Biography

Walter Robert (Bob) Baker

After graduating first in the intelligence analyst course in 1971, W. R. (Bob) Baker was assigned to the 571st Military Intelligence Detachment/525th Military Intelligence Group in Da Nang, Vietnam and was only intelligence analyst present in I Corps at the time of the Easter Offensive of 1972. Further assignments after Vietnam included positions as a forward area 24-hour watch analyst, electronic order of battle analyst for Syria, Lebanon and the eastern littoral of Africa, Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War, the Israeli strike at Osirak, and Poland during the Crisis at the European Defense Analysis Center (EUDAC), HQ, USEUCOM. 

He was awarded the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service, Joint Service and Army Commendation Medals. With a BS from the University of Maryland and MS from the University of Dayton, Bob also worked in the defense industry and education for 16 and 12 years, respectively. He has authored several articles on the Easter Offensive of 1972, intelligence and Vietnam for the Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin/Marine Corps Intelligence Summary, American Intelligence Journal, Vietnam Magazine, JED, and the Small Wars Journal.

Bob wrote Break in the Chain Intelligence Ignored was published by Casemate has been hailed as “the book to read for an accurate picture of what really took place during the pivotal 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive.” Bob also wrote about the Easter Offensive of 1972 for the VVFH Yellow Book: Indochina in the Year of the Rat – 1972.