THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS (CNO), the Naval History and Heritage Command, and the U.S. Naval Institute announce the 2023 CNO Naval History Essay Contest. Papers must be submitted by no later than 31 May.
Essay entries should apply lessons from throughout naval history to the great-power competition of today.
Essays will be accepted from entrants qualified in the Professional Category, the Rising Category, and, new this year, the Student Category. The Professional Category includes: historians, professors, history curators, archivists, and those with history-related doctoral degrees; authors of books on naval history (not including self-published works); and civilians who have published articles in an established historical or naval journal or magazine.
The Rising Category includes those who do not fall within the Professional Category and are either: active duty, reservists, veterans, or federal civilian personnel of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine; or members of foreign militaries who have orders and are serving in an official billet in one of the above services.
The Student Category includes Navy, Marine Corps, and Merchant Marine Academy midshipmen, cadets, and officer candidates, and state maritime academy midshipmen.
Word counts—excluding footnotes, endnotes, or source lists—are 3,500 words maximum for the Professional Category, 3,000 words maximum for the Rising Category, and 2,500 words maximum for the Student Category. The word count should be included on the title page.
Submissions must not have been previously published, nor be currently under consideration for publication, nor previously submitted to the contest.
Essays should be submitted as a Microsoft Word attachment:
• Professional Category—www.usni.org/cnonhessaycontestprofessional
• Rising Category—www.usni.org/cnonhessaycontestrising
• Student Category—www.usni.org/cnonhessayconteststudent
When filling out the electronic form, the short biography should detail the author’s eligibility for the contest. Essays are judged in the blind; do not include the author’s name anywhere on the pages of the essay.
