Joe Di Domenico
Research project
Research Title: The U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in England, 1942-1945: A study in the evolution of community heritage
Supervisors: Prof. John Schofield
Summary of research project:
My research aims to understand how communities that value USAAF heritage evolve. It explores what they value, why they value it, and how these values influence both the modern memory of the USAAF when it was deeply embedded in British society as a case study. This will help to understand the broader cultural implications of memorialization, or lack thereof, in heritage communities.
The project will examine the sites that hosted the USAAF across the UK from 1942 to 1945, focusing on both memories and memorials that remain. It will also trace how communities that valued this heritage have evolved or emerged from 1945 to today, exploring how they share memories, engage with heritage, and change over time. The goal is to better understand how communities value significant cultural events over time, offering new insights into post-war identity and heritage.
Profile
I am a recently retired Lt Colonel who served in the active-duty U.S. Army from 2002 until 2025. In my Army career, I served as a Tank officer, where I planned and led missions for armored, mechanized, and motorized units, with forty-two months spent in combat. The Army provided me with the opportunity to live in some incredible countries and experience many cultures.
I have always been passionate about history, archaeology, and cultures. I grew up in the New England region of the United States, among many battlefields from the American Revolution and the War of 1812. I enjoyed visiting museums that recreated life in colonial America. In high school, I also met the Chief of the Pequot Mohegan tribe, who presented artifacts discovered at a Native American site and discussed issues of sovereignty and Native American rights in the heritage sector.
I earned a BA in History and Anthropology, an MA in Military History, and an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Operational Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I have been married for 19 years and have three children. As a family, we enjoy cooking, reading, riding bikes without stabilizers, and walking at the York Arboretum.
Previous Research:
Mechanization and Transformation of Armored Warfare, 1917-1945
For my MA thesis in Military History, I investigated the U.S. Tank Corps' organization at the Virginia Military Institute Archives and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. I looked at how the Army's innovation strategies impacted the modernization of the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1930s, specifically by sharing technology, doctrine, and training without adapting them to the Marines' specific roles. This led to tactical and operational failures in the Pacific Theater in 1942 and 1943.
Dynamics of Coalition Command and Strategy, 1916-1920
While attending the School of Advanced Military Studies, I researched at the Ike Skelton Research Library in Fort Leavenworth and the National World War I Museum Archives in Kansas City. I examined the creation of the Supreme War Council in 1917 and the military or political friction around the coalition. My research included the issue of amalgamating American troops into allied armies and establishing a combined headquarters under French command. My studies focused on how cultural and geopolitical factors influenced coalition command structures and altered military strategy that, by 1920, had fractured the coalition.
Anthropological Approaches to Military Interoperability
Drawing on anthropological findings from the Minerva Research Initiative, I examined the components of military interoperability. The project to understand how cultural perceptions of race, gender, language, and fitness created technical and procedural barriers to interoperability, with a focus on NATO organizations.
Publications & Awards
Publications:
The U.S. Army’s Influence on Marine Corps Tank Doctrine, in Marine Corps History, vol. 4, no. 1 (Summer 2018): pp. 23-41.
The Battle of Yenbo” and “The Second Battle of Strypa River, in World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia, Spencer Tucker, ed., vol. 4, second ed: ABC CLIO, 2014.
The Rise and Fall of a Coalition: The Supreme War Council and Marshal Ferdinand Foch, 1917-1919, Fort Leavenworth, KS: US Army DTIC, 2017.
Awards:
Garnett Andrews Class of 1890 Award Recipient. Awarded to the best paper on a military history subject, for submitting his senior thesis on Col Samuel Rockenbach’s influence on the transition from horse to mechanized cavalry doctrine.
