Welcome! If you are not a member of this council, please consider joining us. Just shoot me an e-mail to have your address added to our mailing list. You do need to be a national member (visit the link above and click on the membership tab if you are not yet a Navy League member). Our council is one of the very few in the entire organization that does not currently have a separate council dues (in addition to the national dues). We may have to change that at some point as we cannot continue to operate with the level of funding we currently receive.
We have a page on Facebook now which will hopefully allow us to attract new and younger members. Here is a direct link to the page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=167542509303&ref=ts If you are not a member of the Facebook community, you probably should be. I have been able to re-connect to a number of my friends from not only my days in the Navy, but high school, college and former jobs as well. "Social Networking" is the new wave in communications - sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and others are now used for not only personal enjoyment, but by businesses as well. Check it out if you have not already.
John Alger
Council President
From the President:
We are getting ready to host VADM Kevin McCoy (NAVSEA) May 16-18. Currently we are exploring possible venues for the admiral to speak and we will, in all likelihood, host a dinner on the 17th, so set that date aside in your calendar planning. More details will be posted here as we firm up the itinerary so keep checking back.
The last time we hosted a flag was during Speed Street back in 2009 so this is a major event for our council.
We are also getting ready to begin our Navy League Youth Medal awards for the Navy and Marine JROTC units in the Charlotte area as well as our Naval Sea Cadets. These will begin in mid-April and run through May. If you are interested in presenting an award, please contact me so we can coordinate the scheduling. In the past we have only been able to make personal presentations to about half of the 15 units and I would like to try for 100% this year, so I need some help. Some of these are on the same evening and I can't be in two places at once! As soon as we have all the dates, I will post a list here but if there is a unit near you that you know of, I would appreciate if you volunteered for that one.
John Alger
NOSC LIBRARY DONATIONS
The Charlotte NOSC (Naval Operations Support Center - what most of us used to call the Navy Reserve Center!) is seeking donations for it's professional reading library. If you have any professional books you wish to donate, contact me at mach1@carolina.rr.com or 704-281-4538 and I will pick them up and take them to the NOSC for you if you wish.
Of particular need are books from the CNO Reading List (http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/reading.html) and the MCPON Reading List (http://www.navy.mil/navydata/mcpon/readgide.html).
Other volumes on naval history, biographies, strategy and tactics would also be welcome, as well as older "blue cover" NAVEDTRA training manuals.
2012 COUNCIL POSITIONS VACANT
We still have a number of positions vacant in the council. Please contact the President if you are interested in serving on any of these committees: Youth Programs
Legislative Affairs
Membership and Retention
Public Affairs
Events and Fundraising
NEXT COUNCIL MEETING
Our next meeting will be on April 3rd at our usual location: Panera Bread, South Park at 7:00pm. See our Council Information page for directions.