Gunner's Blog

I have pondered over where I should start recounting the CHINFO/FHTNC/USAFNS debacle, and as always the best place to start is at the beginning.  As I recalled the intervening events, I realized that I would have to recount things in installments.

 

It all started when I developed a website for the Coastal Carolina Council of the Navy League of the United States (NLUS) of New Bern, NC.  As with most organizations where the membership is "long of tooth",  the organization had long since become primarily a social organization, and no longer actively supporting the mission of NLUS with very much passion.   So, as I developed the website, I learned that the membership was, for all practical purposes, computer phobes, or not on a par with their 3rd or 4th grade grandchildren when it came to PC literacy.  There were a few bright spots, but, the traffic was not sufficient to cost justify the site - even if the cost was only $30 per year. 

 

So,  upon that discovery, I put my thinking cap on, and tried to find some means of increasing the website traffic, and attract a younger audience. If successful, the average age of the membership would hopefully drop down from the mid to late 60's.  I came upon the idea of publishing the Fleet Home Town News Center (FHTNC) releases for Eastern North Carolina.  I had completed the release forms for several years when I was enlisted in the US Navy. 

 

It seemed like a natural.  It would cost nothing - I would write some software to automatically process the emails that contained the releases, and then sit back, and wait for the website to catch on.  Well, it did.  Soon, I was publishing the releases for the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington.  As those states were added, the requesting Navy League councils linked to USAFNS.com so that their visitors could view the releases for their state.

 

I guess that I should define a FHTNC news release.  The members of the US Navy, US Marine Corps and the US Coast Guard are serviced by the FHTNC of Norfolk, VA.  Here is an example of how it works:  Say that a young man or woman graduates from basic training along with 75 or 80 other recruits.  Shortly before graduation, each complete "biographical" information on one of the FHTNC release forms.  The release forms have blocks for the graduate, their mothers, fathers (yes two blocks because a lot of the parents are divorced), employers, schools, etc.  Each category has a block for a ZIP code.   The command Public Affairs Officer then writes one release - all of them graduated from basic training, and were trained in the same skills, etc.   Then the 80 or so biographical sheets are then attached to one standard release.

 

The package with the 80 biographical sheets, and the one covering release is sent to the FHTNC.  They then prepare 80 individual releases that are then emailed to the newspapers that serve the zip codes that are identified on each graduates form.   I would guess, because of the geographical distances between family members, on average, each release is sent to newspapers in 4 or 5 different zipcodes.  And, usually about three states.  The sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen would get the morale boost that accompanies seeing their name in print. The proud mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, brother and sisters; would print the articles, and stick them on the side of their refigerators.  Everybody would win - the servicemembers, the relatives of the servicemembers and the Navy League would enjoy very favorable exposure by having the releases on their website.

 

Soon, I was invited to become a member of the NLUS IT (Information and Technology) committee.  I thought that things were looking up, and they were ....but just wait until you hear what happens in my next installment.

 

~G - More to Come!