Annual Meeting
The U.S. Naval Institute Annual Meeting takes place on Thursday, 28 April 2016, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. The meeting will start at 1530 and will include an update on the state of the Institute, implementation of the 2016–18 Strategic Plan, and remarks by a distinguished speaker. (We will post the Strategic Plan on our website on 2 April, and all attendees will receive a printed copy.)
We also will recognize the following Authors of the Year:
• Naval Institute Press
Vincent P. O’Hara
Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory
• Naval History
Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.)
“Navy Air Strike: North Vietnam”
• Proceedings
Lieutenant Commander Brian Smicklas, USCG
“The Demise of the Cutterman”
“Cuba, the Coast Guard, and Chaos”
In addition, the winners of the Naval Institute’s 137-year- old General Prize Essay Contest will receive their medals:
• First Prize
Lieutenant Commander Jared M. Wilhelm, USN
“@AdmNelson”
• Second Prize
Lieutenant Commander Brendan R. Stickles, USN
“Twilight of Manned Flight?”
• Third Prize
Fleet Master Chief Paul A. Kingsbury, USN
“What Makes the CPO Mess Tick”
We will host a reception at the conclusion of the meeting at the same location. I look forward to seeing you there, as the Institute celebrates its 143rd year. Please register at www.usni.org/annualmeeting.
The Proceedings Trust
In this issue, we inaugurate “The Proceedings Trust” and take pleasure in saluting the Trust’s plank owners:
• Kenneth O. Klepper
• H. F. Lenfest
• The John J. and Mary R. Schiff Foundation
• Jack C. Taylor
The Trust provides the opportunity for individual donors and families who care deeply about the Institute’s open forum to help secure publication of Proceedings now and in the future, and to do so in a substantial manner. Donors to the Trust provide direct philanthropic support to sustain our open, independent, nonpartisan forum. Trust donors will be recognized in each issue in a coveted position on the Table of Contents, p. 2. For more information on being a donor to “The Proceedings Trust,” please contact Kirk McAlexander at [email protected].
Foundation Board Gets Stronger
Good news! Ellen Lord, President and CEO of Textron Systems Corporation, has accepted our invitation to join the Board of Trustees of the Naval Institute Foundation. Under her leadership, Textron Systems has become increasingly involved with the Naval Institute and the Foundation. Her wealth of professional experience and her leadership skills will help us take the Naval Institute to new levels. We all look forward to working with her.
Books from the Naval Institute Press
Four outstanding new titles being published by the Naval Institute Press this spring take us back through history to revisit the different chapters in the era of U.S. and foreign battleships and their roles in peacetime, crisis, and war:
Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History, by Paul Stilwell, traces the ship’s career and her loss at Pearl Harbor, with numerous interviews capturing the professionalism and swagger of the “Battleship Navy,” and includes 363 black-and-white photographs.
U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman, Alan Raven, and A. D. Baker III, is a comprehensive reference work on the development of battleships from the Maine up to the recommissioned Iowas, with 184 black-and-white photographs and 164 line drawings.
The World of the Battleship: The Design and Careers of Capital Ships of the World’s Navies 1900–1950, by Bruce Taylor, presents chapters by experts from around the world tracing the development of battleships in the first half of the 20th century.
Jutland, the Unfinished Battle: A Personal History of a Naval Controversy, by Nick Jellicoe, is a major investigation of the battle by the grandson of Sir John Jellicoe, who commanded the British Grand Fleet from 1914 to 1916.
There is great reading here for history and ship enthusiasts. For more information and to order call 1 (800) 233-8764; email www.nip.org.
West 2016 Delivers
These are preliminary numbers: Attendance was up about 8 percent, and government uniformed attendees were at about 38 percent of total (increased); exhibitors were up 17 percent; advance bookings for next year are up 29 percent. This tells us industry votes it as a “success.”
We had a wonderful group of speakers, and the conference atmosphere/vibe was super. Everyone commented on it.
Many leaders used WEST exactly the way it should be used––meetings between East and West Coast Flags, mini conferences within the conference, opportunities to renew contacts and friendships, etc.
Countless industry folks shared with me how much they valued the chance to hear from and talk with military leaders as well as the more junior uniformed personnel who attended.
Join us for WEST 2017, 21–23 February 2017 in San Diego.
Innovation Workshop Answers Questions
On 16 February at the San Diego Convention Center, we hosted––with Bunker Labs and with the generous support of Textron Systems––our first Bunker Burst Innovation Workshop. This initiative to add an interactive element to conferences grew out of work on the new Strategic Plan.
We brought together more than 100 active-duty naval professionals, industry experts, and civilians from Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and the federal government. These participants broke into ten groups, each addressing a question we had solicited from senior naval leaders.
The answers to the questions resulted in a White Paper we delivered to the leaders who had posed the questions and nominated candidates to participate in this exercise. The White Paper is available at www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2016-04/bunker-burst-white-paper. See “Bunker Burst: Innovation Unleashed,” p. 70, in this issue.
Peter H. Daly, VADM, USN (Ret.)
Life Member and Member since 1978