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10 February 2009
THE SURFACE WARFARE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION
COMMITTEE MEETING 3 FEBRUARY 2009
MINUTES
Present: Rear Admiral P Wilcocks CB DSC Chairman
Commander S Barrand, Royal Navy Treasurer
Commander S D de Halpert, Royal Navy Secretary
Commander C Stanley, Royal Navy SWOA Retired List Officers
Lt Cdr J McGrigor, Royal Navy Portobello Retired List Officers
Commodore R Twitchen CBE Trustee
1. Introduction. The Chairman said that 1SL had written to 2SL (the senior serving SWOA member) and asked him to become the president of the SWOA. He had also written to RAdm Ibbotson (the senior serving Portobello member) asking him to become Chairman of the SWOA. Both had accepted. The Chairman will change o/c of the dinner. The President will change when 1SL retires in the summer. The Chairman had agreed to a request from the editor of the Naval Review to publish his introduction to the newsletter in the next edition of the Naval Review.
2. Apologies. Captain G Prichard OBE, Royal Navy – Trustee (Snow)
Commander N Stewart, Royal Navy – St B Retired List Officers (Snow)
Lt Cdr K Lewis, Royal Navy – St B MWS Representative (Deployed)
Lt Cdr M Anderson, Royal Navy – PB MWS Representative (on course)
Lt Cdr A Pollard, Royal Navy - SWOA Serving Representative (Deployed)
3. Minutes. The Chairman signed the minutes.
4. Matters Arising:
a. End of PWO Course Qualification. Future PWO courses will now attend a ‘passing out parade’ in best uniform which will be taken by an RN 2*. Other courses may feature in this parade which will take place very close to the end of the PWO course, but not necessarily on the final day. On completion of the parade the 2* will present certificates to the PWOs with a photographer in attendance. Families may be invited.
b. Merger of N/Ds and Cs. The Chairman’s view is that they should come to us rather than us going to them. The Chairman of the Signal Officers Association (SOA) believes that his association will fold within 5 years. Navigators will do the PWO course (and thus become SWOA members) before they qualify as PWO(N)s and this will cause the N/D association to follow the SOA. Commodore T said that at the recent SOA dinner there had been much support to join the SWOA but nothing had happened since. The Secretary will send the SWOA dinner flier to the Secretary SOA. Cdr Stanley (an N/D member) said that the N/Ds wished to keep going for as long as possible but recognised that eventually they would merge with the SWOA. The Chairman concluded by remarking that these 2 associations would need reassurance that their individual tribal events would continue.
Action: Secretary
c. Identify other Associations with which to Liaise. Ongoing with Treasurer. The Secretary said that he hade made contact with the Secretary of the (RAN) Naval Warfare Officers Association (NWOA). The NWOA was the RAN equivalent of the Portobello Association and the RAN St Barbara Division has recently merged with it. They have a website, about 380 members and publish 3 short newsletters each year distributed in hard copy although these will go on the website in due course.
Action: Treasurer
d. Funding of prizes by Herbert Lott. Ongoing with Treasurer.
Action: Treasurer
5. SURFLOT Badge. 1SL has agreed to a SURFLOT badge to be worn by ALL officers and ratings in the Surface Flotilla, and Rear Admiral Surface Ships is writing to the Navy Board to propose this. The entitlement to wear the badge will not be automatic but will require some sort of qualification. The Treasurer will monitor the progress of the badge via COS/RASS.
Action: Treasurer
6. Widening SWOA Membership. The Secretary reported that the MWS PWO office was broadly in agreement but that a couple of retired members were bitterly opposed to the plans outlined in the newsletter. There was general agreement that more should be done to encourage younger officers to pursue a warfare career and to attend the dinner but also to avoid the risk of ‘dumbing down’. The Chairman emphasised the importance of encouraging young officers to become PWOs and to minimise branch transfer. JWOs too often saw themselves as SLJOs, a tag that was not applied to the DWEO or DLO. One solution was to give Senior Rates more responsibility to reduce the burden on JWOs. Each committee member thought that this issue should be pursued and the Chairman said he would give a synopsis of our thoughts at the AGM and ask for a straw poll of members who attend the AGM to get an indication of how the membership viewed this idea.
Action: Chairman
The Secretary will ask OIC WTG if he would like committee members to talk to JWOs about ‘The Warfare Profession’.
Action: Secretary
7. Website. See attached report
8. St Barbara. Nothing to report.
9. Portobello. Nothing to report.
10. Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer went through the accounts (attached) in some detail. Cdr Stanley proposed that the accounts be accepted and this was seconded by Commodore Twitchen and carried unanimously. The Chairman warmly thanked the Treasurer for his work
11. Secretary’s Report. The current St Barbara membership is about 830 which include about 160 living abroad (mainly Australia) and about 60 for whom no contact details exist and whose names appear in the newsletter. There are about 520 Portobello members of whom very few live abroad and include about 20 who are similarly ‘missing’. There are 35 SWOA members. Of the total known UK based membership (about 1100) over half (about 600) are not on e-mail which results in a significant postage cost. The Secretary said he was gradually converting them to e-mail (about 100 last year) and about a further 30 so far this year following the plea in the newsletter.
12. Retired List Officers’ Report. Nothing to report
13. Port Report. No Report.
14. Newsletter. The e-mail version was sent on 7 January and the hard-copy versions were posted by 14 January. Several of the ‘Lost Members’ had been found as a result of the newsletter, although a few others had gone missing as a result of e-mail or address change about which the Secretary was not notified. The Treasurer said he might be able to find some of the serving missing members through DII and the Secretary will provide him with a list.
Action:Secretary
15. 2009 Programme:
a. Dinner. Dr Eric Grove will be speaking about the Battle of the Atlantic at the DWI and a fee of £150 has been agreed which includes travel. The Secretary will meet and greet. The church service has been arranged and the Secretary will identify a reader.
Action:Secretary
The menu for the dinner was decided. As at 11 Feb there are 71 guests for the dinner including 4 leavers. A further 6 leavers had indicated that they wished to be dined out and they had been sent reminders as have all the regular diners who have yet to respond. The newsletter states that the closing date is 14 Feb, but the Secretary will extend this by a week. Musical accompaniment has been arranged. The BAe (AAWO) and St Barbara Prizewinners (both HMS DARING) hope to attend but the Portobello prizewinner may be unable to attend unless his ship’s programme changes. The Secretary will endeavour to find a member attending the dinner to talk for a short while on their experiences in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Post Meeting Note: Capt J Butchard (qualified T in 1945) was XO HMS MAGPIE in Capt Walker’s 2nd Support Group. He is attending the dinner and has agreed to speak for about 10 mins.
The Treasurer said he would invite the BAe Rep to the dinner as a SWOA guest.
Action:Treasurer
b. Portobello CTP. The Portobello Association will hold a CTP on board HMS VICTORY on 9 July. Thus far 16 people have signed up. The Treasurer has paid the deposit to the caterers.
c. St Barbara Dinner. The St Barbara Association will hold a mess dinner in Whale Island on Friday 4 September 2009. Thus far 10 people have signed up. The menu will be 3 courses taken from the 1959 (6 course) dinner. The cost will be subsidised by £10/head. 2SL will preside. The Treasurer will discuss the Guest of Honour with 2SL and ensure that this date is in 2SL’s diary. Cdr Stanley may talk at the DWI.
Action: Treasurer
d. Golf. There have been slight adjustments to the timings and arrangements. The 2008 match was very well attended and greatly enjoyed.
16. Any Other Business: The Chairman said how delighted he was with the progress that had been made during the tenure of his Chairmanship. He thanked all the committee members for their unstinting support and hard work throughout his time as Chairman. In response, the Secretary thanked the Chairman for his clear guidance at all the meetings and events. In particular, his guidance through the merger process had ensured that this had been smooth and trouble-free transition. He said that Ninian Stewart would provide a bottle of port at the dinner as the Chairman’s farewell gift from the association.
Action: Port Rep
17. Date of Next Meeting. Tuesday 1/8/15 September 2009 at Whale Island. The Secretary will liaise with PS/DCINC.
Action: Secretary
S D de Halpert
Commander Royal Navy
Secretary
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
ACTION No / PARA No / ACTION / ACTION OFFICER / TIME1 / 4b / Send SWOA dinner flier to Secretary, Signal Officers Association / Secretary / ASAP
2 / 4c / Identify other associations with which to liaise / Treasurer / Next Meeting
3 / 4d / Ask Herbert Lott Trust to fund annual prizes / Treasurer / Next Meeting
4 / 5 / Monitor Progress of SURFLOT Badge / Treasurer / Next Meeting
4 / 6 / Outline state of ‘Broadening the Membership’ discussions and take straw poll of members / Chairman / AGM
5 / 6 / Ask OIC WTG if he would like committee members to talk to JWOs about The Warfare Profession / Secretary / ASAP
6 / 14 / Provide Treasurer with names of ‘lost members’ who are still serving / Secretary / ASAP
7 / 15a / Identify a reader for the church service / Secretary / ASAP
8 / 15b / Invite BAe Rep to the dinner / Treasurer / ASAP
9 / 15c / Discuss St Barbara Mess Dinner Guest of Honour with 2SL and ensure dinner date is in 2SL’s diary / Treasurer / ASAP
10 / 16 / Provide Port as Chairman’s farewell gift / Port Rep / SWOA Dinner
11 / 17 / Discuss DONM with Sec/DCINC / Secretary / ASAP