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From the Editor’s Desk

July 2020
The ensuing protests, mobilization of National Guard troops, and even the short-term deployment of some regular military forces, brought the issue home to our military family.
Whaling Captains of Color: America’s First Meritocracy.

CEO Notes

July 2020
The military has been a leader in promoting racial equality and equal opportunity. A question we’d like to explore in our pages is: Has the military done enough?
NTK-ice breaker-open

Ice(breakers) Ahead!

By Scott Truver and Michael Kofman
July 2020
After some two decades of visions, strategies, and plans outlining a need for heavy and medium icebreakers, the Coast Guard finally has launched the Polar Security Cutter project.
Merchant mariners whose ships would carry defense cargoes during a contingency must have the training to operate in a contested environment.

Bring Back the National Sealift Training Program

By Captain Joseph Schwartzstein, U.S. Merchant Marine, and Commander Christopher Anderson, U.S. Navy (Retired)
July 2020
Today’s mariners must have the tools to keep the ever-decreasing number of sealift vessels afloat and continue the flow of logistics when called on.
The experience of combat is difficult to understand; investigations of U.S. military personnel involved in deadly force incidents should be fair and accurate. FBI investigations of line-of-duty shootings can provide a guide.

There Are Better Ways to Investigate Our Own

By Colonel Steven “Randy” Watt and Lieutenant Colonel John Taylor, U.S. Army (Retired), and Lieutenant Colonel David G. Bolgiano, U.S. Air Force (Retired)
July 2020
It is legally and morally prudent to require accountability for the use of force, but current legal and investigatory standards for assessing such accountability are subjective at best.
Deploying the Zumwalts singly as part of a carrier strike group is a waste of their capabilities. They are more valuable together—as a squadron of ship killers.

Concentrate the Zumwalt Class

By Fire Controlman First Class Ryan A. Belscamper, U.S. Navy (Retired)
July 2020
Traditional readiness models of train, deploy, overhaul, repeat would be a catastrophic waste of the Zumwalt-class destroyers. Reclassify these ships as heavy cruisers.
Compiled from Shutterstock

From Battleship to Chess

By William Williamson III
July 2020
Winner of the Emerging & Disruptive Technologies Essay Contest, sponsored by MITRE. The Navy must exploit the new, more transparent information-rich environment to create new operational concepts.
The Dutch submarine O-19 aground on Ladd Reef, a three-mile-long coral outcropping just inches below the surface in the South China Sea.

Incident at Ladd Reef

By Evan Cerne-Iannone and Paul Farace
June 2020
In history’s only international submarine-to-submarine rescue, a U.S. boat sped to the aid of 55 Allied crewmen.
Book Cover

Book Reviews

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, Chief Warrant Officer Charles “Sid” Heal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired), Captain Walker D. Mills, U.S. Marine Corps, and Lieutenant (j.g.) W. Kirk Wolff, U.S. Navy
July 2020
Reviewers cover books on missile defense, the worst military disasters in history, transforming intelligence for irregular warfare, and more.
Removing race and gender descriptors from Marine Corps promotion candidate packages will ensure the selection process is more fair, and that the best Marines are selected for the job.

Race and Gender Blind Marine Corps Boards

By Captain Will McGee, U.S. Marine Corps
July 2020
Removing race and gender descriptors from Marine Corps promotion candidate packages will ensure the selection process is more fair, and that the best Marines are selected for the job.
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite tours the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The visit was one in a series to discuss industrial base economic wellness—a critical factor should the United States need to mobilize for major conflict.

Resurrecting War Plan Blue

By Captain Jeffrey E. Kline, U.S. Navy (Retired) 
July 2020
The United States needs a new series of studies to explore strategic choices and make recommendations for national actions in preparation for information-age conflict.

The U.S. Naval Institute is a private, self-supporting, not-for-profit professional society that publishes Proceedings as part of the open forum it maintains for the Sea Services. The Naval Institute is not an agency of the U.S. government; the opinions expressed in these pages are the personal views of the authors.