Thomas J. Cutler – författare

Award-winning author, Thomas J. Cutler offers an in-depth and inspiring look at the truly heroic story of Ernest Evans and the crew of USS Johnstonduring the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.The term "e;hero"e; is overused today, but the story of Ernest Evans and the crew of USS Johnston (DD 557) during the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 is one of true heroism that may be equaled but never surpassed in the annals of American naval history. Undaunted by a vastly superior Japanese task force bearing down on their ship, Commander Evans' crew laid down a smoke screen, launched all torpedoes, andopened fire with the main battery of five, 5-inch guns, diverting the Japanese fleet's attention from the vulnerable escort carriers under their protection. Evans' courageous leadership earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor, and his indomitable fighting spirit made him a true legend in the U.S. Navy.This inspiring book offers an in-depth look at Evans, the Johnston, and the ship's crew. Award-winning author Thomas J. Cutler relies heavily on interviews he conducted with surviving crew members, as well as his own experiences while serving as an enlisted man in a similar destroyer. Readers can almost feel the sting of salt spray on their faces as Cutler presents a gripping account of Johnston's year of service, from her commissioning to her sinking off Samar in October 1944. Often reading like a novel, this is a fascinating and poignant history of not only the ship and the crew, but of her Native American skipper who-forced to retreat in the early days of the war-fulfilled his commissioning day promise to "e;never again run from the enemy."e; Evans was a 1935 Naval Academy graduate serving as executive officer of the aging destroyer USS Alden in the far-off Asiatic Fleet when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Left virtually behind the lines as the Japanese rampaged their way around the Western Pacific, Alden was among only four U.S. warships to escape in the aftermath of the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942. Spending the next year in frustratingly mundane operations until given command of the newly built Fletcher-class destroyer Johnston, Evans then led his ship in gunfire missions during island-hopping assaults in the Marshalls, Carolines, and Marianas before Johnston faced her ultimate challenges in the Philippines. A story for the ages, readers will experience the tedium and the terror of life at sea, the unique challenges of naval combat, and the horrors of trying to survive while adrift in hostile waters. They will know the terrible waste and the agonies of war but will be awed by what human beings can do in the face of great adversity and in the presence of inspirational leadership. The causes for which these men fought and sacrificed have faded with time, the machines they used to carry out their deadly business are now rusted relics of another era, and the waters show no trace of their wakes. But the glory of their deeds will never be forgotten.

The men of the U.S. Navy's brown-water force played a vital but often overlooked role in the Vietnam War. Known for their black berets and limitless courage, they maneuvered their aging, makeshift craft along shallow coastal waters and twisting inland waterways to search out the enemy. In this moving tribute to their contributions and sacrifices, Tom Cutler records their dramatic story as only a participant could. His own Vietnam experience enables him to add a striking human dimension to the account. The terror of firefights along the jungle-lined rivers, the rigors of camp life, and the sudden perils of guerrilla warfare are conveyed with authenticity. At the same time, the author's training as a historian allows him to objectively describe the scope of the navy's operations and evaluate their effectiveness.Winner of the Navy League's Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement in 1988 when the book was first published, Cutler is credited with having written the definitive history of the brown-water sailors, an effort that has helped readers better understand the nature of U.S. involvement in the war.

The Brown Water War at 50 presents the work of renowned historians and Vietnam War veterans who  describe and interpret the U.S. Navy’s major combat operations in South Vietnam and on its coast. The scope of the book includes the river war in South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the coastal patrol, and the intelligence campaign. To complement text, the authors have added images and maps from the U.S. Navy archives, U.S. Naval Institute collection and from private collections. They also provide a s list of the most authoritative works on the subject.   In this retrospective, Cutler and Marolda describe not only the actions of the warships, aircraft, and river vessels involved in one of America’s longest wars but also the professional skill, dedication, and courage of the Navy men and women who went in “harm’s way” in Vietnam. The authors detail the development and combat experience of the Navy’s River Patrol Force and the Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force as they fought the Viet Cong. They relate in  full the heroism of Medal of Honor recipients Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class James E. Williams and Lieutenant Thomas G. Kelley, and the leadership of Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.   Intelligence which, until recently, was classified  tells the story of the Navy’s intelligence effort in South Vietnam, and describes the operations of SEAL and Naval Intelligence Officers at the tactical level. In short, this book takes an in depth look at the Navy’s major and essential role in a conflict that marked a milestone in modern American history.

Just as Thomas Cutler''s The Bluejacket''s Manual serves as the standard introduction and continuing reference guide for American sailors, this new handbook provides a basic reference guide for civilians working for the U.S. Navy. It will acquaint them with the Navy''s world of acronyms, n-codes, uniforms, and customs. The author explains that a big step toward fitting in has always been learning how to talk the talk and walk the walk, and this guide provides new employees and veteran workers alike with the words and steps needed to succeed in the Navy.

Most Americans know little about their Navy and learning about it can be daunting. But this informative yet highly accessible guide explains the sometimes strange ways of the U.S. Navy in terms civilians can understand. It addresses such things as the many titles military people have, the alphanumeric designations used to identify military personnel, the organization of the Navy and its many missions, the origin and practice of such things as saluting, flag etiquette, and side boys. Also included are an overview of the Navy''s colorful history, a primer on Navy ships and aircraft, a guide to "reading" a uniform, and the demystification of the phonetic alphabet and military time. Designed as a quick read for those who want the full story, this handbook can also be used as a handy reference full of essential facts.

The men of the U.S. Navy''s brown-water force played a vital but often overlooked role in the Vietnam War. Known for their black berets and limitless courage, they maneuvered their aging, makeshift craft along shallow coastal waters and twisting inland waterways to search out the enemy. In this moving tribute to their contributions and sacrifices, Tom Cutler records their dramatic story as only a participant could. His own Vietnam experience enables him to add a striking human dimension to the account. The terror of firefights along the jungle-lined rivers, the rigors of camp life, and the sudden perils of guerrilla warfare are conveyed with authenticity. At the same time, the author''s training as a historian allows him to objectively describe the scope of the navy''s operations and evaluate their effectiveness.Winner of the Navy League''s Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement in 1988 when the book was first published, Cutler is credited with having written the definitive history of the brown-water sailors, an effort that has helped readers better understand the nature of U.S. involvement in the war.

The last great naval battle of World War II, Leyte Gulf also is remembered as the biggest naval battle ever fought anywhere, and this book has been called the best account of it ever written. First published in hardcover on the battle''s fiftieth anniversary in 1994 and drawing on materials not previously available, it blends history with human drama to give a real sense of what happened--despite the mammoth scope of the battle. Every facet of naval warfare was involved in the struggle that engaged some two hundred thousand men and 282 American, Japanese, and Australian ships over more than a hundred thousand square miles of sea. That Tom Cutler succeeded at such a difficult task is no surprise. The award-winning author saw combat service aboard many types of ships during his naval career, and as a historian and professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College, he has studied the battle for many years.Cutler captures the milieu, analyzes the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants--from seaman to admiral, both Japanese and American. It is a story replete with awe-inspiring heroism, failed intelligence, flawed strategy, brilliant deception, great controversies, and a cast of characters with names like Halsey, Nimitz, Ozawa, and MacArthur. Such an exciting and revealing account of the battle is unlikely to be equaled by future writers.

In the U.S. Navy, “Wheel Books” were once found in the uniform pockets of every junior and many senior petty officers. Each small notebook was unique to the Sailor carrying it, but all had in common a collection of data and wisdom that the individual deemed useful in the effective execution of his or her duties. Often used as a substitute for experience among neophytes and as a portable library of reference information for more experienced personnel, those weathered pages contained everything from the time of the next tide, to leadership hints from a respected chief petty officer, to the color coding of the phone-and-distance line used in underway replenishments. In that same tradition, the new Naval Institute Wheel Books will provide supplemental information, pragmatic advice, and cogent analysis on topics important to all naval professionals. Drawn from the U.S. Naval Institute''s vast archives, the series will combine articles from the Institute''s flagship publication Proceedings, selections from the oral history collection and from Naval Institute Press books to create unique guides on a wide array of fundamental professional subjects. Strategy is described by the Dictionary of Modern Strategy and Tactics as having “a permanent nature, but an ever-changing character.” For more than a century, both the nature and the character of this essential discipline have been explored in depth by contributors to the Naval Institute''s magazines, books, and oral histories. Drawing from those powerful resources, this collection makes clear why naval strategy has always straddled the boundaries between art and science and why its study and employment are essential components of the sea service profession.

In the U.S. Navy, “Wheel Books” were once found in the uniform pockets of every junior and many senior petty officers. Each small notebook was unique to the Sailor carrying it, but all had in common a collection of data and wisdom that the individual deemed useful in the effective execution of his or her duties. Often used as a substitute for experience among neophytes and as a portable library of reference information for more experienced personnel, those weathered pages contained everything from the time of the next tide, to leadership hints from a respected chief petty officer, to the color coding of the phone-and-distance line used in underway replenishments. In that same tradition, the new Naval Institute Wheel Books will provide supplemental information, pragmatic advice, and cogent analysis on topics important to all naval professionals. Drawn from the U.S. Naval Institute''s vast archives, the series will combine articles from the Institute''s flagship publication Proceedings, selections from the oral history collection and from Naval Institute Press books to create unique guides on a wide array of fundamental professional subjects. Command is the pinnacle of leadership in a military organization. Navy regulations define both the authority and the responsibility of command as “absolute.” This Naval Institute Wheel Book provides practical guidance and advice that actual and would-be commanders can use to carry out that absolute authority. Included in this carefully selected collection is the experience of those who have commanded as well as the expectations of those who are commanded. Aspirants as well as practitioners will do well to exploit this selected survey of what Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz described as the “one purpose” for entering the Navy.

In the U.S. Navy, “Wheel Books” were once found in the uniform pockets of every junior and many senior petty officers. Each small notebook was unique to the Sailor carrying it, but all had in common a collection of data and wisdom that the individual deemed useful in the effective execution of his or her duties. Often used as a substitute for experience among neophytes and as a portable library of reference information for more experienced personnel, those weathered pages contained everything from the time of the next tide, to leadership hints from a respected chief petty officer, to the color coding of the phone-and-distance line used in underway replenishments. In that same tradition, the new Naval Institute Wheel Books will provide supplemental information, pragmatic advice, and cogent analysis on topics important to all naval professionals. Drawn from the U.S. Naval Institute’s vast archives, the series will combine articles from the Institute’s flagship publication Proceedings, selections from the oral history collection and from Naval Institute Press books to create unique guides on a wide array of fundamental professional subjects. Leadership is vital to any highly functioning organization. The Naval Institute has devoted countless pages of its publications to the subject of naval leadership, providing start-up guidance to neophytes, giving voice to the accumulated wisdom and experience of those who have led, and serving as a forum in search of answers to the many questions that have always been a part of this vital but sometimes elusive practice. In the pages of this book are some of the most outstanding examples of this wealth of knowledge, gathered for use by both would-be and seasoned leaders in the never-ending quest for strong and effective leadership.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. Meeting the challenges of gender integration has been a “joint” operation that has encompassed all of the armed forces. This edition of Naval Institute Chronicles tells a significant portion of the evolutionary and revolutionary transition from the days of “yeomanettes” to today’s Navy—where women command ships and wear admirals’ stars.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. Serving as a companion to the history of women in the Navy, this volume presents the challenges that have accompanied the long road to gender integration. In these pages readers will find edification, clarification, and much food for thought about one of the most significant national defense issues of modern times.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. The U.S. Naval Institute has been on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy since its inception in 1873. Over the decades many articles have been written discussing the unique character and history of this venerated institution while also challenging it to stay on course. This edition of Chronicles presents a number of selections from that large catalog.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. Since its founding 100 years ago, Navy Reserve sailors have served in every conflict from World War I to the present. The exploits of the U.S. Navy Reserve have many times been chronicled in the pages of Proceedings and Naval History. This edition of Chronicles culls articles and excerpts from that vast library.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute''s founding in 1873. Since it began in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy has faced many challenges as it continually strives to find the right figurative balance between Athens and Sparta. This edition of Chronicles recalls many of those challenges as they appeared in Naval Institute publications for most of the Academy''s existence.

Famous as the "boots on the ground," U.S. Marines have long played a vital role in the air as well. In these pages, readers will find both history and analysis as Naval Institute authors record and assess this lesser-known but significant aspect of "Leatherneck" combat over the last century.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. From the American Revolution to the present day, the U.S. Marine Corps has often led the fight against America''s enemies. The selections in this anthology offer insights into Marine Operations in Korea in 1871 and again in the 1950s, the Spanish American War, Vietnam, the First Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and more.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. With the Panama Canal currently undergoing a major expansion, it is appropriate and enlightening to look back to the early days of this remarkable and somewhat presumptuous project. With its substantial maritime impact, it is not surprising that the canal was the subject of much thought-provoking dialog in the Naval Institute’s unique forum.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute's robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute's founding in 1873. The U.S. Coast Guard has long served this maritime nation in important and often vital ways, and has long been a recurring topic in the Naval Institute's open forum. Life-saving, ice-breaking, buoy-tending, and homeland security are just a few of the many functions of this diminutive service's mandated responsibilities.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. Among the various aspects of the U.S. Navy’s “in-country” experiences in Vietnam, small-craft operations are among the most significant. Revealed in this collection from the Naval Institute’s archives are Operations Market Time, Game Warden, and SEALORDS, as well some lesser-known aspects of the Navy’s iconoclastic venture into the green and brown waters of Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute''s robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. True to its role as provider of an open forum, the Naval Institute has devoted many pages to the Vietnam War. In this retrospective and introspective collection, authors provide a look back at that controversial war in search of understanding, lessons learned, recognition, and, in some cases, closure.

Military ways can be enigmatic, resulting in an alien world where acronyms often replace words and where “1330” is a time of day. Add to that, the Navy is not only military, it is nautical, which adds centuries of sea-going terminology and practices to the confusion. While the young men and women who sign on to become sailors in the United States Navy receive extensive indoctrination and training, their parents do not. As their sons and daughters are becoming uniformed, the parents remain uninformed. This book is both a translation manual and a cultural guide to their son’s or daughter’s chosen new world. Alongside chapters covering uniforms, ranks, ships, and aircraft, are explanations and guidance as to what to expect when their child first joins the Navy, the many benefits their sailor will enjoy, and what families should bring and do when visiting their sailors in their new and somewhat alien world. Designed to be an easy read as well as a useful reference work, The Parent’s Guide to the U.S. Navy is essential reading for those parents whose children have chosen to “go down to the sea in ships.

Award-winning author, Thomas J. Cutler offers an in-depth and inspiring look at the truly heroic story of Ernest Evans and the crew of USS Johnston during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.The term “hero” is overused today, but the story of Ernest Evans and the crew of USS Johnston (DD 557) during the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 is one of true heroism that may be equaled but never surpassed in the annals of American naval history. Undaunted by a vastly superior Japanese task force bearing down on their ship, Commander Evans’ crew laid down a smoke screen, launched all torpedoes, and opened fire with the main battery of five, 5-inch guns, diverting the Japanese fleet’s attention from the vulnerable escort carriers under their protection. Evans’ courageous leadership earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor, and his indomitable fighting spirit made him a true legend in the U.S. Navy. This inspiring book offers an in-depth look at Evans, the Johnston, and the ship’s crew. Award-winning author Thomas J. Cutler relies heavily on interviews he conducted with surviving crew members, as well as his own experiences while serving as an enlisted man in a similar destroyer. Readers can almost feel the sting of salt spray on their faces as Cutler presents a gripping account of Johnston’s year of service, from her commissioning to her sinking off Samar in October 1944. Often reading like a novel, this is a fascinating and poignant history of not only the ship and the crew, but of her Native American skipper who—forced to retreat in the early days of the war—fulfilled his commissioning day promise to “never again run from the enemy.”  Evans was a 1935 Naval Academy graduate serving as executive officer of the aging destroyer USS Alden in the far-off Asiatic Fleet when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Left virtually behind the lines as the Japanese rampaged their way around the Western Pacific, Alden was among only four U.S. warships to escape in the aftermath of the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942. Spending the next year in frustratingly mundane operations until given command of the newly built Fletcher-class destroyer Johnston, Evans then led his ship in gunfire missions during island-hopping assaults in the Marshalls, Carolines, and Marianas before Johnston faced her ultimate challenges in the Philippines.  A story for the ages, readers will experience the tedium and the terror of life at sea, the unique challenges of naval combat, and the horrors of trying to survive while adrift in hostile waters. They will know the terrible waste and the agonies of war but will be awed by what human beings can do in the face of great adversity and in the presence of inspirational leadership. The causes for which these men fought and sacrificed have faded with time, the machines they used to carry out their deadly business are now rusted relics of another era, and the waters show no trace of their wakes. But the glory of their deeds will never be forgotten.

The 26th edition of The Bluejacket's Manual continues the tradition of previous editions of this iconic work by serving as both an introduction to neophyte U.S. Navy Sailors and as a career-long reference work for all who wear the Blue and Gold. Readers of previous editions will note two significant changes in this latest rendition.    The first recognizes the U.S. Navy's current emphasis on warfighting. While routine and administrative guidance--such things as uniforms, honors, and ceremonies, pay and benefits, standards of conduct, etc.--remain, this latest edition places greater emphasis on those aspects that Sailors are likely to encounter and must prepare for in the event of combat.   The first chapter is titled and focused on warfighting, reflecting the emphasis on "Warrior Toughness" in the training curriculum at Recruit Training Command (AKA "boot camp") at Great Lakes, Illinois. Readers will find that this training emphasizes the psychological as well as practical aspects of preparation, providing a kind of "philosophy" that is tailored to Bluejackets who may well find themselves facing the challenges inherent to combat operations. Other chapters in the book--such as Weapons and Damage Control--complement this emphasis.    The second major change to the book is its organization of information. The result is a more user-friendly book  As always, the major purpose of revision is to bring the included information relevant and up to date. Readers will find coverage of those aspects of the Bluejacket's world that are evolving. Such things as cyberwar and drones are now included with the emphasis on warfighting.     The Bluejacket's Manual, 26th Edition is a comprehensive yet manageable reference that will continue to serve the needs of the Navy and those who serve.

The last great naval battle of World War II, Leyte Gulf also is remembered as the biggest naval battle ever fought anywhere, and this book has been called the best account of it ever written. First published in hardcover on the battle's fiftieth anniversary in 1994 and drawing on materials not previously available, it blends history with human drama to give a real sense of what happened, despite the mammoth scope of the battle. Every facet of naval warfare was involved in the struggle that engaged some two hundred thousand men and 282 American, Japanese, and Australian ships over more than a hundred thousand square miles of sea. Cutler captures the milieu, analyzes the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants, from seaman to admiral, both Japanese and American. It is a story replete with awe-inspiring heroism, failed intelligence, flawed strategy, brilliant deception, great controversies, and a cast of characters with names like Halsey, Nimitz, Ozawa, and MacArthur. Such an exciting and revealing account of the battle is unlikely to be equalled by future writers.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute's robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873.Among the various aspects of the U.S. Navy’s “in-country” experiences in Vietnam, small-craft operations are among the most significant. Revealed in this collection from the Naval Institute’s archives are Operations Market Time, Game Warden, and SEALORDS, as well some lesser-known aspects of the Navy’s iconoclastic venture into the green and brown waters of Southeast Asia.