Dan Struble Luncheon

Dan Struble '83, 5th Fleet Historian for Operation Enduring Freedom, Speaks at March 2003Luncheon.

Dan is presently Vice President for Principal Gifts at the United States Naval Academy Foundation where he was the founding staff member and one of the primary architects of its current $175 million campaign on behalf of the Naval Academy. Steve Maconi, Director- Major Gifts for the Foundation, was also visiting Atlanta on this trip. However, their visit to our Chapter luncheon was for a different purpose.

After the events of 9-11, 2001, Dan was called-up to serve as 5th Fleet Historian during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. His assignment was to document Navy combat operations through both oral history and pictures. His tour lasted eight months, during which he spent six months at sea on 22 different ships. He flew on various combat missions, visited eighty commands in eight different countries, and interviewed 250 different people from Seaman to the 5th Fleet Commander. What a tour!

This experience provided Dan with a unique perspective on Operation Enduring Freedom and we were very fortunate to have him share that with us. We got a first-hand account of what is was like to serve in that arena, how the various branches of the service coordinated operations, what life was like for the service men and women, and a short course on "how to tell a good guy from a bad guy" in that land. There was much more to tell, and Dan told it! Unfortunately much of it cannot be posted on a public forum, such as this web site. See... you should have been there!

Thanks to Jim Ravenel '45, for arranging for Dan to speak to us.

Click on a thumbnail image to view a full sized picture.

The March luncheon crowd.

Dan addresses alumni and guests.

Chapter President Bob Schultz '71, presents Dan with his speaker's gift, a personalized Atlanta Chapter apron!

Many thanks to Dan for taking the time to visit us in Atlanta and share this great adventure with us!

For more info on Dan, click

Dan Struble Bio