Operation Torch was the initial U.S. invasion in the European/North African/Mediterranean Theater during WWII. U.S. troops landed in North Africa as part of the greater Allied effort to drive the Germans and Italians out of North Africa. Rick will discuss the Allied decisions and planning that led to America joining the British to counteract the Axis.

Instructor: Rick Bigelow, Commander USNR (Ret.), researched the Korean War and WWII in the Pacific while affiliated with the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He has spoken on these topics at various academic and military venues throughout the U.S. He holds an M.S. in nuclear engineering and an MBA from Penn State, as well as a B.S. in math/physics from Wilkes College and a J.D. from UCONN Law. He is a nuclear engineer and patent attorney in private practice in Boalsburg and Nuangola, Pennsylvania.