Partnerships Can Help Councils
Share the Burden and the Benefits
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
Alittle help can go a long way in making a tough job easier to manage. Partnerships or collaborations
with other councils, community groups or service organizations can be an effective way to help ease the workload, organizational or financial burden of support projects with which Navy League councils are involved.
From ship commissionings and Navy Week events to
Individual Augmentee (IA) recognition or welcome home
celebrations for returning Sailors, Marines and Coast
Guardsmen and women, councils and their partners can
take advantage of the efficiencies of teamwork by sharing
resources, manpower and expertise. Partnerships can
improve public awareness and better the prospects for
participation, as well as lay the groundwork for more
cooperation in the future, which can benefit everyone
involved, especially if it helps attract new members.
At the national level, Navy League headquarters
partnered with The Washington Examiner to salute the
U.S. Coast Guard on its 221st birthday with a four-page pullout section highlighting the service in the
July 31 edition of the newspaper. The section, which
was sponsored by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union,
can be viewed online at http://tinyurl.com/3vn3728.
It will be the first of several special sections in the
coming months that will focus on the contributions of
the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag
Merchant Marine to the national defense, homeland
security and economic stability of the United States.
In conjunction with National Maritime Day on May
22, 2010, the Navy League and the International
Propeller Club of the United States announced a strategic alliance to provide stronger, more visible support of
the nation’s commercial maritime industry, with the
specific aim of promoting and educating the public
about the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine, the commercial
shipping industry and the work of commercial
mariners. The Propeller Club has more than 8,000
members in more than 100 ports around the world.
For individual councils, partnership opportunities
can run the gamut. For example:
■ The Northeast Florida councils in Mayport,
Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Space Coast and St.
Augustine have been teaming up since 2008 to sponsor
IA appreciation luncheons at Naval Air Station
Jacksonville. During that time, more than 1,500 IAs
and their spouses have been honored.
The Seattle Council partnered with the Air Force
Association, the Association of the U.S. Army and the
Museum of Flight in Seattle to purchase new service flags
for the entrance to the museum. The flags were presented
during an Armed Forces Day event May 21.
■ The New York Council has a partnership with The
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and The Fleet Admiral
Nimitz Council has partnered with the National Museum
of the War in the Pacific in Fredericksburg, Texas, to
sponsor and promote events such as lecture series.
■ The New Mexico Council recently partnered with
and supports the Bataan Military Academy, a public
charter school in Albuquerque that opened in 2007
and whose students also are all are members of the U.S.
Naval Sea Cadet Corps’ Bataan Battalion.
■ The Santa Barbara and Channel Islands, Calif.,
Councils joined forces with the Ventura County
Economic Development Association to plan the Fourth
Annual Military Business & Community Exposition
that was held April 21 at the Ventura County Office of
Education Conference Center. The councils secured the
event’s two keynote speakers: Jackalyne Pfannenstiel,
assistant secretary of the Navy (Installations and
Environment), and Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, then-commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers, San
Diego. He assumed command of Naval Supply Systems
