This is Howgozit #10 for all ANA Wing Commanders and ANA Squadron Commanding Officers and Membership-At-Large.  It would be much appreciated were you to pass this on to all your members.

Your very small staff at ANA Headquarters continues to make strides in recovery from the almost two-year hiatus in Washington level activity.  Principal administrative concerns at this writing are budget, membership rolls and recruiting. 

The budget is getting healthier day-by-day and we thank all of you who have contributed to make it so.  We’re not out of the woods yet but it’s hoped that an end-of-year solicitation and a newly inaugurated recruiting drive for both corporate and individual memberships will soon pay off.  As for membership rolls, we have contracted with Harris Connect to compile an ANA directory, at no cost to the ANA, which, hopefully will help us sort out the right addresses and status of our many “missing” members.

You will be hearing separately and directly about Harris Connect and our end-of-year campaign, and you will soon hear about Project 3-300, a creation of our Wings of Gold editor, Captain Zip Rausa.   This will be an all-hands effort to sign up 300 new members for the organization during the months of January, February and March 2008.   “Every Member Get a Member” is still a good course of action, but Project 3-300 is designed to engender a squadron team approach to signing up new members.  More to follow.

Meanwhile, your ANA still needs a corporate recruiter.  I’ve enlisted the help of our prestigious board of directors to bring in more corporate members but we need an organized and concentrated effort which can be best effected by one person too.  As stated before, although we much appreciate what corporate members we do have, they are few.  All one needs to do is compare the corporate membership lists in other Navy oriented magazines with those in Wings of Gold and one can see the problem.  We do need to identify a volunteer corporate recruiter.  Is there anyone out there?

Volunteerism is, of course, the only way we have to make things work, at least for the near-term.  (Reminder:  we have only one poorly paid employee).  That’s why I appreciate so much those who have volunteered to serve as squadron COs, wing commanders and members of the Advisory Council. 

As for the Advisory Council we now have outstanding representatives from the VP and helicopter communities and the Coast Guard.  Still lacking are representatives from the Marines, the Naval reserve and the enlisted communities.  If you can serve, or know of anyone to recommend, please give us a call or an e-mail.  The duties aren’t onerous; just an occasional e-mail or phone call to keep the Washington leadership on track, and perhaps a heads-up on when an article focused on some particular community might be in order.  By the way, the VP rep is VADM Wally Massenberg, USN (Ret), former Commander NavAirSysCom, the helicopter rep is Captain , Randy Bogle, USN (Ret), former president of NHA and our Coast Guard rep is VADM Howard Thorsen, USCG (Ret), along-time board member of the former ANA.  If you have a complaint or suggestion for any of them, do write directly to them.  Their e-mail addresses will soon be on our website, if not there already.

Beyond our continuing in-house problems of manpower, dollars and recruiting, we continue to try to be strong supporters of all the many facets of Naval Aviation.  The single most important activity of the ANA is to ensure that Naval Aviation is understood and appreciated by the public, both American and allied.  Many squadrons are doing their parts in this effort but some have yet to come up to speed.  That Naval Aviation is not well-understood is reflected by the continuing plethora of articles in professional journals and the general media showing either the prejudices or the ignorance, or both, of the authors and the institutions which sponsor them.  From your Washington headquarters we try to refute those articles whenever and wherever we can but we need your help too.  We need heads ups when the articles appear and we need help in telling the story.  In particular you can alert us when an inimical piece is published and you too can write articles and letters and make phone calls to set the record straight too.  I hope you will do so.  If you need references or facts, check Wings of Gold or Bullhorn or give us a call.  

Keep those cards, letters and e-mails coming.  Sky anchors away!  Bob Dunn.

 

“…to educate and encourage an interest among the general public as to the importance of Naval Aviation
n the defense of the United States and its allies….”