Message from the President
HOWGOZIT #7
July 9, 2007

This is Howgozit #7 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 new ANA is off and running.  We now have an elected board of directors, elected officers and one of the two planned advisory councils.  We have engaged an administrative support organization guaranteed to meet your needs.  We also have increasing support from the active Navy leadership, but even so we continue to work that issue.  One outstanding indication of that is an interview I had recently with Admiral Mike Mullen, the CNO.  The full interview will be in the summer issue of Wings of Gold, but here’s one quote:  “I’m delighted to hear you are doing this (rejuvenating the ANA) and particularly with the group you’ve got on your board of directors.”

Beyond reaching out to the active Navy we also continue to work all the goals for the organization as set forth in my column in the spring 2007 issue of Wings of Gold.   At the same time we’re turning our attention to the actions spelled out in our mission: 

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

Meanwhile, though the Army, the Marines and Special Forces have been getting the lion’s share of press of late, and rightfully so, given their intense day-to-day involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and the casualties they’ve been taking, the Navy, especially Naval Aviation, has been there too, and elsewhere around the world as well.  After all, when a war is global, which service really has global capabilities?  To the readers of Wings of Gold the answer obvious; it’s the service that can operate from anywhere over 75 percent of the Earth’s surface and penetrate a thousand miles or more over the land areas bordering onto that 75 percent.  That service, the Navy, particularly Naval Aviation, operates from the sea, moving when and where necessary, not limited by access to bases on foreign soil or limited by having to fly twenty or more hours from bases in the continental United States complete with multiple in-flight refuelings.  Naval Aviation is not limited to projecting bombs, guns and missiles, of course.  Naval Aviation can and does also support the “projection” of Marines ashore when and where necessary and facilitates humanitarian relief besides.  You know all this, but your neighbors and colleagues may not.  I hope you’ll educate them.   

Never has it been more important that we pursue our mission to educate and encourage an interest among the general public as to the importance of Naval Aviation in the defense of the United States and its allies.  It seems that not a day goes by but that an article in a professional publication or in the mass media, or in speeches and analyses by “experts” and a plethora of other activity assail the usefulness of Naval Aviation.  Years of studies and results of actual confrontations notwithstanding, there’s always a new “reason” for not spending dollars on Naval Aviation.  It’s a lot like pulling dandelions:  no matter how many you kill others keep popping up.  It’s our job to keep the truth, the facts and the essential message in front of the American people and the Congress. 

You can help with that through conversations with your friends and neighbors, in your squadrons clubs and elsewhere, but we need to communicate with you too.  Certainly we need to keep information flowing more often than once a quarter in Wings of Gold.  We would much prefer to communicate through e-mail, but recognizing that not all members have e-mail accounts, we’ve established a Council of Wing Commanders to, among other things, facilitate information flow.  If you are not in an ANA squadron or you don’t know which squadron you might belong to, please get in touch with the wing commander in your area listed elsewhere in this magazine. They and the squadron commanders are our keys to success.  I hope you’ll thank them for the work they do, all out of the awareness of the importance of Naval Aviation to our country and our allies. 

 By the way, if you need or want to present an outstanding reference for the importance of the aircraft carrier element of Naval Aviation, nothing would be more appropriate than an autographed copy of Admiral Holloway’s recently published book, “Aircraft Carriers at War.”  Donate $100 or more to ANA and a copy is on its way to you.  This is not only a collector’s item and a good read but a purchase will help your ANA besides. 

 Back to ANA organization for a moment, in addition to the Council of Wing Commanders, the one organizational element which has yet to be effected is the establishment of an Advisory Council consisting of Naval Aviators from the different communities that make up Naval Aviation.  We need that to ensure we don’t focus on one element of Naval Aviation at the expense of the others.  At this writing this remains a work in progress, but I will be able to report to you on that in my next report. 

Meanwhile, rest assured your executive staff is working hard to re-engage the active Navy, keep us solvent, clean up membership lists including the recruiting of  corporate members, add to Wings of Gold advertising  and, above all, to keep loyal members such as you well-informed. 

Sky anchors aweigh!  Bob Dunn.