About Sal Mercogliano

Salvatore R. Mercogliano is an Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina and teaches courses in World Maritime History and Maritime Security. He is also an adjunct professor with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and offers a graduate level course in Maritime Industry Policy. A former merchant mariner, he sailed and worked ashore for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. His book, Fourth Arm of Defense: Sealift and Maritime Logistics in the Vietnam War, available through the Naval History and Heritage Command.

One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for the Merchant Marine

July 21, 2019 by Sal Mercogliano

By Salvatore R. Mercogliano - As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of mankind’s first steps upon the lunar surface, many have focused their attention to the heavens, but a key component of the success of that first landing on the Moon resides upon the Earth’s oceans with ships crewed by merchant mariners. Many specials are showcasing the career of Astronaut Neil Armstrong … [Read more...]

It Looks Like We Are Going To Have to Swim For It – The End of the Army’s Navy

July 12, 2019 by Sal Mercogliano

Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D. - In June 1898, an American fleet arrived off the coast of Daiquiri, Cuba. On board the ships, 16,000 men of the U.S. Army V Corps waited to offload and launch the invasion to liberate Cuba from the Spanish. The thirty-eight transports came from the coastal and ocean-going merchant marine of the United States. Not since Vera Cruz … [Read more...]

The Tanker War, Part II: A Historical Perspective

June 14, 2019 by Sal Mercogliano

By Sal R. Mercogliano - The June 13, 2019 attacks on MV Front Altair and MV Kokuka Courageous, following the assault on four tankers at the anchorage of Fujairah on May 12, has raised the specter of a naval confrontation between Iran and the United States. This method of assault and conflict between these two nations is not new. The United States and Iran were embroiled in an … [Read more...]

On National Maritime Day, Where is the U.S. Merchant Marine?

May 22, 2019 by Sal Mercogliano

May 22 is National Maritime Day in the United States. Initiated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, it commemorates the sailing of the American steamship Savannah across the Atlantic to England in 1819. Since 1933, the date has been celebrated as a recognition for all those merchant mariners who have sailed in the past and the present, and honor those … [Read more...]

To Waive or Not To Waive, that is the Jones Act Question?

April 30, 2019 by Sal Mercogliano

By Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D. - Maritime news hubs and trade associations are abuzz with rumors that the Trump Administration is considering a waiver of the nearly 100-year-old Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly referred to as the Jones Act, for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A ten-day waiver was passed in the fall of 2017 during relief operations … [Read more...]