ABSTRACT
He was commissioned as an Ensign in the Naval Reserve from the USN Officer Candidate School in February 1965, and served in the destroyers USS O’Brien, 1965-67, USS Purdy, 1969-71, and USS Fiske, 1971-72. In 1972-73 he was assigned to the US Naval War College as an instructor, research associate and research assistant to the President, becoming a Lieutenant. He returned to civilian status as a Lieutenant and became an assistant and then an associate professor at the War College, 1977-81. He was named a professor of naval history there in 1983. Hattendorf became the Ernest J.King Professor of Maritime History at the War College in 1984 and Director, Advanced Research Department in 1988.
