SAS Draws Record Attendance,
Prepares for New Site Next Year
The Navy League concluded its
Sea-Air-Space (SAS) Exposition
run at the Marriott Wardman Park
Hotel in Washington with another
record crowd and a stellar line-up of
seminars, speakers and exhibits.
More than 10,300 people attended
SAS 2008, held March 18-20, and
more than 150 defense-related companies, service organizations and
program representatives hosted
exhibits at the show. SAS, one of the
largest maritime expositions in the
world, is slated to move next year to
the Gaylord National Resort and
Convention Center at the new
National Harbor complex in Prince
George’s County, Md. The 2009 SAS
is scheduled for May 4-6.
“It’s been a great run for this
event at the Marriott Wardman
Park,” Navy League National
President J. Michael McGrath said
during his luncheon remarks on
the final day of SAS. “We close the
2008 expo on a high note.”
Leaders from each of the sea
services participated in the exposition, with Adm. Gary Roughead,
chief of naval operations; Adm.
Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant; Gen. Robert Magnus, assistant commandant of the Marine
Corps; and Maritime Administrator
Sean T. Connaughton serving on
the “Seapower & America’s Security” seminar panel that kicked
off SAS. [See story, Page 48.]
Adm. William J. Fallon, the outgoing commander of U.S. Central Command, was the keynote speaker at the
Sea-Air-Space Banquet March 19.
Prior to the SAS opening ceremonies March 18, McGrath, his wife
Gloria and Richard C. Macke, Navy
League vice president for Sea Services
Liaison, welcomed a delegation representing the Taiwanese Navy and
the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office (TECRO). The
group included Vice Adm. Chich-Chen Chang, deputy commander,
Taiwan Navy, and his wife; Rear
Adm. Chih-Lung Tan, director general, TECRO/Defense Mission, and his
wife; Capt. Skipper Jian, naval
attaché, TECRO; Cmdr. Yuster Yu,
deputy naval attaché, TECRO; Cmdr.
Pao-Wen Liu, assistant naval attaché,
TECRO; Lt. Cmdr. Shih-Chang Liu,
N5 staff, Taiwan Navy general headquarters; and Lt. Cmdr. Chun-Cheng
Lin, aide-de-camp.
A larger group of foreign military
officials was on hand for the International Maritime Reception at the
end of the exposition’s first day. More
than 100 military, embassy and international program representatives
from countries including Afghanistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Russia,
New Zealand, Angola, Pakistan,
Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Greece, China,
Peru, Gabon, Yemen, Ukraine, South
Africa and many others attended the
JONATHAN ERNST
A NASA space suit and a C-130
cargo aircraft propeller system were
among the items on display at the
Hamilton Sundstrand booth in the
exhibition hall during the 2008 Sea-Air-Space Exposition at the Marriott
Wardman Park Hotel in Washington.
LISA NIPP
Richard C. Macke, Navy League vice president for Sea Services Liaison, talks with
Vice Adm. Chich-Chen Chang, left, deputy commander, Taiwan Navy, and Cmdr.
Pao-Wen Liu, assistant naval attaché with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, during a visit by a delegation from Taiwan to SAS March 18.
