The Board of Trustees of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association met 6-7 May in Annapolis.

 

For brevity sake, I will provide links to take you to areas of interest, rather than retyping all the information and giving you a tome to wade through.

 

The Agenda for the meeting can be found here:

http://www.usna.com/Document.Doc?id=1385

 

There were two big items on the Board agenda.  Topping the list was the Enterprise Redesign.   The presentation, debate, and vote was conducted in Executive Session because it involved fairly sensitive personnel issues.  The Executive Session lasted more than two hours, and threw us off schedule.  In the end, the proposed Redesign passed.  The vote was 23 yea, 2 nay, one abstain, and 2 recusals.  Jack Klimp and I recused ourselves from the vote since we have relatives who work at Alumni House.  The Redesign will go public after the execution plan is in place and the Staff is briefed on its impact.

 

The other big issue was the idea of going from a one-year to a two-year budget.  At present, the staff provides a one-year budget to the Board for review and approval for the next fiscal year.  The proposal asked for the Board to review and approve budgets for the next two fiscal years to help improve long-term financial planning.  Some skepticism was expressed during floor debate on whether a two-year budget would remove the obligation of the staff to provide--and the Board to vote on--the budget annually.  Our Chairman, Admiral Abbot, promised that the budget would be presented annually for Board review and approval.  The proposal passed on a vote of 26-2. The Budget report can be found here: http://www.usna.com/Document.Doc?id=1422

 

Hank Sanford did a terrific job on the Investment Report.  It can be found here: http://www.usna.com/Document.Doc?id=1406.  In short, 2009 was a bad year for the Association and Foundation, as it was everywhere, but the portfolio turned positive in 2010, and hopefully, will continue to trend upward.  We are in good hands with Hank at the helm. 

 

The rest of the Board votes were pretty much pro-forma: Annual vote on officers of the corporation, annual vote to authorize the treasurer and comptroller to conduct business for the Association, vote to admit a London Chapter, vote to approve standing committee composition for the next year.

 

An ad hoc committee was established to develop Vision 2020.  Vice Admiral Robert Dunn '51 will be its chairman.  I will be on that committee also. The committee membership is here: http://www.usna.com/Document.Doc?id=1401 and the precept is here: http://www.usna.com/Document.Doc?id=1404

 

The Nominating Committee was approved too.  The positions of Vice Chairman, Eastern Region Trustee, and Central Region Trustee election/re-election.  The Chairman will be Rear Admiral Jerome Smith '61.  I will be on that committee as well.  Watch for the call for nominations in Shipmate and by email.

 

The Superintendent's brief was informative as always. The biggest news from the Supe's brief is that the first female Midshipmen have been selected for submarine duty.  You can find the story in The Capital here:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/nav/2010/05/07-14/Naval-Academy-introduces-first-women-to-serve-on-subs.html?ne=1

 

The next biggest news is that his relief has been named: RADM Mike Miller '74, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=215.  Admiral Fowler is expecting his change of command and retirement this summer.

 

My Classmate Captain Bob Clark '84, came onboard last month: http://www.usna.edu//Commandant/publicbios/commandantbio.htm (Man, am I getting old!).

 

And of course, the football team was at the White House ... Again ... To collect another Commander-in-Chief's Trophy:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2010/05/04-50/Obama-awards-Mids-7th-straight-trophy.html

 

The Supe reviewed the impressive number of post-graduate scholarships Midshipmen have won, provided a slide on service assignment.  Again, around a quarter of the Class of 2010 is going Marine Corps.  Well done!  USNA continues to meet the needs of the nation, even as fleet size is down to around 278 ships.  There is also a new emphasis on cyber warfare at the Academy, as this is a growth area in the fleet.

 

Interest in the Naval Academy is at an all-time high, with more than 17,000 applications this year.  There were more than 7,000 applications for summer seminar, and STEM camp was over subscribed as well.  I've had friends contact me because their kid did not get into summer seminar.  The general guidance from the Supe is that if you live within a day's drive, come do a weekend visit.  He is trying to use summer seminar for those who are not local and do not have the opportunity to visit easily.

 

One area that has gotten media attention is that Admiral Fowler said he is studying eliminating the Herndon climb.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-naval-academy-herndon-climb-20100512,0,6512235.story

He said that Sea Trials has more effectively taken the place of Herndon and that too many Midshipmen are getting injured on the monument.  Editorial here: I agree with him.  Sea Trials—based on The Crucible that General Krulak brought to the Marine Corps—is a better rite of passage for Plebes. (Aside: Besides, there is something inherently odd in the symbolism of Herndon—climbing a greased phallic symbol, and the guy who climbs over his classmates’ backs gets to be the first Admiral.)  In any case, Herndon will happen this year, and the decision will be left to his relief.

 

I could ramble on for a few more pages, but I think I've covered all the news that's fit to print.

 

Until next time, Go Navy, Beat Army!

 

V/r

 

Mike Collins ‘84

Mid-Atlantic Region Trustee