Fanning Urges "Maximum Attendance" at
Navy League's 2001 Winter Meeting
NLUS National President Timothy O. Fanning has urged all
national directors, region, state, and council presidents, committee
chairmen, "and as many
other members as possible" to attend the Navy League's 2001 Winter Meeting,
scheduled for 1-4 November at the Hyatt Regency Tampa Hotel in Tampa,
Fla. Because it comes so soon after the terrorist attacks in New York
City and Washington, Fanning said, this year's meeting will be "one of
the most important in our organization's 100-year history. Our original
agenda called for special focus on the Navy League's Centennial Celebration
next year and the plans for the new Navy League Headquarters building
in Arlington. Now the focus will be on doing what the Navy League has
always done best: support ing the men and women of all the nation's armed
services and educating the American people, the media, and our nation's
leaders in the legislative and executive branches of government about
the continuing need for a strong U.S. national-defense program. Few if
any of our fellow citizens would not agree with that message today."
Those attending the meeting, Fanning said, will have the opportunity
to help set the NLUS agenda "not just for the next year, but for many
years thereafter." Even before the 11 September attacks, he said, "Our
national vice presidents and committee chairmen had been working closely
with the NLUS headquarters staff to develop a number of ambitious and
forward-looking new programs of significant scope and importance. These
programs will be discussed and debated in detail both in committee and
at the Board of Directors Meeting on Saturday morning and afternoon,
respectively."
The NLUS sea-service committees and the Resolutions Committee will be
focusing in addition on such timely topics, Fanning said, as homeland
defense, missile defense, force protection, and counterterrorism. "We
will ask these committees," he said, "to draft detailed recommendations
on how best to meet the procurement and acquisition needs of the nation's
armed services to make them truly ready to face the uncertain challenges
of the 21st century. President Bush has told our nation that 'We are
at war,' and has emphasized many times that this war, which is not of
our country's making, will be both difficult and prolonged. It is up
to us to put the Navy League on a war footing as well."
An important "infrastructure" item for attendees at the Winter Meeting
will be the new NLUS headquarters building, which is now moving forward
into the final planning stages. The building, a seven-story high rise
with 220,000 square feet of office space, will be owned and operated
by the Navy League and, Fanning pointed out, "will not only provide rent-free
space for the national headquarters staff but also ensure a steady source
of considerable income for many years to come that will help our organization
both continue and expand its current and future programs on behalf of
the nation's sea services."
The NLUS Board of Directors formally approved the recommendation--during
the Navy League's 2000 Winter Meeting in Hilton Head, S.C.--to go forward
with construction of the new NLUS headquarters building and to finance
it in part through reinvestment of the Navy League's endowment funds.
The plans for the Navy League's Centennial Celebration will be another
agenda highlight.
"How we celebrate this milestone in our organization's proud history," Fanning
said, "could have a powerful impact not only on the way our fellow citizens
perceive the Navy League itself--our goals and missions, what we have
accomplished so far, and what we hope to accomplish in the future--but
also in rallying national support for the sea services and for a continuing
strong national-defense program in general. This is a once-in-a-century
opportunity. We should use it well and wisely."
Among several other important topics on the Tampa agenda, Fanning said,
will be a proposal to realign the Navy League's national committees to
make them more effective, and a number of NLUS budget decisions that "will
focus on several initiatives that have been developed to give us the
resources needed to make the Navy League more proactive and much more
forward-looking in our programs of support for the sea services."
"A lot of time and effort by many of the Navy League's most talented
and most dedicated people have gone into ensuring that the 2001 Winter
Meeting will be a resounding success," said National Executive Director
Charles L. Robinson. "Robert E. Adams [president of the Tampa Council],
Bob Bishop [chairman of the Winter Meeting], and the meeting committee
have been working for many months," he said, "to create a program that
will be not only extremely productive but extremely enjoyable as well."
A warm welcome is assured for all attendees, said Council President
Adams. "We look forward with great pleasure," he said, "to sharing the
hospitality and beauty of the Tampa Bay area with all those attending
the Winter Meeting. The members of our council feel privileged indeed
to be able to host this very important annual Navy League meeting in
one of our nation's most hospitable cities." RAV
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