Message from Executive Director

Good Morning Shipmates,
Several members have been asking, and instead of writing to each one Ill address this publicly.
Dues will be used to pay for cost of a website, access to specific email domains, legal fees for taking case before the Supreme Court, administrative cost, some man hours, postage, and other items that may pop up. These expenses won’t be used without a vote from the board, but the ED will have discretionary use when it comes to paying certain items.
Currently there is no Constitution or By-Laws and the Board has no power based on the Articles of Incorporation. That is being changed to put the power in the hands of the Board and Elected Officers, ultimately giving the power to the members.
Many people are accusing me of running this like a dictatorship....I’m not sure how since we are keeping everyone up to date on the changes being made and also ran a member survey that almost a thousand of you responded to. I hope my post show that we are keeping the members informed and quarterly you will be seeing a financial report on the website. Nothing to hide here.
It is correct that dues are currently not mandatory, because we are a c3, but that dynamic is changing since we will be filing for a c19 status, Veteran Service Organization. This will allow us to file for VSO status within the VA and be recognized Nationally.
A lot of hard work has gone into the setting up of this association, and it’s time to take it into the next century of its existence. We currently have 2,439 members of BWNVVA and Blue Water Navy Awareness has over two thousand also. As we merge the two organizations membership (Facebook sites won’t go away, they do each offer something significant), this site offers official statements and the BWNA sites is more of a public forum, it will help our numbers as we take on other issues, and as we start to expand to other areas as well.
Change comes with all types of controversy, I am well aware most people are going to say “Well it wasn’t like that before”, that’s how organizations come to die. We need to be thinking outside the box and push this organization into a life that will exceed the vision of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association.
Blue Water Navy will always be our #1 priority and the top source of where we spend time, resources and energy, but we also must start expanding our talking points to attract newer members.
Bring me your Time, Talent, Treasures and Resources, and together we will thrive for the greater good of our Navy, Marine and Coast Guard Veterans!
Very Respectfully,
Michael J. Little
Executive Director