Peter Mansoor, the General Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Chair of Military History, was one of 13 Symposium Fellows invited to attend and participate in the Symposium on Statecraft and the Armed Forces, February 15-17, at the United States Supreme Court. Justice Kennedy discussed Constitutional Law, Justice Scalia discussed his dissent in Boumedienne v. Bush (the habeus corpus case from Guantanamo), and Justice Breyer discussed Korematsu v. the United States (the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII).

"The symposium fellows are, with the exception of me, all serving military officers," Mansoor said. "The symposium coordinator, Thomas Kosmos of the Mentor Group, included me as a 'warrior-scholar,' even though I am now retired. He called me the 'intellectual bedrock' of the fellows, and indicated I would be invited back again next year as well. Our small group of military fellows was able to interact very closely with all three justices, plus other dignitaries. It was a fabulous event."

Mansoor, who is a retired US Army Colonel, had a 26-year Army career that included two combat tours and culminated in his service as executive officer to General David Petraeus in Iraq. Mansoor, who has a PhD in history from Ohio State, and taught military history at West Point, joined the history faculty in 2008.

He is the author of two books: Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq; and The GI Offensive in Europe: The Triumph of American Infantry Divisions, 1941-l945, published by the University Press of Kansas on the 55th anniversary of D-Day; it was awarded the Society for Military History distinguished book award and the Army Historical Society distinguished book award in 2000.

The Symposium founded in 2009, chaired by General David H. Petraeus and Lt. General John R. Allen, serves United States Armed Forces officers who deployed to the Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan combat theaters—and is an initiative of the Mentor Group, Boston, a publicly-supported research institute established in 1983 in Boston.