An Association on the move

December 2010 Navy

by Casey W. Coane

This issue brings us to the end of a very busy year, one full of change, hope, and promise. This month, we elected our four newest Board members by the process of our first member-wide ballot. Our fully constituted Board of eleven members will meet in Alexandria on the sixth of January. This is a big step forward for the Association and a long time coming since Past President Hardy first challenged the Transition Committee to explore this issue. We have also reorganized this year into Regions matching the Navy’s regions, and we have new Regional Presidents, pp 27. This year, we have added more than 150 retired Active Component Flag officers to our roster and a lot of NROTC Midshipmen. In spite of the economy, advertising revenue continues to climb. These are all positive signs for our Association, an association on the move.

As a result of all of the rebranding over the past two years, we occasionally get e-mail asking who we are or where we are going. With this issue, we have included the mission and vision statements adopted by our Strategic Planning Committee, p2. The vision is simple: “We will strive to become the leading voice for America’s Sailors and the premier advocate for a strong Navy.” As we have said numerous times, one thing that separates us from other fine associations is our legislative work on Capitol Hill five days a week. That is where funding decisions are made, that is where Veterans’ issues are supported or not, and that is where we are.

As we write this column, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has not been passed. It was held up by issues such as the second engine for the F-35 and some social issues that were tacked on. Now, it is in the hands of the “lame duck” session. As always, time will tell; but this inability of Congress to act in a timely fashion does a tremendous disservice to those in uniform.

This fall, we added Ms. Kenya Houston to the staff as our Director of Business Development. Kenya is already at work on our first Career Development Symposium planned for next October. This brings our total full-time staff to eight members – still fewer than we would like but a significant improvement to our capabilities over the four full-time and two part-time of a few years ago. We have also added Ms. Jillian Thornton as a part-time employee. Jillian is a college student with a journalism background working on our communications.

Our feature this month is from our colleagues at the National Military Family Association. They do terrific work for the families of all service men and women. Find their column on page 22. This month, our Senior Enlisted Voice is from FORCM Bradley LeVault, Command Master Chief for Naval Forces Europe and Africa. This column continues to provide important insight into the thinking of our senior enlisted and you can find it on page 14.

This holiday time of the year is joyous for many and bittersweet for others as they celebrate their religious beliefs while an important loved one is deployed overseas. Personally, I am very thankful that, today, in this country, our military men and women are respected for who they are and the sacrifices they make. Somewhere in your community there is something you can do to say thank you this holiday season. Just a thought.

As always enjoy the read.