Classmates,
We hope you all had a great summer! Now that Fall is well underway and Day Light Savings Time ends tomorrow, we want to provide you with a short update on a few topics we think may be of interest to you.
Alumni Association Town Hall
Our Alumni Association is hosting their inaugural “Virtual Town Hall” Zoom webinar on Monday, 9 November 2026 from 7-8 p.m. ET for all active association members. The purpose of the webinar to improve transparency and provide access to our Association’s leadership for our full membership. This will be a great opportunity to hear straight from the Association’s Board of Trustees Chair, Mark Ferguson ’78, and our Association’s President/CEO, Jeff Webb ’95. They will discuss alumni impact, how the Association supports alumni throughout their lives, progress over the past five years and priorities for the future. Additionally, Wesley Huey ’87, Executive Director for Strategy & Legacy Programs, will moderate a question-and-answer session to provide participants an opportunity to engage directly with Association leadership.
Advance registration and active-membership verification are required for this event.
Please note this is a date change from the original date. If you have already registered for the event and plan to attend on the new November 9 date, you do not need to do anything. Please do not register again.
However, if you have registered for the Town Hall but can’t make the November 9 event, please cancel your registration here: USNA Alumni Association Town Hall | myUSNA.com
Finally, if you are a first-time registrant, please use this link to register: USNA Alumni Association Town Hall | myUSNA.com
Once you register you will be sent a link before the Town Hall on November 9.
2026 Thriving-As-Leaders Awards
A huge congratulations to our classmate, Dennis Otoshi, who is being recognized by our Alumni Association with a Thriving-As-Leaders award in the category of “Volunteer Leadership and Service.”
The Thriving as Leaders Award (TAL) is a program established to honor Association members who have distinguished themselves and brought credit upon our community either through distinct acts of achievement or through volunteer service and leadership. The purpose of the award is to recognize those who are “thriving as leaders in and out of uniform” through outstanding achievement, volunteer leadership, and service who inspire others in our community toward greater heights of achievement.
Dennis has selflessly served with the Red Cross during the Ukraine war serving in both Kyiv and in the war’s forward operating areas since the very beginning of the war, all 4 and a half years. You can read Dennis’ award biography here: Thriving as Leaders Award – 2026 Recipients
The 2026 TAL award ceremony will be broadcast via Webinar on Saturday, 23 January, around 10AM EST and will also be recorded and posted on the TAL webpage. All TAL awardees and classmates will be invited to view the ceremony live in the webinar. We will forward details about the webinar when available.
If you know of a classmate deserving of this recognition, and you are interested in learning more about these awards, please check out this link: Thriving as Leaders Awards – www.usna.com
2027 Distinguished Graduate Awards
The Alumni Association has announced the nomination period for its 2027 Distinguished Graduate Awards starts on November 1, 2026, and ends on February 15, 2027. Refer to the DGA webpage at this link for latest updates. If you have someone you want to nominate, and are willing to coordinate the nomination package, please contact myself or Matt Elias, our DGA committee chair.
50th Reunion
Please make you calendars for our 50th Reunion, Thursday, October 19 – Sunday, October 22, 2028. Many of us are planning travel out 1-2 years, so keep these dates in mind and plan on traveling to Annapolis to visit with your company-mates, classmates, ship and squadron mates for this grand celebration!
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season.
Fair winds…
Glen
Glen Woods
President, USNA Class of 1978