Casey Coane posted on July 01, 2010 00:16
July 2010 Navy
by Casey Coane
This month, we are very pleased to present a feature on the Navy Reserve Top Five Sailors of the Year. Unfortunately, this year, the Navy’s four Sailors of the Year weren’t announced in time to be included in this issue. The Association was pleased to host the Navy Reserve luncheon for the fourth year in a row. We will also be at the MCPON’s Barbeque to present gifts to the four Navy SOYs, and we will attend their CPO pinning ceremony at the Navy Memorial. These are all great events and AUSN is there to play a meaningful role in support of our Navy’s exceptional enlisted members.
Our Las Vegas conference is just around the corner now. If you haven’t made your reservations, time is running out. As of this writing, we have a great tour of Nellis AFB planned for the Wednesday before the conference kicks off. We will see the Predator Training Facility, the Red Flag Operations Center, the museum of former Soviet aircraft (the petting zoo) and other points of interest. Afterwards on Wednesday, we are planning a small reception at the hotel for our Life Benefactors. On Thursday and Friday, there will be a display of SEAL equipment and a few SEALs to answer your questions. Mr. Craig Williams will brief on the Lockheed F-35 Friday morning. VADM Debbink is invited as our speaker for Saturday evening. All of this in a city made for playing, so get onboard. You won’t want to miss this one.
Our second feature this month is the last in a series of articles written by CAPT Dave Mitchell, our Sixth District President. It chronicles the end of his tour in Afghanistan and his return home. This is his fifth article and if you know someone who is getting ready to deploy, they are worth your read. All of them can be found on our Web site at http://bit.ly/bagiL5.
How many of us know about the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps? Most of us have heard of the Army Corps of Engineers. Did you know that, unlike the Army Corps, every officer in the Navy’s CEC is a licensed engineer? Find out more from our guest columnist on page 7.
AUSN’s legislative efforts are extensive, costly, and very productive. Our intern program is topnotch. The Commission on the National Guard and Reserve would not have happened if not for AUSN. TRICARE Reserve Select, TRICARE for “Grey area” retirees and early retirement for deployed Reservists are just a few of the victories in which we played a major role. We have helped hold the line against TRICARE fee increases for three years in a row since that was targeted by DoD. Why is this important? Because legislative efforts are what separate us from many other Navy associations, and it is why Navy people should be members of AUSN. Take, for instance, the Sea Service Leadership Association, the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association, Naval Intelligence Professionals, the National Naval Officers Association, the Association of Naval Services Officers, the Association of Naval Aviation, the Surface Navy Association, the Naval Submarine League. All of these are worthy associations, but none of them work Capitol Hill for the Navy and for Navy people the way that we do. In May, Speaker Pelosi held another of her round table forums for Veterans’ Service Organizations. AUSN was one of three associations invited to present in that forum. None of the associations I listed above were in the room (ANA, SNA & the Submarine League would not be expected to be there). This is important because we need to have Navy people recognize that we are an important independent voice for them and for the Navy. I may be preaching to the choir, but it is time for the choir to start preaching.
As always, enjoy the read.