Ready Then, Ready Now, Ready Always: More Than a Century of Service by Citizen Sailors

Ready Then, Ready Now, Ready Always: More Than a Century of Service by Citizen Sailors coincides with the centennial anniversary of the U.S. Navy Reserve on March 3, 2015. However, as the title indicates, Americans have been leaving their civilian occupations since the birth of the Navy in 1775 to serve the nation at sea during times of crises. This handsomely illustrated narrative aims to tell the story of those civilians' contributions to the nation's defense and security. Twelve chapters narrate the contributions of citizen-Sailors in the 19th century and the Navy Reserve during World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq, and continuing conflicts today. Besides providing a broad chronology covering how citizen-Sailors served as privateers, naval militiamen, National Naval Volunteers, Naval Reservists, and finally, simply as Sailors as part of the one Navy concept, the author elected to follow numerous individuals on their journeys in the Navy Reserve as representative stories of the millions of Americans who once wore Navy blue part-time. By highlighting the contributions of these individuals, the intent is to honor all who served in the USNR as well as salute their families for their service to country.

David F. Winkler earned his Ph.D. in 1998. from American University. His dissertation Cold War at Sea: High Seas Confrontation between the U.S. and Soviet Union was published in 2000 by the Naval Institute Press. He wrote Amirs, Admirals, and Desert Sailors: The U.S. Navy, Bahrain, and the Gulf which was published by Naval Institute Press in 2007, and was managing editor of The Navy, an illustrated coffee table book published by the Foundation. His latest book Ready Then, Ready Now, Ready Always covers the history of the Navy Reserve. At the Naval Historical Foundation he is the Director of Programs which includes Oral History collection. Winkler received his commission as a Navy ensign in 1980 through the Navy ROTC unit at Penn State. In addition to a B.A. in Political Science, he has an M.A. in International Affairs from Washington University. He is a retired Navy Reserve commander.