Vectors, former Acting Secretary of the Navy the Honorable Thomas Modly

Consistent communication, from the highest level, to all levels of the nearly 1-million-person Department of the Navy is rare. Why is that so unique, and why did our guest think it was so important. These communications were called Vectors. What is a Vector? How were they produced, and what was the process of producing them? […]

Dark Waters: Explained

Dark Waters is an interactive scenario case study about a collision at sea between a US Navy Destroyer and a tanker. Sailors are trapped in spaces that are quickly flooding, and the protagonist must make the recommendation to close the hatch, and thereby save the ship. In so doing, those sailors would perish. It is […]

Maritime Security: Explained

Maritime Security is a complex case study, where a junior officer must decide among several different outcomes, none of which are optimal from a mission and moral standing. This case is not an outlier, but a representation of what young sailors face in the fleet daily. How does one balance the accomplishment of the mission, […]

Allyship: Explained

Allyship is a series of case studies that follows the interactions of Midshipmen in various scenarios. After witnessing an event or comment by a third part friend and colleague, the protagonist is put into a situation where she must decide why and how to support a different friend who has been assailed by that inappropriate […]

Test Depth: Explained

Test Depth is a case study that follows the experiences of a young Junior Officer on his first role in the engineering department on a US Navy nuclear submarine. When he discovers a leak in the sea water system, he is challenged to do something about it. This case study addresses his responsibilities as a […]

Looming Storm: Explained

Looming Storm is a case study that follows the early experiences of a young Junior Officer aboard ship. In a flashback, we see a poorly led ship, its wardroom and its crew. Slovenly sailors and messy quarters, rust and unaddressed leaks. Bad morale. The JO is challenged to do something about it, and he must […]

Tactical Interrogation: Explained

Tactical Interrogation is a case study where we consider balancing the rights and interests of three stake-holding groups: service members, their clients (i.e. inhabitants of the US), and non-clients (foreign enemy combatants and foreign non-combatants). Torture is grossly immoral when considered from any of these perspectives. Torturers tend to sustain moral and psychological injury. They […]

Artificial Intelligence: Explained

This is a different kind of case study in that it is a primer on Artificial Intelligence, and how it can be understood by naval officers. We go through several situations where a young naval officer is challenged by a fact set, and she has to deal with what information she is being given, her […]

Cultural Competence: Explained

This is a case study where a group of Midshipmen on a semester abroad run into trouble. You’re the protagonist in a fictitious eastern European country. You’re out with your buddies. A local guide has been showing you around, and he bids adieu, after calling for a taxi. So far so good. You have a […]