Flight Plan from the President

This is my last "Flight Plan" as the President of our great association. I have been at the helm of ANA for more than four years and its time for me to step down, which I will do on June 30,2005. We do not have a replacement yet, but that will be announced immediately after the appointment. I want to extend to all of you my most profound thanks for your support, your enthusiasm and your enduring love of Naval Aviation. I also wish to snap a special salute to those many squadrons who hosted me over the years during my visits to them. I will always cherish the fantastic memories derived from these visits. My personal contacts with you, the members of ANA, are very close to my heart. One of my regrets is that I was unable to visit all our "chapters" around the country.

I remember the tale of the owner of a shop in a small town who retired after spending most of his adult life behind the counter. He was asked what he missed most about the place. His answer, "the people." The monetary success of the store meant less to him than the relationship he shared with the people who frequented the shop and passed the time of day with him. I feel the same about my departure from ANA. Though I'm certainly not going to go hide under a rock upon stepping down, I must accept the fact those personal contacts will not be as frequent.

Now to a critical subject. As you know from my previous columns and squadron visits, ANA faces serious challenges with respect to its future. It's no secret the demographics of our organization reflect that a majority of our members are WWII veterans, stalwarts of the "greatest generation." As you will note on page 26 of this issue we regularly recruit many new members. (Our "recruiting" Aces, listed on page 42, are testimony to the enthusiasm still prominent among some of our hard-charging members.) But some of these numbers are offset by those who pass on or resign from ANA. In 2001, when I joined the ANA staff, we had 9,700 members. Today, that number is 8 ,400. Some of this drop is because we carefully examined our database to purge many who were no longer members or were deceased. We must do better.

An exacerbating factor is that nearly half of our voting membership are Life Members from whom we derive no monthly dues, a critical source of funding. We want to continue the Life Member program and are not bad-mouthing it. It's just that when budgeting for the following year's income we can count only on the contributions of just over half our membership. And funding remains a crucial issue to the Association. I wish we could find some major contributors to help us out, but so far none has come forth. So that is why I have constantly crusaded for new members. The ACES and many of the squadrons have come through in great order in the past, but you must keep the effort going in the future. Membership increases are the funding and foundation for the future.

Attendance at our 2004 convention was a financial disaster because of poor attendance. Our San Diego Meeting/ Reunion this year is doing better and because of much work by the staff it appears we will not have to pay any penalties, as we did last year. But we still would like to have between 50 and 100 more attendees. It would make it more fun for all, and demonstrate to industry and the active duty how very strong and dedicated the Association remains. THERE IS STILLTIMETO SIGN UPAT THIS LAST MINUTE. Call us, send an email, or show up and register at the desk. We will get you in!!

The Executive Committee, led by Admiral Stan Arthur, has held several all-day-long "strategy sessions" in recent months to resolve issues that threaten to impede ANA's survivability. At this point it is premature to report details of any "plan of action." However, I can assure you that all viable options are on the table to keep ANA vibrant, relevant and valuable to U.S. Naval Aviation.

I want to spend my last few words on you in an attempt to dispel some myths I have heard in my travels to the squadrons. First: "We are all too old and young people don't want to join up with us." Balderdash. Yes, some of us are in our "golden years." Some of us act that way. But most of us, thank goodness, act much younger than we are, and still have a great deal to give to the Association and our country. Look at all civic organizations - they are a mixture of young and old doing work for their communities. We are no different. Lots of our squadrons are doing their work with 80 and 30 year old members working together to get things done. Don't apologize for being older. You have great histories, and the younger folks will appreciate that, if you don't bore them to death while repeating the same stories. And when it comes to attracting younger people - they will respond to one common term: "networking." Our squadrons associate with many members of the community. Younger people are looking for those contacts to better there own work prospects. ANA can open many doors for them. Remind them of that.

Second: Many of you say you have a hard time finding speakers when you are not close to a Naval facility. I realize that this is a problem, but what about your own members. There are probably more interesting stories among your squadron's membership than you can find any place else. I see that more and more of the squadrons are using their own people as speakers, and it is going over very well. Use these treasures, and tape the presentations in order to preserve the historic content. Also, look in the phone book and call the nearest Naval recruiter. They are all over the country, and would always welcome the opportunity to tell you how things are going in your area. They may ask for some help from you, and you probably will be glad to help them. And don't think you always need to have an officer as the speaker. Some of those Chiefs and Gunnery Sergeants will blow your socks off. And bring in speakers from other civic organizations to hear how they are meeting problems and it may be a big help to you.

Third: Don't try to run your squadron with only one or two people - it just won't sustain itself. It becomes too much work when only one or two are trying to do it all. If you have a full board doing your business on a regular basis, the work becomes fun and no individuals are overtaxed. If you are one of those holding back and haven't taken a squadron job yet, volunteer to help in some of the less demanding jobs, and I think you will find you like them, and will want to move up in the future.

Finally, don't get the feeling there is no longer a need for ANA. Things have been going very well for our Naval services in the past few years. Through the need for national defense, and the outstanding work of our fantastic people, the people of the US have given their support to the military. But the many needs of our society are going to create serious "battles for the bucks" in the future. We in ANA, along with other groups supporting the military must be ready to stand up and ensure that Naval Aviation gets its fair share of the budget. It must be able to add to the gains of the past and continue to do the job better and more efficiently. The Navy is going through a major transformation as directed by DoD in order to better meet the challenges of today and tomorrow in a troubled world. ANA must ensure it assists in getting them the tools and equipment to do the job.

Admiral James L. Holloway, HI, ANA's Chairman of the Board Emeritus, has emphatically stated, "There has never been a more important time in our history than now, to support U.S. Naval Aviation." ANA must be a major part of that support.

It has been a great flight and I have loved almost every minute of it. Thanks to you all for keeping the engines running and the air smooth. I'll be seeing you at an ANA meeting!

Copyright Association of Naval Aviation Spring 2005
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