Casey Coane posted on September 01, 2010 00:13
September 2010 Navy
by Casey Coane
By the time that you are reading this, we will have completed our National Conference in Las Vegas. One of the difficulties with publishing deadlines is that I am writing this a full two weeks before the conference so I can’t speak to our success. I can say that the move to establish our first Board of Directors is a major step for the Association. The first seven members selected in Las Vegas are now charged with recruiting the remaining members of the Board who will be voted upon by all of you. Our plan is to have a ballot in the October magazine. Once the full Board is established, that will be the governing body of the Association. In the future, a third of the Board will turn over each year via a general membership ballot. A Board which provides a mix of members with a sense of our history and purpose as well as members with the business experience, military experience, and contacts to help further that purpose is essential to our collective future. This is huge and we should all thank the Strategic Planning Committee for the hard work and due diligence that led to the Constitutional change in Jacksonville and now the election of the Board.
Those of you who are regular readers of Navy know that the past two years have been full of change, and I’m not talking about a new Administration and Congress; I am speaking of our Association. We have changed our name and broadened our horizon. We have renamed our flagship magazine and changed it significantly. We have moved from two conferences a year to one. We have changed our governance model to a Board of Directors. We have launched our first Navy Now Forum in Washington and will soon have our second in San Diego. None of these changes have been easy. What we haven’t changed is this: Our commitment to Navy people, Active, Reserve, Officer, Enlisted, serving and retired. We remain steadfast in that and we work those issues on Capitol Hill five days a week. While our Strategic Planning Committee has provided some new wording, our vision remains the same: to be the Leading Voice for America’s Sailors and the Premier Advocate for a Strong Navy. That is what this Association has always been about and that is what will continue to drive our efforts.
This month, we have two features, the Navy’s Four Sailors of the Year on page 22 and our third interview with VADM Dirk Debbink, Chief of Navy Reserve. The SOY foursome is historic in that all four are women. Our Association sponsored gifts for each of them and was represented at the ceremony where they were advanced to Chief Petty Officer. We continue to sponsor the kiosk at the Navy Memorial where their service is highlighted for all visitors to see.
Admiral Debbink’s interview on page 16 was conducted by our National VP for Communications, CDR Aaron Bresnahan. This interview demonstrates our continued link to the Navy Reserve and issues that are important to Reservists. We work closely with Admiral Debbink and FORCE Master Chief Ronney Wright each month. Next month, we will bring you an interview with the Secretary of the Navy, also conducted by CDR Bresnahan.
As the November elections draw near, there will be more and more press coverage and more of you will be considering your vote. The Association tries hard not to take a stand that is overtly supportive of one party or the other and, when we get too close to taking sides, you remind us. We do take positions in favor of particular legislation that is important to our Navy and Navy people. CAPT Puzon sends out legislative alerts, by e-mail message, frequently. You don’t have to wait for an alert, however. At any time you can go to our Web site www.ausn.org and use the “Contact Congress” button to engage our CAPWIZ system to send a message on an issue that concerns you. You can be a part of our national solution instead of just reading about the national problem.
As always, enjoy the read.