Edward F. Welch Jr. (13 November 1924 – 2 January 2008) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy active during much of the Cold War.

His career included service as a submarine officer, positions related to nuclear warfare planning, arms control, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization affairs, and a tour as president of the Naval War College.

He attended the University of Rhode Island and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before enlisting in the United States Navy in 1943 during World War II.

[1][2] He graduated in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree,[2] and after his commissioning that year he served in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Eversole (DD-789) and in the post-World War II occupation of Japan.

[2] After leaving Odax, Welch studied international affairs at Harvard University, receiving a master's degree in public administration in 1962.

Standing Consultative Commission in 1977 and 1978 and was part of the delegation that accompanied President Jimmy Carter to the SALT II strategic arms limitation talks summit in Vienna, Austria, in June 1979.