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Captain Stephen F. Davis, Jr.
February 28, 2008 -
We at the U.S. Naval Institute lost one of our own last week when Captain Stephen F. Davis, a valued member of our Editorial Board, died in Washington of complications from throat surgery.
Captain Davis established his credentials from the moment he joined the Board last fall, shortly after relinquishing command of the guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG-72).
A description of Captain Davis' distinguished naval career follows. What doesn't show up there were qualities that made him special to us, despite his relatively brief tenure on the Board.
He was fearless, one of a handful of men and women on active duty willing to challenge the conventional wisdom, which meant the wisdom of their superiors, to suggest in print a better way to achieve some objective.
A decade ago, for example, as a lieutenant commander serving as executive officer of USS The Sullivans (DDG-68), he wrote an article for Proceedings entitled, ""Let's Fix SWOS for Good,"" advocating what he called ""a series of course corrections"" at surface warfare school in Newport, Rhode Island.
More recently, in a provocative piece in the January 2007 Proceedings entitled ""Building the Next Nelson,"" he decried the shutting down of the SWO School he had earlier criticized as akin to "throwing out both baby and bath water." That article earned him an award in the Surface Navy Association essay contest.
Captain Davis was a military intellectual who held a Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts, but who loved few things more than the bilges and the deck plates and, most of all, the men and women who served with him and under him during his career.
For us, he did many things. More than once he gently eviscerated an article that read well to the editorial staff but that he felt lacked substance, importance, or credibility.
He was a wonderful resource to the staff, willing to be called on day or night to explain an issue that had us baffled or concerned. And when he thought an article was deficient but nevertheless had merit, he offered suggestions on how to fix it that invariable were on target.
Late last year the Board found itself at loggerheads with the Proceedings staff over an article favored by the latter and disliked by most members of the former.
Captain Davis initially registered his dislike, then began to wonder if the Board's reaction might reflect the absence of young members on the panel. He sent a copy of the piece to a young lieutenant who had served with him on Vella Gulf. Her response? She loved it and explained why, spurring Captain Davis to see it in a new way.
He subsequently turned the rest of the Board around on the story. And the Board, partly through his prodding, has begun a limited youth movement.
CAPT Stephen F. Davis, Jr., USN
Captain Davis is a native of Chesterfield, Missouri and a 1983 graduate of Naval Officers Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Politics) from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a Master of Arts degree (International Political-Military Affairs) from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.
Captain Davis served as Main Propulsion Assistant and Combat Information Center Officer in USS KIRK (FF 1087), Combat Systems Officer in USS TAYLOR (FFG 50) and USS ANZIO (CG 68), Executive Officer in USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68), and as Surface Operations Officer/Flag Navigator on the staff of Commander, Carrier Group SIX. From 2000 to 2002, he commanded USS KLAKRING (FFG 42), homeported in Mayport, Florida. From August 2005 to August 2007, Captain Davis served as Commanding Officer, USS VELLA GULF (CG 72) and Air Defense Commander for BATAAN Expeditionary Strike Group. He has deployed to the Western Pacific, Mediterranean, Northern Arabian Sea, Arabian Gulf, Baltic Sea, and South America for UNITAS and counter-narcotics operations.
Ashore, Captain Davis served as Cruise Missile Officer at Fleet Combat Training Center (Pacific), on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations during the Congressionally-mandated roles and missions review, as Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff to the AEGIS Program Manager (PMS 400), Military Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and as Senior Military Assistant to the Honorable C. Ryan Henry, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He currently works on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations (N3/5 NSP).
Captain Davis has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), Navy Commendation Medal (4 awards), Navy Achievement Medal (2 awards) and other service and campaign awards. He is also an author whose articles have appeared in Proceedings, Naval History, Marine Corps Gazette, Investor's Business Daily, and the Naval War College Review.
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