The 2018 Naval Submarine League’s Corporate Member Days event, held at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC on March 7th and 8th, was a testament to the Naval Submarine League’s invaluable industry support.
Hundreds of representatives from companies large and small, as well as active duty submariners, climbed the grand staircases and poured into the wide hall of the hotel that buzzed louder and louder with voices making acquaintanc es and connecting over shared service or shared purpose. People stopped and leaned in to examine every submarine ever built drawn to scale on the Subma rine Evolution poster on display next to the registration booth (for sale on the NSL website). They flowed into the dramatic, tiered ballrooms for speeches, then good conversations and food.
The Corporate Member Days event serves a dual purpose: to provide our Corporate Members a platform for networking and to celebrate them. This year, we celebrated anniversaries of support from twenty-one companies. A full list of the awardees can be found on the back cover.
2018 was a special celebration of the longevity of our organization, thanks to our founders and all those who have joined since. The cover of the program included a variety of images from our founding year including the first member ship card issued, the first Submarine Review printed, and pictures of submarines commissioned 35 years ago in 1983.
Admiral Caldwell, Congressman Kilmer, Rear Admiral Hahn, Rear Admi ral Jabaley, Rear Admiral Tammen, and Vice Admiral Tofalo delivered presen tations throughout the event. Each of the speakers presented a different perspec tive and offered his expertise, none managed to get away without answering some challenging questions.
Congressman Kilmer emphasized that the most important action we can take, as members of the Naval Submarine League, is to evangelize our message of the importance of investing in the Submarine Force. Rear Admiral Jabaley, after an informative speech, announced his retirement as the Program Executive Officer for Submarines and named his relief, Rear Admiral David Goggins.
Each of the speeches had the same basic message: we need to support the development of our Submarine Force and our Corporate Members are key to guaranteeing the success of our shared goal.
While the first night’s speeches were happening, a stranger stopped a staff member in the hall and asked, “How can you be a member of the Naval Subma rine League if you’ve never been on a submarine?”
“We promote the importance of submarines to the national defense,” she responded. “You don’t have to serve in submarines to think it’s important.”
Many have served in submarines and many have not; what connects our members and gives them purpose is interest in and support for the Submarine Force.
