69th MORSS
Wrap-up ¾ Full Steam
Ahead: MORS Sets Sail into the New Millennium
COL Mike McGinnis, United States Military Academy, mcginnism@usma.army.mil
The 69th MORS Symposium, held at the beautiful and
historic United
States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland is now history.
And we made history with a new attendance record of 1,146. The fabulous
authentic Maryland Crabfest at Mike’s Restaurant and
Crab House will be remembered as one of MORS’
best social events ever!! Taken
together, this year’s presentations were exceptional ¾ relevant and high quality. The 69th, no doubt, ranks among the most
memorable Symposiums ever.
From start to finish, the 69th MORSS was a TEAM
effort: Together Everyone Achieves MOR(SS). Deservedly, the credit goes to the fabulous
group of dedicated MORSIANS who lead, planned, organized and executed the
Symposium: MORS President, Roy Rice, the MORS office, our hosts at USNA
and Annapolis, the 69th Program Staff, the MORS Board of Workers (Jerry
Kotchka you got it right!), and the WG/CG chairs, co-chairs and
advisors.
The MORS office led the effort ¾ Brian Engler, Natalie
Strawn Kelly, Cynthia Kee, Corrina
Ross-Witkowski and Jarvey Nelson
earned and deserve huge kudos for MORS
success. This talented group of
professionals thrives on tackling tough issues and solving problems. The entire MORS
community is thankful and grateful that the MORS
office was there to help keep me out of trouble and not mess things up as
Program Chair. A special thanks to Peggy
Lambert for her expertise and advise throughout
the year on security matters related to running a classified Symposium. Another special thanks to Betty
Melick, Department of Systems Engineering at
USMA, who, for the second year in a row, provided me and MORS with great support throughout the
year and lent a very important helping hand in the MORSS office.
Deputy Program Chair, Alan Moser, played a
major role in securing our Keynote Speaker: Admiral Vern Clark, Chief of
Naval Operations (CNO). Our host this
year, USNA Superintendent, Vice Admiral John R. Ryan, was both generous and
gracious in welcoming MORS to USNA.
Site support this year was phenomenal: Charles Mylander (Deputy Chair for Logistics), Scott Poindexter (security
preparations), Tom Sanders
(web master for the Academy’s MORS web site), Johnna Marchant (function, food and entertainment coordinator) and John Willis, Department of Systems
Engineering, USMA (transportation coordinator).
The 69th Program Staff - “The Team” - who, from start
to finish, pulled together, worked together, and had fun together. Alan
Moser (Deputy Program Chair); Roy
Reiss (Program Chair Advisor); Charles
Mylander (Deputy Chair for Logistics); Suzanne Beers (Deputy Chair for
Operations); Steve Pilnick
(Deputy Chair for Plans); Willie
McFadden (Plenary Coordinator); Pat
McKenna (WG/CG Chair); Jack Keane and George Stone (WG/CG
Deputy Chair), Ted Smyth (Special Session Coordinator), Jay Wilmeth, Don Theune, Bill Reed (Jr.-Sr.
Analyst); Rick Rosenthal (Tutorials); Andy Loerch
(Education); Denis Clements (Prize Papers); Jack Marriott
(Heritage); Jean McGinnis and Sherry Barnes (Posters); Tracy
McGinnis (Guest Program),
Reflecting back, this was a very busy year. Without a doubt, it was the most rewarding
one of my 14-year association with MORS
¾ both professionally and
personally. It is all about people, and people are everything. Thanks to all for a job well done!
Next year, the 70th MORSS will be held 12-14 June 2002
on the high plains at historic and beautiful Fort Leavenworth, Kansas overlooking the majestic Missouri River. Steve Pilinck,
is off to a great start as Program Chair.
Steve has organized a very talented, energetic staff who
are herding up volunteers for the trip west to the heartland of America for what will be another great symposium. Wagons Ho!!
See you at Fort Leavenworth - Mike