David Polatty
Associate Professor
College of Operational & Strategic Leadership
Profile
Professor Dave Polatty has been a civilian faculty since 2008 and teaches the Maritime Staff Operators Course (MSOC) and Executive Level Operational Level of War Course (ELOC), lecturing on military strategy, joint/Navy concepts and doctrine, the Navy Planning Process, operational art, operational command and control, maritime domain awareness, maritime operational threat response, foreign humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, noncombatant evacuation operations, operational assessment, and joint fires/targeting. His research interests include command and control, foreign humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, piracy, unmanned systems, technology innovation and strategic/operational leadership. He also teaches an elective on Corporate/Enterprise Strategic Planning for NWC resident programs.
Dave graduated with highest distinction from the US Naval War College in June 2006, earning a MA in National Security Strategic Studies and receiving the Navy League William S. Sims Award. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in May 1992, earning a BS in History. He is also a graduate of the US Joint Forces Staff College’s Advanced Joint Professional Military Education program, Homeland Security Planner’s Course, and the US Agency for International Development’s Joint Humanitarian Operations Course.
He is a fourth generation Naval Officer and in addition to his civilian faculty position, serves as a Commander in the Navy Reserve. While on active duty he served as both a Surface Warfare Officer onboard USS TARAWA (LHA-1) and Naval Flight Officer in the P-3 Orion community.
Dave started his Navy Reserve career with NR Naval Coordination and Guidance of Shipping Detachment Bravo. From 2004 to 2008 he was recalled to active duty for assignment to the U.S. Naval War College, where he served as the Operational Support Officer and Executive Assistant to the President. During this recall he also served on the Maritime Operations Center (MOC) Operational Advisory Group and helped align active and reserve requirements for a number of MOC initiatives.
From 2007 to 2010 he served as Executive Officer of NR
U.S. Forces Korea Detachment 102, providing operational support to U.S. Forces Korea, United Nations Command, and the U.S. – ROK Combined Forces Command. From November 2008 to May 2009 he served as Detachment 102 Commanding Officer.
From 2010 to 2012 he served as Commanding Officer of NR U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet, leading a high-tempo unit that provided operational support to
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
In December 2012 he was assigned as Commanding Officer of NR
U.S. Strategic Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD). SCC-WMD, located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, synchronizes the efforts to combat WMD across the U.S. military's geographic combatant commands and leverages the people, programs, and interagency relationships of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at the strategic level. Dave's unit supports SCC-WMD's Global Synch Office, Plans Division, and the Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination (SJFHQ-E) during routine and crisis operations.