FROM THE PRESIDENT
As most of you know we lost “Bill” Purdum on 21 January, 1988. Bill was one of the early “sparkplugsn in the formulation of the NSL. His advice and suggestions came to us in a flurry of correspondence and personal visits. His enthusiasm for the NSL concept never waivered and once the NSL was organized, he set his sights higher. Bill was the principle author for the concept or NSL Chapters and wrote the original Chapter By-Laws. These are in use today by all five of the NSL chapters. Bill was the first President of our first NSL Chapter — the NAUTILUS Chapter, in New London, CT. For all these efforts we are most grateful. Bill personified the finest traditions of being a submariner. He cared little who got the credit as long as the submarine service moved forward. And from a personal viewpoint, since he served with me and Admiral Long as Engineer on PATRICK HENRY, we can attest to his being an outstanding shipmate. We all dearly loved Bill Purdum. His smile, his great sense of humor, his professional attributes will long remain with us. He will be missed!
Soon you will receive a ballot for the election of 3 NSL Directors, and accompanying it will be a preference form to indicate your willingness to serve the NSL. The NSL By-Laws contain a provision that a Director cannot serve more than eight years. The present cadre of Directors have served well, but their terms will soon begin to expire. We need to see the next generation or leaders step forward and to prepare themselves for service to the NSL. I ask your thoughtful consideration in marking this volunteer preference form. It is extremely vi tal to identify those individuals willing to serve in the various capacities. Remember you can always move up by starting at a committee or council level. Most of the officers and directors have followed this path. We need dedicated people to follow the footsteps of the Bill Purdums.
Finally, the NSL Advisory Committee has recommended that the NSL adopt a slogan that expresses the mission of the NSL in 4-5 words. I ask that the membership give this challenge some thought and send us your ideas.
See you on 8-9 June at the Annual Symposium. The agenda looks like another winner with a major presentation on Soviet Seapower being given on the 8th. This expansion of the agenda is in consonance with the recommendation of the Advisory Council.
Shannon
