United States Naval Institute
Encyclopedia
The United States Naval Institute (USNI), based at the United States Naval Academy
in Annapolis, Maryland
, is a private, non-profit
, professional
military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues. Established in 1873, it claims 48,000 members, mostly active and retired members of the United States Navy
, Marine Corps
, and Coast Guard
.
The Institute dates from October 9, 1873, when 15 naval officers gathered at the Academy's Department of Physics and Chemistry building in Annapolis, to discuss military history and strategy. The founders of the U.S. Naval Institute were: Rear Admiral John L. Worden (former skipper of the USS Monitor), Commodore Foxhall Parker, Lieutenant Charles Belknap, Commanders Edward Terry and S. Dana Greene, Chief Engineer C. H. Baker, Medical Director Philip Lansdale, Pay Inspector James Murray, Lieutenant Commanders P. E. Harrington, J. E. Craig, Casper F. Goodrich, P. H. Cooper, C. J. Train, Lieutenant Willard H. Brownson, and Marine Corps Captain McLane Tilton. (source: U.S.N.I.)
A 1936 Act of Congress gave permission to locate its headquarters on The Yard, but the organization has no official or funding ties to the Academy or the U.S. Navy.
The Institute publishes magazines and books and runs several annual conferences on security matters in Washington, D.C., San Diego, California
, Norfolk, Virginia
and elsewhere in the United States.
The Institute's mission is: "to provide an open forum for the exchange of ideas, to disseminate and advance the knowledge of sea power, and to preserve our naval and maritime heritage." It supports the professional development of its active-duty members by providing articles, books, and digital content about military career challenges.
The Institute maintains one of the world’s largest private collections of military photographs: more than 450,000 images of people, ships and aircraft from all branches of the armed forces. The photographs date from the American Civil War
to the present.
In 1999, the organization dedicated its new headquarters, named Beach Hall to honor the contributions of Edward L. Beach, Jr.
and his father and namesake, Edward L. Beach, Sr.
, who served as the Institute's secretary-treasurer.
is the Institute’s flagship publication. Published since 1874, it is the third-oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. It has carried articles by Secretaries of Defense Caspar Weinberger
, Dick Cheney
, and William Perry
; journalists Bob Woodward
, Ben Bradlee, Evan Thomas
, David Hartman
, and Thomas Ricks; every Secretary of the Navy
, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
, and top leaders of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The magazine also publishes articles of interest to its membership and in advancement of its mission. Roughly a third are written by active duty personnel, a third by retired military, and a third by civilians.
The USNI bimonthly Naval History magazine explores the role of sea power in U.S. history. Contributors have included historians David McCullough
and James M. McPherson
; former sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen such as Ernest Borgnine
, Gene Hackman
, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
; newsman Walter Cronkite
, who covered the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 for United Press; and NBC
television anchor Tom Brokaw
.
USNI’s "Naval Institute Press" imprint publishes several dozen new books each year. Its twice-yearly catalog includes works on history, biography, professional military education, and occasional works of popular fiction, including Tom Clancy
's first novel, The Hunt for Red October
; and Stephen Coonts
’ Flight of the Intruder. Among the professional development titles are The Bluejacket's Manual
, Naval Shiphandling, The Marine Officer’s Guide, and The Coast Guardsman’s Manual.
The Institute’s Web site includes reader forums and the Get the Gouge site aimed at younger readers.
In 2007, USNI produced Americans At War
, a series of video interviews with U.S. combat veterans of conflicts dating to World War I
. Former President George H. W. Bush
, Senators Bob Dole
, Daniel Inouye
, Bob Kerry, and other men and women described how combat changed their lives. The series was broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service
television stations nationwide.
In December 2008, the Naval Institute launched a blog whose writers include Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis
and Admiral Thad Allen, the Commandant
of the Coast Guard
.
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, is a private, non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, professional
Professional body
A professional association is usually a nonprofit organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public interest.The roles of these professional associations have been variously defined: "A group of people in a...
military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues. Established in 1873, it claims 48,000 members, mostly active and retired members of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, and Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
.
The Institute dates from October 9, 1873, when 15 naval officers gathered at the Academy's Department of Physics and Chemistry building in Annapolis, to discuss military history and strategy. The founders of the U.S. Naval Institute were: Rear Admiral John L. Worden (former skipper of the USS Monitor), Commodore Foxhall Parker, Lieutenant Charles Belknap, Commanders Edward Terry and S. Dana Greene, Chief Engineer C. H. Baker, Medical Director Philip Lansdale, Pay Inspector James Murray, Lieutenant Commanders P. E. Harrington, J. E. Craig, Casper F. Goodrich, P. H. Cooper, C. J. Train, Lieutenant Willard H. Brownson, and Marine Corps Captain McLane Tilton. (source: U.S.N.I.)
A 1936 Act of Congress gave permission to locate its headquarters on The Yard, but the organization has no official or funding ties to the Academy or the U.S. Navy.
The Institute publishes magazines and books and runs several annual conferences on security matters in Washington, D.C., San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
and elsewhere in the United States.
The Institute's mission is: "to provide an open forum for the exchange of ideas, to disseminate and advance the knowledge of sea power, and to preserve our naval and maritime heritage." It supports the professional development of its active-duty members by providing articles, books, and digital content about military career challenges.
The Institute maintains one of the world’s largest private collections of military photographs: more than 450,000 images of people, ships and aircraft from all branches of the armed forces. The photographs date from the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
to the present.
In 1999, the organization dedicated its new headquarters, named Beach Hall to honor the contributions of Edward L. Beach, Jr.
Edward L. Beach, Jr.
Edward Latimer Beach, Jr. was a highly-decorated United States Navy submarine officer and best-selling author....
and his father and namesake, Edward L. Beach, Sr.
Edward L. Beach, Sr.
Edward Latimer Beach, Sr., was a career American naval officer and later author. He served in three of the United States' wars, ranging from the Spanish–American War up through World War I. He was the father of the future Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr...
, who served as the Institute's secretary-treasurer.
Publications and products
The monthly magazine ProceedingsProceedings (magazine)
Proceedings is a monthly magazine published by the United States Naval Institute since 1874. The 96-page publication features articles about Naval and Military matters written by active and retired military personnel plus renowned authors and scholars of their subject.-External links:* * ** by...
is the Institute’s flagship publication. Published since 1874, it is the third-oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. It has carried articles by Secretaries of Defense Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
, Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, and William Perry
William Perry
William James Perry is an American businessman and engineer who was the United States Secretary of Defense from February 3, 1994, to January 23, 1997, under President Bill Clinton...
; journalists Bob Woodward
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
, Ben Bradlee, Evan Thomas
Evan Thomas
Evan Welling Thomas III is an American journalist and author. He currently teaches journalism at Princeton University.-Life and career:Thomas was born in Huntington, New York and was raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York...
, David Hartman
David Hartman
David Hartman may refer to:*David Hartman , American*David Hartman , American*David Hartman , 1994 candidate for Texas state treasurer, retired banker...
, and Thomas Ricks; every Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
, and top leaders of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The magazine also publishes articles of interest to its membership and in advancement of its mission. Roughly a third are written by active duty personnel, a third by retired military, and a third by civilians.
The USNI bimonthly Naval History magazine explores the role of sea power in U.S. history. Contributors have included historians David McCullough
David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
and James M. McPherson
James M. McPherson
James M. McPherson is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book...
; former sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen such as Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
, Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
; newsman Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, who covered the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 for United Press; and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television anchor Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
.
USNI’s "Naval Institute Press" imprint publishes several dozen new books each year. Its twice-yearly catalog includes works on history, biography, professional military education, and occasional works of popular fiction, including Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
's first novel, The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.The novel was originally published by the U.S...
; and Stephen Coonts
Stephen Coonts
Stephen Coonts is an American thriller and suspense novelist.Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968...
’ Flight of the Intruder. Among the professional development titles are The Bluejacket's Manual
The Bluejacket's Manual
The Bluejacket's Manual is the basic handbook for United States Navy personnel. First issued in 1902 to teach new recruits about naval procedures and life and offer a reference for active sailors, it has become the "bible" for Navy personnel, providing information about a wide range of Navy topics...
, Naval Shiphandling, The Marine Officer’s Guide, and The Coast Guardsman’s Manual.
The Institute’s Web site includes reader forums and the Get the Gouge site aimed at younger readers.
In 2007, USNI produced Americans At War
Americans At War
Americans at War is a documentary series created by the U.S. Naval Institute. Each 90-second episode features a U.S. veteran recounting a defining moment from his or her time in the armed services...
, a series of video interviews with U.S. combat veterans of conflicts dating to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Former President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, Senators Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, Daniel Inouye
Daniel Inouye
Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye is the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history. Inouye is the chairman of the United States Senate...
, Bob Kerry, and other men and women described how combat changed their lives. The series was broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
television stations nationwide.
In December 2008, the Naval Institute launched a blog whose writers include Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis
James G. Stavridis
James G. Stavridis is a United States Navy admiral who serves as the current Commander, U.S. European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe . The first Navy officer to hold these positions, he assumed command in early summer 2009. He previously served as Commander, U.S...
and Admiral Thad Allen, the Commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
of the Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
.
See also
- Association of the United States ArmyAssociation of the United States ArmyThe Association of the United States Army is a private, non-profit organization that acts primarily as an advocacy group for the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 125 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not just Army personnel, nor is membership mandatory for soldiers,...
- Air Force AssociationAir Force AssociationThe Air Force Association is an independent, 501 non-profit, civilian education organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia...
- Marine Corps AssociationMarine Corps AssociationThe Marine Corps Association is an independent association which provides a professional organization for members of the United States Marine Corps...
- Coast Guard FoundationCoast Guard FoundationThe Coast Guard Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization that supports projects that enhance the education, welfare and morale of members of the United States Coast Guard...
External links
- www.usni.org -- Official web site
- blog.usni.org -- Official USNI blog
- Americans at War site