General Blount Professorship

The General Buford “Buff” Blount Professorship in Military History was founded in honor of General Buford “Buff” Blount, who graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1971 and went on to a distinguished career in the U.S. military, which included leading the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division into Baghdad in 2003.  The Blount Professorship is awarded biennially to provide funding for the work of a member of the Department of History who is engaged in research toward the publication of a major study in the field of War and Society.  At the end of their two-year term, the holder of the Blount Professorship will present a lecture or program based on the findings of their research. 

 

The General Buford “Buff” Blount Professor of Military History, 2023-2025:  Dr. Andrew Wiest

The Dale Center for the Study of War & Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew Wiest is the 2023-2025 General Buford “Buff” Blount Professor of Military History.  Dr. Wiest is a University Distinguished Professor of History and is the Founding Director of the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society at Southern Miss.  He is a specialist in Military History with a focus that has shifted over the years from World War I, to Vietnam, and now on to the Global War on Terror.  

During his appointment as Blount Professor, Dr. Wiest completed his next book, Dogwood: A National Guard Unit's War in Iraq.  The book, published by Osprey/Bloomsbury, tells the story of the transformation of the U.S. National Guard during the War on Terror by using the experience of the 150th Combat Engineers of the Mississippi National Guard as a case study.  In the 21st Century, the National Guard shifted from a force chiefly relied on for home front duties to being a force used over and over again in combat, with repercussions that stretched from living rooms in Lucedale Mississippi to the halls of power in Washington D.C.  Dr. Wiest is using the funds from the Blount Professorship to complete his research, especially its oral history components, as well as to support the writing of the book.

A video of Dr. Wiest's Blount Professorship lecture from February 27, 2025 is available here.

Former Holders of the Blount Professorship:

• 2021-2023    Dr. Douglas Bristol    Project: Building Bridges: Black GIs, Military Labor, and the Fight for Equality in World War II
• 2019-2021    Dr. Allison Abra     Project: Love and War: An Emotional History of British Espionage during World War II
• 2017-2019    Dr. Heather Stur     Projects: The U.S. Military and Civil Rights Since World War II and Saigon at War: South Vietnam and the Global Sixties
• 2015-2017    Dr. Kenneth Swope     Project: On the Trail of the Yellow Tiger: War, Trauma, and Social Dislocation in Southwest China during the Ming-Qing Transition

• 2013-2015    Dr. Susannah J. Ural     Project: Hood's Texas Brigade: The Soldiers and Families of the Confederacy's Most Celebrated Unit

Biography: Major General Buford "Buff" Blount

Major General Buford "Buff" Blount retired from the Army on January 1, 2005 after serving as the Army’s Deputy G-3 (responsible for operations, including staff duties, exercise planning, training, operational requirements, combat development & tactical doctrine) since Oct 2003. Previously he was the Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.  Major General Blount gave up command of the 3 ID after bringing them home from Iraq where they were the lead force in capturing Baghdad after 21 days of continuous fighting.  Before his command of the 3rd ID, Major General Blount was stationed in Saudi Arabia where he was the Program Manager for the Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program.

Major General Blount has served in a variety of command and staff positions.  His command assignments include Commander, Combat Support Company and B Company, 3d Battalion, 77th Armor, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Polk, LA; Commander, A Troop, 15th Cavalry, 197th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, GA; Commander, 3d Battalion, 64th Armor, 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), USAREUR and Seventh Army, Germany; Commander, 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Carson, CO.  Between command assignments he has served as the Operations, Plans and Training Officer, 2d Battalion, 69th Armor, 197th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, GA; Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Polk, Louisiana,Chief, Test Support Division, United States Army Infantry Board, Fort Benning, Georgia Chief, Armor Plans and Operations Officer, Office of the Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program, Saudi Arabia; Executive Officer, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor, and 2d Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart, GA; and Division Chief of Staff, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Hood, Texas.

Major General Blount is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and was commissioned an armor officer in 1971.  He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic Course, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Naval War College where he earned a Master of Science Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (with six Oak Leaf Clusters), and the Army Commendation Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters).