United States Merchant Marine Academy ALUMNI

Robert N. Kromann ’65 was presented the Outstanding Professional Achievement award during the 2020 virtual Homecoming Awards Ceremony. He came from the Seattle area where his summer job at 16 was as ordinary seaman on ocean tugs operating between Seattle and Alaska. Rob believed the best way to advance within such a career was to attend Kings Point. After graduation from Kings Point, Rob sailed on product and crude oil tankers on the US West Coast and Alaska, and, at 27 years... of age, as Master on ocean tugs towing, one, and sometimes two, 400 foot, and 48 car rail barges from Seattle to Alaska. In the ‘70s, Rob was a Marine Surveyor involved with ship repair, salvage operations and over the beach cargo operations. One salvage operation involved floating a wrecked cargo barge with cargo and no bottom on a bubble of air across the open ocean to a port of repair. Rob then became Operations Manager for a container cargo barge company, pioneering self-contained, ocean container freight barge service to ports 125 miles up the lower Yukon River in Alaska. Rob returned to tankers to gain sea time in pursuit of his true passion - to be a ship pilot on Puget Sound. In 1980, Rob passed the Washington State pilot license exam and soon after joined the Puget Sound Pilots. He served as a pilot until his retirement in 2010. As a Puget Sound pilot, Rob contributed far more to the industry than just piloting ships. Rob served three terms as Vice President, two terms as President of the Puget Sound Pilots, and was appointed three times by Washington State governors as Commissioner on the Washington State Board of Pilotage, which governs all Washington State pilotage. In 1982, Rob was chairman of a Coast Guard committee that successfully established International Rules of the Road in all of Puget Sound, instead of Inland Rules, which frequently conflicted with existing International Rules governing nearby Canadian waters. He was a pilot representative to the US Coast Guard’s effort to revise and realign traffic separation schemes in Puget Sound in the early ’90s. Rob was appointed as pilot representative to a state/industry group developing Safety Standards for Tankers in Puget Sound. Rob holds an Unlimited Masters License for any Gross Tons, an Unrestricted Towing Endorsement, Unlimited Tonnage First Class Pilotage for all Puget Sound and adjacent waters, and, while piloting, held an Unlimited Washington State Pilot License. Throughout his career, Rob has enjoyed the support of his wife, Kirsten, and his two sons, Andy and Erik. See more

Check out the 2020 Fall digital edition of the Kings Pointer! #kingspointer #actanonverba #kpmagazine

M/N Calvin Kim '21 is today's Midshipman Spotlight. Born and raised in Guam, M/N Kim currently resides in Seattle, WA. He attended New Mexico Military Institute as a prep student and was appointed to #USMMA. He was on the Swimming and Diving team as a Diver and was a qualifier for the NCAA Division 3 Regional Diving Competition and is now on the #KingsPoint Rugby Team. During first sailing, he was aboard the M/V Maersk Hartford and the M/V Maersk Idaho traveling in the Middle... East and Europe. For second sailing, he was aboard the USNS Charles Drew and traveled from Dubai through the Suez Canal, across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up the West Coast of the United States. He was also aboard the USNS Henry J. Kaiser supplying fuel to naval warships along the coast of California. After graduation, M/N Kim plans to sail on his Unlimited Third Mate License with the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command and become a Surface Rescue Swimmer. See more

The USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation (AAF) wishes to extend a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Arizona's newest Senator - Mark Kelly. Senator-elect Kelly, a 1986 graduate of the USMMA, former astronaut and retired US Navy Captain, is scheduled to assume office on November 30, 2020 and fills the Senate seat formerly occupied by John McCain, who passed away in 2018. Kelly will now serve out the remainder of McCain's term, which ends in 2022. The USMMA AAF believes that Senator-...elect Kelly is the first USMMA graduate to be elected to the US Senate - an outstanding achievement on top of his already storied career. The USMMA AAF looks forward to working with Senator-elect Kelly to bring continued Congressional focus on the important role USMMA plays in supporting our nation’s security as USMMA provides over 80% of the service obligated merchant marine officers that would be required in a national emergency. See more

Kings Pointers are taking advantage of this beautiful New York weather on the water! #kingspoint #actanonverba by USMMA External Affairs

Thanks to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for nominating Seth and Ethan Williams to #USMMA!

Peter H. Hames ’65 exemplifies what it means to be a quality individual, an honor earned through experiences and accomplishments over an outstanding career in marine management, including safety, quality, and environmental protection systems. Following graduation, he spent 30 years with Texaco Marine Department, sailing for three years as an Engineer on their tankers, and 27 years in various management positions from Superintendent of Maintenance and Repair to General Manager... of Administration & Employee Relations, and Director of Quality and Training. He obtained a MBA from Adelphi University in 1976. Along the way, Peter became a skilled Quality Systems practitioner establishing Texaco’s Total Quality Improvement Process, as a leader and mentor in their efforts to achieve improved internal performance and customer satisfaction. Having developed a passion for fostering improvements in quality and safety, following his retirement from Texaco, Peter founded Maritime Quality Consultants, Inc. His firm was devoted to helping ship owners and managers and other companies in the maritime industry achieve compliance with the ISM Code, ISO 9000, and ISO 14000 quality and environmental management system standards. His clients included Classification Societies, Flag State Authorities, and Coast Guards. By his individual efforts Pete has brought a higher standard of safety, quality, and environmental protection to ships worldwide. But Peter’s quality performance did not stop there. Over the years he and his wife Suzann have been active in their faith and civic communities. Most recently they have been recognized by Concordia University Texas for 20 years of support of Concordia’s Christian Education and Nursing programs. Peter has been a member of Concordia’s Board of Regents for the last four years. As a US Power Squadrons member for 37 years, he held leadership positions at the local, district and national levels. Pete is currently Treasurer of Living Savior Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Texas. Peter Hames is well deserving of the AAF’s Outstanding Professional Achievement Award for a lifetime of outstanding work in and out of the maritime field and is a credit to himself and Kings Point where his professional journey began.

Ronald A. Forsberg ’65 received the Outstanding Professional Achievement award during the 2020 virtual Homecoming Awards Ceremony. He sailed on his license for various US Shipping Companies for several years before coming ashore to begin his outstanding engineering career. Following four years at Martin Marietta Aerospace Corp. as a Quality Engineer, he was hired by Sundstrand Corp. in 1973, to rewrite their Quality Assurance Manual together with all their Procedures and Inst...ructions. In 1977, the Fluid Handling Division, a manufacturer of pumps for the energy sector, was split off from the aviation division and Ron was selected as Senior Quality Assurance Engineer in the new Sundyne Corporation. He soon advanced to Quality Assurance Manager. Ron was responsible for product improvements in design, manufacture, testing and quality control of their unique vertical, geared, high speed, high head pump in liquid hydrocarbon pumping services. Ron proved equally unique in that wherever he observed something that needed improvement, in any sector, he would take it on, having long earned management approval, and develop a solution. He initiated hundreds of procedural and product improvements which both saved Sundyne millions or earned them millions of dollars. Further, Ron played a significant role in the development of Sundyne’s, Vertical Integrated Pump (VIP), a seal less canned motor pump for the refining/chemical industries that eliminated vapor emissions and significantly improved air quality standards. Ron authored the American Petroleum Institute 685 specification for the VIP and went on to invent and patent innovative instrumentation (ultrasound) to protect VIP’s from harmful cavitation. Ron retired from Sundyne after 30 years and started Forsberg Consulting to provide design and specification review for VIP pump applications. An example of his contributions to industry is illustrated by his award of Phillips Petroleum’s Award for Excellence, for providing design modifications for VIP’s in particularly arduous service. Ron served in the USNR for 6 years, attaining Lt JG. He consistently supports the AAF with contributions at the Compass Club level.

Thanks to Senator Jack Reed for nominating M/N Boruch to #USMMA.

#flashback to 30 Class of 2023 A-Split midshipmen who were sworn in as Auxiliary Members of the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company (GNVFD). According to the USMMA Facebook page, during the ceremony, held on the Caswell Holloway Terrace of Wiley Hall, USMMA Superintendent, RADM Jack Buono ‘78, Chief Joshua Charry, GNVFD Chief of Department, President GNVFD, Phil Katz, Esq., and Regimental Emergency Services Commanding Officer, MIDN LCDR Samuel C. Mills 1/c, addressed the new EMTs and thanked them for their selfless service to others. #bravozulu #kingspoint #actanonverba #thankyou by USMMA External Affairs

Our Midshipman Spotlight for today is M/N Amanda Hall '21, a Marine Systems Engineering major from 4th Company. Born and raised in Aurora, Colorado, she is now from Edmond, Oklahoma. M/N Hall is the Regimental Drill and Ceremonies Officer (RDCO) and the team leader of both the #USMMA Color Guard and Drill Team. She is also a New York State EMT-B. During mission critical #SeaYear training, M/N Hall was on the M/V Liberty Promise, a tramp Ro-Ro to Australia, the M/V Maersk Iowa to Europe, and the USS Shiloh out of the 7th fleet. The largest flower garden in the world in the Netherlands is the source of the photo below!

The Outstanding Professional Achievement award was presented to Philip A. Fecher ’65 during the 2020 virtual Homecoming Awards Ceremony. The essence of Phil’s professional and personal life can be summed up in a nutshell as the man who cares. After graduation, he sailed primarily on high segregation chemical and product tankers. In 1971 he received his Unlimited Masters license. Shortly thereafter, he came ashore and started to make his presence known with Parcel Tankers In...c. which later became known as Stolt Tankers and Terminals. Phil started out as a shipbroker and then spent the next thirty years taking Stolt to new heights. Phil helped move Stolt from a small specialty tanker company to become the largest and best chemical tanker company in the world. Prior to Phil’s retirement in January 2001, he was Senior Vice President of Stolt Tankers as well as Director of Chartering Stolt Tankers. Between 1971 and 2001, he accomplished some pretty incredible achievements in the profession of chemical tanker chartering. As he rose throughout the company as a Shipbroker, Traffic Manager, Service Manager and Fleet Coordinator, he not only focused on process improvements but organizational improvements and efficiencies. However, his real legacy was his focus on developing and leading the future workforce at Stolt. As Phil moved up the corporate ladder, he always invested in and equipped his replacements with the necessary skills and talents to continue the success of the company. Phil has not only cared for the people under his supervision for those thirty years, but he has also cared about his community. He was a member of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra Board for twelve years. See more

We are excited to announce that the USMMA Stars and Stripes Golf Bag is back in time for the holiday season! Show off your Kings Point Pride on the golf course with the USMMA Stars and Stripes Golf Bag, a patriotically themed bag embroidered with the United States Merchant Marine Academy logo. Purchase yours while supplies last at: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1860/18/interior.aspx