James P. Reilly Jr. Lecture in National Security: "Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars."

Daniel P. Bolger of Aurora, Illinois completed 35 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a lieutenant general in 2013.  He received his commission from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina in 1978 and his master's degree and doctorate in history from the University of Chicago in 1986.  His professional education included the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.  He taught history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1986-89.  He led soldiers at every echelon from platoon through division, to include command of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraq in 2005-06, command of the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad, Iraq in 2009-10, and command of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan in 2011-13.  His military awards include five Bronze Star medals (one for valor) and the Combat Action Badge.

The author of eight books and numerous articles on military and historical matters, he is also a contributing editor and columnist for Army magazine and a former columnist for Signal magazine. His latest book is Why We Lost:  A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.  He is presently a teaching assistant professor in the Department of History and a distinguished visiting scholar in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University.