About
The McConnell Center welcomes U.S. Army Col. Kirk Duncan as the eleventh U.S. Army War College Fellow at the University of Louisville. The one-year appointment will allow Duncan to take UofL classes to help broaden his strategic thinking and spend time with university leadership.
Duncan will join 21 other soldiers for the McConnell Center's upcoming Strategic Broadening Seminar for the U.S. Army. The month-long residential leadership program will take place at UofL Aug. 27 through Sept. 22. The program focuses on history and philosophical concepts essential to approach leadership and ways of war while facing the challenges of the 21st century.
Prior to his arrival at UofL, Duncan was assigned to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command where he served as the Special Forces Branch Chief. Previous assignments include service as commander of the Mission Support Battalion, Battalion Executive Officer and Company Commander of 5th Special Forces Group (A), and 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
Duncan enlisted in the Kansas Army National Guard in 1998 as a 13B, Field Artilleryman. He later joined the ROTC program at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS and was commissioned as an Infantry officer in 2001. He is a graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course, where he earned his Green Beret, the Naval Postgraduate School, Infantry Officer Basic and Advance Courses, Airborne School, SERE (High Risk), the Military Free Fall course, and Ranger School. His civilian education includes an undergraduate degree from Benedictine College in finance, an MBA from American Public University, and a Master of Science in Defense Analysis from NPS.
Col. Duncan’s awards and decorations include the the Bronze Star Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Joint Service Achievement Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Achievement Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Meritorious Unit Citation (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Superior Unit Award, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Military Free Fall Badge, the Italian Military Free Fall Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Special Forces Tab.