This week we concluded our campaign on Kickstarter and we could not be happier, having successfully met our goal and then some. So we want to take a brief pause from writing about drones, pirates, and tanker traffic and thank our readers, our contributors, our promoters, and especially our backers.

Several months ago when we designed this campaign, we were unsure if we would raise enough funds to cover our minimal expenses and legal fees allowing us to file for non-profit status. Yet, within 12 hours of launching, you helped us reach our Kickstarter goal for a campaign set to last nearly a month. In total, over 40 backers helped us raise more than $3000 through Kickstarter and other methods. With this amount, the CIMSEC leadership team is excited to further grow and improve the organization.

With the average donation amounting to $70, this fundraising campaign exemplifies your commitment and passion to CIMSEC’s mission, and there is no way to price the encouragement this level of support and enthusiastic response has given us. Simply put, you are awesome and we aspire to make you proud.

For those who donated, within the next few weeks you will receive a receipt from us in addition to further information regarding the rewards that you selected. Additionally, we are proud to announce that all contributors to this campaign will receive an advanced copy of CIMSEC’s first published compendium, Forgotten Naval Strategists, in recognition of your efforts. If you have any questions regarding the rewards or your contribution, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

Again, on behalf of the CIMSEC leadership team, thank you for your support.

Respectfully,

Bret Perry, Treasurer

Scott Cheney-Peters, President & Founder

The Navy is Decatur and Farragut and Mahan and Nimitz.
The Navy is Vahk and Garcia and Nguyen and Smith.
The Navy is Monitor and Enterprise and Nautilus and Cole.
The Navy is Tripoli, Midway, Leyte Gulf, and the Blockade of the South.
The Navy is Arizona and Maine and Vincennes and Pueblo.

The Navy is the Quarantine of Cuba.
The Navy is the Great White Fleet.
The Navy is the death of Osama bin Laden.
The Navy is the first strikes on ISIS.
The Navy is counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.

The Navy is a missile shield in Europe.
The Navy is a missile shield in Asia.
The Navy is the most survivable leg of the nuclear triad.
The Navy is disaster relief to Japan, to the Philippines, to Pakistan, to Haiti.

The Navy is fighting in Syria.
The Navy is fighting in Iraq.
The Navy is fighting in Afghanistan.
The Navy is fighting in Somalia.
The Navy is fighting in Libya.

The Navy is capability no one else can deliver, when no one else can deliver it.
The Navy is the first called in a crisis, the nation’s first responder.
The Navy is the most versatile branch of the military, the nation’s Swiss Army Knife.
The Navy is preserving the rule of law at sea in the face of authoritarian decrees.
The Navy is defending the nation’s lifelines and economic vitality.
The Navy is the most important branch of military for meeting the nation’s 21st-century demands.
The Navy is the sons and daughters of all 50 states, all American territories, and the District of Columbia.
The Navy is the nation’s least appreciated military Service.¹

The Navy once navigated by the stars.
The Navy now navigates by man-made constellations it helped put in orbit.
The Navy has reinvented its mission, its strategy, and its concepts of operation countless times.
The Navy will need to do so many times again.
The Navy restricts the academic pursuits of its officer corps.²
The Navy is unparalleled in its openness to self-criticism.

The Navy is filled with some of the most driven, intelligent, and innovative Americans.
The Navy is active, reserve, civilians, and contractors striving to harness their creativity.
The Navy lacks all the tools needed for a 21st-century workforce.

The Navy is at sea, ashore, in the air, under the waves, in space, and in cyberspace.
The Navy is increasing in capability.
The Navy is facing growing requirements.
The Navy is decreasing in capacity.

The Navy would choose no one but the Marine Corps to have its back in a knife fight.

The Navy is a ship named America 3 days old.
The Navy is a ship named Constitution 217 years old.
The Navy is 1775.
The Navy is 2014.
The Navy is 239 today.

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1. http://www.gallup.com/poll/170657/americans-say-army-important-branch-defense.aspx

2. http://www.nrotc.navy.mil/scholarship_criteria.aspx

Scott Cheney-Peters is a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and the former editor of Surface Warfare magazine. He is the founder and president of the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), a graduate of Georgetown University and the U.S. Naval War College, and a member of the Truman National Security Project’s Defense Council.

Follow @scheneypeters