Virtual Roundtable "Evaluating the Legacy of 'Das Boot', 40+years on"

Keith W. Bird has published extensively in German naval history including the critically acclaimed German Naval History: A Guide to the Literature. He also authored a monograph on the Naval Officer Corps in the Weimar Republic and the Rise of National Socialism and the biography of Admiral Erich Raeder. He studied at the Free University in Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar and Duke University Exchange Student (1969-1970). He earned his PhD from Duke University (1972) and received a postgraduate DAAD grant working with the Military History Research Office in Freiburg, Germany (1975). His teaching and administrative career includes colleges and universities in Connecticut, New Hampshire and South Carolina where he taught Military and Naval History, German and European History, Historiography, Technology Forecasting, and History and Film. In 2009, he was named Chancellor Emeritus of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (keith.bird@kctcs.edu).  His most recent works include co-authoring with Jason Hines a prize-winning article on German code breaking in World War One (“In the Shadow of Ultra”) and the first of a two-part on-line bibliography on German sea power for Oxford University Press.  His current research includes expanding hie earlier (1995) chapter published in Germany on Karl Dönitz (“Karl Dönitz - Der unbesiegte Admiral.”

Dr. Sebastian Bruns is Senior Researcher at ISPK´s Center for Maritime Strategy & Security (CMSS). His research interests include seapower, naval strategy, maritime security, naval history, and transatlantic relations. As CMSS’ founding father, from 2016-2021 he developed such formats as the Kiel International Seapower Symposium (KISS), the Baltic Sea Strategy Forum (BSSF), the “Dreizack” workshop, and the ISPK Seapower Series (NOMOS). From 2021-2022, while on unpaid leave, Dr. Bruns served as the inaugural John McCain-Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He holds a PhD in Political Science (University of Kiel, 2014) and an MA in North American Studies (University of Bonn, 2007). As a German Marshall Fund/American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow awardee, Sebastian served Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) as legislative aide in the 112th U.S. Congress (2010-2011) in Washington, D.C., handling the Congressman’s defense and military policy. As the only non-American citizen, he was selected to contribute to a U.S. Navy research series on naval history and strategy (2016).

Dr. Bruns is the author/editor of seven books and numerous other publications. He is an avid fan of VfL Wolfsburg soccer, “The Simpsons”, road biking, and the epic music of Dire Straits.

Dr. Bruns is the Chair of the event.

Dr. Sarandis "Randy" Papadopoulos is a strategy analyst with the US Navy.

Eight semesters teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Peer- and book-reviewer. Repeat guest lecturer. Served as outside examiner for graduate student comprehensive exams, Masters' theses, and two doctoral dissertations.

Specialties: US and German military and naval history, especially submarine logistics and 11 September 2001.

Johannes Peters heads the ISPK´s Center for Maritime Strategy & Security (CMSS).
His research focusses on undersea warfare and the broader undersea domain. He held numerous presentations at maritime security events both at home and abroad, teaches at Kiel University and is a frequent contributor to broadcast and subject matter media alike.
As a project manager, he signs responsible for the annual Kiel International Seapower Symposium (KISS), Europe’s dedicated maritime security conference.
Prior to joining the CMSS in 2017, Johannes worked for the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) in Hamburg as a director for security policy. He was responsible for the VDR´s position on piracy, mass migration, and the security implications of the Crimean annexation for commercial shipping. Furthermore, he represented the VDR in the relevant bodies in Germany, the EU, and the IMO.
He holds an M.A. in politics from the University of Kiel and a B.A. in politics and history from the University of Rostock.
In his free time he is a passionate fly fisher, chasing for salmonids in the Baltic Sea and the rivers of Scandinavia. Johannes is married with two adorable daughters.

Michael Setzer, born in 1956, joined the German Navy in 1976 and served until 2018. Since 1992 being a board member in the Verband Deutscher Ubootfahrer e.V. (VDU), he took over the presidency of the association in January 2017. This 750 member association of former and active submariners is organized in eleven comradeships and six regions. The association endorses and maintains maritime ideas, with special consideration of submarine-specific questions. It is convinced of the necessity of German navigation and its sea-defense. The association is politically, confessionally, and philosophically independent. It collaborates with the German Navy, the German Naval Association and Submariners Associations of other nations. The VDU is publishing the German submariners magazine AUFTAUCHEN!

Captain Setzer holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration (1981, University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg). He attended the General Staff Course at the Command and Staff College in Hamburg (1992/94) and the Senior Course of the NATO Defence College in Rome (2010).

He qualified for submarine and anti-submarine service and served for 18 years in this branch. Among other postings he was Commanding Officer of “Unterseeboot U27” (1987/88), of “Unterseeboot U14”(1990/92) and Commander Submarine Squadron 3 in Eckernförde (1998/2000). He led the German Submarine Task Group in 1999 during a five-months deployment to the United States and Canada and executed the first German life torpedo firing exercise in the Caribbean.

Captain Setzer later staff postings cover

• 2000 Head of the Cost Reduction Team and the Controlling Branch of the Navy
• 2002 Desk Officer in the NATO branch of the German Ministry of Defence
• 2004 Military Adviser to the German Permanent Representation to the European Union
• 2006 Head of the Controlling and Auditing Branch of the Navy
• 2007 Chief of Staff of NATO Headquarters Skopje and Military Adviser to FYROM
• 2008 Commander Territorial Command Brandenburg in Potsdam
• 2011 Naval Attaché at the German Embassy in Washington/DC
• 2014 Commander Territorial Command Hamburg

Captain Setzer was promoted to Commander in January 1991 and to Captain in October 2006. During his career he was awarded the German Armed Forces Cross of Honour in Gold, the German KFOR medal and the NATO Non-article-5 Balkans medal. As one of very few soldiers he received 2009 the State of Brandenburg Honour Medal for extra-ordinary achievements in disaster relief. He was awarded the US Legion of Merit in 2016 and the Brazilian Tamandaré Medal of Merit in 2017.

Captain Setzer writes on submarine operations and history and is frequently cited in press and TV.