This month we celebrate Don Walsh’s two decades of doing our “Oceans” column. From diving with Jacques Piccard on Trieste to a depth of 35,798 feet in the Mariana Trench in 1960 to exploring RMS Titanic and the German battleship Bismark on the MIR submersible, Don has spent his life exploring, learning, and teaching us about the world’s oceans. This month, in his 120th column, he provides yet another insightful look at the oceans with “The Arctic Ocean—Hot Times in a Cold Place.” Don was named the one of the world’s greatest explorers by Life magazine and awarded the National Geographic Society’s greatest honor, the Hubbard Medal, for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The Naval Institute is honored to have Don Walsh in the pages of Proceedings.
Questions about cyber warfare continue to dominate the discussion of current and future military operations. In this month’s issue, Lieutenant Commanders Henry Lange and Jake Beeber lay out some options for what can be done to fight back against Russian and Chinese cyber aggression. For a glimpse at our cyber-infused future, retired Marine General John Allen and Amir Husain give us “On Hyperwar.” Retired Navy Captain Bill Toti adds on by asking “Where Are All the Cyber Warriors” to tackle the tough challenges ahead.
Cyber systems also are playing a key role at the Naval Institute. We continue to move forward with our Strategic Plan objective to embrace our digital future. Last month, we informed of you of our efforts to expand our online presence with the launch of Proceedings Today. This month we are excited to announce the launch of the redesigned U.S. Naval Institute Blog. The new design aims to provide an improved user experience in terms of readability, responsive design (from desktop to mobile), and smooth navigation.
The USNI Blog will continue to be your venue for robust, unedited discussion of issues critical to understanding sea power and other issues affecting global security. We welcome and encourage lively debate on the blog as we do with all Naval Institute comments sections, but we do insist on treating other commenters with respect, especially when their views differ. We also ask that you comment only on the issue and refrain from personal attacks.
Take a look at blog.usni.org and tell us what you think. Your feedback on all our products is key to furthering the positive impact of the Naval Institute on the naval profession.
Fred H. Rainbow
Editor-in-Chief
Life Member
Where We Were
July 1917 Proceedings—“In the past,” Commander Yates Stirling writes in “The Submarine,” “the instruments of sea power have consisted of surface warships. New instruments now exist—the aircraft and the submarine. The submarine is the weapon of the weaker belligerent. It continually points a dagger at the heart of the stronger fleet; provided that fleet actively enjoys its command of the sea. The stronger belligerent, the one commanding the sea and controlling the surface, will hesitate to send its vital ships to sea in face of the menace of the enemy’s undersea power, unless its margin of superiority is very great.”
July 1967 Proceedings—“There is ample evidence in the public domain that the Soviets have ringed two cities, Leningrad and Moscow, with ABMs [antiballistic missiles]. The statements of their leaders, both civilian and military, constantly boast of an ABM capability. History,” retired Army Colonel Aston Crosby writes in “The Case for Anti-Ballistic Missiles,” “is replete with examples of new weaponry on one side which the other side has refused to take seriously, to its discomfiture or demise, vis, the English long bow by the French cavalry, and air power by battleship adherents.”
July 1992 Proceedings—Looking at future Navy requirements in “Tomorrow’s Fleet,” Scott C. Truver writes, “Because of their mobility, versatility, and ability to remain on station almost indefinitely, U.S. naval forces —Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard—are highly effective means of responding to crises.” Quoting Central Command’s Army General Norman Schwarzkopf on Desert Shield and Desert Storm, “. . . the Navy was the first military force to respond to the invasion of Kuwait, establishing immediate sea superiority. And the Navy was the first air power on the scene. Both of these first deterred, indeed—I believe—stopped Iraq from marching into Saudi Arabia.”
A. Denis Clift
Golden Life Member