1. The Navy League of the United States
Holding slide for before the presentation starts
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

2. Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
I am excited to talk to you about the Navy League of the United states and how it supports America’s sea services, which include the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine.
My goal today is to leave you with a greater understanding of our Navy, what the Navy League does to support these service members and their families around the world, and how you can help.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

3. Navy League of the United States
Our national security depends on our ability to rapidly respond to crisis
The Navy League is dedicated to educating our fellow citizens, especially our elected officials and community leaders, on the importance of maintaining strong, capable and ready maritime forces. With more than 40,000 members in 220 councils worldwide, the Navy League also works to enhance the morale of active-duty personnel and their families.
Our Mission: Inform the American public about the importance of our maritime forces to our national security and economic prosperity, and to enhance the morale of active-duty personnel and their families.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

4. The Navy League and your Congress
For nearly two generations, no American has been obligated to join our military services, and few do. In 1975, 70 percent of the members of Congress had some military service, compared with just 20 percent today. This has created a gap in the knowledge of those who must make critical decisions about our military readiness and capabilities and, in turn, our national security. The grassroots strength of the Navy League’s councils translates into much-needed support of sea service members and their families across America and on Capitol Hill.
For example, Navy Leaguers took their message to Congress for the second Navy League Anchors Aweigh Fly-In on Dec. 3, 2015. Members visited their representatives, senators and congressional staffers as constituents, focusing on the economic and strategic necessity of our sea services.  The event was highly successful, with more than 100 Navy Leaguers visiting a total of 136 congressional offices. The Navy League in 2015 also launched the America’s Strength campaign, “Investing in the Navy-Marine Corps Team.” The grassroots effort combines congressional, community and industry outreach aimed at rallying support for the Navy-Marine Corps team and increasing awareness about what the strain of underfunding and overextension will mean for the Department of the Navy in the years ahead.
Our Mission: Educate our elected officials on the importance of maintaining strong, capable and ready maritime forces.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

5. The Navy League and the youth in your community
The Navy League is committed to this nation’s youth, supporting programs that foster the development of our next generation of patriotic citizens and future military leaders.
The Naval Sea Cadet Corps is for young people ages who have a desire to learn about the sea services. The objectives of the Sea Cadet program are to introduce youths to naval life; develop in them a sense of pride, patriotism, courage and self-reliance; and to maintain an environment free of drugs and gangs.
The Navy League Cadet Corps is for boys and girls, ages 11-13, who are interested in the sea and ships, and our nation’s seagoing services. The Navy League program is designed to introduce young people to maritime activities and military life, and to prepare them for the Naval Sea Cadet Corps.
Our Mission: Foster the education and development of our youth through programs such as the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and Navy League Cadet Corps as well as Junior ROTC and Young Marines.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

6. Roles and Mission of the Navy
The United States Navy is a force as relevant and necessary today as it was when it was established in Our Navy — America’s “away team” — has the mission of maintaining, training and equipping combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas. The work of our Navy is essential to maintaining our way of life.
The Navy does this by maintaining forward-deployed forces capable of executing any mission in a moment’s notice. These missions can range from conflicts to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. By maintaining U.S. warships forward deployed, the United States doesn’t need to build or maintain bases in countries where our presence may cause political or other strains. Aircraft carriers, like the one you see here, are sovereign U.S. territory capable of going anywhere in international waters — and most of the Earth’s surface is water. As former President Bill Clinton said during a visit to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, "When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: where is the nearest carrier?“
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Additionally, the Navy works to build and sustain alliances with partner nations through international maritime exercises – like Rim of the Pacific pictured here, the world’s largest international maritime exercise held in the waters around Hawaii every other year. This unique training opportunity in 2014 involved 23 nations, 48 surface ships, 6 submarines, 200 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

7. What does the Navy consist of?
The Navy consists of approximately 325,000 active-duty Sailors, 115,000 Ready Reserve Sailors and 200,000 Navy Civilians. The Navy League strives to support these Sailors and their families anyway possible. Helping to plan homecoming celebrations, like the one you see here, is just one example.
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These Sailors man the Navy’s 289 deployable ships, comprising the aircraft carrier, the Navy’s largest ship, which supports aircraft that engage in attacks on airborne, afloat and ashore targets that threaten free use of the sea; amphibious assault ships, which were designed to carry Marines and their equipment to remote locations; cruisers, destroyers, frigates and littoral combat ships, which were designed to be flexible enough to be able to fulfill any number of missions; and submarines, which were designed for underwater operations in order to carry out research, rescue, or specific wartime missions.
In addition to these ships, the Navy has more than 3,700 operational aircraft. With the ability to provide early warning of threats, threat deterrence or to serve as a strike force, Navy planes and jets allow our nation to put the “forward” in a forward-deployed, global presence.
Meanwhile, helicopters are used to transport supplies and personnel, perform medical evacuations, move supplies between a carrier and support ship, and deploy torpedoes against enemy submarines.
~325,000 Active Duty, ~115,000 Ready Reserve, ~200,000 Civilians
289 deployable ships, 3,700+ operational aircraft
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

8. Navy League of the United States
The U.S. Navy
“Complexity, the need for ingenuity — that is our asymmetric advantage if we are bold. We cannot predict the future, but we can develop a force that can respond and adapt faster.”
— Adm. John M. Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations
Your Navy today operates under three tenets:
Warfighting First - Be ready to fight and win today, while building the ability to win tomorrow.
Operate Forward - Provide offshore options to deter, influence and win in an era of uncertainty.
Be Ready - Harness the teamwork, talent and imagination of our diverse force to be ready to fight and responsibly employ our resources.
Today’s leading concern is building a relevant fleet with limited resources. The number of ships has been continually decreasing since 1990.
The deterrent value of a strong Navy and the need to protect the commercial sea lanes and our maritime borders are necessary for our nation’s continued vitality and strength.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

9. Navy League of the United States
U.S. Navy Leadership
The Department of the Navy is the umbrella agency for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and is led by the Secretary of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Operations is the senior Naval Officer, who is in charge of ensuring our Navy is properly manned and equipped to meet any challenge that our nation may encounter on the seas, and to help prevent these challenges through power projection and forward presence.
Navy League councils take great pride in helping the Navy recognize exceptional service members, such as Sailors of the Year. And our National Headquarters each year presents Sea Service Awards to active-duty and civilian personnel who have made outstanding contributions to their respective services.
The Navy League of the United States also helps support the development of our nation’s future leaders through youth programs, such as Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Junior ROTC and Young Marines. Many of these young people go on to serve in the military and enroll in officer candidate programs such as ROTC, the Service Academies and Officer Candidate School. In the picture on the left, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is taking a “selfie” with midshipmen assigned to a Navy ROTC program. The second picture shows Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson sharing Thanksgiving dinner with Sailors on the mess deck aboard aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on Nov. 26, 2015.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

10. Navy League support to the Navy
The Navy League has councils located throughout the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Far East and the Pacific that support active-duty military personnel and their families. Our councils have adopted or otherwise directly support 530 ships, commands or individual units, and each year present thousands of awards and scholarships to sea service members, members of their families and students, totaling more than $260,000.
OPTIONAL TEXT: The sea service photos shown on this slide represent how the Navy League supports our service members, including ship and submarine commissionings, awards ceremonies honoring exceptional service members and homecoming ceremonies.

11. Discussion/Questions?
For more information, or to get involved:
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PRESENTER NOTE: Remember to bring your membership brochures and business cards
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services