VADM Richard G. Colbert, undated

Captain McNulty presented his papers to the Naval War College through the Naval War College Foundation on August 15, 1979. The papers cover the period 1950-1977 and document his career in the Navy. The ten box manuscript collection is divided into five series.

Series I, Correspondence, consists of personal correspondence received or sent by CAPT - McNulty, letters sent by VADM Richard G. Colbert and ADM Elmo R. Zumwalt and official and personal correspondence in a career file which outlines McNulty's career in the Navy.

Series II, Speeches, contains the speeches CAPT McNulty wrote or edited for ADM - Arleigh Burke, VADM Richard G. Colbert, ADM Ralph Cousins, RADM W. Thompson, and ADM Elmo R. Zumwalt, 1969-1974. This is the largest series in the collection and the bulk of it consists of speeches for A~M Zumwalt who was Chief of Naval Operations at the time (1970-1974).

The Navy was going through significant changes during this period: the revamping of an obsolete and shrinking Naval force, the growing global navy of the Soviet Union, the impact of the Nixon Doctrine on foreign and Naval policy, the dissatisfaction of Navy personnel with the service, and a general re-organization of the Naval War College. The speeches give an invaluable contemporary view of these events and of ten outline plans of action which have since taken place. A speech made on March 19, 1971, to the OPNAV Commanders is an overview of what ADM. Zumwalt hoped to accomplish during his term as CNO; it includes a transcript of the question and answer period which followed. A proposed article for Outlook and one written in 1973 or 1974 for the American Ordnance Association magazine specifically address the nature and type of chailges which had been or would be implemented during the 1970s.

The third series contains the writings of CAPT McNulty which include student papers for various degrees and Naval War College courses, manuals, published and unpublished articles, and memos and handouts. A growing concern of the time was the shifting balance of sea power between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Second International Seapower Symposium held in November 1971 at the Naval War College was a focal point for this concern and McNulty's writings frequently center on this subject. Many of them were published in the United States Naval Institute Proceedings and the Naval War College Review. Some of the writings stem from the ongoing changes at the War College.

These include proposals and memos discussing curriculum changes and the objectives and mission of the college. Relating to this is a paper written for the master's degree program at the University of Rhode Island in which McNulty discusses the National Sea-Grant College program and whether it was working as expected.

On a less academic level are the manuals and handouts: "Mooring in One Thousand Fathoms", published in the USNI Proceedings, and the "Ocean Towing Procedures Manual" which was worked on in the early and mid 1960s; and handouts such as the ones warning about what to expect when an inspection was called for your ship and crew. McNulty also worked with RADM. Henry E. Eccles on a compendium and handbook on American sea power for the Navy League in 1970.

The Subject Files make up the fourth series in the collection. These contain the research materials brought together by McNulty as background and reference sources for the various papers and speeches he was writing. The files contain copies of newspaper and magazine articles, symposium transcripts, speeches, papers, and government publications.

The final series, Miscellany, contains three files of notes and notebooks dating from circa 1970-1971, various addresses, some Naval War College material, Naval officer complaints, Vietnam War statistics, writing and publishing regulations and articles, and photographs. These latter are of McNulty's family, events and groups at the Naval War College, and U.S. Naval ships.

The tenth box of papers contains classified speeches and writings. This box is currently unavailable for research.