THOMAS DUFFY is a retired American diplomat and naval officer writing on issues of naval history and maritime strategy. While on active duty with the Navy, he served in the Tanker War in the Persian Gulf (Operation Earnest Will) aboard USS Cochrane (DDG-21) and as a member of the Strategic Concepts Group (OP-603) on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon (OPNAV), helping to revise the post-Cold War Maritime Strategy. He transferred to the Naval Reserve for a series of staff and command positions, retiring with the rank of Commander. After leaving Navy active duty, Tom went on to serve for 32 years in the US Foreign Service, retiring with the rank of Minister-Counselor (equivalent to SES Level III). Tom's Foreign Service assignments started in Bogota, Colombia, where he supported the search for Pablo Escobar. He later moved to the Middle East, where his tours included helping to re-open the US Embassy in Baghdad, establishing the position of Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) to the US FIFTH Fleet commander in Bahrain, and serving as US Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His final overseas tour was as the acting US Permanent Representative to the UN food security agencies in Rome, Italy. His last active duty assignment with the Foreign Service was teaching about strategy as an assistant professor at the US National War College in Washington, DC.
CDR Tom Duffy, USN (Ret.), received his BA in Government and International Studies from Notre Dame (where he received his commission via NROTC), his MA in War Studies at King's College, London (where he was later elected an Associate of King's College - AKC), and is a graduate of the US Naval War College. He also served as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
HOMEPORT: Northern Virginia/ forays to Long Beach, California
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
Middle East, maritime strategy, navy force structure, applying history to current events, intersection between strategy and policy, general naval and military history.
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:
Tanker War in the Gulf: Operation Earnest Will, Diplomacy and Seapower in Practice (Casemate, 2026)
Multilateral Naval Arrangements in the “Tanker War" in Command at Sea: NATO Maritime Strategies and Naval Operations from the Cold War through Zeitenwende, ISPK Seapower Series, (Institut für Sicherheitspolitik gGmbH (ISPK), 2026)
Fighting Pirates Off the Somali Coast (Casemate, forthcoming)
Stop Phrasing Military Moves as ‘Deterrence’ (Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, October 2025)
"Study, Not Doctrine:" Prioritizing History in Joint Professional Military Education, (Joint Force Quarterly, 2nd Quarter 2024.)