Nebraska Admiral Explained

Nebraska Admiral (formally, Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska) is the state of Nebraska's highest civic honor, and an honorary title bestowed upon individuals by approval of the Governor of Nebraska, the only triply landlocked U.S. state. It is not a military rank, requires no specific duties, and carries with it no pay or any other compensation. Admirals have the option of joining the Nebraska Admirals Association, a non-profit organization that promotes "The Good Life" of Nebraska.

The award certificate describes the honor in a deliberately tongue-in-cheek fashion:

The use of the title of admiral, instead of some other high-ranking military title, is a humorous reference to the fact that Nebraska has no navy; it is the only triple-landlocked state in the US and only 0.68% of the state is water, the fifth-lowest percentage in the nation. Nebraska relies on the United States Armed Forces for its defense and has had no active state defense force of any sort since 1972.

History

The Great Navy of the State of Nebraska was created in 1931. The Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska at that time, Theodore W. Metcalfe, was serving as Acting Governor of Nebraska while Governor Charles W. Bryan was outside the state. At the urging of some of his friends, he appointed "20 to 25 prominent Nebraskans" as Nebraska Admirals.^[1]

Commissions in the Nebraska Navy have always been given to prominent citizens both inside and outside of Nebraska. However, anyone can request or be nominated for an admiralship as long as he or she has "contributed in some way to the state, promote the Good Life in Nebraska, and warrant recognition as determined by the Governor".

Charitable activities

The Nebraska Admirals Association was established in 1986. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is devoted to a number of causes, including promoting Nebraska products, educational activities, awarding scholarships, promoting tourism, and providing support for ships and sailors in the United States Navy named after Nebraska-related entities.

Current guidelines for Admiralships

As of January 2015, Governor Pete Ricketts requires the following criteria for awarding an Admiralship:

• The nominator or nominee must be a resident of Nebraska.
• Self-nominations will not be honored.
• Those who are nominating persons for Admiralships will need to send the request by U.S. postal mail or present it to the Governor's Office. E-mail requests will not be accepted. All requests must be in writing.
• If the date for the Admiralship is not specifically requested, the received date will be used on the certificate.
• The Governor retains full discretion for any Admiralship requests.
• The Governor's Office requests notice of two to three weeks to process Admiralships.

Notable admirals

Notable admirals include:^[2]

• Gene Autry
• Jack Benny
• George W. Bush
• Johnny Carson
• Dick Cavett
• Bing Crosby
• John Charles Daly
• Sandy Dennis
• Costa Dillon
• Elizabeth II
• Julius "Dr. J" Erving
• Eileen Farrell^[3]
• Craig Ferguson^[4]
• Gerald Ford
• George Gallup
• Bill Gates^[5]
• John Glenn
• Isaiah Graham^[6]
• Chuck Hagel
• Sir Edmund Hillary
• Bob Hope
• Chuck Jones
• Dorothy Kilgallen^{[7] [8]}
• Martin Luther King III
• Ann Landers
• David Letterman^[9]
• Douglas MacArthur
• Bill Murray
• Ben Nelson
• Jack Nicklaus
• Tom Osborne
• Arnold Palmer
• Ronald Reagan
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Angie Nichols
• Julie Schmit-Albin^[10]
• Roger Smith
• Mark Spitz
• Keisei Tominaga
• Harry S. Truman
• Patrick DiBiase
• Alex Wach
• Wesley Wach
• Stephan Patrick Schärer

Controversial admiralships

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo^[11] and former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh^[12] were both reportedly granted a Nebraska Admiralship. Both Nguema^[13] and Jammeh^[14] have been criticized for their dictatorial rule over their respective countries, and the reported granting of the admiralship to Jammeh by Governor Dave Heineman drew the criticism of the state's Democratic Party leader.^[15]

Governor Pete Ricketts revoked admiralship from two women, Amanda Gailey and Courtney Lawton, in January 2018, less than a month after the award. The honor was revoked, according to the governor's spokesman, because the two had protested the appearance of Turning Point USA, a conservative group that maintains a Professor Watchlist, on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.^[16] The governor's office had no enforcement power to retrieve the certificates presented to Gailey and Lawton.^[17]

See also

• Title of honor
• Other honorary titles in U.S. states:
  • Arkansas Traveler
  • Colonel (U.S. honorary title)
  • Delaware title of Order of the First State of Delaware
  • Kentucky Colonel
  • Indiana title of Sagamore of the Wabash
  • North Carolina title of Order of the Long Leaf Pine
  • Ohio Commodore
  • Rhode Island Commodore
  • South Carolina titles of Order of the Palmetto and Order of the Silver Crescent
  • Texas title of Admiral in the Texas Navy
  • Washington State Leadership Board, formerly known as the Association of Washington Generals
• Admiral
• USS Nebraska
• Sagamore of the Wabash
• Landlocked navy
• Great Floridians

External links

• Nebraska Admirals Association
• Lincoln Journal Star article "Admirals celebrate 20 years of service"

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Great Nebraska Navy: Its Origin and Growth. https://web.archive.org/web/20160329020327/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1967NebrNavy.pdf. usurped. March 29, 2016. Cooper. Harold. Nebraska State Historical Society. October 5, 2017.
2. Web site: Famous Admirals . Nebraska Admirals Association . 3 September 2021.
3. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: Carson Lecture 2011: Bob Uecker . YouTube.
4. News: Heineman to appear on 'Late Late Show'. 6 October 2017 . Lincoln Journal Star . 2 July 2007.
5. News: South Sioux City woman honored as Nebraska "admiral". 24 June 2016 . Sioux City Journal . 14 June 2015.
6. Web site: Banks & Bankers . nebankers.org . 2024-08-04.
7. Joe E. Lewis . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/1aGMevgMOgM . 2021-12-21 . live. 23 June 2016 . What's My Line? . What's My Line? . 11 September 1955 . 275 . 0:48 .
8. Joseph Cotten . What's My Line? . 11 January 1959 . 12:50.
9. News: Admirals in Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. 24 June 2016 . Lincoln Journal Star . 3 October 2010.
10. News: Gaarder. Nancy. August 23, 2020. Longtime Nebraska Right to Life Director Julie Schmit-Albin dies at 63. Omaha World-Herald. August 9, 2021.
11. News: Goodsell. Paul. Vasquez. Andrea. Admiral program not so shipshape in Neb.. 21 January 2017. World-Herald News Service (via North Platte Telegraph). BH Media Group, Inc..
12. News: Goodsell. Paul. From the Archives: State unwittingly bestows Nebraska Navy honor on African dictator. 21 January 2017. Omaha World-Herald. 2 October 2010.
13. News: The world's enduring dictators: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea. 21 January 2017. CBS News. 19 June 2011. "In his own time as dictator, Nguema's opponents have accused him of cannibalism, specifically eating parts of his opponents to gain "power." (Those charges have probably done little to help his repeated efforts to have a U.N. science prize named after him.) Most recently, Amnesty International reported that Nguema's henchmen abducted four nationals living in exile in Benin in January 2010, held them in secret detention, tortured them, and then forced them to confess to an alleged coup attempt, all before executing them in August following a kangaroo court military trial.".
14. News: Reid. Stuart A.. The Dictators Who Love America. 21 January 2017. The Atlantic. 8 February 2016. "In the two decades since, as the rest of West Africa has grown more democratic and developed, [Yahya] Jammeh has taken his country in the opposite direction, routinely harassing and detaining political activists.".
15. News: Ross. Timberly. Head of state Dems critical of Jammeh admiralship. 21 January 2017. Lincoln Journal Star. The Associated Press. 3 October 2010.
16. News: . Nebraska governor revokes honor given to 2 academics . Associated Press . Lincoln, Nebraska . February 6, 2018 . December 19, 2019 .
17. News: Dunker . Chris . February 6, 2018 . Ricketts rescinds Nebraska admiralships from UNL faculty who protested conservative group . Lincoln Journal Star . December 19, 2019 .