Captain Talbot Manvel, U.S. Navy (Retired), a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, is a former engineering duty officer who specialized in aircraft carriers. He served on three, last as chief engineer of the USS America (CV-66) during Operation Desert Storm. He assisted supervising the construction of two Nimitz-class carriers and led the development of the class’s maintenance strategy. He led the development of the initial concept design of the Gerald R. Ford class.