May 1997
History gives us a lot of lessons - as a country, as a Navy, as a person. We know that we have seldom had more than 20 years without a war. The big wars are the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, Word War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War.
Interspersed are many other actions that required naval and military intervention. The Navy has always been an important component - in providing a forward presence, sailors live on ships and fight with them; as the first on the scene, like December 7th at Pearl Harbor; and in slugging it out day-to-day, like the submarine war in the North Atlantic.
I remember buying War Bonds as an elementary school student in 1943. I still have them - they have not drawn interest since 1983. Forty years: So what, I bought them for different reasons that the dollar-intensive may not be able to fathom.
I was commissioned as an ED in 1961 - our guru, CAPT Bill Kastner, was commissioned in 1952. A lot has happened over those years: to the World, the United States, to the Navy, to ED's.
The United States now produces about 22 percent of the World's products. In the post World War II days it was close to 50 percent. We are relatively weaker - but absolutely stronger. On a planet that had 2,000,000,000 people around WW II and close to 6,000,000,000 now.
Will there be wars in the future? Sure, lots of little ones. But will there be big ones? Could be. As we live our lives in the present the future will unfold.
Will we be prepared for the future? Will we have the resolve, the resources, the technical know-how to win when we must fight - and have to think fast about technical contingencies that are unexpected? Of course, as long as we have the foresight as a country to maintain technically sophisticated Naval Officers on active duty and in the Reserve program.
It takes many years of history to prepare an Engineering Duty officer. Technical education, Naval Officer duties, advanced experience on the cutting edge are all part of it.
Yet a quick turn of the budget valve can, in a present instant, reduce the number of those hard-to-come-by officers. But the valve is a ratchet and you can not turn it back on again in another moment. It takes years to re-fill the pipeline.
All of us Regular and Reserve ED's need to understand that we are an unusual resource. And none of our billets should be eliminated by simple default. Each potential loss should be carefully considered. We live in a tumultuous era when some decisions can be made too quickly and need to be questioned about their futurity.
Past, present, future - it is up to us.