From the Editor’s Desk: The ‘Cracker Jack’ Issue

June 2022

This issue has been dubbed “The Cracker Jack” issue by members of my staff, because “there’s a prize in every box”—or, in this case, every article.

CEO Notes

June 2022

On 11 May, we held the Naval Institute’s 149th Annual Meeting—our first in-person annual meeting in three years and our first at the new Jack C. Taylor Conference Center.

Comment & Discussion

June 2022

Readers respond to articles on littoral combat teams, stand-in forces, and more.

Navy Budget Cuts Aircraft

By Brian O'Rourke

June 2022

The Navy proposes shuttering multiple expeditionary aircraft squadrons starting in FY2023.

Create an Engineering Officer Corps for Surface Ships

By Lieutenant Thibaut Delloue, U.S. Navy Reserve

June 2022

Why not create a corps of engineering officers distinct from the surface warfare officers who drive the ships?

Personal Internet Can Keep Officers Afloat

By Lieutenant (j.g.) Jake Skimmons, U.S. Coast Guard

June 2022

Reliable high-speed internet is abundant, and most people expect to have it almost everywhere. Cuttermen are no exception.

Read the Book

By Lieutenant James Zapala, U.S. Navy

June 2022

It is incumbent on every naval officer to educate himself or herself on naval warfare, and one way to do that is to read.

Be a Leader: It’s Easy, Right?

By Petty Officer Nathan Singer, U.S. Coast Guard

June 2022

The two best qualities for great leaders are honesty and adaptability.

Don’t Buy Warships (Yet)

By First Lieutenant David Alman, Alabama Air National Guard

June 2022

General Prize Essay Contest—First Prize, Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. The Navy should focus on weapon procurement in the near term.

The Myth of Maritime Counterinsurgency

By Lieutenant Commander Brian Hayes, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired)

June 2022

General Prize Essay Contest-Second Prize. Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. Maritime counterinsurgency may be a provocative concept, but it is flawed.

Keep War Confined to the ‘Seas’

By Captain Sam Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

General Prize Essay Contest, Third Prize. Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. U.S. forces should reorient to confine conflict with China to the maritime, space, and cyber global commons.

American Sea Power Project: Geography Plays an Ocean-Sized Role

By Norman Friedman

June 2022

The sea still shapes what navies can do.

American Sea Power Dialogue

June 2022

Readers respond to recent content from the American Sea Power Project.

Tests in Fifth Fleet a Bridge to Future

By Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, U.S. Navy, and Peter W. Singer

June 2022

Paring unmanned systems with existing sensors, Task Force 59 points the way to a hybrid fleet.

Maneuvering around Warfighting

By Captain Aaron W. Barlow, U.S. Marine Corps

June 2022

Maneuver warfare is Marine Corps doctrine, not dogma.

Disputing Chinese Sea Control Through Offensive Sea Mining

By Commander Victor Duenow, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Naval Mine Warfare Essay Contest—First Prize. Sponsored by the Mine Warfare Association. Deter China’s aggression by crippling its maritime trade.

White Hull Diplomacy in Gray Spaces

By Commander Jeremy M. Greenwood and Lieutenant Commander Emily Miletello, U.S. Coast Guard

June 2022

The U.S. and China Coast Guards must agree on rules of behavior in the Indo-Pacific.

The Navy’s STEM Diversity Problem

By Lieutenant Commanders Dusty McKinney and Patrick Rumsey, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Diversity & Inclusion Essay Contest—First Prize sponsored by Raytheon Technologies. The high STEM degree requirement for officers conflicts with the service’s diversity goal.

Change the Navy’s Linguistic Bias Against Women

By Captain Devin J. Morrison, U.S. Navy (Retired), and Commander M. Josephine Hessert, U.S. Navy

June 2022

One significant manifestation of the Navy’s ongoing gender bias is the insidious and largely unacknowledged issue of androcentric language.

Commerce Warfare Capabilities as an Act of Deterrence

By Midshipman First Class Robert Hatfield III, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Midshipmen & Cadets Essay Contest—First Prize. Sponsored by the U. S. Naval Institute. The ability to deny China use of its sea lines of communication could help preserve the peace.

When Shipmates Pass: Preparing Leaders for Loss

By Lieutenant Commander Brandon Earhart, U.S. Coast Guard, Brian Behlke, and Captain Sean Carroll, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

June 2022

Death is a difficult topic to consider, much less discuss, but every member should prepare for it.

Trust Starts on the Deckplates

By Lieutenant Commander Brian M. Harrington, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Leadership Essay Contest-Third Prize. Sponsored by Dr. J. Phillip London Today’s division officers and department heads must foster a culture of trust and lead with confidence and initiative.

Focus on What Really Matters

By Captain James “Ros” Poplar III, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

As a commanding officer, I would tell the crew their quality of life was not the number of in-port duty sections they were in but rather their ability to fight ...

Improve Analytic Techniques for Shipboard Tactical Training

By James Duncan

June 2022

Four adaptable questions can give shipboard training teams a structure to improve their debriefing process.

Organic Precision Fires for Marine Infantry

By Captain Sean Harper, U.S. Marine Corps

June 2022

The Commandant's Planning Guidance has raised concerns among some that a future infantry battalion will not generate sufficient combat power to win.

Fix Vq-1’S Qualification Shortfall

By Petty Officer First Class Jennifer Prince, U.S. Navy

June 2022

The Navy should build and implement an MPRWS FIUT program for the ESOP pipeline.

Book Reviews

June 2022

Experts review Heavy Metal, To Risk It All, and other new and noteworthy books.

Where We Were

A. Denis Clift

June 2022

A look back at the June issues of Proceedings from 1922, 1972, and 1997.

From Our Archive

June 2022

Sailors repair damage to the flight deck of the USS Yorktown (CV-5) after a Japanese bomber attack during the Battle of Midway.

Jose Rizal-Class Frigates: A Giant Leap For The Philippine Navy

By Eric Wertheim

June 2022

These new warships provide the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally and archipelago nation of more than 7,000 islands and 112 million people, with the beginnings of a modem surface fleet.

The San Antonio LPDs Near Flight II

By Edward J. Walsh

June 2022

Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding delivered the Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28), the 12th San Antonio- class amphibious transport dock, in March.

In His Own Words: Petty Officer Merrill Magowan, U.S. Coast Guard

June 2022

For as long as I am a service member (and probably long after), I will be a member of the Institute and a lifelong learner.

Whiz Kids and the Chiefs

By A. Denis Clift

June 2022

Jerome H. King Jr. looks back on life in the CNOs’ office dealing with Secretary Robert McNamara and his systems analysis “Whiz Kids.”

Asked & Answered

June 2022

The movie Top Gun: Maverick was just released. What were the best and worst aspects of the original Top Gun?

Jointness Versus Strategy: How Joint Ideology Distorts U.S. National Security

By Captain Sam Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

The concept of jointness has gone too far and has not delivered the promised results.

Warriors, Not Killers: The Impact of Framing on Mental Health

By Lieutenant (j.g.) Alan G. Seabrooke III, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Service members should never be defined by one act they are asked to carry out in extremis.

Leverage the Joint Intellectual Capacity of Senior PME

By Colonel Heather Levy, U.S. Army

June 2022

Senior War College curricula should be tailored to support component commanders’ operational and strategic planning objectives.

A Community at Sea: Building Up the Cuttermen

By Commander Krystyn Pecora, U.S. Coast Guard

June 2022

The Coast Guard must explore alternative solutions for career advancement to retain cuttermen.

NATO, Russia, and Competition for Strategic Influence in the Baltic

By Commander Charles E. Eaton, U.S. Navy

June 2022

NATO must continue to maintain that unity and readiness to prevent Russian aggression in the Baltic region.

Joint Chiefs of Staff / Flag Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders of the U.S. Navy

June 2022

Officers of flag rank and senior enlisted leaders of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard; and officers of flag rank of NOAA and at Maritime Academies.

Marine Corps General Officers and Senior Enlisted Leaders-

June 2022

Officers of flag rank and senior enlisted leaders of the Marine Corps on active duty as of 1 May 2022.

Functional Medicine for a Functional Force

By Major L. Terrell Watts, U.S. Marine Corps

June 2022

A functional medicine approach to military health care is the next step toward ensuring the readiness of the force.

Task Force 61/2: A Model for Naval Warfighting

By Major General Francis L. Donovan, U.S. Marine Corps

June 2022

Naval integration is not just a concept for planning and force development. It’s being practiced in earnest in the European Command area of responsibility.

Look Before You Leap

By Nicholas A. Lambert

June 2022

A global wheat shortage and soaring food prices will bring pressure on the U.S. administration to use naval forces in the Black Sea.

Distribute Lethality, One Mine at a Time

By Captain Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

The Navy needs to get serious about converting a variety of platforms to lay mines, as it did in World War II.

Mine Exploitation: What Happens When the Fleet Has to Clear Modern, Unknown Mines?

By Commander Marc G. Tranchemontagne, U.S. Navy (Retired), and Lieutenant Commander Chris Price, U.S Navy

June 2022

The Navy’s mine exploitation capacity is insufficient to meet strategic needs.

A First-Generation Sailor

By Lieutenant (j.g.) Octavio Barranco, U.S. Navy

June 2022

Fear that their undocumented parents will be deported while they are deployed is detrimental to the warfighter mentality service members must embody.

A Pelican, a Walrus, and No Man: Creative Aerial Solutions for Mine Warfare

By Lieutenant Kyle Cregge, U.S Navy

June 2022

The future of Navy and Marine airborne mine countermeasures will be influenced by past programs—and new technological capabilities.