interview
Interview: Capt. Louis P. “Lou” Lalli, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Commissioning Chairman and President, Navy League of the United States, Hampton Roads Council By John D. Gresham
or those fortunate enough to attend the commissioning of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the day will be a ceremony and spectacle unlikely to be seen again. A father and son, one a former president and the other the sitting chief executive, will be in attendance, speaking to a crowd of more than 25,000. What few of those present will know, however, is that while the U.S. Navy will be an active participant, a nonprofit civilian group will be making the event possible: the Navy League of the United States. Leading this event will be the commissioning chairman, Capt. Louis P. “Lou” Lalli, U.S. Navy (Ret.), president of the Hampton Roads Council of the Navy League. Lalli, whose day job is that of director of operations for Boeing for Naval and Joint Commands, is a native of Philadelphia, Pa. He entered the Navy in 1968 and began his Navy career as the events coordinator and interim announcer for the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. Lalli spent most of his 27-year career as a naval aviator, with more than 4,500 flight hours and 1,000 arrested landings in A-6 Intruders and F-4 Phantom IIs. The Navy League’s Hampton Roads Council has sponsored 21 commissionings, and many months of work go into each one. But the Navy League doesn’t just do commissionings; it provides many services and programs for Navy personnel and their families such as ship enhancements, and Lalli takes pride not only in the work he and his Hampton Roads Council team have done to make the entire process of commissioning USS George H.W. Bush run smoothly, but in the many things the Navy League Hampton Roads Council does for the Navy every day.
Photo courtesy of Navy League
F
30 H CVN 77
lalli interview.indd 30
12/10/08 12:52:08 PM