Minutes of the 17 February 2024 meeting

TRMN Executive Committee
Meeting Minutes
02/17/2024

1. Welcome and Introductions

Members were advised that the meeting was being recorded for creating the minutes. The meeting was called to order at 1804 GMT by the Committee Chair (Lochen). The roll call of members was completed and a quorum was confirmed.

VOTING MEMBER

Chair Laura Lochen

BoD Secretary Cindy Van Wyhe

BoD Treasurer Chris Hollaway

2SL Andrew Harper

3SL Justin Dupras

4SL Doss Buckalew

5SL David Misener

6SL Colin Lloyd

7SL Joseph Harney

ADDITIONAL MEMEBERS

Michael Garcia (D1SL)

Jerald Andry (1SL CoS)

Lisa Wiedemann (D2SL)

Jay Griffin (2SL CoS)

Zachary McCauley (D3SL)

Lori Bonilla (D4SL)

Geoffrey Zoeller (D5SL)

Nathan Camarda (5SL CoS)

Bruce Crews (D6SL)

Tracy Newby (D7SL)

2. Approval of Minutes for the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the 12/16/23 meeting were approved as an action without meeting inadvance of this meeting.

3. Reports

a. BuPlan:

See attached report from Admiral Harper.

There were no questions from the committee.

b. BuShips:

See attached report from Admiral Dupras.

Admiral Dupras asked if everyone had a chance to look at the new jotform via the link that was included in the BuShips report for the change of command process. This will replace the Adobe pdf form that is currently used. If successful, they will work on creating jotforms for the other Adobe pdf forms.
Admiral Dupras asked Doss Buckalew about wiki editing access for some new staff. It was suggested that instead of adding individuals, use position-specific logins (e.g.D3SL versus Zachary McCauley). They will continue the discussion offline.
Admiral Dupras asked bureau staff to review the issues reporting sheet (Chapter Issues Form) and mark any issues that have been resolved.
Admiral Dupras noted that there will probably be a wave of chapters in Second Fleet being decommissioned. This seems to a post-covid adjustment. The new Second Fleet command staff is meeting with each chapter individually to determine the chapter’s plans going forward.
Admiral Garcia asked how the new Grands Alliance Unit Excellence Program is doing and if it looks like it could be continued in future years. Admiral Dupras reported that the response has been very favorable and there are already awards that have been announced. A few very large chapters are expressing concerns about meeting the 10 percent requirement since many of their members are not active. There is a process to remove inactive members. BuPers should be contacted to use this process. The process involves the chapter CO and the fleet CO. Admiral Lochen would like to know if the COs do not get the support they need from fleet COs to implement the downsizing process. There are still questions about how the letters that are earned can be attached to the chapter’s banner and support is needed from the Art Department. This would allow a chapter to showcase their success. There were various options suggested including flag/pennant streamers, varsity letters, and letters on a ship’s crest.
Admiral Lochen asked how the talks were going on chapter creation. Admiral Dupras reported that he has had discussion with the Marshal of the Corps and the Marshal of the Arny as they had the most significant concerns. Admiral Duras would like to have a meeting with Admiral Lochen and then bring it to the Steering Committee to get other branch heads to get their opinion and buy-in. Admiral Lochen will get it brought to the Steering Committee. Once the details are hammered out, Admiral Dupras will bring it to the Executive Committee.

c. BuComm:

See attached report from Admiral Buckalew.

Admiral Buckalew noted that his Chief of Staff has resigned due to real life issues. He is searching for a replacement. He also notes that there are some parties that are interested in helping with the backlog and MEDUSA.

d. BuPers:

See attached report from Admiral Misener.

Admiral Misener reported that MEDUSA has been modified for the civilian structure as well as the Board of Directors and the various Committees. Each Bureau and its staff now show under the EVP instead of the First Space Lord. This will help promote the reality that any branch member can be a space lord, not just RMN personnel.
Secretary Hollaway had some questions about items in the BuPers report. There was a report item about the Sphinx Forestry database to help ensure parents and their children stay in the same chapter. Notes have been added in MEDUSA cross-linking parents and children to help when chapter transfers are requested. Secretary Hollaway also noted from the BuPers report about applications that are from bogus accounts, emails, unverifiable addresses, etc. Chris commended the BuPers staff on their diligence in weeding these out. While there have been some “fake” members who have gotten through, their access is limited.
There was discussion on the promotion request form and how it needs to be marketed more for better and proper use. There have been some promotion requests such as O-1 and O-2 being submitted using the form instead of being handled by the chapter CO and fleet CO respectively. The correct use should be reiterated with the Fleet COs.

Secretary Hollaway noted that the BuPers Awards Officer has stepped down and that there are a large number of award tickets that have not been properly closed by the issuing authority. Konteradmiral Zoeller has been reaching out about many of this requesting that the authority close the ticket as approved or denied. Admiral Lochen will discuss this with Fleet COs at a Fleet CO meeting and perform training if needed. (Action Item).

There was a suggestion by the Fifth Space Lord to pull back the update of the awards manual so that it can get finished. Admiral Lochen noted that a discussion needs to happen between BuPers and Bob Bulkeley. This will hopefully allow this manual to get completed and posted for member’s use. Admiral Harney noted that new policy on award authority from the Steering Committee. He asked if the open awards tickets could be closed out at a higher level in order to clear up the backlog. Admiral Lochen noted that it can be done but it is more difficult and laborious since a higher authority may not be familiar with the circumstances for the award and if the awarding authority denied it but didn’t mark it as such.

e. BuTrain:

See attached report from Admiral Lloyd.

Admiral Lloyd noted that there are still some issues of requests that are not getting fulfilled. He is unsure if it is a technical issue or a staff responsiveness issue.
BuTrain is still working on various projects.

f. BuSup:

See attached report from Admiral Harney.

Admiral Harney included a link to the draft sponsorship policy and asked the committee members to review and provide feedback. He noted that there is a lack of some item’s cost data but believes the first quarter of 2024 will be the first where revenues do not exceed expenses. We have a 12 month reserve fund but store sales have been low from November 2023 to now. He believes that we have also hit saturation with our existing membership and low recruitment rates, lack of conventions, etc. are also a factor. Secretary Hollaway noted that while we have had some instances of monthly expenses exceeding monthly revenue, the overall trend has been that revenues exceed expenses. There was some discussion on options for new store items and other ways to generate sales including challenge coins. Admiral Lochen noted that we could ask the Board of Directors to help defray the costs of high-upfront cost items.

g. Treasurer:

See attached report from Treasurer Hollaway.

Admiral Lochen noted that the Executive Committee should consider using those funds to benefit the membership at large and make suggestions to the Board of Directors. Admiral Van Whye will add an agenda item to the next BoD meeting agenda for discussion (Action Item).
Admiral Garcia noted that the First Space Lord is not included in the reports. The First Space Lord does not report to the Executive Committee and does not submit a report of activities. There is a search for a new RMN SMCPON. If there are questions that the Executive Committee to ask the EVP about the Board of Directors and other relevant business. Secretary Hollaway will add an agenda item for EVP questions and answers to future meetings (Action Item).
Admiral Harney noted that the recruitment numbers are slowing. Admiral Misener noted that there has been about 3 to 4 % growth in recent years from a high of 17% years ago.
Admiral Dupras noted that this past month was the best month for submitted chapter reports since 2021.

4. Old Business

a. Letter and procedure for members to pause or terminate their membership is waiting for board review and approval.

b. The new membership policy is with the board for review and approval.

c. Background checks are still with the board to discuss. Admiral Lochen noted that President Lessem has been talking with our vendor, Sterling Check. Unfortunately, Sterling is not very responsive and there have been communications issues. Admiral Garcia noted that Baycon is also having issues with them.

d. Admiral Dupras noted that the new GAUEP is going well as noted above and there are already awards being issued. He also noted that nominations for the “List of Honor” are sparse. Admiral Garcia noted that the results of GAUEP could be used to help generate potential candidates for the List of Honor. List of Honor has typically been restricted to RMN units and there was discussion about how to expand and allow other branch chapters to be included. However, there are restrictions from BuNine on what we can do. The Steering Committee is looking into this and attempting to find a solution.

5. New Business

a. Admiral Lochen noted that she is looking to break out the Executive Committee from the “1SL” Discord Server to a new, dedicated server. This will allow the discussion to be transferred to a new owner for the EVP when needed. There will still be a connection in the “Idea Interstate” channel to allow cross-discussion.

(REDACTED - OSA)

b. Admiral Garcia discussed the issue of talent retention, filling the staff openings that we have, and distributing the load across the organization versus it being concentrated in a few individuals who volunteer. We should be able to fill a position with an individual who has some of the skills and teach them the rest. An individual should not be discouraged from applying because they don’t meet all the desired aspects of a position. We can teach people to perform the jobs that we need them to do. All bureaus should review their staff positions, look at what knowledge retention and transfer opportunities are available, and consider opening up to new people to train.

6. Upcoming Priorities and Action Items

a. ACTION ITEM: Admiral Lochen will have a fleet CO meeting and emphasize the need to close open award tickets. Training should be provided where needed.

b. ACTION ITEM: Admiral Van Wyhe will add an agenda item to the next Board of Directors meeting to discuss potential sponsorships using our excess funds.

c. ACTION ITEM: Secretary Hollaway will include an “Reports” section agenda item for the Executive Vice President’s office.

7. Review of Next Meeting

Secretary Hollaway proposed moving the next meeting to April 27th to allow more time for BuShips and BuSupp to get their information collected. After some discussion, the next meeting will be held on 04/20/24 at 1700 GMT (1800 BST, 1300 EDT, 1200 CDT, 1100 MDT, 1000 PDT). We can discuss future meeting dates in the Discord chat.

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1945 GMT by the Chair, Admiral Lochen.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Hollaway, TRMN Executive Committee Secretary