In 2011, Schroden wrote a paper for U.S. Central Command—which is leading the current war—examining the military challenges of clearing the strait, and comparing it to a famous military disaster during World War I. In 1915, the allied forces including Britain tried to take control of the Dardenelles Strait, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire and is part of present-day Turkey. The allies didn’t adequately prepare for multilayered obstacles involving mines in the water and guns on the shore, and were drawn into a disastrous ground campaign that resulted in 250,000 casualties.
