Blue Chip Dinner - December 21, 2022

VADM Sean Buck, USNA '83, will be our keynote speaker at our chapter's flagship event.

Our annual Naval Academy Blue Chip Dinner will be held Wednesday, December 21, 2022, 6:30 PM at the
Royal Oaks Country Club, 7915 Greenville Avenue, Dallas.

 

This event, hosting a number of outstanding candidates for admission to next year’s Plebe class, has been a major event for our chapter for over thirty consecutive years. These young men and women are top academic and athletic prospects who are in demand by other universities and academies.


We are honored this year to have as our featured speaker VADM Sean Buck, USN, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. VADM Buck, Class of ‘83, will inspire these young men and women with his enthusiasm and knowledge of the mission and work of the Academy. His many accomplishments and awards are included in the biography on the reverse of this letter. Colonel James P. McDonough, USMC, 89 th Commandant of Midshipman, USNA, will also be in attendance.

 

Your presence at this event is important. You can have a direct and significant influence on these candidates and their parents as they see the lasting influence and fraternity that attendance at USNA affords. Your financial help is also critical as the entire cost of this event – with a budget of $20,000 this year – is borne by our local chapter. These costs include dinners for our invited guests: candidates, their parents, and USNA participants and representatives. The dinner ticket cost this year will be $60. You can help by being a financial sponsor or donor as shown below:

 

  • $550 Table Sponsor: sponsors 8 invited guests (2 candidates, 4 parents, 1 midshipman and guest);
  • $240 sponsors two candidates and one set of parents;
  • $120 sponsors two candidates or one set of parents;
  • $60 sponsors one candidate or one midshipman; or a donation of any amount.

Please note that the Blue Chip Dinner is intended to let Candidates specifically designated by the Admissions office meet Alumni, current Midshipmen, and parents from the Naval Academy family.  As such, seating priority will be given to those groups. We expect to reach our capacity for this event. We may not have capacity for non-official candidates or other interested parties. Seating for this event is subject to such constraints, and we reserve the right to turn away, with refund, those who cannot be accomodated due to this constraint.

 

Please make your reservation and payment on our web site. Reservations need to be made as soon as possible due to limited seating, but not later than Friday, December 16, 2022. A wait list will be utilized for any over-subscription.

 

***PLEASE NOTE: Our communications for this year's event will be entirely online. We are NOT SENDING A POSTAL MAILING THIS YEAR. This saves substantial $$$ (in the face of rising costs) and countless volunteer hours. Please continue to support us so generously as you have in the past.***

Online donations & reservations: Click here to Reserve Seats and Donate!!!

To mail a printed form for your donations & seats: Click here for our donation and reservation form!!!

Please seriously consider this request for support. We look forward to seeing you there.

Respectfully,

John W. Wroten, Jr., ‘65

*** UPDATE 11 am Sunday December 18: Ticket sames have been shut off due to capacity. If you wish to be added to the waitlist, please contact John Wroten directly at 214-533-1746

Click here to Reserve Seats and Donate!!!  - or - Click here for our donation and reservation form!!!


About Vice Admiral Buck, Superintendent of the Naval Academy

Vice Adm. Sean Buck became the 63rd superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy July 26, 2019. A native of Indianapolis, he graduated and received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983 and was designated a naval flight officer in 1985. He earned a Master of Arts in International Security Policy from George Washington University and has completed studies at the College of Naval Command and Staff, U.S. Naval War College, and the Armed Forces Staff College; a fellowship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI: Foreign Politics, International Relations, and the National Interest; and executive certificate programs at both the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Graduate School of Education.

As a flag officer, Buck has served as commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Force 5th/7th Fleet, Fleet Air Forward, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group; chief of staff, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5), the Joint Staff; and most recently he served as commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet.

Flying the P-3C Orion, Buck’s early at-sea operational tours were with the “Fighting Marlins” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 40; a disassociated sea tour aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as the catapult and arresting gear (V-2) division officer; and a department head tour with the “Tridents” of VP-26. He subsequently commanded VP-26 and Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11.

His shore and staff assignments include Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 1; the Bureau of Naval Personnel; the Joint Staff J3; Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) staff as executive assistant to the deputy chief of Naval Operations (CNO) for Warfare Requirements and Programs (N6/N7); and as the deputy director for operations in the Strategy and Policy Directorate (J5), U.S. Joint Forces Command. Prior to major command, Buck completed an interim assignment with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO); he is a member of the Navy’s Space Cadre. He also completed a special assignment as a senior fellow on the CNO’s Strategic Studies Group (SSG) in Newport, Rhode Island, an innovation think tank for the Navy.

Buck’s personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards), the Legion of Merit (five awards) and various other personal, unit and service awards. He is most proud of his various unit awards that reflect credit on the successful teams he has served with and the many skilled professionals he has been privileged to work alongside.

About COL J.P McDonough, Commandant of Midshipmen

Colonel “J.P.” McDonough graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering and was commissioned in May 1994.

A career artillery officer, Colonel McDonough’s operational assignments include: platoon commander with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines; Kilo Battery Commander, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines in support of Operations Swift and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan; battalion operations officer, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment; officer in charge, Embedded Training Team 6-5, Afghan National Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan; regimental executive officer, 12th Marine and 11th Marine Regiments; commander, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines; and most recently as commander, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

Colonel McDonough’s staff and joint tours include serving as the executive assistant to the Deputy Commandant, Plans, Policies, and Operations at U.S. Marine Corps Headquarters in the Pentagon; the Joint Staff where he served as an action officer and division chief in the J39, Deputy Directorate for Global Operations; a modeling and simulation analyst for training systems and project officer for multiple simulation programs at USMC Training and Education Command; and staff platoon commander at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia.

Colonel McDonough assumed his duties as the 89th Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in June 2021. His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and various unit and service awards. He earned a master’s degree in modeling, virtual environments, and simulation from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2005, and graduated with distinction from the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University in 2014

Click here to Reserve Seats and Donate!!!