Upcoming Presentations:
Building moral resilience for large-scale combat operations. To be presented as a plenary address at Air War College Ethics Symposium, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, February 4, 2026.
Moral challenges for Soldiers at war. To be presented as a plenary address at the Combat Homiletics Training Seminar, Fort Jackson, SC, May 11, 2026.
Presentations:
Holistic character development as resilience for the soul. Presented as a plenary address at the Preparing the Soul for War Conference co-sponsored by the 75th Ranger Regiment and the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Ft. Benning, GA, April 3, 2025.
A moral justification of killing in war. Presented to the officers and NCOs of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Ft. Carson, CO, July 25, 2024.
Wisdom to Kill: Developing the character to kill justifiably in multidomain operations. Presented as a breakout session at the Command and General Staff College Ethics Symposium, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, April 2, 2024.
E Pluribus Unum: The Virtues that unite us. Presented as part of the Educating Leaders of Character series at the Department of Command and Leadership, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, October 17, 2023.
Large-scale combat operations and civilian casualties. Presented as part of a panel at the Command and General Staff College Ethics Symposium, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, April 22, 2023.
A Character Development Framework for the U.S. Army. Presented at the Combined Arms Center Chaplain Ethicists’ Annual Training, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, April 21, 2023.
Ethics and Character Development: Solutions for behavioral problems. Presented remotely as the monthly Army Resiliency Directorate webinar, August 24, 2021.
A more robust framework for Character Development in the U.S. Military. Presented remotely as the Sonny and Martha Moore Lecture Series: Ethics annual address, to the Army War College Class of 2022, Distance Education, June 23, 2021.
A moral justification of killing in war. Presented remotely to the Unit Ministry Teams of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, February 12, 2020.
Addressing moral injury before, during, and after a deployment. Two-hour presentation to the Unit Ministry Teams of the 10th Mountain Division and Ft. Drum, Ft. Drum, NY, August 1, 2019.
A moral justification of killing in war. Presented to cadets at the Virginia Military Institute, ROTC cadets at James Madison University, and public audiences at Radcliff University and Eastern Mennonite University, February 10-12, 2018.
Can war ever be morally justified? Public debates with David Swanson on the moral permissibility of war. Radford University, 12 February; College of William and Mary, 13 February, 2018.
Weaponized software and social responsibility in war. Lecture as part of the NEH-funded project "Meanings of War: Its Technologies and Aftermath," LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY, March 14, 2018.
Introduction to Philosophical Ethics. Professional-development lecture at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (
The Operational-Readiness Inspection: A conversation on leadership. Keynote address to the Rutgers Business School Faculty, West Point, NY, October 7, 2016.
War and Morality. Professional-development lecture at the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, September 22, 2016.
Is it morally permissible for Christians to kill enemy combatants in war? Debate conducted at Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, PA, March 30, 2016.
Beyond psychological interventions: spiritual, organizational and societal responses to military stressors and veteran reintegration issues. Presented to students in SW 6036: Social Work with Military Service Members, Veterans and their Families. Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, Harrison, NY, March 15, 2016.
Character under fire: the American Soldier. Keynote speech given at the town of Goshen’s Veterans Day Ceremony, Goshen, NY, November 11, 2015.
The Army Ethic. Plenary presentation at the Master Army Professional Ethics Trainor course, West Point, NY, February 14 & 12 June, 2014
A moral justification for killing in war; Leading Soldiers after experiencing casualties; Mentoring Afghan Security Forces to act ethically. Plenary presentations to five battalions in 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Infantry Division, Fort Campbell, KY, October 16-18, 2012.
Making sense of the beauty and tragedy of a combat deployment. Keynote speech at After the Yellow Ribbon Conference, Duke University in Durham, NC, November 11, 2011.
Unleashing the power of peer-to-peer learning. Invited lecture to the College of Technology & Computer Science Leadership Legacy Lecture Series, East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, April 12, 2011.
Exercising moral judgment in war. Annual Distinguished Lecture on Ethics presented to all college-level cadets at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM, October 21, 2010.
Tactical 2.0: Making the move to Gov 2.0. Invited plenary presentation at the Executive Session on Citizen Engagement and Empowerment at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA, June 22, 2010.