Colonel Greg Eanes, USAF (Ret)

Colonel Greg Eanes is a Visiting Lecturer at the Wilson Center and retired intelligence officer with over 34 years' experience supporting operations in the Cold War, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, DESERT SHIELD/STORM, and post 9/11 operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A special operations veteran, he retired as the Reserve Director for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at Air Force Special Operations Command in 2011. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious wartime achievement at Special Operations Command-Central in DESERT STORM and an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Bronze Star as the Deputy and Acting Director of Human and Counterintelligence for Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan. A regional military historian and public speaker, he has published over 16 books and monographs to include the definitive works on Banastre Tarleton's 1781 Southside Virginia Raid, the War Between the States battles of Sailor's Creek, the Third Infantry Regiment in the Philippine Insurrection and the Third Kentucky Infantry in the Spanish-American War. A businessman and former journalist, he is active in veteran and civic affairs currently serving as the Mayor of Crewe. He holds a B.S. in Occupational Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, a Master's in Military History from American Military University and graduate certificates in military leadership and national security studies from the Air War College and Air Command & Staff College.

Research Interests and potential topics for students

Subject: Independent Research Opportunity-Heritage Tourism Effort (American Revolution)

Background:  Heritage tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States and overseas. It is the third leg of a local economy triad (retail-industry-tourism). In the 1990s the creation of the Lee’s Retreat* and Virginia’s Retreat (outdoor recreation) Consortium in Southside Virginia evolved into the Civil War Tourism initiatives resulting in new historical interpretative markers and the creation of Civil War Trails throughout the nation. These efforts have drawn tourism traffic to underserved areas. Civil War Tourism has a $2.3 billion impact on Virginia’s economy contributing to job preservation, job creation and the creation of residual tax revenues for rural localities with limited tourism venues. Virginia State Parks are destination points which help tie many of these sites together.

Student Task:  Students will be required to read and data base into an excel spreadsheet selected Virginia public service claims and veteran pension data and perform analysis on this data. They will also use local histories and primary source correspondence of period political and military leaders to aid analysis and interpretation. They will develop four or five storylines for potential use as historical interpretative signage for regional tourism development.

*The Lee’s Retreat Consortium added counties, expanded its initiatives and rebranded as Virginia’s Crossroads.