Calendar

Nov
17
Sat
Tulsa vs. Navy Game Viewing @ Wakefield Crowbar
Nov 17 @ 14:30 – 17:30

Last HOME game for the Midshipmen.  Plus, Navy is actually favored!  Food & Drink Specials; Camaraderie; Fun for the whole family.  Join us and bring your friends.

Nov
24
Sat
Navy vs. Tulane Game Viewing @ Wakefield Crowbar
Nov 24 @ 11:00 – 14:00

Food & Drink Specials; Camaraderie; Fun for the whole family.

Dec
8
Sat
Army vs. Navy Official Game Party @ Warehouse Live
Dec 8 @ 12:00 – 16:30

The official party of the USNA AA Tx Gulf Coast Chapter & West Point Club of Greater Houston

  • Presented by Combined Arms
  • Saturday December 8, 12:00 to 16:30
  • Warehouse Live! 813 St. Emanuel Street, Houston
  • Free for all to attend
  • Food & Drink Specials
  • Prizes & raffle
  • Donations & Sponsorships welcome – benefits Combined Arms (a Veterans Service Organization, 501c3), the USNA AA TxGC Foundation (a 501c3), & West Point Club of Greater Houston
  • Please RSVP (or donate) via the green button

On Saturday, December 8, Combined Arms will welcome the greater Houston community—veterans, active military and civilians alike—for a family friendly afternoon including games, food, craft beer and football. This game is a show of mutual respect and solidarity, and a time for veterans United After The Uniform to come together with non-military and celebrate our city, our traditions and our country.The event will start at 12:00 at Warehouse Live, with the official game kickoff at 2:00.

Jan
3
Thu
Smith-McCool Award Lunch @ Taste of Texas
Jan 3 @ 11:00 – 13:00
Smith-McCool Award Lunch @ Taste of Texas

In January, each year, the TxGC Foundation awards the Smith-McCool Sword to the Midshipment from the Chapter area, with the highest order-of-merit, going into their First Class year.  The sword, is named after astronaut Michael Smith ’67, who was lost in the Challenger disaster, and astronaut William McCool ’83, who was lost int he Columbia disaster.

For the graduating class of 2019, we’re proud to award Midn 1/c Francis Kim of Clear Lake High School.  Link to full biography

Presenting Astronaut, and keynote by Sunita Williams (Captain, US Navy, Ret.) NASA Astronaut.  Link to full biography

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

  • Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
  • Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
    • *if seats available
  • TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter

 

Feb
1
Fri
Feb Monthly Lunch: Anne Keene @ Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen
Feb 1 @ 11:30 – 13:00

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

  • Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
  • Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
    • *if seats available
  • TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter

MENU

  • Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
  • Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
  • Choice of entree
    • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
    • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
    • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
  • Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

GUEST SPEAKER

Anne Keene is the author of The Cloudbusters.

75 years ago the New York Yankees won the 1943 World Series but they were beaten by a Navy “fighter pilot” team known as the Cloudbuster Nine with Red Sox legend Ted Williams. As a child, Anne Keene’s father, Jim Raugh, (a future minor-league Detroit Tigers player) suited up as the Navy team’s batboy. Seven decades later a trunk revealed the untold story of this team manned by greats from the Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Detroit Tigers and every other big-league team. Learn about “Greatest Generation” heroes in this narrative including: Babe Ruth, Presidents George H. W. Bush and Gerald “Jerry” Ford; astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter; and Alabama’s Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Keene has written about THE CLOUDBUSTERS in the New York Times, and her book was listed among the top 20 selling summer sports books on Amazon.  Keene has spoken at the Texas Book Festival, and has been on tour in Boston, Dallas, North Carolina, and New York.  She’s also been a keynote speaker at the South Carolina- Palmetto Chapter of the USNAAA, and will be speaking at the Los Angeles and San Diego Chapters.

By way of background, Keene is the granddaughter of a USNA graduate, class of 1926, who is central to the book.  She served as Press Secretary to the late House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton in the 1990s and she also had the privilege of serving as an appointee of President George W. Bush in 2001-02 in agency communications/speechwriting.  She is a journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Keene co-owns an independent, ten-year-old Austin-based public affairs/public relations firm. Cloudbuster is her first published book; another book on the Civil War resides with a New York agent.
Feb
5
Tue
Beaumont Lunch @ Tia Juanita's Fish Camp
Feb 5 @ 11:00 – 12:30

Come join us, and meet your fellow SETX area Alumni.  No-host style lunch (pay your own way).  Bring a guest.  RSVP via email or text to John Augusto, or RSVP on our Facebook page to help us reserve the right size table.

Feb
21
Thu
Joint Happy Hour @ FM Kitchen & Bar
Feb 21 @ 17:30 – 19:30

All hands on deck! Great opportunity to network!
Join the Service Academy Alumni of USNA and USMMA!
We are nearly the same- fellow alumni of service academies, USN officers, and forever sailors at heart.
Go America! 🙌🏽👏🏽👊🏼
FM Bar will be serving specials😊

Mar
2
Sat
FBISD SeaPerch Qualifier: Underwater Robotics Competition @ FBISD Aquatics Center
Mar 2 @ 09:00 – 15:00

TxGC Foundation event.

Please join the TxGC Family as we sponsor our first ever SeaPerch Regional Competition. This is an underwater robotics challenge designed to engage elementary, middle, and high school students in STEM activities. We are looking for your support to attend the event and cheer on the teams and help us promote interest in applying to USNA. 

Mar
21
Thu
March Monthly Lunch @ Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen
Mar 21 @ 11:30 – 13:00

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

  • Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
  • Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
    • *if seats available
  • TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter

MENU

  • Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
  • Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
  • Choice of entree
    • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
    • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
    • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
  • Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

GUEST SPEAKER: Dr. Joseph Thomas, USNA

Dr. Joseph J. Thomas is the Director, Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership and former Class of ’61 Chair and Distinguished Professor of Leadership Education and ADM Jay Johnson Research Professor in Leadership and Ethics. He is also a past Director, John A. Lejeune Leadership Institute, Marine Corps University. As an active duty Marine his assignments included 1st and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, Assistant Professor of Naval Science at the University of Notre Dame, 6th Battalion Officer at the US Naval Academy, and Head of Training Management and Evaluation/Senior Education Officer at Marine Corps Training and Education Command.

Joe is a graduate of Marine Corps Command and Staff College and a past recipient of the MajGen Merrit A. Edson Leadership Award, the Marine Corps Association Research and Writing Award, and the Col Donald Cook Distinguished Graduate Award of Command and Control Systems School.  He is a former elected school board member, a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7293 and American Legion Post 739 Whitehall PA, and is involved in a variety of community services.

His research interests involve experiential leadership development in austere and remote environments and he has advised student research for Rhodes, Mitchell, and Fulbright Scholarships. Joe has served as the Faculty Representative to the USNA Mountaineering Club, is a certified Wilderness First Responder and liaison to and instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, WY.  He has led trekking expeditions to the Tibetan Himalayas, South Africa, Mongolia, Mt. Ararat in Turkey, Peruvian Andes, Vietnam, Morocco, Jordan, and elsewhere. Joe speaks on the topics of leadership and ethics regularly throughout the US, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The author of numerous articles on the subjects of command and control, military training and education, and leadership, his published books include, Leadership Education for Marines (UMI Press), Leadership Embodied (The US Naval Institute Press, 1st and 2nd Editions), Naval Leadership Capstone (McGraw-Hill),  Leadership Explored (AcademX), and Leadership and Ethics Discussion Guide for Marines (Marine Corps University Press).  He co-published chapters in Leadership in Dangerous Situations (USNI Press) with colleagues from West Point, the US Air Force Academy, and the NYPD and Perspectives on Modern Honor (Lexington Press). Joe’s education includes an M.S.Sc. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, a M.S.S. from the US Army War College, a Ph.D. from George Mason University, and Certificate in Public Leadership from the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Apr
12
Fri
Apr Lunch: Mike Matson ‘06 @ Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen
Apr 12 @ 11:30 – 13:00

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

  • Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
  • Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
    • *if seats available
  • TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter

MENU

  • Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
  • Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
  • Choice of entree
    • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
    • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
    • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
  • Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

GUEST SPEAKER: Mike Matson ‘06

Are you ready for a motivational lunch?! Ready to meet a bad ass? Mike Matson has made a name for himself as an adventurer, most notably earning two Guinness World Records skippering a three-man rowboat over 3,200 miles across the Atlantic! Mike’s love of ocean adventure began at the US Naval Academy, where he first learned how to sail as a crew member of a Navy 44′ MKI visiting ports along the US Eastern Seaboard. Mike was also a member of the Men’s Heavyweight Crew team, the Trap & Skeet team, and completed two marathons. After leaving the Navy, Mike returned home to Houston and became a volunteer firefighter/emergency medical technician in the City of Stafford while simultaneously earning a doctorate in Chemistry from Rice University.  As a new professor, Mike authored Inorganic Chemistry for Dummies and taught undergraduate classes at the local University of Houston-Downtown. When his research shifted from biomedical applications to shale oil extraction, Mike transitioned into the oil and gas industry and currently he is a drilling engineer with Kinder Morgan CO2. Mike first met his wife, Sami, in 7th grade, and they now have two happy, healthy Scouts (Morgan, a Brownie, and Cooper, a Bear) that love living in the Heights. When not at his desk downtown, Mike is likely found weight lifting atCrossFit Live Oak in Montrose with Brian.