Sal Mercogliano is the Chair of the Department of History, Criminal Justice and Political Science at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. He is a former merchant mariner, having worked both afloat and ashore, and an adjunct instructor for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He is the author of Fourth Arm of Defense: Sealift and Military Logistics during the Vietnam War. In 2019, he won Second Place in the Chief of Naval Operations Essay Contest with his submission, Suppose There Was a War and the Merchant Marine Didn’t Come? He is a frequent contributor to gCaptain, Sea History, the Center for International Maritime Security, the United States Naval Institute Proceedings and Sea History magazine. He is a trustee of the National Maritime Historical Society, Vice President of the North American Society for Oceanic History, and on the Advisory Council for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.