Minutes of the 20 January 2024 meeting

TRMN Steering Committee: January Meeting Minutes Date: 20 January 2024
Time: 1000 Pacific / 1300 Eastern / 1800 BST Location:
Google Meet – Partially Recorded

Attendees:

Mike Garcia – Chair

David Westover (IAN) – Vice Chair

Zach White (GSN) – Steering Committee Secretary

Laura Lochen (RMN)

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC)

Matthew Miller (RMA)

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps)

Non-Voting Attendees/Guests:

Mike Romero (Speaker of the HoL)

Mitch Dunn (DCNO RHN)

Robert Bulkeley (Deputy High Admiral)

Durelle Kurlinski (Sergeant Major of the RMMC)

The meeting was called to order at 1004 PST.

Agenda Item 1:

Opening remarks were made by the Chair. Roll Call was completed, and a quorum declared at 1004 PST.

Agenda Item 2:

Motion was made by the Secretary to approve the minutes from the November meeting. This motion was seconded, and Zach White called for a voice vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

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 branch reports were sent prior to the meeting for review by the steering committee. All Voting Member Branch Heads submitted component reports. A report was received from the Speaker of the House of Lords. Neither the RHN nor the House of Commons submitted a report.

The RHN and the Speaker of the House of Commons (in absentia) were reminded that the Steering Committee voted in November to require reports from all Non-Voting members, and to plan on submitting a report prior to the March meeting.

Agenda Item 4:

A Flag Promotion Board was held for Vice Admiral Michael Paquette, who had been nominated for promotion to the rank of Admiral (of the Red) (F-4a) in the Royal Manticoran Navy by Admiral Eric Schulman. The promotion packet was provided to the Steering Committee prior to the meeting, and as such there was little discussion. The Chair motioned that we vote. This was seconded and Zach White called the vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

Vice Admiral Michael Paquette was unanimously confirmed to the permanent rank of Admiral in the Royal Manticoran Navy as of 20 January 2024.

Agenda Item 5: The Chair inquired if there was any discussion needed on the 14 AWM items voted on since the November meeting that were included in the agenda. Hearing none, the Chair moved to confirm all the AWM items as a slate. This was seconded and Zach White called the vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

All AWM items were confirmed unanimously.

Agenda Item 6:

David Westover, as Chairman of the AO review Committee, delivered his report on the activities of that committee. Two Policy Documents were brought before the Steering Committee for approval: PD-SC-1007, Awards Policy and PD-SC-1011, Social Media and Correspondence Policy.

PD-SC-1007 was discussed first and centered mainly around addressing two concerns by Cindy Van Wyhe that had been communicated to the Steering Committee prior to the meeting: specifically concerns about the Marksmanship program and concerns regarding the removal of the “King Martin” Jubilee awards. At the conclusion of the discussion on the Marksmanship awards portion, the Chair realized that he had forgotten to turn on the recording for the meeting, and so the recording picks up at this point as the discussion moved into the “King Martin” Jubilee awards. Following a brief discussion on the “King Martin” Jubilee issue, where the Committee agreed that the matter was out of our hands since it was BuNine that had requested the organization not go down that path. Laura Lochen noted that David Westover had been in correspondence with the Grand Alliance Campaign Medal and Office of Queen Elizabeth award office. David Westover noted that he spoke with Betty Osthoff, and she conveyed that they were working on new language for the Grand Alliance Campaign Medal, and he noted that the AO Review Sub-Committee would be working to codify that language as soon as possible. He also mentioned that Betty Osthoff was amicable to the awards changing as per PD-SC-100, and all parties agreed that we should be awarding early and often. Zach White raised the point of Point 6D and made a case that foreign awards should be limited to 3 (three) across the board regardless of the service. David Westover agreed, and the change was made on the spot as a friendly amendment. Bob Bulkley raised a point about the Knighthoods and when they were awarded. The question was clarified by David Westover. It was decided that due to the Knighthood award schedule (awarding in April and October) – that Knighthoods would be discussed at the March and September meetings. A motion was made by Zach White to approve PD-SC-1007 including the friendly amendments. Zach White Called the vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

PD-SC-1007 was approved unanimously.

The discussion shifted to PD-SC-1011, Social Media and Correspondence Policy. There was a long discussion regarding Facebook, especially regarding real world politics and the fan organization. Ultimately it was decided to remove Point 5 H II as a friendly amendment, with the understanding that it would be extremely difficult to police personal Facebook pages, and that it was not something that the Steering Committee (or the organization in general) wanted to get involved with. The Chairman requested a rewording of Point 7 A to add the term “Server Policy” as a friendly amendment. That was agreed. David Westover made a motion to call the vote. There was brief discussion regarding what turnaround the Steering Committee could expect on the PD-SC-1011, as well as the outstanding Membership Policy and Youth Policy. Mike Garcia and David Westover agreed that they will investigate those items with the Board of Directors. Laura Lochen noted that the Legal and Licensing Committee meets on an as needed basis and

would take up PD-SC-1011 as soon as possible. The motion was amended to refer PD-SC�1011 to Legal and Licensing for their sign off prior to implementation. Zach White called the vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

PD-SC-1011 was approved unanimously and referred to the Legal and Licensing Committee (Board of Directors) for review and any potential comment before implementation. The document was sent by David Westover to Laura Lochen after the meeting for the purposes of calling an Ad-hoc Meeting.

Agenda Item 7:

The Lord Speaker of the House of Lords brought before the Steering Committee a proposal to make the Space Camp Foundation an official TRMN Charity. Zach White brought up that he would like to see the Midshipman Cruise program opened organizationally, Mike Romero agreed. David Westover brought four other possibilities: American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, National Association of the Deaf, Anti-Slavery International, and World Wildlife Conservation. Zach White noted that the Deaf, and Gene Therapy were US Based rather than international and while they fit with the message of the books and the organization, they are only based in the US, and that it would be preferable that our charities reflect our international standing. Hearing no further comments, Zach White accepted the Chairmans offer to make a motion and motioned that we accept Anti-Slavery International and World Wildlife Conservation, as well as The Space Camp Foundation as new official TRMN Charities. Laura Lochen seconded the motion and there were no objections. Zach White called the vote.

David Westover (IAN): Aye

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC): Aye

Matthew Miller (RMA): Aye

Laura Lochen (RMN): Aye

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps): Aye

Zach White (GSN): Aye

Mike Garcia (Chair): Aye

Anti-Slavery International, World Wildlife Conservation, and The Space Camp Foundation were added to the slate of official TRMN Charities. Zach White took a task to work with David Westover and Michael Romero to implement this, as David Westover noted that the Board of Directors during their July meeting made this a Steering Committee decision.

Agenda Item 8:

Zach White opened the floor to any new business. Mike Romero noted that the House of Commons would like to nominate a member for a peerage and prompted a conversation about Knight of the Star Kingdom vs a Peerage. The Chairman suggested that any further discission could be taken to our Discord channel.

Agenda Item 9:

Zach White asked if any members needed a summary or a recap of what occurred during the meeting, and it was concurred that the minutes would do nicely. Zach White mentioned that he would most likely remove or modify this agenda item going forward.

Agenda Item 10:

Zach White noted that he will provide the Secretary of the Board of Directors with a summary prior to the Board of Director’s March meeting.

Agenda Item 11:

The March Steering Committee Meeting was scheduled for Saturday 9 MARCH 2024 at 10AM PST. An agenda and meeting invitation will be sent to participants via the established methods prior to the meeting.

Agenda Item 12:

Chairman noted that there were no closing comments! The meeting was adjourned at 11:59 PST.