NEWPORT, R.I. -- U.S. Naval War College graduated 41 military officers with master’s degrees during a ceremony Nov. 14 in Spruance Auditorium.
The graduates included 32 officers from the U.S. Navy, seven from the U.S. Army and two Army National Guard officers. They return to the field armed with heightened strategic-thinking skills in service of the national defense.
Graduation speaker professor Marc Genest challenged the group to be intellectually bold as they continue on in their careers.
“A true intellectual is an iconoclast, a troublemaker, a renegade, a tiger,” said Genest, who is Forrest Sherman Professor of Public Diplomacy in the college’s Strategy and Policy Department.
Genest suggested that -- even in the military -- challenging conventional wisdom is a valuable skill.
“We live in dangerous times, and the art and science of national security and strategic studies are exceedingly important,” said Genest, who was chosen by the students as speaker.
“But only by playing with ideas, by having fun, by subjecting everything to critical analysis – every great book, article, speech, every military doctrine and strategy – only by challenging them can we hope to be intellectual tigers and make a real impact on the world,” he said.
The bulk of the graduates received a Master of Arts in defense and strategic studies from the College of Naval Command and Staff.
Four students graduated from the College of Naval Warfare, which confers Master of Arts degrees in national security and strategic studies.
The top 5 percent of the class graduated with highest distinction and the remainder of the top 20 percent received distinction.
Delivering the traditional “charge to the graduates,” college President Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley also instructed the students to continue being critical thinkers.
“Gen. Patton said, ‘Courage is fear holding on a minute longer,’” Harley said. “The critical thinking skills you have learned here will give you the extra minute you need to rise up to the challenges and any fears you might face.”
Harley charged them to go forward and be the officers who determine strategy and contribute to policy at the highest levels.
“This is your duty, this is your responsibility, and this is your time,” he said.
U.S. Naval War College currently has more than 500 students in its in-resident education programs, which are tailored for senior and intermediate-level officers and civilian leaders. Courses are given in three trimesters, with graduations typically in November, March and June.
Founded in 1884, U.S. Naval War College is the oldest war college in the world. Its first president, Commodore Stephen B. Luce, organized the institution as a “place of original research on all questions relating to war and to statesmanship connected with war, or the prevention of war.”