Douglas V. Mastriano

Colonel Douglas V. Mastriano (born January 2, 1964) is an American military historian. His 2014 biography of Alvin York won the 2015 Colby Award.

Education
Mastriano has a bachelors history degree, and holds Master's degrees in Military Operational Art and Science, Strategic Intelligence, Air Power Theory, and Strategic Studies. Mastriano attended and graduated from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. In 2013, he earned his Ph.D. in history at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

Military
In 1986, Mastriano was commissioned in the United States Army. He started his military career in Nuremburg, Germany with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He took part in the ending of the Cold War, and was situated on the border of East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Mastriano also served in the Gulf War in Iraq. His regiment fought against Sadaam Hussein's Republican Guards. He also held assignments in The Pentagon, 3rd Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne," and US Army Europe Contingency Plans.

He served 4 years in NATO Land Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. Mastriano has been deployed to Afghanistan 3 times, where he was director of the ISAF Joint Intelligence Center. He has served in tactical, operational, and strategic assignments.

In June 2012, Mastriano became a part of the US Army War College faculty as a teacher in the Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations.

Historian and writer
Mastriano published his first book Alvin York: A New Biography of the Hero of the Argonne in 2014. He had done 12 years of research for the biography, studying American and German archives. In all, Mastriano spent 1,000 hours doing research on Alvin York, and combed through archives in various parts of Germany including, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Potsdam, Rottweil, and Ulm. He has said that his interest in Alvin York began when he was a child, after having seen the 1941 film Sergeant York. After he joined the Army, his interest in York "deepened." Along with research, the books incorporates forensic study and military terrain analysis.

The book has won the 2015 William E. Colby Award, the Army Historical Foundation Award, the US Army War College Madigan Award and the 2015 Crader Family Book Prize in American Values.

Mastriano is the co-founder of the Sgt. York Discovery Expedition. The purpose of this group was to pinpoint the exact location on which Alvin York apprehended 132 German soldiers and removed a machine-gun nest, for which York was earned the Medal of Honor. On October 14, 2006, Mastriano, along with his team, found the 2 .45 caliber bullets, connecting back to York. This was followed by the discovery of twenty-four Colt .45 ACP cartridges and forty-six M1917 Eddystone rifle cartridges in the locations where German and American eyewitnesses indicated York fired his weapons. Subsequent analysis of the pistol and rifle cartridges by Dr. Doug Scott proved that these matched York's rifle and side arm. The details of this ballistic forensic analysis are described in Mastriano's book. A group of searchers- which included Mastriano, his wife, son, soldiers from across NATO, historians, and friends- spent 1,000 hours walking the battlefield with metal detectors. He organized the construction of a five kilometer trail in the Forest of Argonne in France, that includes nine historic signs and two stone monuments with all text in German, English and French. Here, on the "Circuit du Sergeant York" visitors can walk where York fought.

Personal life
Mastriano's spouse is Rebecca Stewart. They have one son named Josiah. Mastriano is a devout Christian. His father was in the Navy. Mastirano is originally from New Jersey.