Acknowledgements
Books such as this are the products of contributions by many people, not just the authors’ musings. MARITIME TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS has benefited from the review of numerous experts in the field, who gave generously of their time and expertise. In addition to our subject matter experts, this book was reviewed by sources in the two federal agencies who must remain anonymous and by export / procedural / security /OVRP/ADA/RSO committees at KSU. Their contributions were especially helpful in not releasing protected information, CLASSIFIED, or “DEEMED EXPORTABLE” categories. We will name only a few and miss some special friends whose contributions were noteworthy. For this, we sincerely apologize in advance and beg their forgiveness.
There are many people we would like to shout out a special thank you for your guidance, continued support and experience from Kansas State University / Kansas State University Aerospace and Technologies Campus (AT) – Salina, Kansas: Dr. Richard Linton, KSU President; Dr. Debbie Mercer, Dean of Education School, and prior Interim Provost, Dr. Jesse Perez Mendez serves as Provost and Executive Vice President of Kansas State University; Dr. Richard Myers, retired President KSU; Dr. Brad Woods, Associate vice president for research; Dr. Murry Streetman, KSU Research Security Officer/Facility Security Officer; Dr. Kurt C. Barnhart, prior Associate Dean of Research and Executive Director of the UAS Research Laboratory KSU-AT; Dr. Alysia Starkey, Dean & CEO of KSU-AT; Professor Troy Harding, Director of Academics, School of Integrated Studies (SIS) KSU-AT (and super boss); Dean Dr. Michael Pritchard current Director of Graduate Studies KSU-AT; Dr. Kurt Carraway, Executive Director UAS; Joel Anderson, prior KSU OVPR and Research Director; Randall Mai, Research Technologist for KSU-AT.
We had some wonderful outside SMEs to bounce ideas off and get our heads straight. They were Dr. Julie J.C.H. Ryan, SME in Intelligence and INFOSEC plus Wildcat author; Dr. Dan J. Ryan, experienced SME / lawyer in intelligence, cryptography, and global defenses; and Dr. Siny Joseph, KSU-AT Professor of economics and policy.
Special thanks to Dr. Paul T. Schwennesen, PhD., M.A. (Harvard), B.S. (USAF Academy), Combat Logistics Volunteer in Ukraine, and leader of Global Strategy Decisions Group https://www.gsdglobal.world/ for his assistance on Chapter 4 with Col (Ret.) Doug DeMaio as coauthor.
We were fortunate to have Kira Nichols build our beautiful cover art for Maritime Transportation Systems.
