Awards, Guests, CNO Highlight
Navy League’s 108th Convention
By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief
Picture-perfect blue skies and warm temperatures greeted
Navy Leaguers from around the
world as they descended on
Jacksonville, Fla., for the 108th
National Convention Oct. 18-24.
The event was hosted by the
Mayport, Fla., Council, with the
support of Florida’s Jacksonville
and St. Augustine Councils and the
Camden-Kings Bay, Ga., Council.
The 2010 National Convention
Committee, chaired by Diane
Wright, planned an action-packed
week that included a golf outing at
Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, tours of the Kennedy Space
Center and St. Augustine, a Jacksonville Symphony pops concert
and a dinner cruise on the St.
Johns River aboard the Princess II.
Presiding over the weeklong
event was National President Daniel
B. Branch Jr. His primary themes
when addressing various committee meetings, the board
of directors and the annual meeting of members were
fiscal responsibility, positioning the organization for
growth, and membership recruiting and retention,
reminding members throughout the week to “always
wear your marketing hat.”
The convention featured several distinguished
guests, including Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and
U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., kicking off the con-
vention at the Opening Ceremony on Oct. 21, and Adm.
Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations (CNO), serv-
ing as keynote speaker at the closing dinner Oct. 23.
Other guests who participated in awards ceremonies or
spoke at various committee meetings during the week
were Capt. Anthony Cooper, Navy deputy chief of information; Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander, Military
Sealift Command (MSC); Rear Adm. James A. Watson IV,
deputy commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area; James E.
Caponiti, assistant administrator, Maritime Administration (MARAD); Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, director of the Navy’s Intelligence, Surveillance &
Reconnaissance Capabilities Division; Rear Adm. William
KEN GODWIN PHOTOGRAPHY
Jacksonville, Fla., Mayor John Peyton welcomes Navy Leaguers to the city
during opening ceremonies of the 108th National Convention Oct. 21 at the
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront hotel.
D. Baumgartner, commander, Seventh Coast Guard
District; Rear Adm. Keith A. Taylor, Coast Guard assistant
commandant for resources and chief financial officer; and
Marine Corps Maj. Victor M. Ruble, inspector-instructor,
Company B, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion.
Wright and Branch greeted attendees at a Welcome
Aboard Reception on Oct. 20 at convention headquarters, the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront hotel, and
formally opened the convention the following morning
at the Opening Ceremony, at which Wright also sang the
National Anthem, a performance she repeated at other
events during the course of the convention.
“I wanted to be here today to welcome everybody to
the 4th Congressional District of the state of Florida,”
Crenshaw said during the ceremony.
“While you’re here,” he said, “you’ll see and you’ll hear
about the military bases in the Jacksonville area, and I
think they will demonstrate to you how the Navy is working every day to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
Crenshaw noted the importance of the Navy to the
area, with Naval Station Mayport preparing to become
the homeport for an aircraft carrier, NAS Jacksonville
