Captain Beall served 25 years as a surface warfare officer, commanding the USS Rentz (FFG-46) and the Navy Element of Joint Task Force Guantanamo. He holds graduate degrees in operations research and military history.

Articles by Thomas R. Beall

A ship undergoing a depot-level availability—as was the Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) in July 2020—is vulnerable to fire and flooding because watertight integrity and fire boundaries are compromised, the ship easily becomes dirty, and firefighting and damage control equipment are shut down. These hazards can be mitigated only by the vigilance and actions of the crew.

A Catastrophic Mishap

By Captain Thomas Beall, U.S. Navy (Retired)
January 2024
Fostering this attitude in Navy culture may go a long way to preventing a catastrophe such as that which befell the Bonhomme Richard.
HMS Centurion (left) captures the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga off the Philippines.

Anson’s Voyage

By Captain Thomas R. Beall, U.S. Navy (Retired)
August 2023
The circumnavigation of 1740–44 was marked by treasure, tragedy—and lessons that fueled the rise of the Royal Navy as a global force.
ship homecoming

There Is No Zero-Defect Mentality

By Captain Thomas R. Beall, U.S. Navy (Retired)
January 2023
There is a perception that a “zero-defect mentality” within the Navy too-frequently causes relief of commanding officers in an unforgiving and unfair process. This author sees things differently.
The sailors guarding detainees at Guantanamo embraced the Navy’s core values and put them into practice, doing the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do

Honor Bound: Guarding Detainees at Guantanamo

By Captain Thomas R. Beall, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2020
The sailors guarding detainees at Guantanamo embraced the Navy’s core values and put them into practice, doing the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do.
Captain Wayne Hughes, U.S. Navy (Retired)

A Guide to Reading Fleet Tactics

By Captain Thomas R. Beall, U.S. Navy (Retired)
May 2020
With renewed emphasis in the Navy on tactics development and practice, widespread reading of Fleet Tactics has never been more necessary.