Naval Intelligence Essay Contest: Third Place Award for "What is Past is Prologue."

FIRST PRIZE: $5,000 + 1-year USNI Membership
“Nurturing a Revolution in Decision-Making Through Improved Geopolitical Foresight” (NIEC #13-16)
By Lieutenant Andreas Xenachis, USNR

SECOND PRIZE: $2,500 + 1-year USNI Membership*
“Integrate to Dominate” (NIEC #27-16)
By Commander J. Michael Dahm, USN
 
THIRD PRIZE: $1,500 + 1-year USNI Membership**
“What Is Past Is Prologue” (NIEC #8-16)
By Commander Nathaniel (Nate) Bailey, USNR

By agreement, we will post the winners once they have appeared in the USNI Proceedings. We have been gratified by the response and the quality of all the entries, of which many more will be appearing in Proceedings as stand-alone articles.
In third place for his essay "What is Past is Prologue."

 
(CDR Nathaniel "Nate" Bailey accepts his award from NIP Chairman Tony Cothron and Mr. Fred Rainbow, chief editor of the US Naval Institute Press)

CDR Bailey enlisted in the Navy in 1993 and gained an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy where he graduated with the Class of 1998.  After initial flight training, he was transferred to the Navy-Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center in Dam Neck, VA where he was designated a Naval Intelligence Officer in 1999.  Upon completion of Joint Targeting School (with distinction) and TOP GUN Ground School, he was assigned to an F-14D Tomcat Squadron, the Fighting Blacklions of Fighter Squadron 213 (VF-213), based at Oceana Naval Air Station, as the Aviation Intelligence Officer. During VF-213's Western Pacific deployment on the aircraft carrier USS CARL VINSON, the United States of America was attacked on September 11th, 2001. Immediately after the attacks, CDR Bailey served as a key leader in the initial targeting and intelligence planning for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. On the first night of the war, he delivered the first of what would eventually be over four hundred intelligence, targeting, and tactical reconnaissance briefings to the combat aircrew of Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN.  Upon completion of his squadron tour, CDR Bailey was designated as the 2002 F-14 Intelligence Officer of the Year and selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California where he graduated with a masters degree (with distinction) in national security affairs and international relations in 2004.

While at NPS, he also completed JPME I through the U.S. Naval War College and was selected for the Naval Institute Award for the best thesis at NPS. CDR Bailey was then transferred to the Netherlands where he assumed duties as an intelligence staff officer at the joint four-star NATO headquarters overseeing operations in Afghanistan. While in Holland, he deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2005, serving as the Chief of NATO's Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Program in Afghanistan. As Chief of the HUMINT Operations Center (HOC) within the ISAF HQ J2X, he was responsible for overseeing 85 intelligence operatives who handled hundreds of intelligence sources throughout the country. He also participated in the planning of numerous successful high-risk intelligence collection operations. After this combat deployment, he returned to NATO’s Joint Force Command Headquarters in Brunssum, the Netherlands and was selected to serve as the Chief of Plans, Policy, and Requirements for NATO's intelligence mission in Afghanistan. In this role, CDR Bailey coordinated efforts across multiple commands and nations throughout Europe, North America and Southwest Asia to build capacity of the intelligence infrastructure within Afghanistan, while also serving as the lead intelligence representative for all operational planning for ISAF. Transitioning from active duty to the Navy Reserve in late 2007, CDR Bailey served subsequently as the Training, Administrative, and Operations Department Head at EUCOM J2 0166 (Fort Meade, MD) until early 2011, when he reported as the Command Services Officer for ONI 0466 (Suitland, MD).  He assumed responsibilities as the Commanding Officer of NEIC 0106 (Dam Neck, VA) on 01 December 2011, where he led the Navy’s premier reserve HUMINT unit for two years.  He was then selected for follow-on command of SUBLANT INTEL, assuming leadership of this highly operationally-engaged unit in December 2013.

CDR Bailey has been married to Angela since 1998 where they live near Annapolis, Maryland with their four children: Lauren, Lily, Nash and Carte. Read Bailey's "What is Past is Prologue" here.