National Capital Council Gives Warner Congressional Sea Services Award

By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor

The National Capital Council presented its second Congressional Sea Services Award to Sen. John W. Warner Jr., R-Va., in a ceremony on Capitol Hill Oct. 4.

The award, which is given annually by the council, honors a U.S. representative or senator for outstanding contributions to the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young, R-Fla., was given the inaugural award last year.

National Capital Council Chairman Al. J. Bernard presented the award to Warner in honor of his support of the U.S. military as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and his long service on behalf of the sea services. Warner, a Navy and Marine Corps veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, was undersecretary of the Navy from 1969-1972 and Navy Secretary from 1972-1974.

Navy League National President John A. Panneton was on hand for the ceremony, which also was attended by leaders from each of the sea services, including: acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen; Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee; Coast Guard Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, program executive officer for the Deepwater project; Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice O’Hara, director of Reserve and Training; and Rear Adm. Jay M. Cohen, chief of Naval Research.

Now in his 27th year in the Senate, Warner is the senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Also at the ceremony, Warner presented an award to Lt. Cmdr. Henry E. Mooberry, U.S. Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC), for his 30 years of volunteer work with the Sea Cadets in the Washington, D.C., area.

Mooberry is commander of the NSCC Dahlgren Division, which has been renamed the Henry E. Mooberry Division in his honor.

Councils Hear From Congressmen During Visits

A number of Navy League councils across the country played host to U.S. senators and representatives in recent months, as Congress gears up for the campaigning that will culminate in next year’s off-year elections.

The Kansas City Council, in cooperation with the Association of the U.S. Army, hosted Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, during a special meeting at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. In his remarks, Skelton spoke about the war in Iraq and the uncertainty of when U.S. forces might begin withdrawing, the future of the war on terrorism, and the ongoing debate about Navy shipbuilding and the size of the fleet, according to the council’s newsletter editor Glenn Munger.

Noting that new Navy ship construction was being far outpaced by the number of older ships being decommissioned, Skelton expressed concern about what that might mean for the future fleet.

The San Diego Council heard from Skelton’s Republican counterpart, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, during its August luncheon. Hunter’s visit coincided with the council’s “Welcome Home” to the Navy’s new high-speed, experimental vessel, the Sea Fighter, Aug. 1. Hunter’s wife, Lynne, is sponsor of the ship, also known as the X-Craft.

As guest speaker at the council luncheon, President Curtis Beauchamp said, “the congressman was very informative and provided us with a good look at the future in the advancement of freedom.”

The Dallas Council welcomed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to its monthly meeting Aug. 12. She is chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

Hutchison covered a broad range of topics, including military base realignment in Texas, an update of what’s happening in Iraq, energy issues — regional and national, although this was prior to the hurricane-related price spikes — and state and local political matters, according to Seth Kerr, the council’s vice president for legislative affairs.

Hutchison also is sponsor of the San Antonio, the lead ship of a new class of amphibious transport dock ships, which is scheduled to be commissioned Jan. 14 in Ingleside, Texas.

In Tennessee, Republican Rep. Zach Wamp was speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Greater Chattanooga Council in August. Wamp, a member of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, also is a senior member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, which has a more direct impact on Tennessee constituents. It funds the Department of Energy’s massive Oak Ridge Office, which is responsible for major programs in science, environmental management, nuclear fuel supply and national security, and provides services to 10 laboratories around the nation.

The Cape Canaveral, Fla., Council also was set to be joined by U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon for its Gala Navy Birthday Ball in early October. Weldon, an Army veteran, is vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, the Departments of State, Justice and Commerce, and Related Agencies. He recently helped lead a successful lobby to keep the Naval Ordnance Test Unit at Port Canaveral after it was recommended for realignment to Kings Bay, Ga., as part of the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure plan.

Short Bursts

The Navy League now has a council in the Far East. The Thailand Eastern Seaboard Council, based in Pattaya, Thailand, was given a charter date of Aug. 16, 2005. That was the day it reached the eligibility number of 25 members. The council’s first president is John M. Mullahy Jr. The Navy League’s other Greater Pacific Area councils are in Japan, Korea, Guam and Singapore.