Captain
Donald S. Inbody, USN (Ret)
Captain
Donald S. Inbody, USN (Ret)
Don Inbody is presently doctoral candidate at the University of Texas, Austin. He is interested in sharing his expertise in leadership and management with a challenging position in higher education, state government, or with a non-profit company. Besides American Government, he has taught Leadership and Ethics, Middle Eastern Politics and History, International Relations, and Introduction to Islam. He specializes in American Civil Military Relations.
His background includes not only leading Sailors and Marines under difficult and challenging circumstances, but with taking organizations, determining the best strategy for success, and taking it to the next level of achievement. He is recognized for having the ability of strategic thought, enough curiosity to seek new ways to solve old problems, and the character to stand up for what is right.
Captain Inbody developed and taught the Leadership and Ethics curriculum at the Naval ROTC Unit at the University of Texas. This curriculum, based on classical philosophers combined with practical modern case studies, led students through the maze of ethical and moral thinking. A challenging course, he encouraged his students to be able to speak and write about what they really thought on critical issues of moral and ethical import.
He has also maintained a strong technical background, both from his naval career (dealing in computers, networks, and sonars) and his private life (he is an active amateur radio operator holding an FCC Amateur Extra class license, the highest level available.)
Always able to find a way to creatively relax, Don Inbody is a member of the musical group BuffaloGrass, a trio that likes to perform traditional bluegrass, cowboy, and folk music to local crowds. He is also a baritone (and Executive Vice President) with the Heart of Texas Chorus, a men's barbershop chorus in the Central Texas Corridor. The Heart of Texas Chorus is a perennial competitor at the Barbershop Harmony Society International competition and is the current (2007) Southwest District Champion chorus.
A native of Kansas, Captain Inbody graduated from Wichita State University in 1973. After teaching in the Kansas public schools for three years, earning a Masters Degree also from Wichita State, and teaching at Kansas Newman College for two years, he enlisted in the Navy as a Third Class Radioman. He was then selected for Officer Candidate School and was commissioned an Ensign in February 1979. His first sea tour was in USS REASONER (FF 1063), serving as Damage Control Assistant, CIC Officer, and Operations Officer. He then attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, earning a Master of Arts in National Security Affairs, specializing in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Africa. Following Department Head School, he served as Operations Officer in USS ALAMO (LSD 33) and USS HARRY W HILL (DD 986).
Ordered to the United States Naval Academy, Captain Inbody taught in the Political Science Department for three years. His course assignments included American Government, International Relations, and Middle Eastern Politics and History. He also served as Executive Assistant to the Director, Division of U. S. and International Studies. During his last year at the Naval Academy, he was assigned as Director, Educational Resources Center.
He reported to USS FORD (FFG 54) in the summer of 1992 as Executive Officer. While serving as Executive Officer, he oversaw the installation of the first GPS units in frigates and directed a detailed analysis of practical use of GPS in in-shore navigation. He presented his findings to a GPS Conference in 1993. In 1994 he was assigned to the Appropriations Matters Office of the Office of the Navy Comptroller as a congressional liaison officer, working with the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittees on the annual Defense Appropriations Bill and Navy budget issues.
Captain Inbody assumed command of USS DULUTH (LPD 6) in May 1996. While in command of DULUTH, he oversaw the first installation of a computer network in an amphibious ship. In December 1997 he transferred to Sasebo, Japan, assuming duty the Chief Staff Officer for Amphibious Squadron Eleven. While with COMPHIBRON 11, he participated in numerous contingency operations including OPERATION DESERT FOX. He also served as the senior naval liaison to the Commander, U.S. Forces, INTERFET, in support of operations in East Timor. He also directed the Y2K at-sea test for the United States Seventh Fleet.
He then attended the Naval War College in Newport, RI, graduating with distinction as the President’s Honor Graduate.
He was then transferred to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I) in April 2001 and assumed the duties of the Director, Joint C4ISR Decision Support Center, a DOD think tank conducting research and analysis for modern computer, networking, and command and control systems. During his tenure as Director, the Center conducted detailed analysis of the various computer and networking systems used in Command and Control as well as detailed analysis of intelligence interconnection.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, he was detached from the Pentagon on temporary service to the Arabian Gulf to serve as the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Coalition Naval Forces Commander, Rear Admiral James Burnell-Nugent. He worked closely with naval officers from several navies participating in the naval war against Al Qaeda. He was also the Operational Plans Officer for the U. S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, responsible for the Operations Orders controlling the naval blockade searching for escaping Al Qaeda operatives.
Captain Inbody became the 23rd Commanding Officer of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit at the University of Texas at Austin in August 2003, leaving that post in August 2006. He retired on January 1, 2007.
He is now a Ph. D. student at the University of Texas in the Government Department working on a specialty in Civil-Military Relations.
His personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), and the Navy Achievement Medal. He and his wife, Jeannine, live in Buda, Texas.