Navy Football kicks-off on Saturday 30 August in Annapolis against VMI at noon. USNA66/USNA16 tailgate festivities commence at 1000. For tailgate and other stadium details Click HERE.
If you attend the tailgate, please consider sharing any pictures you may take for posting on the USNA66 website. Email jpeg photos to: usna66webmaster@gmail.com.
The USNA Class of 1966 is invited to the “RELAX JAX” FLORIDA 2026 COMEAROUND in Jacksonville, FL from Tuesday April 21-Friday April 24.
Your host is Bob Zvacek (24th Company). The host hotel is the DOUBLETREE by Hilton and is situated on the south bank of the St John’s River in the city of Jacksonville.
Planned events for this get together are a visit and tour of the Cummer Art Gallery via water taxi, dinner at the Chart House Restaurant, tour of the ORLECK (DD-886) otherwise known as the Grey Ghost of the Vietnam Coast, a water taxi tour of the city and a closing reception on the pool deck of the hotel. Also, we do play golf for those of us who still can.
Why this location? The views are wonderful, the river walkway is right outside the hotel and the water taxi is based at the hotel. Focus is on minimizing walking and maximizing fun. If you haven’t been to a Florida Comearound you are missing something special. Contact Bob Zvacek at email address rzvacek66@gmail.com or by cell (904)-652-7216 to get on the Zgram list for the details of cost, timing of events and also to ask any questions regarding reservations, etc. Hope to see you in April.
You are encouraged to read or listen to EITHER book – OR BOTH – but it is not required.
Strangers in Time by David Baldacci: set in London in 1944, it is a character-driven tale of three disparate souls whose paths unexpectedly intertwine during the last year of the Second World War.
Per author Jodi Picoult, “Baldacci’s foray into historical fiction is a meticulously precise account of what it was like to live through the Blitz in London—a visceral reminder that war not only levels social classes but creates the most unlikely and indefatigable bonds between unlikely souls.”
Annapolis Goes to War: The Naval Academy Class of 1940 and Its Trial by Fire in World War II by Craig Symonds*. In WWII, the Naval Academy Class of 1940 (the “Forties”) lost 76 graduates. Seven of them were aboard the Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941. The book begins with wide-eyed students converging on the banks of Maryland’s Severn River and describes the Academy experience that our husbands went through 22 years later. After graduation, the Forties were posted to nearly everything the Navy could offer, from big battleships and aircraft carriers to cramped submarines, on land with the Marines and in the air aboard fighters, dive bombers and helium blimps. And then Pearl Harbor happened… A great summary of the book by the Wall Street Journal is HERE.
As wives of USNA grads you will be able to appreciate a lot of the references to the Academy.
“Craig Symonds…skillfully weaves a tale both grand and human, of promising young men coming of age against a backdrop of darkening global portents, who find themselves unexpectedly fighting the largest, most crucial war in history. Captivating.” — Jonathan Parshall, Author of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
*Symonds is a professor of naval history at USNA.
NOTE: The book chat will be conducted during the last half of our regularly scheduled ladies zoom on October 15. We will send you a few questions to review one month before the Book Chat. The questions are intended to tease out some of the more interesting threads of connection and impact that you may wish to share.
RELATED NEWS: Navy logbook that recounted Pearl Harbor recovered after 84 years. Click HERE for article.
Upon one link in the cable Dependeth the might of the chain Who knows when thou mayest be tested So live that thou bearest the strain
—Laws of the Navy
Class of 2016 Request for 2025-2026
Eric Kellogg, USNA 2016 Class President, recently contacted Class of 1966 unofficial tailgate coordinator, Charlie Jones (22nd Company), to see if ’66 had any interest in opening up a tailgate for members of 2016. The idea would be to pick a game to maximize participation by ’16. He also noted that they have begun planning their 10 year reunion next fall and will pass along details to ’66. Their plan is to make every event open to ’66 and, especially, to try to identify one specific event around the link in the chain.
We hope to see more of our 2016 brothers at upcoming games. Go Navy! Beat VMI, UAB, Rice, AF, FAU, USF and, especially, Army! Stay tuned for further updates.
NOTE: Click HERE for a brief “throwback” article of how and when the ALINC program started.
What effect will NIL and/or the Trasfer Portal have on USNA (or all three Academies) Football? Question from Tom Petillo (1st Company)
ANSWER
In era of NIL ($ for name, image and likeness) and transfer portal, Navy and Army are thriving without either. How are they pulling it off? ‘We are a unicorn’. Click HERE for an article from October 2024.
Click HERE for the Navy Portal Tracker page, an at-a-glance view of the total “talent churn” through the portal, as well as key additions, impactful losses and how they rank amongst all FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football competition in the NCAA) schools and within the conference.
Our thanks to Charlie Jones (22nd Company) for the information cited above.
Steve Comiskey ’69, Chair, USNA Council of Class Presidents, announced on 30 July 2025 that we have successfully achieved the DoD funding to protect the Columbarium from rising water and sufficient funds have been raised to build a new Columbarium annex.
Following is a letter from Bill K.J. Hebert ’82, Director, Class Legacy Gift Programs at USNAAA, on details and an expected construction schedule.
Shipmates,
The Alumni Association and Foundation, is pleased to announce that we have met our fundraising goal for the new Columbarium Annex, thanks to the Council of Class Presidents, to the generosity of the entire alumni community, to the Class of 1975’s original lead gift, and especially to the Class of 1969’s efforts to close the gap on the required necessary funding.
With this final fundraising step now complete for this new Columbarium annex, we can expect the contracting process to now begin with an estimated completion in the summer of 2027 of this new Columbarium annex to be built at the top of the hill just behind the current Columbarium.
While this new Columbarium annex is under construction, alumni families desiring inurnment for deceased and eligible alumni and alumni spouses should please contact USNA Memorial Affairs after the date of death to get on the waiting list for the new Columbarium annex.
LEADERSHIP AWARDS AND PRE-CEREMONY PARTY 16-17 SEPTEMBER 2025
This image was taken at the USS GONZALEZ commissioning ceremony in 1996.
The 2025 Leadership Awards for USS GONZALEZ will be presented on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, on board GONZALEZ in Norfolk, VA. Al Konetzni (36th Company) will represent the Class and make the presentations. Consistent with previous award presentations, the ceremony will begin at 1100 with lunch in the Wardroom after the ceremony.
’66 Classmates are encouraged to attend as the CO and the entire Crew display the utmost courtesy and hospitality to members of The Class during our visit to GONZALEZ.
Charlie Votava (17th Company) is the POC for the Tidewater/Norfolk area. Please contact him or Chuck Grutzius (33rd Company) with any questions.
UPDATE ON 2 EVENTS CELEBRATING THE GONZALEZ AWARDS
Wednesday, 16 September 1700-2000 (5-8 pm)
Trudy Hoff, widow of Mick Hoff (29th Company), has graciously offered to host the class gathering at her lovely home. NOTE: address will be provided to attendees.
Thursday, 17 September 1100
VADM Al Konetzni will present the awards on board USS GONZALEZ, Naval Station Norfolk, VA, at 1100 on 17 September. We are normally invited to coffee, introductions and conversation with CO, XO, CMC, prior to proceeding to the fantail for the ceremony, which is followed by lunch in the Wardroom. Attendance at this ceremony is encouraged as the CO and the entire Crew display the utmost courtesy and hospitality to members of The Class during our visit to GONZALEZ.
IMPORTANT NOTES
RSVPs for each event must be sent to Charlie Votava NO LATER THAN COB Tuesday, 2 September. This date will allow sufficient time to complete planning for Tuesday evening and to coordinate with GONZALEZ Action Officer participation in the onboard ceremony.
MOBILITY should be considered regarding participation in the Wednesday onboard GONZALEZ ceremony. Those attending the onboard ceremony will have to navigate two levels of interior ships ladders plus a third ladder to/from the fantail as well ascending/descending the brow to/from the pier and Quarterdeck.
For Out of Town Attendees: Charlie Votava can provide information on local hotel, Navy Lodges and MWR oceanfront condo reservations.
For more information on The Class of 1966 Leadership Awards, Click HERE.
Shipmate has been running a series of features commemorating the service and sacrifice of U.S. Naval Academy alumni who served in the Vietnam War. Click HERE for the third part of the series. This segment addresses the Marines fighting two different wars depending on their location in the country.
Importantly, for the Class of ’66, it also describes the Navy Cross citation of John Roland (28th Company). See p. 21 in footer of document.
While it’s not rare to see large ships floating near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, a large-scale military exercise brought more than 8,000 servicemembers and several warships to the coast of Virginia Beach
Allies from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom joined U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command for Atlantic Alliance 2025. The exercise included 8,500 sailors, Marines, and allied personnel across more than 25 units.
During the exercise, service members rehearsed and refined U.S. Navy and Marine Corps amphibious capabilities along the coastline from North Carolina to Maine.
The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) is anchored off the coast of Ft. Story, June 28, 2025, during Atlantic Alliance 2025.
Jay Prout’s (1st Company) widow, Kathy, was recently interviewed by NBC when she was on Capitol Hill with Gold Star Spouses of America (GSSA). Kathy is on the Board of Directors of this important organization that advocates for the 500,000 surviving spouses and children of veterans who lost their lives while in service with the Armed Forces of the United States.
