NNOA President’s

State of the Association Message

February 2025

Greetings Members!

As we celebrate Black History Month, the State of our Association is best characterized as resilient, agile, and evolving as our Nation faces unprecedented challenges. NNOA will meet our collective challenges with professionalism, intellect, and resolve as we continue our mission of supporting recruitment, retention, and readiness of a talented and effective officer corps in support of our All-Volunteer Sea Services. The main purposes of this message are: 1) to restate our goals, 2) to communicate guidance to active duty and federal civilian members, 3) to provide a call to action for our veterans; and 4) to present some near-term next steps.

• Our goals remain to grow our membership, to grow our partnerships, and to grow our influence and impact. The current challenges present unique conditions for us to maximize our pursuit of those goals while taking care of our Active-Duty and Veteran members. Additionally, we are refining our network of like-minded corporate and organizational partners as we finalize incorporating the NNOA Foundation. Doing so will increase our autonomy through financial independence while strengthening our ability to make a positive impact through scholarships, STEM Programs, and other activities. We are fortunate to have Retired Navy Captain Tony Swain leading this effort as the Foundation’s Executive Director.

• Guidance to active duty and federal civilian members.
  1. Comply with policies, rules, and lawful orders.
  2. Stay positive, professional, and vigilant. You are a warrior and part of the world’s finest All-Volunteer Force!
  3. Protect your career, your livelihood, and your integrity.
  4. Reduce or cease your NNOA duties and activities, if necessary.
  5. Do your main job with excellence.
  6. Take care of yourself and your team.
  7. Communicate concerns with your supervisor in a professional manner.
  8. Do not use government resources (e.g. time, phones, etc.) for NNOA business.
  9. Do not make impulsive decisions about your career or your livelihood.
  10. Seek advice from your NNOA network.
  11. Help and advise other NNOA members whenever possible.
  12. Invite other officers who could use our mentoring & coaching services to join.
  13. Seek counsel from our Veterans and Transition Assistance Team, as needed.
  14. Stay connected with others in your support networks.
  15. Continue to embrace our history and heritage.

• Call-to-action for our Veterans. We need everyone to do more! Our Association’s doors remain open for current and future members as we navigate our way through these challenging times. We need you to step up and volunteer for leadership positions at the Chapter and National levels to reduce the risk to our Active-Duty Members. Retired and Veteran leaders provide a measure of experience and continuity to our chapters that will help stabilize operations, maintain community outreach, execute scholarship programs, and grow membership while mentoring others, as needed. Please get more involved and/or bring others with you. Additionally, please join our monthly Veterans Roundup, our TAT Fireside Chats, and your Chapter meetings, as they occur.

• Ongoing Actions & Next Steps. I am honored to report that 2024 was a very successful year for NNOA. Our highlights included, but are not limited to, a successful Joint Symposium with ANSO that exceeded both capacity and expectations. We also worked with Congress to initiate House Resolution 8008 which proposed the Congressional Gold Medal for the Navy’s Golden Thirteen. Unfortunately, our priorities of 2025 have been adjusted as we pivot to meet other challenges. For example, we will not have a traditional symposium this year due to the absence of service support, nor do we expect to complete the Congressional Gold Medal approval process. However, we will keep pressing forward. Below are some near-term mandates that have occurred or will be implemented soon:
  1. Adjust our policies, procedures, and webpage so as not to place active-duty members and federal employees at risk (Completed)
  2. Establish a Communications Committee to expand our reach across all platforms (Completed)
  3. Establish a Strategic Planning Committee to develop COAs for BoD consideration (Initiated)
  4. Establish a President’s Forum to strengthen chapter operations and continuity (Completed)
  5. Establish a Membership Committee (Completed)
  6. Incorporate NNOA Foundation to increase autonomy through financial independence (Initiated)
  7. Review NNOA’s contractual agreement with the Hyatt Regency Crystal City to determine our options (Initiated)

We have accomplished a lot and there is a lot more to be done!

We will continue to focus on immediate actions to support our active-duty warriors and federal civilian members, while adjusting and managing other actions that are important to the long-term health and wellness of our 53-year-old all-volunteer organization.

Let’s keep the faith and keep pressing! We remain stronger together!

Cedric E. Pringle
RDML (Retired) USN
25th President

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7