Naval History and Heritage Command

The mission of the OPNAV Historical Support Team is to educate and support Navy Leadership. The team of Naval Historians who comprise this section will focus on meeting the command’s mission and practical obligation to:

• Preserve and use hard-won historical experience to inform decision-making at the most senior levels of the Navy.
• Provide historical lessons learned to Navy Leadership to assist in accomplishing the Navy’s missions.
• Assist Navy leadership in meeting operational readiness, policy, acquisition, and professional development requirements with rapid response to requests for assistance.
• Enable the Navy to continually learn and adapt to an ever-changing strategic environment using historical knowledge and perspectives.
• The OPNAV Historical Support team will work closely with senior Navy leadership, civilian executives, and OPNAV action officers to provide historical context on the complex issues and challenges confronting the Navy today. Recognizing that past events often can illuminate present problems, the team members will provide focused historical research and analysis that helps Navy decision-makers develop sound policies and make well-informed decisions. The team will retain information and institutional knowledge for select offices to support leadership transition and enable easy access to information on prior programmatic decision-making. The team will also support senior Navy leaders’ public engagement activities, providing historical data to inform SECNAV’s and CNO’s prepared remarks and promote their thoughtful engagement with Sailors, the American public, international counterparts, and the media.

The OPNAV Historical Support team of the Histories Branch provides a variety of services to Navy Leadership as well as to the general public:

• Historical Studies (White Papers, Short Studies, Analytical Studies)
• Senior Leader Oral Histories
• OPNAV Inquiries
• Targeted Research
• Decision Making Support

Members of the OPNAV Historical Support Team

• Dr. Shawn Woodford - Team Leader

Naval Historians

• Dr. Jon Middaugh
• Mr. Chris Havern
• Dr. Tyler Pitrof
• Dr. Daniel Curzon
• Dr. Eric Perinovic

Available for free in the following format: 508-compliant PDF (3.5 MB)