By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
During a busy few weeks in February and
March, the Lake Washington Council played host to Navy Leaguers
from around the region and a group of Coast Guardsmen who
traveled to the North Pole and back.
The council was the host council for the
Northwest Regional Conference in Bellevue, Wash., Feb. 24-26,
attended by Navy Leaguers from Washington, Oregon, Wyoming,
Idaho and Montana. The conference featured two days of training
workshops, meetings and keynote addresses from Navy League
National President John A. Panneton; Coast Guard Rear Adm.
Joel Whitehead, assistant commandant for congressional and
public affairs; and U.S. Rep. David Reichert, R-Wash.
The conference’s Saturday night banquet
was highlighted by the presentation of the Marilynn E. Crist
Award, the highest award given at the regional level, to
Northwest Coastal Area President Barbara Bailey of the Oak
Harbor Council. The award is named in honor of National Director
Emeritus Marilynn E. Crist.
Prior to the conference, Bailey, who is
also a state representative, arranged for a visit to the
Washington State House of Representatives Chambers in Olympia,
and provided an opportunity for a group of Navy Leaguers
to meet individually with both parties of the House to briefly
discuss the Navy League mission. During this visit, House
Resolution 4695, proposed by Bailey, “Recognizing the
accomplishments of the Navy League” was adopted.
Three weeks later, when the Lake Washington
Council held its fourth annual “Honor the Healy Event” for
its adopted U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy March 15, not only
was nearly half of ship’s crew on hand as guests, all
three of its commanding officers, past and present, attended
as well.
Current Commanding Officer Capt. Dan Oliver
was joined by his predecessor, Lake Washington Council President
Dave Visneski, a retired Coast Guard captain, and Healy’s
first commander, retired Rear Adm. Jeff Garrett, for the
event. The council that evening also honored Healy “Sailors
of the Quarter” and “Sailor of the Year.”
The Arctic research vessel had returned
home recently after sailing more than 22,000 miles in six
months, circumnavigating North America, according to Council
Vice President Roger W. Ponto, a Navy League national director.
Along the way, it achieved several milestones, including
the third visit to the geographic North Pole by a U.S. surface
ship, the first U.S. ship to reach the North Pole twice,
and the second ever trans-Arctic expedition by a surface
ship.
Additionally, Healy hosted the Ocean Exploration
branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
for an intensive one-month survey of marine life under the
polar ice cap.
Lake Washington adopted Healy in January
2001, shortly after being chartered as a Navy League council.
Bremerton-Olympic Supports USS Ohio Return
to Service Events
The Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council
and the Naval Submarine League, Pacific Northwest Chapter,
provided support for “USS Ohio Return to Service” activities
in early February at Naval Base Kitsap, Wash.
With the help of sponsors, the organizations
were able to host an evening reception for 225 attendees,
a breakfast for 50, a luncheon for 125 and a post-ceremony
reception for 500 crew members and guests, according to Council
President Larry Salter. They also provided a plaque for each
crew member, VIP and sponsor commemorating the ceremony.
Ohio is the first ballistic-missile submarine
to complete conversion to the new Ohio-class SSGN configuration.
Three other submarines currently are undergoing the SSGN
conversion: USS Michigan, Florida and Georgia.
The conversion program includes an extensive
overhaul to improve capability. Ohio-class submarines will
be able to support and launch up to 154 Tomahawk missiles;
carry payloads such as unmanned undersea vehicles, unmanned
aerial vehicles and Special Forces equipment; and have the
capability to carry and support more than 66 Navy SEALs.
The Navy put together “a spectacular
event” to commemorate the return of the transformational
weapon system to service, Salter said. The rainy weather
that had dogged the region for two months even relented and
a beautiful winter day provided the backdrop for the ceremony.
Many dignitaries and service officials were
present for the events and ceremony. U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks,
D-Wash., was a guest speaker at the reception and the ceremony.
Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., vice chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff, was the senior ranking officer presiding over the
ceremony. Vice Adm. Charles L. Munns, commander, Submarine
Forces, and various flag officers from the Navy, Marine Corps
and Army also attended.
A special guest was Annie Glenn, wife of
former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, the sponsor who christened
Ohio when it was first launched on April 7, 1979. She provided
the crew with an Ohio patch that had been taken into space
by Sen. Glenn on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
New York Council Marks Anniversary With
Dinner and Awards
The New York Council, the Navy League’s
oldest, marked its 103rd anniversary with a March 22 dinner
at the Marriott Marquis in New York City’s Times Square
that was attended by more than 400 members and guests and
featured a big band, a performance by a USO troupe, the presentation
of the council’s annual awards and remarks from Navy
League National President John A. Panneton.
The dinner also marked the kickoff of a
two-year fund-raising campaign for the 2008 commissioning
of the USS New York (LPD-21), the fifth ship in the San Antonio
class of amphibious transport dock ships, that the New York
Council is sponsoring. The campaign was announced by Navy
League Vice President for Public Relations Robert A. Ravitz,
the council’s former president and a member of the
newly formed commissioning committee.
The ship’s sponsor, Dorothy England,
wife of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England, attended
the dinner. As secretary of the Navy in 2002, Gordon England
announced that LPD-21 would be named New York to honor the
heroes and victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center towers.
New York will bear the motto, “Never
Forget,” and feature 24 tons of scrap steel from the
fallen towers that was melted down in a foundry in Amite,
La., and cast in the bow stem, the forward section of the
ship.
Among those receiving awards from the council
during the dinner was Philip A. Teel, vice president of Northrop
Grumman Corp., who, as head of the company’s ship systems
division, is spearheading the construction of New York. Teel
was given the Rear Adm. John J. Bergen Industry Award for
his overall contributions to industry and the nation.
Other award winners included:
- The
U.S. Navy’s Naval Research Laboratory was presented
the Roosevelts Gold Medal for Science for its innovative
work to bolster the capabilities of the U.S. fleet.
- Carnival Cruise Lines
received the Amver Award Medal on behalf of the cruise
ship Holiday, whose crew participated in the rescue at
sea of five survivors of a recreational fishing boat that
sank in the Yucatan Straits.
- Seapower Editor in Chief
Richard C. Barnard also was honored with the Frank Knox
Media Award in recognition of his work making the magazine
one of the leading publications reporting on the sea services,
and for his 35 years of coverage of defense and military
issues. Previous award winners have included Malcom Forbes,
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Mort Zuckerman, publisher
of the New York Daily News.
The New York Council was incorporated on
Jan. 2, 1903, and formally adopted at the Navy League’s
first national convention in New York two weeks later. The
anniversary dinner was initially scheduled closer to the
actual anniversary date, but was postponed to accommodate
the announcement of the New York commissioning campaign.
Chairman of the 2006 dinner was Kenneth
O. Klepper, executive vice president and CEO of Medco Health
Solutions Inc. The New York Council president is Daniel M.
Thys.
Proceeds from the anniversary dinner will
support council-sponsored Naval Reserve Junior Officer Training
Corps units in New York, the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, college
scholarships for deserving members of the maritime services
and their dependents, as well as numerous morale-enhancing
activities for adopted ships, stations and members of the
Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine.
Short Bursts
- Central Illinois now has
a U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC) unit as the Pimiteoui
Division was officially commissioned in a Feb. 18 ceremony
at the Naval Marine Corps Reserve Center in Peoria, Ill.
Originally formed in 1986 with a sponsorship from the Blue
Angels Squadron, the unit now is sponsored by Navy Club
Ship 34. To be commissioned into the NSCC, a unit must
meet several requirements, including having a minimum of
25 cadets. The commander of the Navy Club Ship 34, John
Caldwell, presented the warrant of commissioning issued
by NSCC National Headquarters. Assisting him was Lt. Cmdr.
Richard Cox (NSCC), regional director for the Sea Cadets
and retired Capt. William Parsons, national director for
Region 9. Receiving the warrant was Lt. j.g. Lisa Strickland,
commanding officer of Pimiteoui Division.
- The
Palm Springs, Calif., Council adopted the carrier USS Nimitz
in a Feb. 25 ceremony in San Diego. The adoption took place
aboard ship, with the council-sponsored Pointe Division
Sea Cadets providing the flag ceremony. Participants also
were able to have lunch aboard Nimitz and were given a
ship’s tour. Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden also proclaimed
Feb. 25 “USS Nimitz Day” in the city.
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
