In October 2002, Proceedings published one of the finest articles on command and control (C2), “Rediscover the Art of Command and Control,” written by then-Vice Admiral Robert “Rat” Willard, U.S. Navy. In this issue, Navy Admiral Scott Swift, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, revisits that seminal article in “Master the Art of Command and Control.” Admiral Swift makes the case that “now more than ever, we need to rediscover our true north as a military organization by recalling and mastering the art of C2.” This fleet commander offers “thoughts on the effective practice of the essential art of command and control of forces engaged in combat operations” (emphasis added).
Recently retired Navy Captain Pete Pagano answers in the affirmative to the question he poses in his article’s title, “Have We Forgotten How to Fight?” Captain Pagano challenges the Navy to change its mind-set. “Clear commander’s guidance and intent do not cost a dime. Leaders can offer instructions that will shift the tactical decision makers’ and watchstanders’ mind-sets immediately from a risk-averse, defensive orientation to an offensive one.”
In addition to these two hard-hitting professional articles, this issue is filled with dare and quality content, from the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff addressing the principles that generate safe and effective operations to an author who employs history to deliver a message for today’s naval professionals—exploit chaos.
Another treat for students of naval tactics and Proceedings readers is an interview with Wayne Hughes in “The Master of Fleet Tactics Unleashed.”
The secrets to Proceedings’ success are twofold: content generated by naval professionals who know and care about what they are writing and an Editorial Board of serving naval professionals who read and discuss feature articles and essays and vote on their publication.
Members of the Editorial Board are elected by Naval Institute members. Because of the nature of the Board, however, there is turnover during the year as members receive new orders, and ad hoc appointees are selected to fill vacancies between elections. If you or someone you know would be interested in serving on the Editorial Board, please contact CEO Vice Admiral Pete Daly, U.S. Navy (Retired), or me. Nominations are accepted all year. Candidates must be members of the Naval Institute.
In a change in policy, Editorial Board members now are permitted to enter Naval Institute essay contests and submit articles for consideration for publication, but they must recuse themselves from any related deliberations (all contests are judged in the blind). The Editorial Board does not evaluate department submissions or material published in Proceedings Today. Articles and essays selected for publication receive a majority vote of Editorial Board members.
Fred H. Rainbow
Editor-in-Chief / Life Member
February 1918 Proceedings—Commander W. T. Culverius, U.S. Navy, shares excerpts from the journal he kept in “A Midshipman on the Maine.” “The letter finished, I was sealing it, when suddenly a report—the firing of a gun it seemed—startled me, followed at once as it was by an indescribable roar, a terrific crash, intense darkness, and the deck giving way beneath. Out in the mess room, I groped my way and found Bronson, a classmate. ‘Come on,’ said he, ‘we’ll make it,’ and in the passageway where the water was now ankle deep, we felt a draft of air from the forward end where once ship had been was now open to the sea.”
February 1968 Proceedings—In “Overhauling the Overhaul,” Captain H. C. Bradshaw, U.S. Navy, offers a lesson he learned as former commanding officer of the USS Rigel (AF-58). “An advantage in having the entire ship’s force make detailed plans comes from the shock effect of causing men at all levels to think seriously and carefully about the overhaul program. The personal involvement which comes from careful planning and the ability to see the plan carried out is believed to be the real reason for success of this program.”
February 1993 Proceedings—“While the Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) destroyer may be the best type of ship for the world envisioned by ‘the maritime strategy’ of the 1980s,” Captain Bruce R. Linder, U.S. Navy, writes in “The Frigate Still Fits,” “a future guided-missile frigate may be the best type of ship for the New World Order of the 2000s. As the turn of the millennium gets closer and closer, the geopolitical milieu will neither be new nor very orderly. As articulated in “. . . From the Sea,” the requirement for battleworthy fleet combatants to ply the far oceans and to exercise U.S. power and resolve will not disappear.”
A. Denis Clift
Golden Life Member