Tim Brown, Commanding Officer
Thanks to Vince van den Brink for running the show last month. He will be doing it again this month as Ray LeCompte and I will be at the annual Tailhook convention, starting the day of our luncheon meeting. I understand that Vince did a great job last month and that all went well, including the presentation of awards to the Sailors of the Quarter. Thank you to Bill Thompson and Sel Ramsay for making that happen. Also, thank you to George Del Gaudio for his work in the background on the SOQ program. I also received reports that our speaker was really interesting and that everybody in attendance enjoyed the presentation. Thanks to Cindy Macha, our Ops O for arranging for Mr. Lobb to be there. I wish that I could have attended.
As I said earlier, I will not attend the luncheon on 8 September. When Ray and I go up to Reno, we are busy Gramps honors Seal Beach Weapons Station Sailors of the Quarter. 1st row(l to r): GMC(SW) Brad S. Stiner, YN2 (SW/AW) Joseph V. Williams, MA1 (EXW/IDW) Chance A. Beckford, MAC((SW/AW) Jay V. Knox. 2nd row(l to r): Chaplain Bill Thompson, Asst OPS Sel Ramsay, CMDCS Kieby C. Lee and XO Vince van den Brink. morning to night, meeting with industry and active-duty personnel. Mostly we are there to help ANA national remind the Navy that we are still around and active. The other part of our duties is to seek out new and interesting speakers, again, active-duty, industry and, in many cases, authors of Naval Aviation related books. It is a pleasure to represent you at TH but I can tell you truthfully, it is tiring. We attend most of the seminars too. Like years past, the seminars will be broadcast live on the Internet, so you can view what we have traveled hundreds of miles to see, from your office computer. By the way, Ray and I both give away our drink tickets to JO’s when it comes time for the Bug Roach Mixer!
In closing, I remind everyone to try to attend our luncheons and to seek out and convince non-members to become members. We will always need new members to carry on the traditions of Naval Aviation and ANA. Also, please consider volunteering as a staff officer. We need the help! Don’t forget about LA Navy Days, WWRE, and the air show over HB with the Thunderbirds, all of which are coming up in the near future.
Thanks again for being an active member of ANA and Gramps’ Squadron. I thank you again for contributing to our success as an organization and for supporting our efforts to support the SOQ Awards Program through your donations of time and money.
