Executive Director’s Report
Tailhook Association Update
by CAPT J.R. Davis, USN(Ret)
by CAPT J.R. Davis, USN(Ret)
Over the course of a typical year, the Tailhook Association loses between 750 and 1,000 members. Most of our lost members move to a new duty station without letting us know their new address. Some move on to civilian commercial aviation and forget their heritage, and several more receive their “last cut.”
In any case, we continue with an aggressive recruiting effort to sustain growth in our organization. During the last three months we’ve been unusually successful in recruiting new members and encouraging those whose membership has lapsed to return.
For example, during a recent visit to NAS Oceana we added 103 active-duty members concurrent with the establishment of Tailhook’s Oceana Ready Room. We also participated in the NAS Whidbey Island Electronic Warfare Symposium, where we signed up 33 new and returning members. In addition, we have had good luck in tracking down and reactivating members who moved or dropped their membership in 2003.
Our current membership has grown to 11,559. Of these, 4,536 (39.3 percent) are civilians and high-school/NJROTC members, 3,510 (30.3 percent) are retired military, and 3,513 (30.4 percent) are active-duty members.
We have added a new 2004 Reunion commemorative golf shirt and several disestablished-squadron logo shirt designs to our inventory. Click here to view the latest additions to our custom stock.
This year we expect many more attendees than in past years to our annual reunion 9–12 September at John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel in Reno. The Tailhook Association is proud to welcome the A-6 Intruder Association, VF/VFA-14, NavCad Class 8-53 and several other reunion groups who are gathering in conjunction with the Tailhook Convention. Check the Tailhook Web site for contact information updates. The Thursday-evening welcoming reception, open to everyone, will salute these reunion groups.
At this year’s convention, your name tag will serve as your ticket to enter all free-of-charge symposium events, and we will have people on hand to collect tickets at the door for all “ticket-required” events. Please ensure that you have brought your admission tickets to each event you plan to attend.
We expect well over 3,000 attendees at Tailhook ’04, and our entire exhibit area is filled with 70 exhibitors. The Nugget is offering a reduced room rate to all active-duty attendees. Call John Ascuaga’s Nugget at (800) 648-1177 today and make your hotel reservations before the “block” rooms have been taken. If you are on active duty, please be sure to tell the reservation desk to take advantage of the reduced rate.
Many of you have seen our upgrades to the Association’s Web site and ship’s store. We have received more than 45,000 “hits” on our Web site over the last year, and continually update our site’s capabilities. With a few key strokes on your computer, you now can update your address or rank, join or renew your membership, register for the reunion or read the current monthly newsletter. If you prefer, you may register to receive the newsletter by providing us with your e-mail address.
If you already have access to the Internet (not through AOL) and would like a personalized e-mail address with “your name”@tailhook.net, call us at our toll-free number, (800) 322-4665. We have a limited number of addresses available.