September 1921 Proceedings—From Professional Notes, Commander F. M. Robinson, U.S. Navy, quoted from the 31 July 1921 New York Tribune: “Submarines—In outlining an up-to-date program for a modern Navy, we must remember that the submarine nearly won the World War for the Germans. It is absurd to say the submarine was conquered. It was not. The listening device has strengthened it. New types have been developed—cruiser submarines, fleet submarines, and minelaying submarines. We must have these types. Without them our Navy cannot fight a winning war.”
September 1971 Proceedings—In “ASW—Now or Never,” Captain James A. Winnefeld, U.S. Navy, and Carl H. Builder wrote, “In evaluating the various [antisubmarine warfare] missions, the critical dimension appears to be our requirements for continental defense ASW forces. If so, the Navy must rethink the ordering of ASW mission priorities, and then design and deploy forces to meet the higher priority missions with a reasonable balancing of the risks. Our traditional view of the pre-eminence of Fleet and sea-lane defense is confronted with the new realities of the strategic nuclear power equation.”
September 1996 Proceedings—In his Colin L. Powell Joint Warfighting Essay Contest honorable-mention essay, “Voodoo Logistics Sink Triphibious Warfare,” Commander Terry C. Pierce, U.S. Navy, wrote: “Winston Churchill dubbed U.S. military operations in the Pacific as ‘triphibious warfare.’ . . . By sugarcoating the early logistics chaos of the Gulf War, warfighters are convincing themselves that future success hinges on the marvels of technology. But the result may be another Guadalcanal predicament where scarce logistics constrain our ability to fight. And sure enough, an embattled triggerpuller, lacking adequate logistics and shrinking in churlish resentment, will get that déjà vu abandoned feeling as he waits for the magical support of voodoo logistics.”
A. Denis Clift
Golden Life Member
