Casey Coane posted on August 01, 2010 00:12
August 2010 Navy
by Casey Coane
As this issue goes to press, we are finalizing our plans for the Las Vegas conference later this month. It seems that a good number of our members are planning on arriving in time for the tour of Nellis AFB on Wednesday. The Eleventh District has stepped up to the plate to make this conference a success, and we thank them in advance for that effort. We look forward to the Southeast Region doing the same for New Orleans next year. As many of you know, at this conference, we will elect seven members for our first Board of Directors. These Directors will, then, seek out at least three additional members from either inside or outside the Association who will be voted on by the entire membership. The new Board will take on responsibilities beyond those traditionally carried out by our elected officers. While we will still have elected officers, the establishment of a true Board of Directors is a major step ahead for the Association.
On page 9, we have a piece on unmanned vehicles by our summer intern, Colin Macfarlane. If you haven’t noticed, our other intern, Jill Olszewski, now has a blog on our Web site under the advocacy tab. Check it out. Our legislative intern program continues to be a wonderful opportunity for the interns that CAPT Puzon selects, and it continues to enhance the reputation of the Association. We have also had a summer intern helping Ms. Jean Byrd with our Web site and communications. As Mike departs to return college, he will be replaced by another college student who will work for us part time throughout the year, Ms. Jillian Thornton. This added capability will allow us to expand our communications strategy more rapidly.
On that note, our e-newsletter is now sent twice a month, and it contains timely information on our legislative activity as well as other news you should have. If you aren’t receiving it, that is probably because we don’t have a good e-mail address for you. Please update your information with Mark at mark.deville@ausn.org.
This month’s feature is on the new F-35 built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. LM’s guiding principles in developing this aircraft are: Lethal, Survivable, Supportable, and Affordable. Those four drove much of the design work. You may have read that a major hubbub with this next year’s NDAA concerns the second engine for the Lightning II, the GE/Rolls Royce engine. That outcome remains to be seen, but the F-35 is going to be a game changer for the Navy nonetheless, the first truly stealthy carrier aircraft. See the feature on page 16 and don’t forget that you can comment on any article by going to our Web site (www.ausn.org) and clicking on the article.
Next month, our feature will be an interview with VADM Debbink, our third since he took the helm. We will also profile the four Navy Sailors of the Year. Our association has supported the MCPON’S SOY program for the past three years and looks forward to doing so in the future. If you have occasion to visit the Heritage Center at the Naval Memorial in Washington, you will see that AUSN is featured as a sponsor of the SOY Kiosk which is prominently located in the room visited by thousands of tourists each year. Beginning with our October issue, Navy will have a specific theme each month which will be repeated every year. This will allow us to key our potential advertisers to certain issues and, just as importantly, will allow for better planning of our electronic media offerings.
As always, enjoy the read.