Malham Wakin Explained
| Malham Wakin |
| Birth Date: | 31 March 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Oneonta, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation: | United States Air Force officer, Philosophy professor |
| Alma Mater: | University of Southern California |
Malham M. Wakin (March 31, 1931 – July 30, 2024) was a United States Air Force brigadier general, and head of the philosophy department at the U.S. Air Force Academy.[1]
Early life and education
Wakin was raised in Oneonta, New York. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1952, earned an M.A. from the State University of New York,[2] and earned a PhD at the University of Southern California in 1959.[3]
Military and teaching career
Wakin joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953, and spent 42 years on active duty. The great majority of those years were spent teaching at the Air Force Academy, beginning in 1959.[4] He retired from active duty in 1995, but continued to teach at the academy until retiring from teaching in 2016.
One theme of Wakin's teaching career was challenging the assertion made by H. G. Wells in The Outline of History: "The professional military mind is by necessity an inferior and unimaginative mind; no man of high intellectual quality would willingly imprison his gifts in such a calling.".[5]
Death
Wakin died on July 30, 2024, at the age of 93.[6]
Works
| Title | Year | Publisher | ISBN | Subject matter | Comments |
|---|
| The Viet Cong Infrastructure: Modus Operandi of Selected Political Cadres[7] | 1968 | N/A | N/A | Viet Cong and PAVN strategy, organization and structure | Handbook written for the Department of Defense. |
| War, Morality, and the Military Profession | 1979 | Westview Press | | Military ethics | Cited as recommended reading by Marine General and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.[8] |
| The Teaching of Ethics in the Military | 1982 | Institute of Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences, The Hastings Center | | Military ethics | Written with Peter L. Stromberg and Daniel Callahan. |
| Integrity First: Reflections of a Military Philosopher | 2000 | Rowman & Littlefield | | Military ethics | | |
External links
Notes and References
- News: Simon . Steven . Academy Recognizes Retired General . May 10, 2019 . Academy Spirit . U.S. Air Force Academy . September 21, 2007 . March 29, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190329212547/https://csmng.com/wp-files/archiveissues/academyspirit/academyspirit_2007-09-21.pdf . live .
- News: Briand, Jr. . Paul L. . Wakin . Malham M. . The Vocation of Arms . May 13, 2019 . Air Force Magazine . July 1963 . May 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513044518/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1963/July%25201963/0763vocation.aspx . live .
- News: A Gallery of Great Professors Agree That An Interested Student Is What Their Job Is About . May 10, 2019 . People. October 13, 1975.
- Web site: Bowden . Ray . 1 event, 2 celebrations: Polaris Hall opens, Academy educator Wakin retires . United States Air Force Academy . May 11, 2019 . April 27, 2016 . May 11, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190511032743/https://www.usafa.af.mil/News/Features/Article/744299/1-event-2-celebrations-polaris-hall-opens-academy-educator-wakin-retires/ . live .
- Book: Wakin . Malham . Integrity First: Reflections of a Military Philosopher . 2000 . Lexington Books . 0739101706 . 3 . May 12, 2019 . August 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240822131854/https://books.google.com/books?id=kImuH80_6CcC&q=Integrity+First%3A+Reflections+of+a+Military+Philosopher#v=snippet&q=Integrity%20First%3A%20Reflections%20of%20a%20Military%20Philosopher&f=false . live .
- News: Malham Wakin Obituary . August 22, 2024 . The Gazette . August 4, 2024 . August 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240822131852/https://obits.gazette.com/us/obituaries/gazette/name/malham-wakin-obituary?id=55754276 . live .
- Web site: The Viet Cong Infrastructure Modus Operandi of Selected Political Cadres (Item Number: 2310302015) . 20 January 2017 . Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Archive . May 11, 2019 . 11 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190511014936/https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/repositories/2/digital_objects/104392 . live .
- News: Ricks . Thomas E. . Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) . Book excerpt: Defense Secretary Mattis discusses his favorite books, and why . May 11, 2019 . Foreign Policy . March 28, 2017 . At the same time, you’ve got to study ethics and not confront your ethical dilemmas for the first time on the battlefield, so you read Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars or Malham Wakin's War, Morality, and the Military Profession. . August 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240822132012/https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/28/book-excerpt-defense-secretary-mattis-discusses-his-favorite-books-and-why/ . live .
