In his CEO Notes (page 6) summarizing some of the Institute’s highlights for 2017, Vice Admiral Pete Daly called out a few that involved the Proceedings team. Clearly, this has been an incredibly productive and busy year. All this was made possible because of the Naval Institute’s secret sauce—the Board of Directors, Foundation Board of Trustees, Editorial Board, and professional staff. Please check out the masthead on page 2. All the members listed there contributed to give voice to the authors we publish who sought to help the naval profession deliver the finest Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
The Board of Directors create the conditions that keep the Institute financially sound and focused. In addition, Board members serve as essay contest judges, author contributions, participate in conferences, and suggest topics and recommend authors to the staff.
The Foundation generates the sponsorships that have made many of our essay contests possible. In addition, the Foundation established the Proceedings Trust (individuals and foundations are listed on page 2), which has contributed $420,000 to support our publishing activities, and this year launched the James Stavridis Proceedings Chair, which I am honored to be the first editor-in-chief to hold.
The Editorial Board gives Proceedings its edge. These active-duty serving members of the naval profession meet each month to discuss and vote on the feature articles submitted for publication. Sometimes the discussions are spirited as everyone is dedicated to both quality content and the integrity of the Institute’s open forum. Board members also serve as judges in many essay contests and help the staff identify both important topics and potential authors who should be encouraged to write.
The other important pieces in this puzzle are the members of the Proceedings team. Proceedings always has been blessed to have staff members who are both talented and committed to the Institute’s mission and the individuals who write. The current team defines “awesome” in all respects. They made possible publishing 16-18 more authors a month on Proceedings Today and another 8-15 Proceedings contributors per month on the USNI Blog. And new with this issue we are publishing two extra Proceedings articles online only.
We hope you agree that the content in this issue delivers on the Strategic Plan’s challenge to increase the dare factor. For this editor, it is rewarding to see 1990 Proceedings Author of the Year Colonel W. Hays Parks, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired)—a combat infantry Marine in Vietnam, turned Marine lawyer, turned lawyer for DoD—referred to as the “doyen” of international law by two combat veteran-turned JAGs in their lead article, “Can’t Kill Enough to Win? Think Again.”
Fred H. Rainbow
Editor-in-Chief / Life Member
WHERE WE WERE
December 1917 Proceedings – In “Arctic Duty with the Crocker Land Expedition,” Navy Lieutenant Fitzhugh Green wrote, “This native Greenland is 1,000 miles south of the arctic regions we explored.... I venture to predict this very record is among the last handful that shall ever be made of struggling, foot-sore marches and all the lugubrious incapacities of us old-fashioned explorers. We are entering upon a new era of scientific investigation.”
December 1967 Proceedings – Addressing the “Strategic Significance of the Northern Sea Route,” Navy Captain T. J. Laforest wrote, “Specifically constructed ships must be used; icebreakers must be employed; aerial ice reconnaissance must be flown; a broad network of polar stations must be supported; pilotage must be provided; buoys and other aids to navigation must be maintained; and lastly, but of great importance, port facilities – including bunkerage – must be available. Despite all this, the Soviet Union maintains the Northern Sea Route on an ever-expanding basis.”
December 1992 Proceedings – Asking “Should the Coast Guard Stay in the Icebreaking Business?,” retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral Norman C. Venzke, who had commanded two icebreakers, focused on the inescapable heart of the matter. “Discussions regarding the future of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker program have centered on the shortfall in construction funds for the planned third icebreaker USCGC Healy. Unless the Congress and the executive branch are serious about polar operations – and about paying for the substantial costs associated with them – the third icebreaker should not be built.”
A. Denis Clift
Golden Life Member