Richard Eldon Killblane (born April 15, 1955) is an American military historian, author and martial arts instructor. A West Point grad in 1979 and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. He has served in the U. S. Army and became an Intelligence Analyst in the 1st Special Forces Group, on Okinawa, Japan and was cross-trained onto a team as a demolitions man. Killblane is a veteran of Central American counter-insurgency and Operation Just Cause. He served as the Command Historian of the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Lee, Virginia for 18 years and traveled extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan to research convoy operations. He has published numerous articles and books on military history and is considered an authority on military convoy security. In 2003, Killblane co-authored The Filthy Thirteen: The True Story of the Dirty Dozen detailing the life and World War II 101st Airborne Division exploits of Jake McNiece. Military service Born in Kansas and raised in Oklahoma, Richard Killblane graduated from Ponca City High School in 1973. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1973 and became an Intelligence Analyst in the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa, Japan and was cross-trained onto a team as a demolitions man for one mission before his unit was inactivated. He was selected to attend the U. S. Military Academy Preparatory School and then was appointed to West Point in 1975. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. Killblane was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant in 1979 upon graduation from West Point. He was assigned to the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in West Germany during the Cold War from 1980 to 1982. However, he soon joined the 7th Special Forces Group where he trained Honduran and three El Salvadoran battalions in counter-insurgency operations. He then served as a war planner on 1st Special Operations Command staff from 1985-1986 where he originated the Army special operations concept for contingency operations in Haiti that would come to fruition in 1994 during Operation Uphold Democracy. As a captain, Killblane was transferred to Fort Ord, California where he commanded a rifle company in the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (Manchus). After command, he became a 7th Infantry Division war planner for military operations in Panama, both Nimrod Dancer and Just Cause. After serving 11 years as an officer in the Infantry and Special Forces, Killblane left active duty in