The Fleet Sheet A monthly Newsletter from the Mayport Navy League Vol. No. 15 No. 1 December/January, 2013/2014 From the Bridge JOIN US - See our Website - http://www.mayportnlus.org Mayport Navy Leaguers - This has been a very exciting pe- riod! NEXT DINNER 17 January 2014 At the end of October, the USS RADM Ricky Williamson Zephyr (PC 13) and USS Torondo (PC Commander 14) arrived to join USS Shamal (PC 13) in Navy Region Southeast calling Mayport home! Guest Speaker In November we helped the Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville sponsor a The dinner reservation form is on Women's Leadership Symposium for Men page 7 and only requires two (2) and Women. The symposium was held at snips of the scissors to cut off the the Everbank building auditorium to an return portion! almost capacity crowd - about 50 - 50 men and women! The symposium had a junior and senior panel - some very experienced leaders at both levels - and the advice and comments that were RUBIO, TESTER provided were simply "spot on!" The stage-setter presentation was by our INTRODUCE Mayport Chaplain Rector - the Military Chaplain of the Year and she nailed it. Donna Deegan was the noon keynote speaker and was great. Focused work- MEASURE TO RAISE shops in the afternoon. It was a very, very good day! On 6 December, I was privileged to fly out in a Marine V-22 and em- MILITARY bark in USS New York (LPD 21) for her transit into her new home port - it PAY was a great trip in with Congressman Crenshaw, Mayor Brown and other local dignitaries. Once moored, there was a super welcoming ceremony that in- cluded Senator Nelson and a letter from Senator Rubio. New York is a beauti- U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) ful ship and her crew is simply superb! She will be joined next year by USS and Jon Tester (D-MT) today intro- Iwo Jima and USS Fort McHenry. duced an amendment to the National This is last opportunity for me to pen a "From the Bridge" article for Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) our Fleet Sheet (Rick Costner will take the helm at the 16 January dinner). Our that would raise the salaries of active By-laws require that the outgoing President give a "State of the Council" to the membership on the occasion of turning over the leadership of the Council. I duty military personnel by 1.8 would like to take this forum to provide that status to you. percent. Membership - we are not holding our own. While our retention is at 81%, our membership has declined this year from 374 to 341 as of 30 Novem- In its current form, the NOAA in- ber 2013. So far in 2013, 170 of the 210 eligible members have renewed their cludes President Obama's original membership. The data is from the Navy League HQ data base. budget request for a 1.0 percent in- Financial - We have $46,672.60 in council operating funds as of 30 crease - even though a 2004 law November. In addition, we hold money in trust for the Mayport Sea Cadets requires that military pay be linked who use the interest to support their activities. to the Economic Cost Index, which would be 1.8 percent this year. Con’t on page 2 Con’t on page 3 We want to hear from YOU! Please let us know how you like the new layout for The Fleet Sheet Contact Pat Pumphrey E-mail - [email protected] From the Bridge - Con’t from page 1 . We had some very successful fundraising events this year: the Silent Auction, Birdies for Charity, Holiday Pops. Chip in for Youth went to support our Youth Programs (JU NROTC, Terry Parker High School NJROTC and Mayport Sea Cadets) and Wreaths Across America proceeds went to our Sea Cadets. Navy Leaguers donated 98 hours of labor at a TPC concession area to raise $604.64 to support the Sea Cadets. The Sea Cadets work the Envi- ronmental Engineering Effort (Trash Patrol) at the TPC and raised $5,000.00 - they are self sufficient with this major effort each year and can focus the rest of their year on professional development. No- Dough Dinners at the Mayport USO - Your council sponsors 4 dinners. 24 volunteers helped feed ap- proximately 1,000 active duty or their families. In addition, Mayport Navy Leaguers pitched in and helped with 3 other No-Dough Dinners that are sponsored by organizations or personnel associated with our Sea Services. Transition - Goals, Plans, Success (T-GPS) Classes for Retiring or Separating Personnel - your council pro- vided Discussion Leaders to all 34 of these classes which helped about 780 Sailors transition to civilian life. Our Dis- cussion Leaders are all experienced, retired Navy Officers who have "been there - done that!" Ship Greeting - 6 ships returned from major deployments and 4 ships changed homeport to Mayport - all 10 of these ships were met by a team of your Navy Leaguers - every person on the pier, from little children to great Grandparents, was given an American Flag to wave as the ship came along side - we handed out over 2,500 flags to family and friends greeting their loved one's return home! A great sight! Coast Guard Picnics - we sponsored two picnics with Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville - a great chance to meet and talk with some wonderful Coast Guardsmen and to see their ships and craft! Sailor of the Quarter Luncheons at Mayport - with our partners, NFCU, Morris Busbia GEICO, Tulsa Weld- ing School and First Command Financial Services, we sponsored 4 of these luncheons - we underwrote the lunch cost for the honorees and their families. Individual Augmentee Luncheons - as we are drawing down in Afghanistan, there are fewer and fewer IAs going forward so only one lunch honoring them was held this year at NAS Jacksonville, Your council, in partnership with Orange Park Rotary Clubs underwrites the luncheons, the plaque, certificate, and coin provided to each honoree. Honors Support Team - in partnership with St. Augustine and Jacksonville Councils, your Mayport Council underwrites some extra-ordinary dry cleaning costs for the Sailors who provide the Honors Details at the funerals at Jacksonville National Cemetery. These Sailors must be in inspection quality uniforms at all times - in all weather. They are not provided the funding to cover these extra-ordinary dry cleaning cost, so we help with "chits" to a local dry cleaner. Battle of Midway Dinner - the past several years, under the leadership of our John Vargo, our Battle of Mid- way Event & Dinner has transitioned from a downtown hotel to the World Golf Village - and has increased atten- dance from about 250 to over 800 as a high with last year at over 650 attendees. Behind this, John has led the Battle of Midway event, fundraising and cost control so that we have recovered all previous years losses and now have money set aside to begin the work required to produce the next years event. This is simply a huge, major achievement and between John Vargo and Bill Dudley and their team - they got us back where we should be both financially and in attendance. Communications - We have a new and highly professional web site - (http://www.mayportnlus.org) We have a new Mayport Council e-mail account - [email protected] Your newsletter - The Fleet Sheet - has been redesigned to be more eye-appealing, readable and functional. Marines at BIC - we provided professional reading books from the Commandants reading list for the NCOs of the Quarter and we provided Commissary Gift Cards to the 1st Sergeant to help Marine families at the Holidays. In addition, we have provided a range of keynote dinner speakers that covered many different subjects in an effort to keep our Mayport Navy Leaguers abreast of things impacting or affecting our Sea Services as well as our local history and port operations.. These are not things that the President has done - it has been a true team effort by your Mayport Council 2013 Officers, Board and Committee Chairs - a team of truly dedicated and professional volunteers - I encourage you to join in these great activities and events - you can make a great difference - please! George Huchting President - Mayport Navy League 2 From the Congressional Calendar Of Affairs Chairman - Con’t from page 1 Coming Events 1st Tuesday of every month - 'The men and women of our military make huge sacrifices Board Meeting - Queens Harbour for our nation and have earned the chance to be compen- 4 p.m. - All members welcome sated accordingly. Passing this amendment will have a di- 2nd Wednesday - Join us for a Mixer rect positive impact on our military volunteers and their 5 to7 p.m. - Culhane’s Irish Pub families," said Rubio. "Congress and the President should 3rd Thursday of every month - be following the laws already on the books to provide ap- Mayport Council Dinner propriate compensation to the members of the armed 6 p.m. - Ocean Breeze forces. As we continue to deploy troops all around the world to fight terrorism, respond to disasters and defend our interests, we have a duty to take care of them and their families." "This amendment ensures our military men and women receive a pay raise consistent with current law and in line with growth in the private sector," said Tester. "Though January 16, 2014 - our military makes up just one percent of our population, Dinner at Ocean Breeze - p.m. service members and their families shoulder tremendous Installation of 2014 Mayrport Navy burdens and make great sacrifices to keep us safe and League Leadership Team maintain our freedom.