Introduced By: Senators Kelly, Paiva Weed and Cicilline
Date Introduced : May 12, 1998
Referred To: Senate Read and Passed
WHEREAS, Professor Richard J. (Jack) Grunawalt is retiring after many years of dedicated service to his Country and the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island; and
WHEREAS, Professor Jack Grunawalt's is the "Father of Operational Law"; and
WHEREAS, Professor Grunawalt's brilliant writings and teachings gave birth to a body of law for Naval Operations around the globe and have continued to make Newport, and the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the focus of naval scholarship in the world today; and
WHEREAS, From 1959 to 1985, he served as a commissioned Navy Judge Advocate with assignments such as: Deputy Director of the Naval Law Center, DaNang, Vietnam; Staff Judge Advocate for the Commander, Seventh Fleet; Special Counsel to the Chief of Naval Operations; and Staff Judge Advocate for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command. During the latter assignment, he also served as counsel to the Long Commission, which investigated the tragic bombing in October 1983 of the Marine Battalion Landing Team Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon; and
WHEREAS, Professor Grunawalt joined the Naval War College faculty in 1986, as the Charles H. Stockton Professor of International Law, the College's oldest and most prestigious academic chair, previously held by some of the foremost international legal scholars in the United States this century. Professor Grunawalt was the first military officer to move directly from active service to the Chair, and he held it for an unprecedented three years; and
WHEREAS, Professor Grunawalt's is the author of the Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations. This official U.S. Navy publication has been updated twice, expanded into a separate annotated edition for uniformed lawyers, and translated into Spanish and German. It is not only regarded as the finest military manual of its kind in the world, it has been instrumental in shaping international law principles to preserve essential navigational rights and freedoms, and to ensure that the legal regime regulating the means and methods of warfare realistically reflects U.S. military requirements. It has become a primary source of guidance for many of the world's Naval Forces; and
WHEREAS, In 1989, as a result of the UN Law of the Sea Conference and the complex legal policy issues which had arisen in the just concluded Iran/Iraq Tanker War, the War College saw the need to increase its research capability for oceans law. It established the Oceans Law and Policy Department with Professor Grunawalt as its first Director. Those issues - high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight, innocent passage through territorial seas, transit passage of international straits, neutral and belligerent rights, naval targeting, mine and counter-mine warfare, the inherent right of self defense, and flag nation authority and responsibility over merchant shipping - have since been further complicated in an ever shrinking world by maritime intercept operations, no-fly zones, counter-narcotic operations, and peace operations under the UN Charter. Under Professor Grunawalt's dynamic direction, the Naval War College has been at the forefront in addressing these difficult issues; and
WHEREAS, In response to the Iraqi Exocet missile attack on USS STARK, Professor Grunawalt developed an intense three-day course in Operational Law which is regularly and successfully presented to fleet audiences through the world. He followed this with similar courses for the Joint Targeting School and courses on the Rules of Engagement for the aviation, surface, and submarine warfare communities; and
WHEREAS, Through teaching the War College's visiting foreign students, and their exposure to his Commander's Handbook, Professor Grunawalt developed a relationship with military officers who rose to the very top of their nation's armed force. At their request and consistent with the initiative of the Chief of Naval Operations to improve cooperation between the U.S. Navy and Latin American Navy, the Oceans Law and Policy Department developed two and three day operational law instructional packages which is now presents annually at the Naval War Colleges of Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela; and
WHEREAS, In the area of legal scholarship, Professor Grunawalt has overseen the renaissance of the War College's highly regard International Law Studies (the "Blue Book") series as editor and contributed, along with the world's most highly respected international law scholars, to ten volumes during his tenure. He also hosted naval warfare symposia and international participation on Targeting Enemy Merchant Shipping, Legal and Moral Constraints on Low-Intensity Conflict, and also on Protection of the Environment During Armed Conflict and Other Military Operations; and
WHEREAS, Professor Jack Grunawalt has brought great honor and enhanced prestige to the Naval War College and the State of Rhode Island. He has had a more significant impact on the legal regimes regulating the conduct of naval operations than any other lawyer, military or civilian, in recent history. His legacy as the "Father of Operational Law" will endure for decades to come; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby congratulates Professor Jack Grunawalt on his retirement after many years of dedicated service to the United States. He is an inspiration to us all; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Professor Richard J. (Jack) Grunawalt.
