By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
St. Maarten Navy Leaguers welcomed the first
U.S. aircraft carrier to visit the island in more than
five years over the Easter holiday weekend when the USS George
Washington arrived for a liberty call and the largest
community relations (ComRel) service project ever undertaken
by the U.S. Navy on the island.
More than 270 sailors from George Washington,
led by Rear Adm. Joseph E. Kilkenny, commander of the George
Washington Carrier Strike Group, and Capt. Gary White, the
carrier’s commanding officer, donned work clothes and
manned picks, shovels, welding equipment, paint brushes and
rollers, and many other tools to dedicate their first day
of liberty to the various projects that were part of the
ComRel effort, according to Jackson C. Stevens, Navy League
national vice president for international affairs and former
St. Maarten Council president.
With the St. Peters community area of the
island as the focal point, George Washington crew, local
Navy Leaguers, Rotarians, community leaders and students
performed more than 1,200 total man-hours of work over the
weekend.
The group cleared Hillside Christian School
and Prins Willem Alexander School grounds of brush and weeds,
removed tons of litter, repaired broken gates and fences,
applied more than 100 gallons of paint to buildings and fences,
and prepared a hillside for the planting of a vegetable garden
for the children of the “I Can” Foundation home.
In spite of all the work, the sailors still
found time to meet and play games with children from the
foundation during the projects, Stevens said. The children
also took part in an Easter Egg hunt courtesy of Cost-U-Less
and its manager, Eric Vogtlander, a Navy League member.
After the work was finished, Navy Leaguers
from the island and guests of the St. Maarten Consul General
were treated to a reception aboard the carrier. The George
Washington Carrier Strike Group was in the area participating
in Partnership of the Americas, a maritime training and readiness
deployment of the U.S. naval forces with Caribbean and Latin
American countries in support of the U.S. Southern Command
objectives for enhanced maritime security.
The projects were organized in the weeks
prior to the visit by George Washington Chaplain Jim Edwards,
the ship’s ComRel coordinator, and Asha Stevens, the
ComRel coordinator for St. Maarten, along with Rolando Tobias
of the St. Peters Community Council, St. Maarten Council
President Art Nutcher and council member Thom Meerman, who
also is a member of the Mid-Isle Rotary Club, which provided
material and labor support.
Edwards said that, thanks to the great work
done in advance by people on the island, the Easter weekend
visit was one of the most successful ComRel projects completed
by George Washington volunteers.
Navy League Names Outstanding Councils
The Navy League’s Council Awards Committee
has selected 10 “Outstanding Councils” for 2005.
Eleven others were named as “Meritorious Councils,” with
six chosen for “Honorable Mention” recognition.
Awards are based on a review of council
annual reports, which are due in by March 1. Committee members
grade council activities — community education, legislative
affairs, working with local sea-service units and personnel,
membership recruitment and retention, youth activities and
work with U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps programs, establishing
relationships with local businesses and industry — performed
on behalf of the Navy League during the previous year.
The selected councils will be recognized
at the Navy League National Convention in mid-July in St.
Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Three councils also will be
recognized for the highest membership retention in their
respective categories: small, medium and large councils.
The following councils (their 2005 presidents’ names
are in parentheses) were selected:
OUTSTANDING COUNCILS
- Bremerton-Olympic
Peninsula, Wash. (Roger A. Nance Jr. ); Golden Isles, Ga.
(Charles Winn Philips and Hubert W. Lang III); Hampton
Roads, Va. (Owen B. Pickett); Mayport, Fla. (Robert Lowenthal);
National Capital, Washington, D.C. (Al J. Bernard); Pittsburgh
(Paula Bozdech-Veater); San Diego (Curtis A. Beauchamp);
Santa Barbara, Calif. (Connie O. Los); Savannah, Ga. (Hugh
L. Robinson); Seattle (David A. Brumley).
MERITORIOUS COUNCILS
- Broward County, Fla. (Joseph
Giambrone); Central Kentucky (Wayne Smiley); Glenview,
Ill. (Barry J. Jacobson); Greater Central Texas (Max
K. Miller); Lake Washington, Wash.; (Ronald S. Matthew);
Newport County, R.I. (George A. Wardwell); Richmond,
Va. (Joseph A. Moschetti); San Diego County Women (Joan
C. Mitchell); Sasebo, Japan (Gerald C. Havens); Space
Coast, Fla. (Francis J. Reilly); Treasure Coast, Fla.
(Roland G. Guilbault).
HONORABLE MENTION COUNCILS
- Atlanta Metropolitan (Harley
T. Jones); Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Robert W. Kirk); Eastern
Connecticut (John D. Porter); Greater Chattanooga,
Tenn. (Willard C. Zimmerman); New York (Daniel
M. Thys); Oak Harbor, Wash. (Joseph P. Mololino).
HIGHEST MEMBER RETENTION
- Large
Council: Northern Virginia (Nancy
F. Gorell): 84 percent;
- Medium Council: Carson City, Nev. (Elizabeth
R. Brogan): 92 percent;
- Small Council:
Oregon’s Rogue Valley
(John F. Howard): 97 percent.
Quick Thinking Earns NSCC Commander Service
Ribbon
U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC) Lt. Cmdr.
Philip Winteringham, commanding officer of the NSCC James
M. Hannan Division in Michigan, was presented with the NSCC
Distinguished Service Ribbon for helping save the life of
a fellow NSCC officer.
Winteringham was given the ribbon at the
division’s recent awards drill by NSCC Regional Director
Lt. Cmdr. Lisa Stoyanovich. The ribbon citation credits Winteringham
for acting “in an exemplary manner, and due to his
quick action and response to the situation, saved the life
of Lt. Cmdr. [William] Barnhardt.”
Barnhardt, commanding officer of the NSCC
training ship Grayfox, suffered a perforated peptic ulcer
while the ship and the Hannan cadets were preparing to get
underway from Port Huron, Mich., to participate in Navy League
Sunday services at Mariner’s Church in Detroit in April
2005.
After Barnhardt complained of severe abdominal
pain, Winteringham assessed the situation and transported
him to the emergency room of Mercy Hospital in Port Huron,
according to the citation. Barnhardt’s condition required
immediate emergency surgery. He has subsequently recovered
and attended the awards drill.
Washington Governor, Bellingham Council
Welcome USCGC Terrapin
Bellingham, Wash., Council members were
on hand to help the U.S. Coast Guard welcome the newest cutter
to its fleet during commissioning ceremonies for USCGC Terrapin
at U.S. Coast Guard Station, Bellingham.
The ceremony, held at the recently built
Fairhaven Moorings, was attended by Washington Gov. Christine
Gregoire; Coast Guard dignitaries from the region including
13th District Commander Rear Adm. Richard R. Houck and Commander,
U.S. Coast Guard Group, Port Angeles, Wash., Capt. Mark D’Andrea;
and the local news media, according to Orman Darby, Bellingham
Council’s information officer.
During the ceremony, Gregoire became Terrapin’s
sponsor and will serve as a civilian advocate for the cutter
and its crew. Lt. j.g. Gerrod Glauner also officially assumed
command of ship at the ceremony.
Terrapin, an 87-foot patrol boat, is homeported
at Coast Guard Station Bellingham and joins the other seven
patrol boats in the Puget Sound region, including Sea Lion,
which also is homeported at Bellingham. The cutter and its
10-person crew will perform search and rescue, law enforcement,
fishery patrols, drug interdiction, migrant interdiction
and homeland security duties up to 200 miles offshore.
Following Terrapin’s commissioning
ceremonies, Houck and Glauner were guests of honor at a dinner
meeting of the Bellingham Council.
Greater Cincinnati Council Honors NROTC
Students
The Greater Cincinnati Council presented
ceremonial swords to two Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps
(NROTC) students during the Miami University NROTC program’s
annual Presidential Review and Awards ceremony.
Officer Candidate Peter Remillard was a
petty officer 1st class before enrolling in Miami’s
NROTC program. After commissioning, he will report to a guided-missile
frigate homeported in Mayport, Fla., according to council
President Anthony M. Gadaleta.
On behalf of the Schiff Family and the John
J. & Mary R. Schiff Foundation, the council also presented
the Schiff Memorial Sword to Midshipman Karlton Weiskopf.
Weiskopf elected to exercise his option to be commissioned
as a Marine officer. Following his commissioning, he will
report to The Basic School at Marine Corps Base, Quantico,
Va., where all Marine officers complete training before reporting
to their specialty training. After The Basic School, Weiskopf
said he hopes to serve in an armored, artillery or infantry
capacity.
The Miami University NROTC program commanding
officer and executive officer, Navy Capt. R.L. Dubberly,
nominated Remillard and Weiskopf for the awards because of
their academic achievements and leadership performance, Gadaleta
said.
Short Bursts
- Retired Adm. Frank L. “Skip” Bowman,
now a member of the Navy League’s Greater Chattanooga,
Tenn., Council, has been made an Honorary Knight Commander
of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The ceremony for Bowman was conducted at the British
Embassy in Washington, D.C., by British Ambassador
Sir David Manning. Bowman was honored for his support
of the British Royal Navy’s submarine program
during his dual tenure as director of the U.S. Naval
Nuclear Propulsion Program and as deputy administrator
for naval reactors in the National Nuclear Security
Administration of the Department of Energy.
- As
part of Navy Week in Boston events in early June,
the Massachusetts Bay Council, in cooperation with
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, will be hosting
a lecture series featuring noted authors and sea service
officials at the historic Old South Meeting House in
Boston. On June 9, Robert Allison, chairman of the
history department at Suffolk University, will discuss
his book, “Stephen Decatur, American Naval Hero
1779-1820.” On
June 10, Navy Reserve intelligence officer John Rodgaard
will discuss “A Call to the Sea: Capt. Charles
Stewart of the USS Constitution,” which he
co-authored with fellow Navy Reserve officer Claude
Berube. And on June 12, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Kevin
M. McCoy will speak about “The
New Navy.” The lectures will be introduced
by William M. Fowler Jr., distinguished professor
at Northeastern University.
- Midwest Region President
Marvin “Marv” Mirsch, a Navy League national
director with the Twin Cities, Minn., Council, died
in late March from complications with gall bladder
surgery. He was 74. A Navy veteran who served aboard
the escort ship USS Taussig during the Korean War,
Mirsch was a longtime Navy League member and supporter
of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps, in particular the
Twin Cities Squadron. A memorial service was held for
Mirsch at St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake,
Minn., April 1. Mirsch is survived by his wife, Elaine,
four children, 10 grandchildren and a great-grandson.
Send items for “Council Digest” to:
Peter Atkinson, Deputy Editor
Seapower/Navy
League News
2300 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201-3308
E-mail: patkinson@navyleague.org
