-Rear Admiral, USN (ret)-
Philip A. Dur
Career advancement for naval officers is generally considered to lie in progressively more demanding assignments in ships and staffs
while at sea and those supporting the fleet when ashore. In fact, beyond these “core” career assignments, there are abundant opportunities in strategic and national security policymaking and even diplomacy and foreign affairs!
Between Land and Sea recounts Admiral Dur’s vast experience over thirty years in the US Navy. Read about challenges commanding ships and a Carrier Battle Group as well as strategy and policy assignments, including leading the navy’s strategy division and serving as Director of Political Military Affairs on the NSC staff, advising and briefing President Ronald Reagan on critical events in the Middle East. Discover opportunities overseas, such as the admiral’s assignment as a US Defense attaché in Paris, working with the highest levels of the French national security establishment as the Cold War ended and as war erupted in the Persian Gulf.
With pointed insights on the complex challenges that lie ahead, Between Land and Sea is a must-read for the next generation of operators and strategists.
Between Land and Sea
A Cold Warrior's Log
The book is much more than just another navy flag officer’s log or memoir; it’s also an inspirational and practical manual on what a modern US Navy career as an operator-strategist should look like. Unlike other books on recent navy strategy, this one, uniquely, illustrates the role of strategy in the personal and career formation arenas, as well as in functioning as a consummate professional at top policy and operational levels.
It’s a masterful description of the kind of career that any top-flight navy strategist-operator should aspire to have. As such, it should be required reading in the strategy curricula at the Naval Academy, the Naval War College, and the Naval Postgraduate School; for every Federal Executive Fellow cohort; and for anyone whom the navy sends to civilian grad schools in national security affairs, government, international relations, political science, or history. They, the navy, and the nation will all benefit from Admiral Dur’s willingness to recount his example-setting naval career for us.
John Lehman
Former Secretary of the Navy
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PRAISE FOR BETWEEN LAND AND SEA
“I first met Phil Dur in 1967 when he was a lieutenant (junior grade) assigned to the admiral’s staff aboard the USS Little Rock in the Sixth Fleet. We have been friends and frequent correspondents since. Phil had an outstanding career in the navy as is obvious from this fascinating account of demanding assignments at sea and ashore. The rich variety of experiences made his a truly exceptional naval career.”
—DR. PHIL DEPOY, past President of the Center for Naval Analyses and the National Opinion Research Center
“Phil Dur is a Renaissance sailor. More importantly, he is a closet iconoclast, comfortably challenging cherished military cultural norms with logic and fervor. I commend his book to your reading. We need more leaders like him today, more than anytime since WWII.”
—MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS L. WILKERSON, USMC (Retired), naval strategist and past CEO of the US Naval Institute
“If you have loved Tom Clancy's novels of Cold War intrigue, military operations, grand strategy, and political policy making, then you will enjoy Admiral Philip Dur 's new book, BETWEEN LAND & SEA. The only difference is Admiral Dur's book is true and just as riveting. It's a veritable history lesson on the Cold War written by someone who had a series of "catbird" seats along the way.
”
—VICE ADMIRAL DOUG CROWDER, USN (Retired)
Former Commander, U.S. SEVENTH Fleet
“I had the pleasure to serve with then-Commander Phil Dur in the Strategy and Concepts Branch of the navy staff in the 1970s. When Rear Admiral Dur retired, the navy lost a great officer who has now contributed further by describing in colorful detail the highlights of his wonderful career. This book provides important background for officers of today and in the future who want to contribute in the most powerful ways.”
—ADMIRAL HENRY H. MAUZ, JR., USN,
former Commander in Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet
“Admiral Phil Dur had an unusually fascinating and successful US Navy career, at sea and as a defense policy advisor and diplomat. A real-life Captain “Pug” Henry during the last half of the Cold War, he was one of the most capable and influential naval officers of our generation. Highly recommended as a career primer for any aspiring navy operator-strategist.”
—CAPTAIN PETER M. SWARTZ, US Navy (Retired),
former Director of the Strategy and Policy Program at the Center for Naval Analyses
“Superb book by a great leader that provides first-hand insights into a historic era. For those who served in our naval services during this time, you will easily relate to a story of a remarkable career that is exceptionally well written.”
—GENERAL TONY C. ZINNI, USMC (Retired)
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© 2022 by Philip A. Dur