ATTENTION ADAMS CLASS DDG VETERANS

This is an update on the status of our Donation Application submission to NAVSEA PMS-333 for the berthing of the ex-USS CHARLES F. ADAMS (DDG-2) in Jacksonville, FL.  In preparing the Application, the eight core ACVA team members expended over 2100 hours of in-kind work in three months to complete the 826 pages of the 3-Volume Application. Thanks to the efforts of Pete Mansel, Jim Aldrich, Bob Rumney, Bert Watson, Wayne Misenar, Craig Bernat, and Tom Crosser, the Application was completed on March 28.  The Application was submitted to NAVSEA on March 31 by the joint team of ACVA and our "sister" organization, the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association (JHNSA).  A summary of our Application is currently available on the ACVA web site, http://www.adamsclassddgvets.org/. 

We have expended the majority of donated support from ACVA members and Ship Associations to pay for the marketing and engineering services required to prepare the Donation Application.  We still need additional financial support to complete payment for a portion of the berthing design work that was done in support of the Application.  We ask all DDG-2 Ship Associations to encourage their members to join the ACVA in its effort to save CHARLES F. ADAMS, the surviving ship of the class.  When you look at the summary of the Donation Application that is now posted on our web site, it is obvious that the whole focus of the ADAMS class museum in Jacksonville will be to memorialize all 23 ships of the class.  Planning for local fund raising events in the Jacksonville area is in progress.  We have received several corporate donations and we are contacting other potential corporate sponsors.  But to continue our efforts to get the Ship Donation Application approved by the Navy and to begin planning for the restoration effort, the continued support of DDG-2 Class veterans will be essential in the short term.   Since the beginning of 2008, we have had 150 new members and over 125 new ACVA Plank Owner Donors join ACVA.  We would appreciate your help in raising the additional funds we require, and especially in locating more of our shipmates who can join the ACVA and help us in this important effort.  New ACVA members and donors can follow instructions on the ACVA web site for credit card or mail submissions to ACVA Secretary Dave Myerly for membership or donations.

Thanks to all for your continued support
Bob Branco
ACVA President.

3/31/08 - SHIP DONATION APPLICATION COMPLETE

GREAT NEWS for all ACVA Members, and everyone who has supported our effort to berth the USS CHARLES F. ADAMS (DDG-2) on the St Johns River in downtown Jacksonville, Florida - The SHIP DONATION APPLICATION has been completed!!! We have met the deadline for completion of the Application beyond all expectation and overcoming numerous obstacles, the most critical one being TIME!! Our Application Team put together in 75 days what normal ship organizations take up to two years to do.

Thanks to the efforts of Pete Mansel, Bob Branco, Jim Aldrich, Bob Rumney, Bert Watson, Wayne Misenar, Craig Bernat, and Tom Crosser, the 3-Volume document, with 826 pages, was completed on March 28th. These men spent countless hours, a few literally into the hundreds of hours, most days, and every week writing the many sections of the Application. The Team was very pleased with the final product, and felt it did justice to the wonderful ships we seek to honor. Bert Watson will personally deliver the document to NAVSEA at the Washington Navy Yard on the afternoon of March 31st. Since the application is being evaluated by the Navy, the document is considered confidential.

2/28/08 - PRESS RELEASE

The City Council of Jacksonville, Florida passed a Resolution supporting the establishment of the ex-USS CHARLES F. ADAMS as a Naval Ship Museum in Jacksonville. The CHARLES F. ADAMS is the first in the class of 23 guided missile destroyers built by the Navy in the 1960s. Currently, only one other DDG-2 class ship exists besides the Adams, and it’s in Germany moored as a museum.

The Adams Class Veterans Association (ACVA) started the effort to save the ADAMS as a museum by approaching at least three different cities. Complications successively sunk the first two efforts. Then the veterans focused on Jacksonville where they slowly gained some attention, incorporated a team, and systematically developed support in City Council, Council committees, City commissions, and received endorsements. After the Resolution passed out of two City Council committees, it went to the full Council for consideration. On February 26, 2008, the City Council unanimously passed an amendment to the Resolution that listed the entire Council as co-sponsoring the Resolution – and then quickly voted to pass the Resolution without dissent.

ACVA Board member Wayne Misenar, a retired Chief Warrant Officer, said that this was a day he has looked forward to for a number of years. "It’s a day I wasn’t sure I’d ever see." The response to the ACVA from veterans expressing congratulations and quickly adding that they are available to volunteer to help bring the Adams back to her nimble state of readiness, at least as a museum, is gratifying. AVCA President Tom Crosser expressed appreciation for the progress to date and is very excited about the response from members of the AVCA and other ship organizations. "If we continue to get the support from members that we have seen in the last couple days, we will easily meet our goal to have a full list of volunteers to help bring her back to glory." The ACVA’s reason for existing is to save the Adams and find her a home where she can serve the rest of her life educating and entertaining the public, veterans and children. The museum plans include memorializing all 23 ships in the class, including photos, memorabilia, and histories of the service of all the ships. According to retired Navy Captain Bob Branco, a former Commanding Officer of the Adams, "It’s appropriate to bring the ship back home to Jacksonville where she was home-ported for the last 23 years of her service."