Joseph Balkoski

Joseph Balkoski is an American military historian and conflict simulation designer who has authored eight books on American involvement in the European Theater in World War II, including a five-volume series on the history of the 29th Infantry Division in World War II and a two-volume set on American participation in the D-Day invasion.

Early life and education Joseph Balkoski was born in New York City, the son of Itala Tomasulo Balkoski, one of the first female graduates of New York University Law School, and John Balkoski, a World War II veteran of the Pacific theater in the U.S. Army's Artillery branch. He graduated from Great Neck South Senior High School in June 1971 and later from Vassar College in 1975. He received an M.A. in history from New York University in 1976.

Game design After graduation, Balkoski was hired by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in New York City, where he worked for six years. He designed fifteen games for SPI and authored several articles for SPI's military history periodical "Strategy and Tactics." He continued to design games and write articles for various companies, including Victory Games, Avalon Hill and Multi-Man Publishing.

His game designs won several Charles S. Roberts Awards and Origins Awards, and in 1989, Balkoski was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievements in the wargame design field. In 2004, Balkoski published Omaha Beach, which meticulously documented the June 6, 1944, American invasion of that pivotal Normandy objective. Two years later, he released Utah Beach, which documented the amphibious and airborne operation in Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula on D-Day.

Military and academia Balkoski served for many years as the Command Historian of the Maryland National Guard, and founded the 29th Infantry Division Archives and Maryland Museum of Military History, both at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore, housing one of the finest collections in the United States of archival papers devoted to the World War II history of a single U.S. Army or Marine Corps division. In 2014, he designed the exhibit "When Freemen Shall Stand" at the Maryland Museum of Military History, which focused on the defense of Baltimore by Maryland citizen-soldiers in September 1814 against an attack by a British expeditionary force, an event that led to the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." In 2017, the 100th anniversary of American entry into World War I, he created the exhibit "Over There," portraying the life of Marylanders both overseas and on the home front during the Great War. He has served as an adjunct professor in both the history and writing departments at the University of Baltimore and the Community College of Baltimore County.

Rick Atkinson described Balkoski's thirty-year effort to detail the history of the 29th Division in World War II as "a magnificent achievement; the U.S. Army and the 29th Division are lucky to have an historian of Joe Balkoski's stature and skill to tell the tale of combat in Western Europe from the perspective of both the ordinary GI and his leaders." Jon Freeman agreed, calling it "perhaps the ultimate simulation of the Battle of the Bulge ... For true Bulge enthusiasts it will provide endless hours of engrossing and educational conflict."

Vincent Bara reviewed Balkoksi's wargame Roads to Gettysburg, writing, "The whole thing is simply magnificent ... It is the best volume in the Great Campaigns of the American Civil War series to date."

Awards 2023: Order of St. Maurice (US Army Chief of Infantry/National Infantry Association) 2018: Distinguished Service Cross (Maryland) 2013: Baltimore City Historical Society Lifetime Achievement Award, Mayor's History Reception 2012: Secretary of the Army, Honorary Membership, 175th Infantry Regiment 2010: Meritorious Service Medal (Maryland) 2008: Secretary of the Army, Honorary Membership, 116th Infantry Regiment 2005: Meritorious Civilian Service Medal (Maryland) 2004: U.S. Army Military History Institute, Matthew B. Ridgway Research Grant 2004: Appointed Commissioner, Maryland Military Monuments Commission, by Governor Robert Ehrlich 1991: Secretary of the Army, Honorary Membership, 115th Infantry Regiment 1989: Charles Roberts Award, Game Design Hall of Fame Atlantic Wall: The Invasion of Europe (SPI, 1978) Operation Typhoon: The German Assault on Moscow, 1941 (SPI, 1978) Up Scope! (SPI, 1978) Cityfight: Modern Combat in the Urban Environment (SPI, 1979). Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best 20th Century Game of 1979". Ney vs. Wellington: The Battle of Quatre Bras (SPI, 1979) Patton's 3rd Army (SPI, 1980) Operation Grenade (SPI, 1981) TaskForce: Naval Tactics and Operations in the 1980's (SPI, 1981) Sixth Fleet (Victory Games, 1985) 2nd Fleet: Modern Naval Combat in the North Atlantic (Victory Games, 1986) 7th Fleet: Modern Naval Combat in the Far East (Victory Games, 1987) Lee vs. Grant: The Wilderness Campaign of 1864 ( 1988). Charles S. Roberts Awards for "Best Wargaming Graphics of 1988", and "Best Pre-World War II Board Game of 1988". The Korean War June 1950-May 1951 (Victory Games, 1986) 5th Fleet: Modern Naval Combat in the Indian Ocean (Victory Games, 1989) Stonewall Jackson's Way (The Avalon Hill Game Co, 1992) Roads to Gettysburg (Avalon Hill, 1993). 1994 Origins Awards: "Best Pre-20th Century Game". Roads to Gettysburg II: Lee Strikes North (Multi-Man Publishing, 2018) On to Richmond! (The Avalon Hill Game Co, 1998) 3rd Fleet: Modern Naval Combat in the North Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic Oceans (Victory Games, 1990) Hood Strikes North (Multi-Man Publishing, 2020)