Blue & Gold Professional Library

Throughout the history of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, leading officers and strategists have advocated for formal colleges and schools for naval officers but have also made the case that true naval professionalism requires a career-long dedication to learning and to self-improvement. This was the impetus behind the very founding of the U.S. Naval Institute by officers who believed that the Navy's lack of support for their education meant they needed to create their own organization for self-study and cooperative learning. Naval luminaries like admirals William Sims and Ernest King continued to campaign for self-study and the personal pursuit of professional knowledge during the twentieth century, distributing lists of suggested books for officers to read and promoting their ideas widely through speeches and published works. While recommending that officers read broadly in pursuit of individual knowledge is an important part of creating a truly educated and professional Fleet and Fleet Marine Force, it is also important for leaders in the sea services to offer mentorship and create opportunities for discourse that encourages group learning. Developing the Naval Mind serves as a how-to manual and syllabus for leaders to create and lead wardroom, ready room, and work center discussion groups across the fleet to create a more educated and professionally engaged Navy and Marine Corps.

In this third edition of the Chief Petty Officer's Guide, author Paul Kingsbury offers the same caliber of wisdom and advice that has helped Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) succeed for decades. Fully revised, this edition features updates to every chapter as well as a broader context, scope, and audience. With the addition of guidance for Navy and Coast Guard chiefs of all experience levels, aspiring petty officers seeking advancement to chief, and other leaders, this book is a vital tool for anyone who wants to understand how great chiefs think, manage, and lead. Those striving to improve as a chief, senior chief, or master chief will find this handbook an essential resource on how to lead and manage strong maintenance and operational teams. Kingsbury provides key perspectives on how chiefs can use power bases, influence tactics, and managerial skills to achieve mission success at all levels of Navy and Coast Guard leadership. Chapters feature tools for self-assessment, including explanations of the attributes, behaviors, and qualities that all petty officers (or any leader or manager) should strive for.

Since the release of the first edition of Career Compass more than two decades ago, the landscape of a Navy officer's career has transformed significantly, adapting to societal changes while upholding the Navy's core values of service and excellence. This fully revised second edition offers updated insights into the evolving culture, communication strategies, career opportunities, and management practices, all while reinforcing the enduring importance of exceptional performance. This new edition includes crucial updates on mentoring, graduate education, sea-shore rotations, Washington duty, fitness reports, and career-planning tools, including strategies for engaging with community detailers. It highlights the principles that will keep every officer-from midshipman to admiral-eligible and competitive for promotion and command while also remaining competent and capable of performing the necessary duties supporting the requirements of naval service. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience mentoring midshipmen and junior officers, author Douglas H. Rau presents this guide as a vital resource for aspiring officers looking to navigate their Navy careers with purpose, foresight, and success.

Fighting the Fleet recognizes that fleets conduct four distinct but interlocking tasks at the operational level of war-striking, screening, scouting, and basing-and that successful operational art is achieved when they are brought to bear in a cohesive, competitive scheme. In explaining these elements, and how they are conjoined for advantage, a central theme emerges: despite the utility and importance of jointness among the armed forces, the effective employment of naval power requires a specialized language and understanding of naval concepts that is often diluted or completely lost, when too much jointness is introduced. Woven into the fabric of the book are the fundamental principles of three of the most important naval theorists of the twentieth century: Rear Admiral Bradley Fiske, Rear Admiral J.C. Wylie, and Captain Wayne Hughes. While Cares and Cowden advocate the reinvigoration of combat theory and the appropriate use of operations research, they avoid over-theorizing and have produced a practical guide that empowers fleet planners to wield naval power appropriately and effectively in meeting today's operational and tactical challenges.

Saltwater Leadership, Second Edition is about leadership in the maritime environment. The unforgiving, dynamic, and unconquerable nature of the sea requires direct leadership, often with very little margin of error. The unique and common nature of professional life on the sea applies not only to junior naval leaders but also officer and enlisted leaders from the Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines. Based on decades of leadership experiences, Saltwater Leadership covers a wide variety of topics, including basic junior officer leadership, taking care of people, providing forceful backup, leadership and culture, and professional competence.