Navy League of the United States :: Imperial Valley Council

	U.S. NAVY	U.S. FLAG MERCHANT MARINE

	U.S. MARINE CORPS	U.S. COAST GUARD

National Organization

Naval Sea Cadets

Imperial Valley Council

About Our Council

ABOUT OUR COUNCIL
The Imperial Valley Council was given its Charter on February 12, 1949 by National Vice-President Charles Davies. The event was held in the historic De Anza Hotel in Calexico, California, and was attended by 300 invited guests, including Senator Owen Brewster of Maine as the principal speaker. Also attending were five Admirals of the Navy, one General of the Marine Corps, and numerous other Navy and Marine Officers.

On February 15, 1956 the Council received permission from the Chief of Naval Personnel, J. Holloway Jr., to hold its monthly dinner meeting in the Commissioned Officers Mess at NAF El Centro, and has done so since that time. The Council meets on the first Monday of each month, and has become famous for its 16 oz. T-Bone steak dinner. Each guest speaker is awarded with the Council's highly coveted "T-Bone Plaque."

The Council is committed to actively supporting the men and women stationed at NAF El Centro, and look for opportunities to show its support of the military members and their families. Each Thanksgiving the Council donates turkeys to each enlisted family on base, underwrites the Navy Ball, institutes a Sailor-of-the-Month, Sailor-of-the-Quarter, and Sailor-of-the-Year program, and provides each with a cash award. In recent years, the Council has built a state-of-the-art ($300,000+) Go-Cart track, as well as a golf driving range on base.

NAF El Centro is the winter home and training ground of the Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron. The Imperial Valley Council hosts the Pacific Southwest Region's "Blue Angel Imperial Valley Desert Outing" each year prior to the "Blues" kicking off their annual season. This two-day outing begins with a social hour and dinner with the Blue Angels on Friday night. The next morning, guests board a chartered bus to the desert and are served a ranch-style breakfast, after which the members watch a Blue Angels practice demonstration. Guests are again bused to a hosted luncheon where they once again can visit with the Blue Angels team.

Through the years, the Council has sponsored an NAF El Centro Little League team, Desert Eagle Squadron Sea Cadet Unit, landscaped the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, adopted the USS Fitzgerald, furnished the Day Care Center on base, and sent $10,000.00 to National for the National scholarship fund. The Council routinely furnishes tickets to the local military personnel to attend the California Mid-Winter Fair, sends military personnel to resorts in Palm Springs, and holds Bar-B-Q's on base for all hands.

The council furnished the necessary equipment to transport an F/A-18 from San Diego to NAF, El Centro. This jet is now prominently displayed at the entrance to the base, and has been painted in Blue Angel colors.

If ever you are in our area, we invite you to join us at our meetings!

MISSION STATEMENT
The Navy League has set forth the following objectives:

To foster and maintain interest in a strong Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine as integral parts of a sound national defense and vital to the freedom of the United States.
To serve as a means of educating and informing the American people with regard to the role of sea power in the nuclear age and the problems involved in maintaining strong defenses in that age.
To improve the understanding and appreciation of those who wear the uniforms of our armed forces and to better the conditions under which they live and serve.
To provide support and recognition for the Reserve forces in our communities in order that we may continue to have a capable and responsive Reserve.
To educate and train our youth in the customs and traditions of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine through the means of an active and vigorous Naval Sea Cadet Corps.

Statement of Policy

We of the Navy League of the United States stand for a strong America - a nation morally, economically, and internally strong.

We believe that the security of our nation and of the people of the world demands a well-balanced, integrated, mobile American defense team, of which a strong Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine are indispensable parts.

We support all Armed Services to the end that each may make its appropriate contribution to the national security.

We know that in a free nation an informed public is indispensable to national security and, therefore, we will strive to keep the nation alert to the dangers which threaten - both from without and within.

We favor appropriations for each of the Armed Services, adequate for national security, economically administered.

We oppose any usurpation of the Congress's constitutional authority over the Armed Services.

We urge that our country maintain world leadership in scientific research and development.

We support industrial preparedness, planning, production.

We support efforts of our government to achieve worldwide peace through international cooperation.

We advocate a foreign policy which will avoid wars - if possible; if not, win them!

The Navy League Operations Manual
This provides information about the governance and operation of the Navy League