Our Conferences Fire on All Cylinders
Clearly the Navy’s surface forces have received a great deal of attention as a result of the collisions of the USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56). In this month’s focused coverage of surface warfare, many authors address issues related to these incidents, what they may mean, and how the Navy goes forward from here.
Our Defense Forum Washington (DFW), on 4 December at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., featured three great speakers:
• Honorable Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the Navy
• Honorable Robert O. Work, recent former Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Admiral William F. Moran, U.S. Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations
In addition to these speakers, three veteran surface warfare officers with years of experience in command (six cruisers/guided-missile destroyers and a destroyer squadron) had a wide-ranging discussion during a panel entitled “Collision Reports: What Are Next Steps to Ensure Surface Warfare Readiness?”
We encourage you to check out the DFW content at our website.
We hope you will join us at WEST 2018. This conference and exposition, now in its 28th year, will be larger in both attendance and exhibitors than last year’s super event. WEST, sponsored with AFCEA International, will feature a full two-and-one-half days of strong speakers and panels. See the ad on page 81 for details of the program and how to register. At WEST this year we again will have some engagement theaters on the exhibit floor, where nuts-and-bolts discussions will be conducted to include the following:
• “Changing Culture: Roles of Surface Warfare Tactics Instructors”
• “Looking Ahead: Surface Training, Experimentation, and Operating Concepts”
Finally, the next event in our Maritime Security Dialogue series we conduct with CSIS will feature a discussion with Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps General Robert B. Neller. This event will be held on Thursday, 25 January 2018, 0900–1000, in Washington, D.C., at CSIS’s headquarters.
BAE Will Sponsor the Marine Corps Essay Contest
We are pleased to announce that BAE will sponsor the 2018 Marine Corps Essay Contest. This essential writing competition focuses on Marine issues.
International Outreach Is Working
In support of the U.S. Naval Institute Strategic Plan’s goal to increase outreach to international navies and their leaders, the Australian Naval Institute (ANI) has agreed to a Partnership Program with us. ANI members can sign up for digital membership at a reduced rate for one year. In turn, the Australian Naval Institute will provide a member discount for all Naval Institute members who attend ANI events.
On 12 December I spoke, along with Naval Institute author Dr. Anthony Wells, at the monthly breakfast of the Naval Attachés Association. More than 36 naval attachés listened to a lively give-and-take about Naval Institute–related issues. Many attendees said they plan to participate in the annual March International Issue of Proceedings.
As has been our tradition, we are out to the leaders of the world’s navies inviting them to answer the following question: What do you consider your navy’s greatest capability or best practice and how could other navies learn from yours? These responses will be published in the March issue.
Our goal is to bring back the International Navies Essay Contest. Key to realizing this opportunity to better engage the world’s navies is to connect with a corporation, foundation, or individual to sponsor this contest with us. For more information, please contact Kirk McAlexander
([email protected]) or me.