Each year the US Naval Institute devotes an issue of the PROCEEDINGS to an emphasis on each of the Navy’s major warefare specialties. Submarine Warefare is usually paired with ASW and Mine Warfare in the USN/ categorization. In some of the past years the contributions from the submarine community have not shown much benefit from coordination toward addressing the ve1y real issues illvolved in the evolution of the distinctly American nuclear submarine and its effect on naval forces in peace and war. Probable reasons for this include, of course, concern for sensitive classified matters and the lack of substantive information in the public domain about US submarine operations during the Cold War.
For this year’s issue a significant effort was made both within the submarine community and the USNI’s editorial office to present meaningful discussion of mailers of importance and i11terest. It was recognized that some issues about our nuclear submarine force are of paramount national concern, particularly those issues about real cost in all its components and real benefits on a national level. It was also recognized that those issues can and should be discussed in a public fonm1 without compromise of sensitive operational matters. Naturally, that had to include active duty authorities for both their programmatic knowledge and their judgment about sensitivity. LCDR Matt Bola11d for Iris effective role as ‘shepard’ for tire active duty contributors
Mr. Paul Merzlak and his staff of editors in the PROCEEDINGS’s office did a masterful job ill putting all of this material together and treating these issues with understanding, knowledge and professional editorial skill. Mr. Merzlak followed up on the success of his effort with an enthusiastic endorsement of the request by THE SUBMARINE REVIEW for permission to republish these important articles. We thank him, his staff and the leadership of the Naval Institute.
It is appropriate to take the occasion of this effort to encourage all with interests in the Submarine Force past, present and future into putting their ideas in writing. Where they pertain to the Navy at large and national illiterates, the PROCEEDINGS’s is probably the widest read and most influential outside the Submarine Force and its supporters. Such essays need not await the annual submarine issue but are appropriate at any time. The Naval Institute has been generous in allowing reprinting those essays in the Review. In cases where the audience is primarily other submariners, The Submarine Review seeks such material. Undersea Warfare. the official publication of the Submarine Force, publishes material germane to the present active duty force but also welcomes submission of historical material on subjects still pertinent to the Force.
