Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
In addition, we had to write a thesis and had considerable interaction with a faculty adviser.
Mine was Professor Fred Hartman, who had written several books on national security.
We had a good faculty up there and a lot of activities. In addition, there was another program
where, with George Washington University, you get certain credits for the work done within
the Naval War College. At the same time, I took other courses in the evenings for credits
towards an M.S. degree in international affairs. So, I did that, as well.
China was big at that time with Nixon opening the door to China, so courses on China were
big, both at the War College and as an elective with the George Washington University
faculty.
Q:
So, you completed the course work for your master's degree at about the same time?
A:
That's right. My War College thesis, by expanding it and meeting a more rigorous
requirement, passed for the George Washington thesis as well.
Q:
So, you completed the master's degree in '72, then? About the same time you completed the
Naval War College.
A:
That's right.
Q:
Did you find the interaction with a lot of Naval officers interesting and different, or at this
level is everyone focused at a fairly strategic level?
A:
No, the Navy works differently. That was very obvious at the time. Just walk around
Washington and hear people talk about the various services and how they approach things, or
dodge things, or ignore things even with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. You could
see some of that independent feeling up there as well.
That is a very fine college. I really enjoyed it. At the time the Navy had a thought that if you
were good, you were at sea. In the Navy you didn't have to go to the War College, whereas in
the Army and in the Air Force certainly going to a War College was a stepping stone to
bigger responsibilities in the future. The whole thought and culture of the Navy was different
than the other services.
Q:
I hadn't known that. In the Navy you were supposed to be on a ship.
A:
That's right, and that came out in the work ethic of the people there. When we got to group
things, the people who got together and came up with the solutions in the group activity were
Marine, Air Force, or Army, typically--and I know this is a generalization.
I remember that the Navy, the fleet, said, "We've got to have our folks know how to write a
staff study." So, it came to the War College that "shouldn't we teach, and have our folks do,
staff studies?" The answer that came back from the Army and Air Force liaison officers--
both services had senior faculty members there--was, "No, we teach that at Fort
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