Steering Committee Members Guide Navy League’s Strategies, Priorities

By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor

With a new national president now at the helm of the Navy League, and a fresh set of goals and priorities established for the organization, the job of accomplishing these objectives falls to the Steering Committee.

“We have a great opportunity to bring the Navy League forward as we look to develop new ideas in support of our programs,” National President John A. Panneton said in a note to committee members after the national convention in June. “We should be thinking as a group on how we can do something better and different to improve the support we provide to the men and women of our sea services.

“Our Navy League members are looking to us … to direct and guide them. We must capitalize on our efforts, working as a team — even if it is an area that is not your responsibility.”

The committee comprises 10 national vice presidents responsible for specific policy areas, such as strategic planning or legislative affairs, and develops national strategies for achieving organizational goals, subject to approval of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. Other Steering Committee members include the chairperson of the national Advisory Council, the national treasurer, national corporate secretary, national judge advocate and the national president. [See sidebar, facing page]

The Steering Committee members are elected to one-year terms at each national convention. Soon thereafter, the vice presidents are assigned their respective areas of responsibility, according to the needs of the national president. The committee as a whole formally meets twice a year, and by conference call as needed.

In addition, each vice president is supported by at least one working committee that assesses major issues in each field and provides policy proposals to the Steering Committee. For example, Randy W. Hollstein, vice president for legislative affairs, is backed up by a Legislative Affairs Committee composed of Navy League members.

The vice presidents’ titles and associated committees can change as new issues or priorities are identified. A vice president of information technology was established several years ago to investigate technology uses for councils, areas and regions. It subsequently has morphed into what is now the vice president of community education and information technology as its role expanded, and is headed by James H. Offutt.

This year, an international affairs vice presidency was created to bolster Navy League efforts outside the United States. It is headed by newly elected Vice President Jackson C. Stevens of the St. Maarten/St. Martin Council.

Stevens was one of four new vice presidents elected at the convention, Joseph S. Donnell III, James H. Erlinger and Thomas E. Jaffa being the others. They joined returning vice presidents Hollstein, William A. Kopper, Richard C. Macke, Offutt and Robert A. Ravitz.

When he was elected, Panneton listed membership and retention, youth programs, corporate affairs and sponsorships, and public relations as his top priorities for the Navy League. He also noted that, “support of the councils is essential. These are the people who make it happen, they are the driving force of everything we do.”

The new Steering Committee is scheduled to meet for the first time in late September in the Navy League’s new headquarters building to discuss the priorities and strategies for the year ahead.

After previously serving as vice president for membership and, most recently, VP of corporate affairs, Ravitz, a 43-year Navy League member, is now VP of public relations (PR).

Ravitz said he sees gaining greater awareness of the Navy League in support of its various initiatives as the biggest public relations challenge in the year ahead.

“The Navy League is a great organization that does a lot of good for the nation and the sea services. We must do a better job of telling our story to those audiences that are important to us,” he said.

In an effort to filter that message down to the councils to help spread the word about Navy League initiatives at the community level, Ravitz said, “It is our intent to provide councils with turnkey PR packages that they can use locally.”

Better PR would certainly help from Erlinger’s perspective as vice president of youth programs. He is responsible for the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Navy League Cadets, and Marine and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps programs.

“We need more coverage and more awareness of the Sea Cadet program,” he said. “The Sea Cadets is a Navy League program, it is our baby and it is our future.”

A 27-year Navy League member, this is Erlinger’s first national vice presidency. But having just served as president of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, he is more than familiar with the key issues facing youth programs, most notably the rising costs of providing these programs, increasing council support for and sponsorship of Sea Cadet divisions, and recruiting participants, especially prospective Sea Cadets.

“I think we need to do a better job of conveying the fact that military service is not a commitment after graduating from the Sea Cadets,” he said.

With an increased emphasis on attracting younger members to the Navy League, Erlinger said more Sea Cadets ultimately could lead to more Navy Leaguers down the road.

“We have to start young, and the Sea Cadet experience definitely makes a lasting impression,” he said. “[Cadets] aren’t going to be members in four years, when they’re just finishing college, but maybe in 10 years.”

Of course, membership — and recruiting and retaining new members — is an ongoing battle, not only for the Navy League but for many other service-oriented organizations, said William A. Kopper, a 33-year Navy League member, who continues on as vice president of membership and marketing, a position he was appointed to in 2004.

As demographics continue to shift, new marketing research will be essential so the organization can better tailor its recruitment efforts, Kopper said. Better coordination between national membership drives and local council recruiting efforts also needs to be addressed.

“We need to tell people what we do and design our appeal to their interests,” he said. “We need to have people thinking, ‘You fill my needs, I want to be a part of it, I need to be part of it.’

“Those are the kinds of members that are more likely to stick around and to spread the word about the Navy League.”

Kopper said the Navy League has at least one big advantage over other service organizations: its long history and its special brand as a provider of education and information about the sea services and the role of sea power. And that’s something he said the organization should capitalize on as it tries to appeal to prospective new members.

“We have an opportunity to differentiate ourselves,” he said. “We don’t offer a product, we offer a service, and we have a 103-year-old brand that we’re not taking advantage of.

“We need to figure out how to get that out there, and if we can get some new thinking going on, we’ll be OK.”

Navy Leaguers can support the Steering Committee’s efforts by continuing their membership and corporate sponsor recruitment activities, promoting youth programs and helping spread the word about the organization’s mission and accomplishments.