Lieutenant Commander Benjamin “BJ” Armstrong is a naval aviator currently serving in the Pentagon, as well as a research student with the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, and a contributor to Naval History, Proceedings, and the USNI Blog. His book 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era (2013) is available from the Naval Institute Press.
James P. Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage for the National Marine Sanctuaries Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has led or participated in shipwreck expeditions around the world. His many books include Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine: Iron, Guns, and Pearls (Texas A&M University Press, 2012) and Khubilai Kahn’s Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada (University of California Press, 2010).
Frederick C. Leiner, a lawyer, is a frequent contributor to Naval History. He is the author of The End of Barbary Terror: America’s 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa (Oxford University Press, 2007) and Millions for Defense: The Subscription Warships of 1798 (Naval Institute Press, 1999), as well as many articles concerning the Navy and privateers in the Age of Sail. He serves as chairman of the maritime committee of the Maryland Historical Society.
Kevin D. McCranie, a professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, is the author of Utmost Gallantry: The U.S. and Royal Navies at Sea in the War of 1812 (Naval Institute Press, 2011) and Admiral Lord Keith and the Naval War Against Napoleon (University Press of Florida, 2006).
Robert C. Stern, a retired software engineer and longtime naval history writer, is the author of six books published by the Naval Institute Press, including The U.S. Navy and the War in Europe (2012) and Hunter Hunted: Submarine Versus Submarine Encounters from World War I to the Present (2007).
Jack Sweetman served as a company commander in the U.S. Army before becoming a Ford Fellow at Emory University, from which he received his doctorate. He has authored, coauthored, translated, and edited numerous works of naval and military history. His honors include the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement, the Naval History Author of the Year Award, and the John Lyman Book Award for U.S. Naval History.
Thomas Wildenberg is an independent historian/scholar who specializes in technical innovation in the Navy. He is the author of five books on naval history. His most recent work, Billy Mitchell’s War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry over Air Power, was recently released by the Naval Institute Press.