NIP had a great turnout for the annual Red Tie luncheon held 29 April at Army Navy Country Club in Arlington. Over 180 people participated and there was a definite "buzz" in the room. We had our new NIP website (at navintpro.org) up on the large screen for all to see and it's a great improvement over our old site, with more changes and more content planned and in the production process. In addition to showing the web site, I announced that we have tripled the number of inputs for our annual scholarship program and we'll shortly be announcing the winners of six, $5,000 college scholarships to NIP member dependents and active duty enlisted personnel. I also reminded the audience of the ongoing USNI/NIP Intelligence Essay contest which runs through 31 July 2016. For contest details, see the announcement article on our website or got to http://www.usni.org/navalintelessay.
As promised, I announced details on Project 2032, an ambitious effort to research, write and publish the 150 year history of Naval Intelligence. Naval History and Heritage Command (retired RADM Sam Cox is the Director) will sponsor the project and NIP will support the Navy and ONI in this 16 year task. While the final product will be released in March 2032, on the 150 year anniversary of the establishment of ONI, we plan to publish segments as we go that are relevant to educating the public and the Navy on the relevance and value of Intelligence. While looking at the past, we hope to point out lessons that will help the future leaders of the Navy and Naval Intelligence. To that end, we've already collected oral histories from ADM Studeman and ADM Inman. We are looking for volunteers to help with interviews, with collating materials and in writing and editing for the project.
The Red Tie luncheon had 3 terrific highlights. First was the award of the Red Tie to retired Captain, JR Reddig. See the adjoining article and the citation. I can tell you it was a lot of fun to surprise JR with this award! Our guest speakers were both outstanding highlights of the program as well. Captain, retired, George Pressly gave a great presentation on his experiences standing up the first Ocean Surveillance Information Facility at Rota, Spain in 1970. It's a great story and check out his slides that we've posted here on the NIP site. The lesson he expresses is the same as what RADM Cox and I heard from ADM Inman, "never underestimate the importance of direct (intelligence) support." RADM Paul Becker ended our program with a superb speech on the importance and value of "Teamwork, Tone and Tenacity." More valuable lessons on how to get the mission of Intelligence accomplished.
Our focus is still on making NIP more Visible and more Relevant. The new web site provides us a forum to do that and with a paid editorial staff we have talent and expertise to help with content. But the real value and relevance from NIP is the outreach and personal contact between each one of our members. The more involved each of you are, the better we support and serve the Navy and the nation by reminding them of the value and role of Intelligence as a discipline that supports every warfare area and every policy maker.
More good things are coming! Stay tuned and be Visible and Relevant!
Very Respectfully,
Tony