By Navy League National President David J. Reilly
This is blog post appears in the February/March issue of Seapower magazine, the official magazine of the Navy League of the United States.
The future is bright for our Navy League councils. With COVID-19’s many shutdowns hampering travel and in-person events in recent years, the year 2022 provides us with a golden opportunity to keep forging ahead and providing education, advocacy and support of our sea services no matter the challenge.
I’ve been fortunate in the past few months to see many of our councils’ hard work for myself. It’s critical that our volunteer senior leadership engages directly and in person with our regions, areas and councils so your most pressing issues get addressed and so you can be made aware of all the exciting areas of growth for our organization.
In the closing months of 2021 and into 2022, I traveled to meetings held by our Treasure Coast, Mayport and Jacksonville councils to offer insights on the important developments in the field and at the national level. Additionally, I was able to attend Central California, New England and South Atlantic region meetings, to continue to spread the word on our new active-duty membership category, the Center for Maritime Strategy and other major developments.
What is most important, however, is not my updates to you but what I learn from you in the field during these meetings. From what I have seen and heard we are doing great work, and I have also captured some new observations that will assist me in decisions and communication.
Our councils are doing an excellent job of supporting the sea services despite the challenges of the ongoing global pandemic. There is nothing that can stop our members from our mission, and time and again you have been creative and effective in carrying out the good work of our organization.
It’s clear to me that our councils are dialed in on achieving one of our major goals of the 2021-2023 Navy League Guidance — ensuring there is a robust succession plan at our councils. It’s essential that we get newer and younger members engaged and involved so there is continuity of support in our communities. It’s been evident from my trips that our councils have energetic individuals ready to take up the hard work of council leadership.
As we continue to grow and evolve as an organization, communication between the field and national leadership will be ever more important. I hope to travel and visit with as many of your councils as possible throughout my tenure, and if you ever have important feedback for me, please reach out.