A Navy League Agenda: Duty, Honor and Country

By JOHN A. PANNETON, National President

To my fellow Navy League members and friends of the Navy League: I am honored and humbled to be your president, and I look forward to the next two years with confidence and conviction. We must get back to basics and work together as a team if the Navy League is to continue to be successful in the future. Navy League members and friends, and those who wear the uniforms of our sea services, share an abiding belief in duty, honor and country.

The Navy League today is an organization with a proud history and a promising future.

For 103 years, the hard work, innovation and dedication of thousands of Navy League members has honed our reputation as an organization that makes a genuine difference in the lives of our sea service members, their families and our nation.

In Washington, the Navy League is a leader in the continuous struggle to provide the sea services with the tools and resources requisite for the national defense. Across the country and around the world, our councils are renowned for their world-class hospitality to units of the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flagged Merchant Marine. From Naples to New York and Sacramento to Singapore, we sponsor ships’ commissionings, welcome-home events, unit adoptions and provide support for the sea services’ members of the year programs with a single mission in mind: To say, “Thank you!” to the men and women of our sea services for the outstanding work they do to protect our nation, our friends and our allies.

The Navy League must change with the times and the difficult situations facing our country in the future. We will be more effective in the years ahead only if our organization continues to develop and prosper through an increase in our membership. Frankly, our membership numbers should be better. Each individual in our organization faces an important task: bringing in new members and, most importantly, retaining them. Navy Leaguers will more likely renew their memberships and stay engaged if they are given responsibility and made to feel a part of the team. We must build the membership and profit from the fresh ideas and innovations that will surely follow. This essential task falls to the councils — the backbone of the Navy League — with strong support from the national staff. Councils that continuously reach out to their communities will reap the benefits in the form of community support for the sea services, heightened interest in the Navy League and new members for our organization.

The U.S. Naval Sea Cadets provide a great way to reach out, encourage our youth and attract new members. Each year, thousands of young Americans benefit from membership in the Sea Cadets, a superb organization founded and sponsored by the Navy League. And parents tend to join the organizations that support their children. Each council should have a strong bond with the Sea Cadets.

Reserve and veterans’ organizations are terrific recruiting grounds for Navy League councils, as are local police, firefighters and other first responder groups.

How many of your friends and neighbors have said they “want to do something” to help win the Global War on Terror? A terrific way to join the fight is by joining the Navy League. Invite them. Involve them, and our organization will grow.

The monthly lunch and dinner programs of many of our councils are among our most effective means of reaching out to others. We must tell the Navy League story to our communities and also to our sea service members, officer and enlisted, particularly those in the lower ranks. I feel strongly that we need to continue to pursue and educate our enlisted sea service members and their families about the Navy League. They will spread the word about our organization, support it as they rise through the ranks and become Navy Leaguers on the day they are eligible. Meanwhile, the spouses, children and parents of many active-duty members are today ardent supporters of the Navy League.

We must move forward together as a team, remembering the words of Theodore Roosevelt, the father of the Navy League, who said: “The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight.” That is a superb guideline for the growth of our great organization.

Thank you for your support and confidence. Together we can make a difference. I seek your advice and counsel to help build our organization. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please contact me at one of the addresses below.

Membership and retention are the keys to the future success of the Navy League.

Semper Fidelis.

I want to hear from you about the Navy League. Contact me at jpanneton@navyleague.org or by mail at 2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201-3308.