News & Events

18 July is the last day to order from Anchor Enterprises. Get your swag here:

USNA 1996 CLASS STORE

Shipping is expected to begin the week of 23 August for delivery prior to the reunion. Please contact Tony Yanero (tyanero@hotmail.com) with any questions.

Email sent via Classmail 7/13/2021

’96,

Several things to update everyone on

CLASS ELECTION

First off, I would like to announce the results of our Class Election!

1. Westin Room Block– Our room block at the Westin is full.  The committee tried to hit the sweet spot on reserved room and not incuring financial responsibility for unbooked rooms.  (There have been stories of reunions having to cover empty rooms)
2. Online store– It will close Sun July 18th.  This will ensure all items are received by the reunion.  Based on feedback, Tony Yanero will evaluate the cost, quality, and availability of items to determine if we will stick with the same company. Go to http://www.usnaclasstore.com/96store.html to order your ’96 Gear!  
3. Sponsors– If you know of any classmate, their company, or some other company that might be interested in sponsoring an event, please reach out to Thomas Leahy.  There is the networking event, tailgate, fun run, etc… They have not worked out the actual mechanics yet but are exploring how we might be able to make our event even better with some sponsors. We might do signs, or something like “This Tailgate is brought to you by COMPANY X”.
4. Fun Run– We had a much larger level of interest in this than we expected.  The Committee is working with USNA on options.  Considerations are weekend traffic, safety, getting on base, parking, and so on.  Stand by for more information.
5. Schedule update– Please note that a few things have moved in time and location.  They will continue to update the SOE on the registration site.
6. Registration– It is still open.  At the moment, there is a planned price increase on 1 Aug.

https://www.signupnow.events/Default.aspx?OrgId=1041&OrgName=USNA1996&eid=1060

CLASS GIFT

We are doing fairly well on our class gift and will continue raising funds through this reunion out to our 30th reunion.  If you would like to setup a monthly donation, reach out to Brian Reardon to get details.  bpreardon96@gmail.com

As you retire

Go Navy!

Nagel Sullivan

Email sent via Classmail 6/18/2021

Classmates,

Time for a Reunion update from Thomas Leahy:

REGISTRATION

• FYI, our numbers are looking pretty good (currently 276 classmates are attending) but we still need some more people to register to meet our assumptions on pricing.
  • The Reunion Committee has certain costs that are by head (e.g., food) and certain ones that are spread across registrations (e.g., security and the tailgate tent).  If we don’t get enough people, then the Committee will have to cut back on some of those fixed costs.
• There are about 40 people that registered but didn’t actually checkout/pay.  Thomas sent you all an email so if you aren’t coming, just we can track headcount.
• The price will increase again 1 July.
• If you are having finance issues and that is the only thing keeping you from attending, please contact Thomas to discuss options.
• The MD Governor is rescinding all COVID restrictions as of 1 July.  So there will be minimal impact to our activities.

FRIDAY NIGHT RECEPTION

• Lots of questions about what will be provided Fri night.  The short answer is open bar and food options/carving stations.  Exact menu items will be providing as we get closer and things firm up.

FOOTBALL TICKETS

• There are still seats and standing tix available.
• Reminder that you do not need a football ticket to get into the tailgate.
• Our block closes at the end of June.

HOTEL BLOCK

• There are very few rooms left.
• on July 10, we will release any remaining rooms back to the Westin.

CLASS STORE

• Class store is still open. http://www.usnaclasstore.com/96store.html
• Order by 18 July!

ELECTION

• Don’t forget to vote for your Executive Steering Committee.  Only a few weeks left.

Nagel Sullivan

Anchor Enterprises has reopened the class merchandise online store for summer ordering. Get your swag here:

USNA 1996 CLASS STORE

Orders placed by 18 July will begin shipping the week of 23 August for delivery prior to the reunion. Please contact Tony Yanero (tyanero@hotmail.com) with any questions.

Happy June everyone! Hope everyone had a safe and memorable Memorial Day Weekend. I live close enough to hear the memorial gun salutes at Arlington, which was a wonderful reminder to pause and pay tribute to those who have gone before us. As of today, we’re in the June price zone for reunion registration, so if you have not made your plans yet to join us in September, now is the time to do so! The next incremental price increase occurs on 1 July. The tiered pricing is designed to incentivize early sign up. This allows us to put down deposits and lock in the best pricing, which is largely dependent on how many folks we can muster. There is an option during the registration process to break up the payment. Please reach out to Thomas Leahy directly if you are have a financial hardship (leahyt@gmail.com) and need assistance. This is a come one, come all event – and while the committee has done their best to keep costs low, the reality is things do not come cheap in Annapolis.

REGISTRATION SITE (EXTERNAL)

A few other reunion notes —

• The online merchandise store will reopen on 13 June. Items ordered this summer will arrive prior to the reunion. Contact Tony Yanero with questions.
• There are still rooms available in the hotel block. We will start dialing back the room numbers to remove risk of us having to cover unbooked room.
• There will be some slight schedule tweaks coming out (networking event and Class Business meeting times/locations).

Hope to see you in September!

Email sent via Classmail 5/18/21

Class of 96,

The 25th Reunion Committee is happy to announce that our registration portal is now open. A dedicated group of volunteers has put in countless hours to plan a fun series of events for Sept 10 – 12th. We hope that you join us for a memorable weekend.

Class of 96 Registration link: https://www.signupnow.events/Default.aspx?OrgId=1041&OrgName=USNA1996&eid=1060

We encourage you to sign up early so the funds collected can be used to put deposits down on vendors.

All information should be found on that website but please reach out to me or to the reunion committee with any specific questions.

Nagel Sullivan

Attention to announcements, ’96! Ticket sales for the reunion weekend game vs. USAFA have gone live on the NAAA website. If you would like to reserve seats for the game within a special Class of 1996 block, either for an actual seat (end zone) or standing room only (the hill), you may do so here. The promo code you need for ordering is 1996. Please note, these block ticket sales will close on 11 May for reserved (end zone) seats and on 01 July for SRO (hill).

Full reunion schedule and details on the reunion page, as well as Nagel’s most recent class email blast. As a final reminder, our 25th reunion tailgater is outside the stadium in the vicinity of the water tower. Therefore, you only need a game ticket if you want to be inside the stadium for any portion of the game. We plan to have TVs set up inside the tailgating tent at the reunion in order to support maximum socializing for those who are happy to stay outside the gates. Party on!

BEAT CHAIR FORCE – TIME TO MAKE THAT FALCON SOUP!

Email sent via Classmail 1/31/2021

The Class of 1996 Merchandise Store is open with ’96 gear available for “Early Bird” orders now through 7 March. Fill those shopping carts, ’96! In advance of our reunion later this year, the store has been open for a spring ordering period and will be open again this summer. Orders placed during the current period will ship on 5 April.

See yesterday’s email blast for more details and contact our merch POC Tony Yanero with questions or suggestions. BZ, Tony! Thanks for keeping us all stocked.

Email sent via Classmail 12/24/2020

Classmates,

Due to the recently updated football schedule, the USAF game has moved from to Sep 11, 2021 to align with the 20-year Remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. At the moment, there is no scheduled game at USNA 3 Oct (a location and opponent are TBD).

We have considered several options and decided to move our 25-Year reunion to align with the USAF game 10-12 Sep 2021.

We all remember the heat from the 20th reunion and attempted to avoid the same risk this time. Our Friday venue will be much larger to accommodate the crowd and will investigate options to cool people down at the tailgate.

The attached Schedule of Events goes into more detail on the weekend. Standby for event registration to go live around Memorial Day. Based on feedback from last reunion, we will be doing á la carte registration fees.

Here is the link that will take you to our Westin room block.

** I will also remind everyone that given our current status, making any non-refundable deposits or bookings is done so at your own risk. While I hope we are back to normal by the fall, anything is possible.

Our reunion committee (led by Thomas Leahy) has scrambled this week and done a great job at rebooking and coordinating the switch. Thank you all very much.

GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!

Nagel

(301)904-1526

nagel.sullivan@mac.com

Email sent via Classmail 4/24/20

Greeting ’96 Classmates.

I’m writing today to summarize today’s Council of Class Presidents (COCP) meeting.  It was held on-line for the first time ever.  And if you can imagine what it might like to have ~80 people on a VTC with Presidents 70-80-90 years old…it was probably worse.  But also pretty comical at the same time.  We had briefs from various people to include the Commandant of Midshipman.

USNA STATUS DURING COVID

• USNA opted to allow Midn to reside elsewhere.  That was in some part due to the 2 x suicides of Firsties at USAF Academy.  They were in some part attributed to their very strict isolation policies (they have since been relaxed).
• Most events are postponed or cancelled.  Meetings, Commissioning Week, Dedications, Ceremonies, All Academy Challenge, etc…
• They have NOT determined how I-Day or plebe summer will be run yet.  They are evaluating numerous options.
• Midn are continuing their education via on-line methods.  They are also doing virtual clubs and physical fitness challenges.
• They gave restrictees the option to stay at USNA to work off their time or postpone their time and stay somewhere else.  There are about 40-50 Midn currently in Bancroft Hall.  A handful of Midn have been ordered to return to USNA due to liberty incidents.  The group in Bancroft is basically the work detail to keep basic functions and maintenance going.
• They have stepped up rodent / pest control while Bancroft and King Hall are virtually empty.
• Many have asked why USNA is doing things differently than USMA and USAF Academies for graduation.  The Dant said “each Academy has their own set of facts, assumptions, and variables” and therefore they may or may not follow suit with other Service Academies.
• They have NOT decided exactly how the virtual graduation will be held on 22 May.  They are capturing lessons learned from USAF graduation.
• For now, the Navy / ND game is still on for Ireland but they are evaluating options.
• They are still trying to figure out next year’s plebe appointments with potential candidates that have not taken the ACT / SAT.
• The Class of 2020
  • Of course everyone wants to “help” the Class of 2020 with their graduation.  Based on USAFA graduation, they ask that classes not get out in front of USNA activities.  Apparently, there was a lot of confusion and stepping on each other. As a class we do not have anything planned.
  • They are also asking for any digital media (videos, pictures, memes, etc…).  If you want to tag any, use #usna2020.
  • Ultimately, the message from the Dant regarding graduation was to the effect of “it sucks but we are in the war fighting business and we are going to miss a lot of things in our career.  Get used to it.”
  • Orders to their first duty stations start getting cut next week.

NEW ALUMNI CENTER

The Mail Center and HAZMIN building / move has begun.  This is a predecessor to the new Center construction.

• ~$22M building.  ECD July 2022.
• Will have 2 event decks and can host a 240-person event.

They are still negotiating with Annapolis in parking and gate entryways.

SERVICE ACADEMY CAREER CONFERENCE (SACC)

They just hosted the first of the series online (Jacksonville) and was a success.

• Washington DC SACC is still planned June 11-12
• San Diego SACC is planned August 20-21
• Dallas SACC is planned October 29-30

CHAPEL DOME

Most of the copper from the dome has been removed.  They have started making items for sale through a contracted company. (See https://usnachapeldome.com/)  They will continue making items until the copper is gone.  We could do a group-buy of custom ’96 copper challenge coins with a price point $120-125 per coin.  If anyone thinks they can get a group buy together and would like to run that, let me know.

NEW ALUMNI-OWNED BUSINESS PAGE

If you would like to register your alumni-owned business with the Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, you can go to their new page located here https://www.usna.com/alumni-businesses. They are making an effort to help others find and connect to alumni-owned businesses.

25 YEAR REUNION

Don’t forgot to mark your calendars for our 25 Year Reunion 01-03 Oct 2021.  Expect everything to go “live” (Westin room blocks, registration, etc…) ~ Feb 2021.

CLASS GIFT

Although times might be tough right now, don’t forget that you can still donate to the Class Gift.  If you are on a monthly auto-donation, you can always increase your value just a little…maybe an extra $5/month.

FOOTBALL SEASON

As of now, it is still planned. Let me know if you have season tickets and want your parking spot at our tailgate.

• If you’d like to help out with the operating costs, feel free to contact Nikki Battaglia.  You can send her donations via Zelle (use her phone number (904) 535-5810).  We also accept paypal at usna1996tailgater@gmail.  Contact her for other methods of payment.
• As a reminder, the tailgate is a completely separate account and self-funded through donations and we use no class funds to pay for anything.

With that, I’m signing off. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns and I’ll do my best to find an answer.

Nagel Sullivan

301-904-1526

• USNA Website
• NavySports.com

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Class of 1996