30 August 1947 –

Biography

Thomas J. Cutler is a retired lieutenant commander and former gunner’s mate second class who served in patrol craft, cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. His varied assignments included an in-country Vietnam tour, small craft command, and nine years at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he served as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Seamanship & Navigation Department and Associate Chairman of the History Department. While at the Academy, he was awarded the William P. Clements Award for Excellence in Education (military teacher of the year).

He is the founder and former Director of the Walbrook Maritime Academy in Baltimore. Currently he is Fleet Professor of Strategy and Policy with the Naval War College and is the Director of Professional Publishing at the U.S. Naval Institute. Winner of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Naval Literature, the U.S. Naval Institute Press Author of the Year, and the U.S. Maritime Literature Award, his published works include NavCivGuide: A Handbook for Civilians in the U.S. Navy; A Sailor’s History of the U.S. Navy [one of the books in the Chief of Naval Operations Reading Program]; The Battle of Leyte Gulf; Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal & Riverine Warfare in Vietnam; and the 22nd, 23rd (Centennial), and 24th editions of The Bluejacket’s Manual.

His other works include revisions of Jack Sweetman’s The Illustrated History of the U.S. Naval Academy and Dutton’s Nautical Navigation. He and his wife, Deborah W. Cutler, are the co-editors of the Dictionary of Naval Terms and the Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations. His books have been published in various forms, including paperback and audio, and have appeared as main and alternate selections of the History Book Club, Military Book Club, and Book of the Month Club.

He has served as a panelist, commentator, and keynote speaker on military and writing topics at many events and for various organizations, including the Naval History and Heritage Command, Smithsonian Institution, the Navy Memorial, U.S. Naval Academy, MacArthur Memorial Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, U.S. Naval Institute, Armed Forces Electronics Communications and Electronics Association, Naval War College, Civitan, and many veterans’ organizations.

His television appearances include the History Channel’s Biography series, A&E’s Our Century, Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor, and CBS’s 48 Hours.

Published Works:

Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal & Riverine Warfare in Vietnam (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1989). ISBN 0870210114.
The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History, by Jack Sweetman, 2nd edition, revised by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1995)
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 23–26, 1944 (New York: HarperCollins, 1994). ISBN 0060169494; (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2001). ISBN 1557502439.
Dutton’s Nautical Navigation, 15th edition, (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2004)
Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations compiled and edited by Deborah W. Cutler and Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2005)
Dictionary of Naval Terms 6th edition, compiled and edited by Deborah W. Cutler and Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2005)
A Sailor’s History of the U.S. Navy (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2005). ISBN 1591141516, 978-1591141518.
NavCivGuide: A Handbook for Civilians in the U.S. Navy (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2008)
The Bluejacket’s Manual 22nd, 23rd (Centennial) (2002), 24th (2009), and 25th editions. (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute). OCLC 1193370364.
The Citizen’s Guide to the U.S. Navy (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2012)
The U.S. Naval Institute on Naval Strategy, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
The U.S. Naval Institute on Naval Leadership, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
The U.S. Naval Institute on Naval Command, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
The Parent’s Guide to the U.S. Navy, (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2017)
The U.S. Naval Academy: The History, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
The U.S. Naval Academy: The Challenges, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
Women in the Navy: The History, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
Women in the Navy: The Challenges, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
The U.S. Navy Reserve, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2015)
The Panama Canal, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
The United States Coast Guard, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2017)
Vietnam: Coastal and Riverine Warfare, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
Vietnam: A Retrospective, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
The Marine Corps at War, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
Marine Corps Aviation, edited by Thomas J. Cutler (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2016)
The Battle of Leyte Gulf at 75: A Retrospective (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2019)

references:

“2015 Dudley W. Knox Medal Recipients,” Pull Together: Newsletter of the Naval Historical Foundation, vol. 54. no. 3 (Summer 2015), p. A-5
Marquis Who’s Who in the East online
“Thomas J. Cutler”. U.S. Naval Institute.
“Knox Lifetime Achievement Awards Honor Naval Institute Authors”. September 21, 2015.