| The Navy
League's 2003 National Convention
The election of a new national president, five new national vice presidents,
a new national judge advocate, and several new region presidents was
one of the many highlights of the Navy League's 2003 National Convention,
18-22 June in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sheila M. McNeill of Brunswick, Ga., the first woman elected to the
Navy League's top post in the organization's 101-year history, asked
convention attendees--and NLUS members throughout the world--to work
with her as the Navy League "moves forward into our second century
of service." McNeill, who was elected senior vice president at the
League's 2002 Winter Meeting in Arlington, Va., succeeds Timothy O. Fanning,
national president for the past two years.
Reelected or newly elected as national vice presidents were: Edwin L.
Carter, Finance; Carter B. Conlin, Region Presidents Liaison; Randy W.
Hollstein, Legislative Affairs; Glen J. Huber, Information Technology;
Harold W. Learson, Youth Programs; Richard C. Macke, Sea Services Liaison;
J. Michael McGrath, Membership and Marketing; Bradley W. Nemeth, Development;
John A. Panneton, Education; and Robert A. Ravitz, Corporate Affairs.
W. Eugene Proctor and Richard H. Kennedy were reelected, respectively,
as national corporate secretary and national secretary. Ward A. Shanahan
was elected as national judge advocate, a post he previously held from
1994 to 2001.
McNeill appointed William C. Kelley Jr., a past national president,
to serve as chairman of the Navy League's National Advisory Council,
succeeding John R. Fisher, also a past national president. She also appointed
two special advisors to the Navy League's Steering Committee: Carol Ann
Hackley, special advisor for public relations; and Peter W. Kent, special
advisor for strategic planning.
Also elected or reelected by the Navy League's 2003-2004 Board of Directors
were 17 region presidents: William J. Evanzia, Empire; Robert J. Silah,
Florida; Roy E. Whitlock, Great Lakes; Joseph A. Gildea, Liberty; Harry
G. Plomarity, Lone Star; James H. Offutt, Mid-Atlantic; James H. Erlinger,
Midwest; Ivan R. Samuels, New England; M. Bruce Van Tassell, Northwest;
P. Pasha Baker, Pacific; Howard M. Backus, Pacific Central; Albert R.
Renteria, Pacific Southwest; Daniel B. Branch Jr., Rocky Mountain; David
E. Morgan, South Atlantic Coast; and Walter H. Reese, Southern. There
are two acting region presidents: Jackson C. Stevens, Caribbean/Mexico;
and Philip R. Temple, European.
Reese, of Southern Region, received another honor, the presentation
by Fanning of the 2003 NLUS Distinguished Service Award, the highest
honor the Navy League bestows on one of its own members.
Among the other highlights of what McNeill described as "a most
enjoyable, productive, and forward-looking convention" at the Hilton
Hawaiian Village in Honolulu were the following:
* The presentation to the Navy League by Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander,
U.S. Pacific Command, of the Secretary of the Navy Award for Group Achievement.
The award, accepted by Fanning, praises the Navy League for more than
100 years of service in "educating the American public of the importance
of a strong Navy and Marine Corps" and for its "contributions
to the men and women of our armed forces and their families."
* The presentation by Rear Adm. Kevin J. Eldridge, the Coast Guard's
assistant commandant for governmental and public affairs, of a Coast
Guard Proclamation, signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge,
praising the NLUS for playing an "instrumental" role in educating
Congress and the American people about Coast Guard "missions and
issues" and for its help in promoting "the largest major acquisition
in the Coast Guard's history, the Integrated Deepwater Systems project."
* The induction into the Navy League Hall of Fame of Richard E. Fahrenwald
of Hawaii. Serendipitously, Fahrenwald served as chairman of this year's
national convention.
* The announcement that eight Navy Leaguers had been selected for high-level
public-service awards from the Secretary of the Navy and/or the U.S.
Coast Guard. Fanning received Distinguished Public Service Awards from
both the Navy and the Coast Guard. McNeill received the Coast Guard's
Distinguished Public Service Award. Navy Superior Public Service Awards
were presented to outgoing National Vice Presidents G. Donald Steel and
James R. Ward. Navy Meritorious Public Service Awards were presented
to incoming National Vice Presidents Randy W. Hollstein and J. Michael
McGrath, and to outgoing Region Presidents Donald D. Clark and Jeanne
Sharkey. n
Additional information on the 2003 NLUS National Convention will be
included in the September issue of The Navy Leaguer.
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