Happy New Year to each and every Member of the Naval Institute as we enter 2015! I am very pleased to report the Institute had a highly successful 2014. Membership is up for the third year in a row. We are nearing completion of our rollout for all 140 years of Proceedings in a searchable, digital format. USNI News is continuing to build a strong following and is increasingly becoming a source of sources. We have begun an important new conference partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We have completed the digitization and preservation of our oral history tapes. The Naval Institute Press has had a banner year. The Naval Institute Foundation has had another record year. We all look forward to an even better 2015!
As we turn the calendar to the new year, it is time for the annual election of our Board of Directors and Editorial Board. The slates of both boards are printed on pages 80–81 of this issue, together with each candidate’s biographical sketch. As a Naval Institute Member, now is the time for you to cast your vote.
The Naval Institute and AFCEA International will co-host a very high-profile, content-rich WEST 2015 Conference—“Lower Budgets and Higher Demands: How Do the Sea Services Strike the Right Balance?”—at the San Diego Convention Center on 10–12 February. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work will give the opening keynote address. This is an event that should have top priority on your calendar. You can view this superb program and register at www.usni.org/events.
On Wednesday evening, 11 February, the Institute will again host a Member event at the Ultimate Skybox. This is a great chance for Naval Institute Members to network and meet with staff. We look forward to having several of our program participants as guests. For more information, please go to www.usni.org/memberevent.
The Naval Institute’s Defense Forum Washington (DFW) 2014 addressed the theme, “What Does the Nation Need from its Sea Services?” Representative J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Representative Rob Whitman (R-VA), Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT), and Mr. Ronald O’Rourke, Naval Affairs Specialist at the Congressional Research Service, each gave keynote addresses. Captain Peter M. Swartz, USN (Ret.), Principal Research Scientist, Strategic Studies, CNA Corporation, moderated a Sea Service briefing that included panelists Rear Admiral Kevin M. Donegan, USN, Acting Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, and Strategy; Vice Admiral Charles D. Michel, USCG, Deputy Commandant for Operations; and Brigadier General Joseph Shrader, USMC, Commander, Marine Corps Systems Command.
The DFW program shed important light on the work the Sea Services have done to define changes in the world since 2007 that affect maritime strategy. We also heard the latest thinking from key House leaders who hold important sea-power and homeland-security committee positions. All of this provided timely insight leading up to the imminent release of the revised Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower expected this month. We plan to publish the entire new strategy in the February issue of Proceedings.
You can listen to these speakers at www.defenseforumwashington.com.
The Naval Institute has a long tradition of sponsoring essay contests to stimulate and advance thinking on issues critical to the naval profession. In 2015, in many cases with the encouragement and support of sponsors, the Institute will offer authors opportunities to compete in eight different contests:
• Naval Academy Capstone Essay ContestSponsored by Commander William Earl Fannin, Class of 1945Deadline for submission: 31 March 2015
• Information Dominance Essay ContestSponsored by Hewlett PackardDeadline: 30 April 2015
• Naval Mine Warfare Essay ContestSponsored by the Mine Warfare AssociationDeadline: 1 June 2015
• International Navies Essay ContestSponsored by DRS Technologies/FinmeccanicaDeadline: 31 July 2015
• Naval History Essay ContestSponsored by The William M. Wood FoundationDeadline: 31 July 2015
• Leadership Essay ContestSponsored by Dr. J. Phillip London and CACI InternationalDeadline: 31 August 2015
• Innovation & Risk: Striking the Right Balance Essay ContestSponsored by TASCDeadline 30 September 2015
• General Prize Essay ContestSponsored by the U.S. Naval InstituteDeadline: 31 December 2015.
Please check out these contests at www.usni.org. As you read, think, speak, and write, plan to enter one or more!
Peter H. Daly VADM, USN (Ret.), Life Member and Member since 1978