June 2nd, 2008 marks the beginning of our second year of blogging. The blog started as an attempt by me to collect a variety of opinions around the internet and create a group blog with international flavor regarding Naval centric topics. That plan went bust when I quickly realized the only person interested in that concept was me.So into the second month it evolved, looking inward instead of outward, I ended up recruiting the assistance of two of my closest friends, the real brains behind the blog. Unfortunately, neither has written a single topic yet, nor left comments. The group part of this blog has been a bust in that regard.
The community aspect of the blog has been anything but a bust though, and we are truly blessed to have excellent contributors in the comments. I can't thank each of you enough, you keep me honest and add value to the discussions. The regulars know who you are, thank you so much. We know you have high expectations, and we will continue to try and meet them. Our only goal is to be interesting, a high standard in our appeal for your time with our long random thoughts.
I want to thank CDR Salamander, EagleOne, SteelJaw Scribe, and Eric at the Sub Report. You guys have consistently been awesome supporters from the beginning. The core group of bloggers listed under the revised Navy Blogs section, what I have previously labeled the Naval Blogger Strike Group, is the most professional and smartest community I've ever belonged to. For me that is ironic, considering my professional background is in part building online communities.
I also want to thank Sean Meade, Thomas Barnett, the Small Wars Journal, Mike Burleson, Eric Palmer, David Axe, Feng, and Joe Katzman. It means a lot to have the consistent support of so many intellectually talented professionals.
We have rearranged the links on the blog and we are finally providing an email address to contact us with. As folks who tend to look to history before planning ahead, we want to start an annual tradition of reviewing our favorite 10 editorials from the last year, listed in order by date.
US Navy Ballistic Missile Defense, June 21, 2024
The US Navy's PF-109 "Patrol Frigate" Program, July 10, 2024
14,500 Tons of Littoral Cruising, Invisible, Survivable, Multi-Mission Capable, NSFS, Sea Striking, Deep Reach Firepower, August 7, 2024
The DDG-1000 vs the SSGN, November 13, 2024
Network Centric Warfare, COIN, and Naval Doctrine, December 3, 2024
To Connect the Gaps, Build the Bridge Underwater, January 24, 2024
Modern Rating System For Surface Combatants, February 12, 2024
Where are the Cruisers?, February 28, 2024
Observing The Omission of Seabasing In the Navy's Maritime Strategy, March 31, 2024
The Navy's Great Challenge of our Time, April 1, 2024
June 1st, 2008 was our last day of year one. On a Sunday no less, we had 793 visits and 1567 hits. For perspective, we had 661 visits and 1479 hits for the entire month of June 2007. We had more visits and hits every month throughout the first year finishing May with 62,214 unique visits and 92.608 hits, an astonishing number for a Navy centric blog. First year totals are 230,844 hits and 380,054 visits, which are incredible numbers for a blog that tends to avoid political and entertainment discussions which are the categories of interest most influenced by blogging today.
We are extremely proud that our readers are primarily by percentage military, government and government research, media, retired military, academia, and defense industry professionals. It is very exciting when the blogs traffic data confirms our audience is the desired professional audience sought after when starting the blog.
We do not know where the future leads. We are not believers of the theory that blogs can influence professional institutions like the Navy, and to do so has never been our goal. We do however believe blogs, from the author to the concentration of comments, accurately reflects opinions that are important to the important discussions of institutions like the Navy. Towards the ends of elevating the discussion of the maritime environment, by educating interested observers while leveraging history and technology as a guide towards informed observations and opinions, our strategy looking to the future remains consistent to our strategy of the past year.
The success of the blog would not possible without our supporters and friends. Thank you all very much. We look forward to another great year!
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