The Naval Institute Press has published a new softcover edition—also available as an eBook—of Master of Seapower, the late Thomas B. Buell’s splendid biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. Buell traces King’s extraordinary career from Plebe Midshipman in 1897 through Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet in World War II.
As a lieutenant commander, King served as the Naval Institute’s Secretary-Treasurer from 1913–14. Buell wrote that as a very young officer:
King also plunged into shipboard organization and leadership, for years popular subjects of debate. . . .
The United States Naval Institute offered a way to change the system. In 1873 a group of naval officers had founded the Institute as a means to advance professional and scientific knowledge in the Navy. In time, the Institute published a monthly journal, the Proceedings, which provided a free and open forum for advanced naval thinking and writing. One of its greatest values was that it allowed junior officers to express thoughts that otherwise would have been stifled.
Organizational reform had a special appeal to King. He studied the Proceedings, read from other sources, and reflected upon his own experience as a watch and division officer. . . . Several years later he wrote his first article for the Proceedings, and it won the annual essay contest. Entitled “Some Ideas about Organization Aboard Ship,” it was the first of many papers he would write during his career.
Writing for publication, King believed, was an important professional achievement. When he won the 1909 prize essay on shipboard organization, King was proud and pleased. “Not only was it a great credit to me with a gold medal from the Naval Institute,” King said afterward, “but I also got a life membership and five hundred dollars. I might add that before I got this prize essay, I had been just another officer. But after the prize essay I became noted in the whole naval service, and this probably helped my career.”
On 16 October, in partnership with the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Institute conducted a timely and successful conference on the History and Future Challenges of Cyber Power. The morning keynote speaker, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, retired Marine Corps General James E. Cartwright, provided excellent insight and history on how the Department of Defense approached the issue of cyber power over the past several years. Well-known former hacker Kevin Mitnick was our other keynote. His discussion of the vulnerabilities of social engineering both entertained and enlightened. We also had two outstanding panel discussions. Representative C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger’s (D-MD) up-to-the-minute view of pending congressional legislation was a highlight. Overall, we had more than 400 registered attendees and over 900 midshipmen in attendance.
Participate in our next important conference. Register now at www.usni.org for Defense Forum Washington 2012, “The Fiscal Cliff: What Does this Mean for Defense and National Security,” to be held at the U.S. Navy Memorial on 5 December. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III will deliver the opening keynote address in a powerful program bringing together preeminent senior leaders and experts to weigh and examine the challenges to the military and the Nation at this important crossroads in time.