World of Tanks are hosting Operation Think Tank. War gaming American and resident tank expert, The Chieftain is hosting an interactive gathering of the leading, world-renowned, published authorities on tanks. The event will be March 10, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:45 p.m., followed by an optional museum tour. The event will be videotaped from the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation in Portola Valley, California.

Authors In Attendance
Hilary Doyle
Hailing from Dun Laoghaire, Ireland Mr. Doyle has written about armored vehicles since 1964. He is currently working on the Panzer Tracts series of books with Mr. Thomas Jentz. With over 100 publication mentions to his credit and counting, if anyone is synonymous with accurate World War II vehicle plans and specifications, it’s Mr. Doyle.

Kenneth Estes
A retired US Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, Mr. Estes served as a tanker from 1969 until 1993. Since then, he has penned official histories of both US Marine Corps and US Army units. Mr. Estes has also written commercially successful books including Marines Under Armor: The Marine Corps and the Armored Fighting Vehicle, 1916-2000 and US Marine Corps Tank Crewman 1941-45: Pacific (Warrior)

David Fletcher MBE
Mr. Fletcher currently resides as the historian of the Royal Armored Corps Museum in Bovington, England. A highly respected authority in the field of British Armor from 1916-1945, Mr. Fletcher has been on the museum staff since 1982. He has also published several books, including The Great Tank Scandal and The Universal Tank.

Rob Griffin
Still serving to this day in the Territorial Army, Mr. Griffin also served 25 years in 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. Originally from Gloucester, England Mr. Griffin has penned the definitive books on the post-war British tanks “Chieftain” and “Conqueror.” Mr. Griffin is also a keen modeler – contributing to Military Modeling and Military in Scale magazines.

Harry Yeide
Mr. Yeide has been a published authority on tanks since 2003. He has published the definitive book on the US Army’s Tank Destroyer Corps, The Tank Killers, as well as other works including Weapons of the Tankers and Steel Victory. When not writing about US Army steel, Mr. Yeide works as a foreign affairs analyst in Washington D.C.

Steven Zaloga
An esteemed author of numerous books detailing armored fighting vehicles, Mr. Zaloga holds an MA in History from Columbia University – particularly celebrated for his attention to Soviet/Russian equipment. Mr. Zaloga is an enthusiastic modeler and member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society, while also serving as senior analyst at the Teal Group in Washington, D.C.

The Chieftain
A US Army armor officer, The Chieftain is a modeler, historical wargamer and a volunteer at the MVTF. He has written for the specialist press and runs Wargaming’s military op-ed/history column, “The Chieftain’s Hatch”. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.