Kendall Gott


Kendall D. Gott is an Army veteran of Desert Storm, the Senior Historian at the US Army Combat Studies Institute, and author of several works. He is most noted academically as a Civil War and general military history historian, and is a frequent speaker at various Civil War roundtables and staff rides.

Early life

Gott is a native of Peoria, Illinois, and attended Rolling Acres Grade School and Richwoods High School. He was active in scouting and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

U.S. Army, 1978-2000

Gott enlisted in the US Army and served in Germany with the 3rd Armored Division in Frankfurt as an Intelligence Analyst. He temporarily left the service in 1981, joined ROTC, and attained a BA in history from Western Illinois University in 1983. He returned to the Army and was assigned to Baumholder, Germany as a 2nd Lieutenant in Armor. At the end of this tour Gott reluctantly returned to the Military Intelligence branch after experiencing significant hearing loss.
Gott held a variety of staff and command positions and was stationed stateside at Fort Huachuca, AZ; Picatinny Arsenal, NJ; Fort Polk, LA; Fort Leavenworth, KS; and Fort Gordon, GA. He completed three tours in Germany in Frankfurt, Baumholder, and Nürnberg, and completed a "short tour" at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras. At Fort Polk he was seriously injured during a parachute jump, with the residual physical effects plaguing him to this day. He earned a Masters of Military Art and Science from the US Army Command and General Staff College in 1998. Gott retired as a Major.
His combat experience consists of the Persian Gulf War with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and Operation Desert Fox with the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade.

Post army 2000-2002

Like many Army retirees, Gott faced challenges in adjusting to civilian life. While living in Martinez, Georgia he worked for a brief time as a defense contractor and as a high school teacher. He was an adjunct professor of history at Augusta State University for four years and concurrently at the Georgia Military College for one. A break-up of the family precipitated his return to his adopted home state of Kansas.

Return to Leavenworth, Kansas 2002-

After eight months as a contractor with the Battle Command Training Program, Gott joined the staff of the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth as a historian and writer in 2002. He was promoted to Senior Historian in 2006 and served in the Research and Publications team. In 2012 he was named an Assistant Adjunct Professor of the Command and General Staff College. Gott completed over half of the coursework towards a PhD from Kansas State University, but his studies are on indefinite hiatus. He served as the Team Chief of the Research and Books team for 15 years until opting for early retirement.

Private life

Gott has presented programs with regional Civil War roundtables and has supported a number of staff rides conducted by the Blue and Gray Education Society. He also is very active in supporting the National Park Service at the Fort Donelson National Battlefield Park. He is a Lutheran, and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars the American Legion, and National Eagle Scout Association. Gott earned a private pilot certificate in May 2012. He has two sons, one living in Augusta, Georgia and one in Leavenworth, Kansas. In 2018 Mr. Gott married his high school sweetheart Julia Slane.

Selected publications and media

Documentaries and Films