Month: January 2011

Many of us noted the obituary for John “Rip” Fliszar USNA ’71 in the November Shipmate Magazine written by his husband, Mark Ketterson. Although we never had the pleasure of meeting John, we placed his name on our in memoriam page here at USNA Out dot org. As we were simultaneously attempting to reach out to Mark, he contacted to us after he stumbled across our website. His poignant note to us is quoted:

I stumbled upon USNA OUT quite by accident and saw Rip (John) listed. I had no idea this site existed; nor did he, and I am sick over that as it would have meant the world to him. I have indeed read through it, and it’s amazing.

[ … read more…]

Continue reading “John “Rip” Fliszar, USNA ’71 {1949 – 2010}”

“I welcome today’s vote by the Senate clearing the way for a legislative repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ law.

“Once this legislation is signed into law by the President, the Department of Defense will immediately proceed with the planning necessary to carry out this change carefully and methodically, but purposefully. This effort will be led by Dr. Clifford Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and himself a retired Marine Corps major general and infantry officer.

“The legislation provides that repeal will take effect once the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that implementation of the new policies and regulations written by the Department is consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces. As I have stated before, I will approach this process deliberately and

will make such certification only after careful consultation with the military service chiefs and our combatant commanders and when I am satisfied that those conditions have been met for all the Services, commands and units.

“It is therefore important that our men and women in uniform understand that while today’s historic vote means that this policy will change, the implementation and certification process will take an additional period of time. In the meantime, the current law and policy will remain in effect.

Continue reading “(updated) Secretary Gates on Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’”

Many thanks to those who provided input so that we could develop the USNA Out goals for 2011 in support of our mission.

I believe that we have developed a very aggressive set of goals for USNA Out to accomplish in 2011, and I have no doubt that with the dedicated effort of many of our members that we will be able to fulfill our expectations.

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Midshipmen, Alumni and Naval Academy Support – Support the Naval Academy and Brigade of Midshipmen:

Continue to provide informal support to USNA midshipmen and alumni who are struggling with issues such as coming out, mental health difficulties, and discrimination.

Develop referral and resource list for midshipmen and alumni needing formal support.

Produce a short version of Out of Annapolis for use in classrooms (educational edit).

Follow up on annual MIDN Award that has been discussed previously including legal authority.

Obtain a legal opinion on “Awards” to Midshipmen that exceed $20, such as insignia at graduation.

Engrave the “OSCAR with Trident” on the back of the insignia provided to graduating midshipmen at the annual dinner.

Understand requirements to endow permanent chair at USNA (~$5.5M?) and begin long-range planning.

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Members – connect and network with each other:

Plan a regular and ongoing ad in Shipmate as a constant presence for the USNA Alumni Association, alumni and midshipmen to see.

Build USNA Out membership among active duty LGBT, and straight allies.

Attract those alumni who are alienated or estranged from USNA Out.

Re-market our image to be more inclusive of those who are not “Out.”

Show Out of Annapolis in Annapolis. [COMPLETED]

Set a date for the dinner by February 28th. [COMPLETED]

Complete & publish the essay “Coming out at USNA” at least 2 weeks before DADT is scrapped.

Create Name Tags for the annual dinner, with Name and Class, Name & Staff Billet, Name & Host’s Name & Class.

Work with USNA and USNAAA to respect the last will and testament of USNA Out members regarding burials, internments and obituaries.

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Fundraising – Raise funds for USNA Out and the Naval Academy Foundation:

USNA Out: $10,000.

Grant to USNAF from USNA Out of $5,000.

USNA Out member donations direct to USNAF: $20,000. [EXCEEDED]

Revise the Donate Page to be more persuasive.

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Organizational Development – strengthening the USNA Out organization:

Establish goals for 2012 in November 2011.

Report on 2011 Goals in January 2012.

Establish fiscal policies to ensure the solvency of USNA Out.

Create specific guidelines for how USNA Out funds are distributed among USNA Out programs and expenses and Corporate donations to USNAF

Complete & publish the “Guidelines for Member Interactions” 2 weeks prior to the Annual Dinner.

Establish Communications Committee to develop communications guidelines.

Develop an external communications plan which conveys a respectable and consistent image. [COMPLETED]

We know there is much additional work to be done for USNA Out to remain in step with the forthcoming changes as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy sunsets.
Continue reading “2011 Goals”