U.S. Naval War College in Newport Marks 130 Years Since Founding

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, which was established when Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler signed General Order 325 on Oct. 6, 1884.

The order stated that the college would offer “an advanced course of professional study for naval officers” and today, the Naval War College is a vital component of America’s national security, a center for research and innovation and an incubator for future leaders in an ever changing world.

In January, former U.S. Naval War College President Rear Adm. Walter E. Carter Jr. said “Newport has been a historic seaport for centuries and a vital part of the U.S. Navy since our earliest days of forming the Continental Navy in 1775. Scores of Navy ships once called Narragansett Bay home, and while impressive gray hulls no longer routinely sail the Ocean State’s waters, the Navy still looks to Newport as its intellectual center of gravity for higher education.”

On Monday, the college marked the occasion with a ceremony, lunch, music by the Navy Choristers and Navy Band Northeast and a steel beach picnic including the traditional cake-cutting ceremony.

Among the guests who delivered remarks was Rear Adm. Joseph Strasser, the 46th president of the NWC.

In July, Carter stepped down as college’s 54th president after he was appointed to vice admiral and assigned as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

He was replaced by Rear Adm. P. Gardner Howe III.

Howe, a U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Postgraduate School and National War College graduate, said he was humbled and honored to take on the job.

For a detailed history of the NWC, read this: https://www.usnwc.edu/About/History.aspx

(Photo: U.S. Navy photo by John Stone)