Minutes of the 19 May 2024 meeting

TRMN Steering Committee: May Meeting Minutes (Unofficial) Date: 19 May 2024
Time: 1700 Pacific / 2100 Atlantic / 0100 GMT
Location: Google Meet

Attendees:

Mike Garcia – Chair

David Westover (IAN) – Vice Chair

Zach White (GSN) – Steering Committee Secretary

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC)

Matthew Miller (RMA)

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps)

Non-Voting Attendees/Guests:

Mitch Dunn (RHN CNO)

Garret Littrell (Deputy RHN CNO)

The meeting was called to order at 1705 PST.

Agenda Item 1:

The chair delivered a welcome message to attendees. Roll Call was completed, and a quorum was declared.

Agenda Item 2:

A motion was made by the Chair to approve the minutes from the March meeting. This motion was seconded by Michael Houghtaling, and the Secretary called for a vote by acclimation. There were no objections, and the minutes were approved unanimously. The minutes are to be posted to the TRMN forums for review by the membership.

Agenda Item 3:

Divisional reports were received by the members before the meeting except for a report from the RMN and the House of Commons. There were no questions, and the Secretary took a note to follow up with the RMN and Commons for a report.

Agenda Item 4:

The Steering Committee considered amendments to several of the existing policy documents. These amendments corrected RMMM ranks, as well as provided more clarity on the OQE Award and the Grand Alliance Campaign Medal. There were no questions or concerns raised at the meeting. A brief discussion was had regarding how to inform the membership that there has been a change to policies short of releasing a new Joint Chiefs Directive, and it was decided that a note would be posted to the forums advertising the change, as well as the usual method of posting the summary and amendment date on the wiki. The Secretary motioned to approve the amendments, and it was seconded by David Westover. The Secretary called for a vote by acclimation and there were no objections. The amendments were approved unanimously.

Agenda Item 5:

The Steering Committee considered the adoption of a new Policy Document to make official events more equitable for the entire organization. Wayne Bruns motioned to approve the Policy Document, and this was seconded by Zach White. Michael Houghtaling proposed a friendly amendment to Point 7 of the document, adding in the language “or service head equivalent,” and this resulted in another friendly amendment where the “Fleet Event” was renamed to “Flag Event.” Finally – it was noted that the numbering was off on the original document – and that was noted for correction when the document was posted. Wayne Bruns restated his motion to approve the Policy Document with the addition of the friendly amendments, and the Secretary called the vote by acclimation. There were no objections. The Policy Document was approved unanimously.

Agenda Item 6:

The Secretary inquired if there was any discussion needed on the one (10) AWM item voted on since the March meeting that was included in the agenda. Hearing none, the Secretary moved to confirm the AWM item by acclamation vote This was seconded by David Westover and Michael Houghtaling. There were no objections. The Action Without Meeting (AWM) items were confirmed unanimously.

Agenda Item 7:

David Westover, as Chairman of the AO review Committee, delivered his report on the activities of that committee. He indicated that the Chapter Policy document was in its final stages of review with the 3SL and that the 3SL had been working with the RMMC and RMA Branch Heads to resolve the previous sticking points. The document should be ready for preliminary review by the Steering Committee in the next few weeks before the tabled item is re-opened for discussion in June. Matthew Miller and Michael Houghtaling confirmed that they had been consulted and were happy with the progress that had been made and are looking forward to the new document.

Agenda Item 8:

The Secretary was briefly disconnected due to a network issue, but upon his return, the Chair noted that the Committee had discussed how the passage of the House of Commons Bill was negated by the passage of PD-SC-10XX (now PD-SC-1002) earlier in the meeting. The Secretary explained that, aside from the phase-out of the legacy Admiralty Orders, the Policy Document eliminates the requirement for an author to be at a convention entirely, opening more opportunities for the membership. The Committee agreed and there was no further need for discussion.

Agenda Item 9:

The Steering Committee entertained a comment made earlier in the meeting during the discussion on Fleet Events. The RHN petitioned to create a fleet of their own, modeled on the “virtual organizational wide” fleet used by the Andermani Navy. Mitch Dunn proposed 12th Fleet, and remained settled on 12th Fleet pending a brief discussion on “5th Fleet vs 12th Fleet.” The motion was seconded by Michael Houghtaling, Wayne Bruns and Zach White. There was a clarification made that Mitch Dunn needed to get his logistical “ducks in a row” before the trigger was pulled on this action, and that the Committee was only approving the ABILITY to stand up the Fleet. Mitch Dunn agreed. The Secretary called for a vote by acclimation. There were no objections. The petition for an RHN Fleet was approved unanimously. Mitch Dunn took a tasker to work with BuPers and the MEDUSA Team to make this happen. Secretary Note: On the 20th, in the Steering Committee Discord, Mitch Dunn brought it to the attention of the Committee that he misremembered his Honorverse “history” and that he would, after consideration, prefer 5th Fleet if available. 5th Fleet is indeed available, and the record should reflect that the RHN Fleet is approved as 5th Fleet, pending BuPers and MEDUSA sign�off.

Agenda Item 10:

The Secretary summarized the items completed at the meeting, as well as those that had taskers. Secretary: Posting the new documents to the Wiki and Forums and reaching out to the RMN and HoC for a report. Mitch Dunn: Working with BuPers and MEDUSA to get his logistical “ducks in a row” before the standup of 5th Fleet.

Agenda Item 11:

The July meeting was scheduled for Sunday, July 21, 2024. The meeting will be at 1700 PST (5 PM PST) to better accommodate some of the committee members’ schedules. An agenda and meeting invitation will be sent to participants via the established methods before the meeting.

Agenda Item 12:

The Chair noted that there were no closing comments! The meeting was adjourned at 1808 PST.