. He and the other eight surviving crew members were captured and sent to Stalag Luft I, a German prison camp near the Baltic Sea. Sant spent the next ten months in captivity, keeping a logistical journal of his daily life in the camp. With this journal, along with primary documents, copies of declassified military paperwork, and a typed account of Sant's narrative located in the Skinner Personal Archive as a chronological framework, this thesis constructs a biographical narrative of Sant's life and wartime experiences. Sant's journal provided an indirect glimpse into his inner thoughts. His entries reflect a fear of being overlooked, both during captivity and following release. Sant found solace in escapism through literature and reminisced about home life, emphasizing the importance of morale and interpersonal connections among the POWs. Elements of optimism infuse the passages he chose to copy down, showing his enduring belief in the strength of the Allied forces. The journal also served as a covert way to challenge the authority of the main camp authorities. Sant's hopefulness played a crucial role in maintaining his emotional well-being, a theme more prominent in his post-war writings. The arrival of new prisoners, while disheartening, meant access to more current information. Sant's diary entries not only reflect his emotional state regarding his fellow POWs but also his reaction to news like General Patton's progress in Europe, offering him temporary relief from worries about America's military effectiveness. His aspirations for post-war life served as a comfort and a way to look forward to a future beyond the uncertainty of war. The journal also played a key role in asserting Sant's sense of self-determination under the strict confines of his POW status. While it contained no information unknown to his captors, it provided him with a sense of con (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2023, Educational Administration (Education)

This study explored the Deming System of Profound Knowledge as a method of leadership and management in K-8 education. The study focused on the process of acquiring and understanding Deming's teachings as they related to the principalship and educational leadership. Using autoethnography as methodology, I leverage personal qualitative data and related educational leadership literature to present my personal journey of becoming an educational leader who practices Deming's System of Profound Knowledge as their primary method for leading and managing a school. Upon reflection and analysis, I found W. Edwards Deming's System of Profound Knowledge practical and valuable as a leadership method in today's schools. Though the mastery of Deming's teachings was a long, complex process, it greatly improved my leadership practice. The findings highlight essential knowledge and skills required to understand and practice the System of Profound Knowledge. It connects educational leadership and Deming's method and recommends further research.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

This dissertation is an analysis of American service members of Italian origin and how their military service during World War II influenced their assimilation into American mainstream society and the construction of present-day Italian-American identity. I argue that Italian-Americans' large-scale service in the military between 1941 and 1945 proved crucial in determining a rapid assimilation into the American mainstream that was complete by the end of the war, as well as substantial educational, professional, and economic advances in the years immediately afterward. One of the keys for this positive record lay in Italian-Americans' unquestioned demonstration of loyalty through their service against their country of origin, Italy. At the same time, while World War II was a catalyst for Italian-Americans' assimilation, their service in Italy also brought about a reconciliation with their Italian roots that they were aiming at downplaying, and ultimately their maintenance instead of complete erasure. Loyal service in World War II later became a tenet of Italian-American pride when it was re-elaborated during the 1960s and 1970s movement for ethnic revival by later generations of Italian-Americans. This study also complements the existing historiography on enemy alien minorities during World War II (German and Japanese-Americans) and other ethnic groups. As a result, it facilitates understanding of the interplay of factors of military service, race, ethnicity, and wider socio-racial contexts in determining inclusion or exclusion into American mainstream society and preservation of elements of ethnic identity.

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

Student veterans have long been a population needing specialized assistance, however due to their unique intersectional identities higher education professionals in many cases are unsure of what to do when meeting with them. This Grounded Theory-Action Research focused study has sought to identify the career needs of student veterans as well as any potential barriers they face when working with career practitioners. Arguably just as important, this study also sought to identify the needs of the practitioners who are working with these students in their career advising appointments. The purpose of this study is to begin to work towards filling knowledge gaps within the career advising industry from both the perspective of the student and the practitioner. To accomplish this purposive sampling was used to interview student veterans from Youngstown State University remotely using semi-structured recorded interviews. Similarly, career practitioners were interviewed using a semi-structured format, however practitioners were staff at several different collegiate institutions throughout the state of Ohio which were deidentified. Interviews were then transcribed and coded to identify themes. Once themes were found an action plan revolving around a comprehensive training program was created. Findings indicate that the primary areas of need for the student veterans include practitioners having information on transferable career paths, a centralized location and point of contact for student veterans to receive services (not the career center), and the need for practitioners to be aware of mental health needs of the population while not becoming overly cautious. A unique element of these findings is that student veterans continually mentioned the need for the practitioner to have a general understanding, and ideally appreciation of, their unique experiences and culture. Findings of practitioners indicated that there is an understanding that student veterans face simila (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2023, History

From 1938 until the end of World War II, the Curtiss P-40 fighter participated in the European, North Africa, and Pacific theaters of war. An aircraft's success depends primarily upon the pilot's expertise. Without skilled pilots, technology alone cannot win a war. Technological innovation still plays a crucial role in the success of a nation's air force. Relative to technological developments, how impactful is a pilot's skill on a fighter plane's performance? My thesis structure is a deep look into each pilot's experience and how victory was achieved with a plane that most military writings say is inferior. I investigate the narrative of the aircraft from development based on a pre-war U.S. air doctrine, its exposure and adaptation against enemy aircraft, and the period when piston-driven aircraft performance reached the pinnacle of performance. My analysis shows that due to the adaptability of tactics by fighter pilots, the Curtiss P-40 met Allied needs and aided in the overall contribution to changes in aerial combat. This write-up goes on to show a pilot's expertise plays a crucial role in an aircraft's success, regardless of statistical data or the purpose for which the plane was intended. Technological innovation causes an impact on the success of a nation's air force, but without skilled pilots, technology alone cannot win a war.

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2023, Political Science (Arts and Sciences)

The Chechens & Chechen national movement have a turbulent history with Russia which includes assassinations, staged bombings, two-wars, and genocide. The separatist movement itself has seen both its highs and lows, but when failed at certain points in history, transformed into other types of identity movements. This thesis uses public theologies framework to analyze how this transformation happened and argues that what exactly the movement transforms into varies on the time period, the space the movements operate in, and the spiritual meanings associated with belonging and nationalism. It identifies three distinct public theologies of belonging among the Chechens: those of the nationalist-separatists; jihadis; and the Kadyrov followers.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 2022, Education

Non-cognitive factors, unrelated to academic achievement, including exposure, experience, and opportunities afforded to students, can have a strong impact on decision-making. Military-connected students have a strong correlation and exposure to the military culture and environment which could influence their post-secondary decision making. A qualitative phenomenological research methodology was used to investigate and capture the essence and meaning of the lived experiences of military parents and their military-connected students. Participants were selected from a convenience and purposive sample. Participants consist of three active-duty military-connected parents of military-connected students facing post-secondary decision making and three military-connected students developing post-secondary plans. The researcher utilized semistructured interviews for data collection to analyze the lived experiences of military-connected families' and students' post-secondary decision-making. Three major themes emerged across the research questions, including Finance, Family, and Friendship. The findings that evolved from the data across the three research questions, collectively revealed the three same themes- finance, family, and friendships- which were collected via six total interviews following Colaizzi's (1978) seven steps commonly used in phenomenological research (as cited in Morrow et. al., 2015). Although finance was a primary factor influencing post-secondary decision-making for both the military-connected student and the military-connected parent, the Post 9/11 GI Bill was not the determining factor driving decision-making for military-connected students. Fear of disappointing parents and being role models for their younger siblings proved imperative points of consideration from the military-connected students' post-secondary decision-making.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

Policy makers are tasked with changing laws and improving systemic processes in response to evolving moral standards. As societal outrage grew regarding sexual assault in the military, those in power sought to balance what was perceived as a system that ignored, retaliated against, or unfairly burdened victims. However, as the pendulum swung toward victims' rights and privileges, those accused of this crime inherited the burden of an imbalanced system. In the military context, the experience of the accused is impacted by the lack of separation between functional domains of life (e.g., work, home, community), multiple roles of military commanders (e.g., providing supervision and support as well as being a decision authority for prosecution), and problematic mandatory training that has included misinformation and may have biased court members. Researchers have not previously studied the experience of a court-martial, nor considered the far-reaching impact of the experiences that precede and follow acquittal. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychological and functional consequences for military members that were accused and acquitted of sexual assault through the court-martial process. Analysis was qualitative with a phenomenological approach to identify common themes and more broadly, the essence at the core of the experience. I found that this experience significantly impacted participants while it was happening and in the time since acquittal. Using themes identified by Brooks and Greenberg (2020) with regard to experiencing a false accusation, I determined that most identified themes were salient to the experience of acquitted service members (e.g., loss of identity, stigma, psychological and physical health, relationships with others, attitudes toward the justice system, impact on finances and employment, and adjustment difficulties). I offer recommendations to mitigate these negative effects. With this information, policymakers and military leaders c (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

The United States military developed leadership staff rides to develop their officers with the leadership skills necessary to lead forces into battle. Using leadership characteristics with on-site historical battlefield examples, staff rides gave leaders an avenue to learn leadership and ramifications of historical decisions. This study focuses on developing Air Force leadership staff rides to help bridge the gap between classroom, book leadership learning and on-site leadership discussions on how historical examples can be interpreted into today's leadership lessons for modern military uses. This grounded theory research, focusing on interviews with professional military members, found how revisiting current leadership topics, and adding unique historical perspectives increased the overall leadership experience and educational development of Air Force members.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

This phenomenological study explores a nontraditional intervention for military veterans. These veterans took a participatory digital photography course offered through the collaboration of local organizations, and the induction of reflection, an essential element in personal self-growth, was the phenomenon experienced across participants. These 6 Military Veteran textualizations provided surprising and relevant information about this lived experience. By the end of twelve weeks, Veterans in this course seemed to have a relationship to their subjectivity changed through their participation. In turn, this lived experience was a mode for finding greater individual purpose and meaning. Without courses like this one, many veterans transition into civilian life with the same mentality hammered into them when in service that is only conducive to war. This way of perceiving leaves the military hero emotionally and cognitively incapable of navigating a non-military lifestyle. With recreational or art therapeutics as supplements to therapy, court rehabilitation, and in light of many other unique military personnel barriers to treatment, veterans have a sustained chance at living a more productive life. The benefits of art or recreational therapeutics are profound on the psyche of a wounded hero, and it is a relevant necessity that access to these life-altering experiences becomes a more viable community offering for military veterans. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio LINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

BA, Oberlin College, 2022, Politics

This thesis seeks to understand the conditions in the United States post-9/11 that enabled the Bush administration to pursue a wide-ranging and all-encompassing “War on Terror,” with substantial support from the general public. I am principally focused on two significant facets of the War on Terror: the invasion of Iraq and the establishment of a permanent security state (and the interrelated creation of a new state of exception). I ask why the George W. Bush administration was so successful in generating support for both the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and for policies that violated fundamental civil liberties; I argue that the Bush administration, with substantial collaboration from mainstream mass media, was able to effectively instigate a moral panic as a result of the pre-existing widespread belief in American exceptionalism, as well as the prevalence of deeply rooted colonialist ideology, among the general public. Relatedly, I assert that the post-9/11 moment, including both the cultural reaction to the attacks and post-9/11 foreign policy, cannot be understood without first examining the significant political and cultural shifts that took place during and after the Cold War, among both the general public and among political elites. I then argue that this moral panic, which was actively cultivated by the Bush administration and many fixtures in the media, enabled Bush to implement policies and practices that violated domestic and/or international law with minimal backlash from the American public, and in many cases, even received enthusiastic support. These policies and practices established, and then further entrenched, a permanent state of exception centered principally around “homeland security.”

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2022, History (Arts and Sciences)

This dissertation explores the evolution of organized escape and evasion training in Britain and the United States from its origins during World War II until the latter half of the 1950s. Both nations spent a great deal of time and effort developing, or trying to develop, advanced escape and evasion programs, and these early origins set the course for modern survival, escape, and evasion training programs in both countries. How each nation viewed its air force's mission shaped the evolution of their respective programs, with the United States' Strategic Air Command's becoming well-funded, robust, and responsive to change. SAC adopted the attitude that it was already at war, and that it needed combat ready aircrews who could carry out their missions on very short notice, which drove the organization to keep combat ready crews steeped in escae, evasion, and survival techniques. In the United Kingdom, budgetary and manpower restraints, coupled with a different vision of the Royal Air Force's mission, produced a small, sometimes ad hoc survival, escape, and evasion program. The evolution of organized escape and evasion training in the British and American militaries also reflects continued military and intelligence cooperation between the two nations after World War II, exemplifying another link that binds the two nations together in one of the world's most stable alliances. Finally, the evolution of this training demonstrates continuities between iv American and British ideas about strategic bombing during World War II and the Early Cold War.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, History

Encompassing a great deal more than simply replacing equipment and recruiting new soldiers, rebuilding an army after defeat is a lengthy and complex process shaped by a myriad of internal and external factors. This dissertation examines how three different 20th-century Western armies rebuilt after military defeat and what factors shaped this process. Through a comparative analysis of the German Army after the First World War, the Dutch Army after the Second World War, and U.S. Army after the Vietnam War, this dissertation will argue that, despite different national circumstances, common trends existed in the process of rebuilding these armies after defeat. Vastly different in capability, size, and disposition after defeat, these three armies rebuilt into functioning instruments of national policy by breaking with their past defeat, implementing organizational change, studying past wars and thinking about future ones, working within political and budgetary constraints, instituting educational, doctrinal, and training reforms, studying other militaries, and incorporating new technologies. While these three armies successfully rebuilt into effective instruments of national policy, one should not see their success as preordained. The time involved to enact and implement changes required patience on the part of military and political leaders alike, with some degree of consensus between political and military leaders and society concerning the army's future form required for these organizations to rebuild.

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Health Programs

Preventable medical errors may now be the third leading cause of death in the United States, following only heart disease and cancer as the Nation's biggest killers (Makary & Daniel, 2016). If that weren't bad enough, it is estimated that the incidence of preventable medical errors that lead to serious patient harm may be 10 to 20 times higher than those that cause death (James, 2013). The vast majority of people across the globe will, at some point in their lives, require the services of a healthcare organization. During each of these encounters with an industry dedicated solely to improving health, they will be at significant risk for unintended harm and even death. In the United States, this healthcare issue was first presented to the public consciousness more than two decades ago when the Institute of Medicine published its report, To Err is Human Building a Safer Health System (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2000). Today, after more than 20 years of industry focus, vast numbers of studies, and quality improvement recommendations, preventable medical errors still occur every day across the U.S. and around the world. Many healthcare organizations are trying to improve patient safety by adopting the principles of high reliability, including a preoccupation with failure, resiliency, and organizational mindfulness. The setting for this research is at a U.S. Air Force Tier-1 outpatient clinic. The high-reliability program that the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) rolled out to all Medical Treatment Facilities (MTF) is called Trusted Care. This study sought to examine and reveal relational evidence between the principles of high reliability, preventable medical errors and perceived organizational patient safety culture through retrospective data analysis. Utilizing safety reporting data and the results of organizational culture surveys, the results of this study indicated that there is evidence linking the Trusted Care high reliability program to improvements in patient (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, English (Arts and Sciences)

“We live entirely, especially if we are writers,” Joan Didion states, “by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the `ideas' with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.” If this “shifting phantasmagoria” also involves the often fragmented, blurry, and contradictory experience of war, what formal and stylistic modes do nonfiction writers implement to represent this experience? By tracing first-person nonfiction narratives from WWI, Vietnam, and the more recent “forever wars,” Martin examines how writers have captured the experience of war by adopting craft techniques rooted in Modernist collage and cinematic montage. Documenting the rise of the “blockbuster” film, along with the influence of visual media, Martin argues that—since the American War in Vietnam— some of the most stark and affecting personal narratives of war succeed through fragmentation, collage, and polyphony. Martin also includes his dissertation, a collection of essays centered around his military experiences and service in Iraq.

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2020, Applied Behavioral Science: Criminal Justice and Social Problems

Veterans are a unique population and share a common experience: reintegration. The reintegration period can be a challenging experience, and affects things such as mental health and overall adjustment to civilian life. In order to examine reintegration more closely, interviews conducted by the Wright State's Veterans Voices Project were used to complete this study. A checklist was used and consisted of nine themes identified in the relative literature related to reintegration: intimate relationships, familial relationships, children, education, employment, physical health, mental health, coping, and identity. Of the nine categories, employment was discussed most often (59.5%). Mental health was only discussed in 19% of the interviews, but very vivid details were shared in the interviews. The results support the idea that veteran reintegration can be difficult for some veterans and their families, and is a matter that needs support from multiple sectors. Communities should be made aware of the struggles that veterans may face in order to provide the appropriate resources and opportunities for veterans to make a successful transition.

Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, 2020, Department of Humanities

In this thesis the researcher discusses the implementation of force multipliers in the Prussian and German military. Originating with the wars of Frederick the Great and the geographical position of Prussia, force multipliers were key to the defense of the small state. As time continued, this tactic would become a mainstay for the Prussian military in the wars for German unification. Finally, they would be carried through to a grim conclusion with the Second World War and the belief that this tactic would easily make up for Germany's shortcomings in material and manpower. Key discussions of this thesis are the origins, implementation and reliance on this tactic through the time periods discusses. Figures in German military history, such as Frederick the Great, Clausewitz, and Helmuth Von Moltke, and their philosophies relating to the tactic are examined. As well as the implementation of force multiplication through technological and political evolutions and their effect on the Prussian and German militaries in the conflicts discussed.