Five years ago, as we are constantly reminded, the world changed. Al Qaeda operatives, employing hijacked passenger airliners as guided missiles, destroyed the World Trade Center and ploughed into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked airliner, possibly aimed at the White House, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. In all, some 3,000 lives were lost. The date was 11 September 2001, a day rivaled in infamy for Americans only by an earlier date, 7 December 1941. To mark the fifth anniversary of that day of devastation, we asked former Navy Secretary John Lehman, an outspoken member of the commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks, to address the question of whether the nation is safer today than it was then.
He does not directly answer that question, but his no-holds-barred article, "Are We Any Safer?" is a scathing indictment of what he sees as muddleheaded efforts to enhance our defenses against a repeat of 9/11. In addition to Mr. Lehman's piece, our 9/11 anniversary coverage includes four pages of striking, never before published images of the Pentagon in the immediate aftermath of the 2001 attack, the handiwork of well-known news photographer Greg Mathieson who was on the scene that fateful morning. Unfortunately, the photo spread claimed the space normally reserved for our Professional Notes section. It will return next issue.
This issue of Proceedings also contains an update on the Navy's new, high-tech destroyer, the DD(X), previously known as the DD-21, now called the DDG-1000. We asked veteran journalist Art Pine to delve below the name changes and tell us if the ship of the future, as the Navy views it, still has one.
Not surprisingly, two of our recent feature articles, the Crossing Swords debate on the propriety of "the generals' revolt" and Admiral Stansfield Turner's provocative article questioning the Navy's continued reliance on aircraft carriers, drew overwhelming responses. We are running several in our Comment and Discussion section this month, but sadly the volume was such that we cannot print them all.
For those who decried Admiral Turner's thesis, though, we offer a full-length article from former Chief of Naval Operations James L. Holloway III (pictured at left) titled "CVN=Indispensable National Asset." Admiral Holloway's piece is a thoughtful, measured, and informed rejoinder to Admiral Turner. We are especially pleased that such senior Navy luminaries as Admiral Holloway and Admiral Turner took time to contribute to the marketplace of ideas that we believe defines this magazine.
Admiral Holloway's article kicks off our annual Naval Aviation section. Two high quality pieces follow. Aviation writer Tony Holmes chronicles the final deployment of the venerable F-14 Tomcat, which is being retired after 32 years of distinguished service. And Ensign Kilton Kingsman, fresh from the U.S. Naval Academy, provides an alarming report on the degree to which aircraft and weapon systems from the former Soviet Union are finding their way into the arsenals of many nations with which the United States has troubled relations. Ensign Kingsman's piece won first place in the Naval Aviation category of the Commander William Earl Fannin, Class of 1945, Capstone Essay Contest for senior midshipmen.
This year marks another important anniversary. Thirty years ago the first class of women entered the Naval Academy. It took an act of Congress to make it happen and the resilience, toughness, and commitment of the women of the Class of 1980 and all succeeding classes to ensure that a change widely demeaned for years as "social engineering" now seems to many much too long in coming. To commemorate this milestone, author Sharon Disher, a member of that pioneering group of female midshipmen, looks back in a Commentary on the achievements of her women classmates over the past three decades.
On our popular "Nobody Asked Me, But . . . " page, retired Marine Colonel Ray Madonna, USNA '63, laments the passing of the tradition of midshipmen cheering for the athletic teams of the other service academies except when they are playing Navy. In recent years, the cheers have been replaced by boos. Colonel Madonna says the current practice reflects a shallow understanding of how often over the course of their careers Navy and Marine officers will come to rely on members of their sister services.
We are pleased to welcome to our pages Charles (Skip) Bowen, the new Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard. The MCPOCG tells us what the Coast Guard is doing to meet Commandant Admiral Thad Allen's mandate of "commitment to mission execution."
There is much, much more in this issue, including the top three winners of the Joint Warfighting Essay Contest, sponsored by Boeing. All three are illuminating, high-caliber pieces that would have made the pages of Proceedings without the extra juice that comes from winning the essay contest.
Editor's Page
By Robert Timberg, Editor-in-Chief