I regret to have to inform you that Immediate Past National Commander Wayne Standerfer has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. Wayne is undergoing tests and will see the oncologist after the tests are completed. The prognosis of those test results will determine the possible treatment options and course of action.
Please do not call Wayne, as he and the family need this personal time. I will provide any updates as they become available to me.
Please keep Wayne and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Hundreds of military veterans and currently active service members signed “an open letter to the American people” detailing lawlessness among military leadership over the past few years and vowing to hold those responsible accountable under the law.
Theletter informed the public that the signatories had “exhausted all internal efforts to rectify recent criminal activity” in the military as top brass “trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion” while requiring COVID vaccines for service members.
The U.S. and Australian navies will see their submarine-specific partnerships grow in multiple ways throughout 2024.
The Navy plans to conduct its first-ever submarine maintenance work in Australia this summer using the sub tender Emory S. Land, with 30 Australian sailors embarked to learn how to repair the Virginia class of submarine.
Defense officials revealed that the military significantly missed recruitment goals in the most recent fiscal year, a phenomenon which continues amid broader societal upheaval and perceived ideological compromise among top brass.
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani revealed that the military services fell short of recruitment objectives by 41,000 individuals in fiscal year 2023. The Marine Corps and Space Force were the only two branches to reach their recruiting goals.
The Navy is introducing three new separate ratings in 2024 for information technology, or IT, personnel serving on submarines to specialize in communications, network security and electronic warfare.
Sailors currently in the information systems technician rating aboard submarines will convert into these new ratings to facilitate “mastery” in one specific area of expertise, according to the Navy.
The number of homeless veterans rose more than 7% from 2022 to 2023, the largest such yearly jump since federal officials launched a nationwide focus on the problem more than a decade ago.
Officials saw an increase of more than 2,400 veterans without stable housing during their annual point-in-time count conducted last January. That put the total number of veterans experiencing homelessness in cities across America at 35,574.
For the first time, a U.S. Navy submarine has tested an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) that can leave and re-enter the sub through a torpedo tube. The capability to deploy a drone through an existing hatch creates new opportunities for surveillance, scouting and other missions.
The trials took place aboard the USS Delaware, a Virginia-class attack sub commissioned in 2020. Supporting partners included Woods Hole’s Oceanographic Systems Lab, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Huntington Ingalls and the UUV specialists of Submarine Force Pacific’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicles Squadron One.
The Navy is honoring the popular slogan “Remember Pearl Harbor” by naming three submarines and an aircraft carrier after ships and a sailor linked to the Japanese attack that brought the United States into World War II.
Three new Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarines will be named USS Utah, USS Oklahoma and USS Arizona — the three battleships sunk and never salvaged from the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that killed 2,400 Americans.
Deferred maintenance costs for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam were about $2.3 billion, about 14% of the total for all buildings analyzed in the study, the CBO said.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam also had the highest renovation and modernization costs, at about $5 billion. That number represented about 15% of the CBO’s $32 billion estimate to upgrade all of the Navy’s buildings in the study.
As 2024 is an election year for National Officer and Region Directors, the nominations for these offices are now being accepted by the Nominations Committee Chair, PNC John Markiewicz, markiewiczjohn4@gmail.com . Article XIII section 1 of the C&B as shown below explains the process:
ARTICLE XIII – BIENNIAL ELECTIONS
Section 1. NOMINATIONS
A. Elections for National Office shall occur in even numbered years. Any member in good standing may nominate any other member in good standing for any elected National Office, provided that:
1. The qualifications for National Office are in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws, and the nomination is accompanied by a letter from the Nominee indicating his/her willingness to accept the nomination to serve, if elected.
2. The Nomination Letter includes details of the Nominee’s qualifications in less than one hundred (100) words.
3. The Nomination is received by the Nomination Committee Chair on or by March 1st or one hundred (100) days prior to the ABM, whichever is earlier.
For Regional Directors, please reference Article XIII, Section 5, as shown below:
Section 5. BIENNIAL ELECTION FOR REGIONAL DIRECTORS
A. Regional Director’s Elections shall be held in the even numbered years in conjunction with the National Election as part of the National Ballot.
B. Members in good standing can only vote for the Regional Director in the Region in which his/her Primary Base is located.
C. Any regular member in good standing of a Base within a Region may nominate any other regular member residing within the same Region and in good standing for Regional Director of that region, provided that:
1. The Nominee is currently serving or has served as a Regional Director, District or Base Officer.
2. The nomination is accompanied by a letter from the Nominee indicating they have read and understand the requirements of the position and indicating his/her willingness to accept the nomination and willingness to serve, if elected.
3. The Nomination Letter shall include details of the Nominee’s qualifications in one hundred (100) words or less.
4. Nominations must be sent to the National Nomination Committee’s Chairman on or by March 1st of the election year.
D. Any Regional Director vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the National Commander within ninety (90) days of the vacancy.
E. In the case of a newly Region, the Election Master shall then conduct a special election within ninety (90) days of its creation, the term of which shall run through the completion of the current Region election cycle.
Bowfin Pearl Harbor Base 