Brief from the Chairman of the Board
Spring 2025
Aloha Tailhookers,,
Thank you to all involved in accomplishing a blockbuster Hook ’25. In our second year at the Grand Sierra Resort (GSR), we filled the house again with seasoned and nugget Tailhookers. Congratulations to retired CAPTs Dave “Roy” Rogers, our reunion coordinator, and Greg “Chaser” Keithley, Tailhook Association (THA) Executive Director, as well as the rest of the staff and THA President CAPT Kristen “Dragon” Findlay for planning and executing another remarkably successful symposium. We also thank the GSR leadership, and their staff hosts this year. We look forward to continuing our partnership. Hook ’25 showed that our symposium gets better every year.
Below are some of the highlights.
• Over 3,300 total attendees
• More than 30 active-duty flag/ general officers
• More than 15 retired three and four-star flag/ general officers
• 123 exhibitors
As for the Tailhook Educational Foundation (TEF), it was another monumental symposium.
• $125,000 raised since Hook ’25 registrations opened
• $106,000 raised at Hook
• The Hook Magazine Editors perennial scholarship topped off at $100,000
• 85 raffle prizes drawn, a record high
TEF fundraising at Hook ’25 succeeded not only due to our industry and organizational partners and membership support, but also due to Mr. Alex Meruelo and the Meruelo family providing the second of four $50,000 annual contributions to build the Grand Sierra Resort Perennial Scholarship.
Speaking of scholarships, 150 out of 400 applying Naval Aviation Legacy students (38 percent selection rate) collected $702,500 in grant funds in 2025. This is $168,000 more than last year, $202,000 more than 2023 and $341,000 more than 2020. In short, your support of our 2025 scholarship program more than doubled the amount of TEF grant funds provided to college students five years ago. Also, our 2025 grants averaged $4,650, up $500 from last year and $1,500 per grant since 2020.
In 2024, 55 of the 143 grants were awarded at $3,500 or more (38 percent), 28 at $5,000 or more (19 percent) and eight at $10,000 or more (6 percent). This year, 106 of the 159 grants were awarded at $3,500 or more (67 percent), 57 were awarded at $5,000 or more (36 percent) and 17 were awarded $10,000 or more (11 percent).
TEF also matched the San Diego Padres Foundation’s $10,000 annual grant, so our highest value scholarship this year was again $20,000. And, for the twelfth year in a row, our loyal STAR anonymous donor contributed $100,000, funding two $15,000, four $10,000 and six $5,000 STAR scholarships in 2025.
The most remarkable scholarship-growth success this year was the profusion of sponsors, who either built new $200,000 perennials or increased their existing portfolios to $200,000 or more. In 2024 and prior, TEF had zero $200,000 perennial scholarship portfolios. We only awarded five $10,000 grants, four sponsored by our STAR donor and one co-sponsored by RADM Denny Wiseley, USN(Ret) and Mr. Jon “Nordo” Winthrop. This all changed after VADM
Kevin “Kid” Donegan USN(Ret) set a $200,000 fundraising goal for the ADM Leighton W. “Snuffy” Smith perennial scholarship at Hook ’24 and reached that goal. Remember, a $200,000 portfolio yields a $10,000 annual grant in perpetuity. In 2025, TEF’s $200,000 perennial portfolios now include:
1. The $200,000 ADM Leighton W. “Snuffy” Smith Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the Smith family, friends and Hook ’24 participants ($10,000 grant).
2. The $250,000 Intruder Association Scholarship ($12,500 grant).
3. The $225,000 LT Pat Buckley Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Mr.
4. Russ Buckley and family, and the San Diego Tailhook Ready Room ($11,500 grant).
5. The $210,000 CAPT Ray Alcorn Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Ray and Karen Alcorn at $210,000 ($11,000 grant).
6. The $200,000 CAPT John (Ed) “Lobo” Brown Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Mrs. Dolly Bown and CAPT Taylor and Amy Beattie ($10,000 grant).
Until 2024, all TEF Gold Star (GS) grants were funded by undesignated donations. These GS scholarships were financed with other TEF-sponsored annual grants at $3,000 each. In 2024, Collins Aerospace stepped up as the first organization to externally fund and name two GS grants at $3,000 each, the Eugene Ely and the CAPT Willie McCool Gold Star Scholarships.
In October 2024, Mrs. Barbara Torrey-Smith and her son, Bill Smith, In October 2024, Mrs. Barbara Torrey-Smith and her son, Bill Smith, started a $100,000 perennial scholarship to honor Barbara’s father, CDR Philip H. Torrey Jr. CAG Torrey was shot down in World War II near Tokyo and his remains were not recovered until the early 1980s by Barbara’s brother, Col Phil Torrey III, USMC, while stationed at Camp Fuji, Japan. For more information about Navy Cross recipient CDR Philip Torrey Jr., and the scholarship honoring him, please visit our 2025 scholarship awardee webpages.
Barbara told us she wanted the scholarship honoring her father awarded to a Gold Star student each year. This $100,000 portfolio yields a $5,000 annual grant. This meant, starting in 2025, TEF would need to award all our GS grants at $5,000. We asked Collins Aerospace if they would increase their two GS to $5,000 each and they stepped up again and did so this year.
In May 2025, we received word that TEF was the recipient of a $250,000 donation from ADM Bill McRaven, USN(Ret), in his role as financial advisor for some of the Jeff Bezos Courage and Civility Award funds. This generous grant from ADM McRaven, intended specifically for the children of fallen Naval Aviators, more than covered our ability to award all TEF 2025 GS grants at $5,000 this year. In addition, $200,000 of this donation built two new $100,000 perennial GS portfolios and $20,000 was added to this year’s $5,000 GS grants, bringing them from $3,000 in previous years to $10,000 this year. This exceptionally generous contribution from ADM McRaven empowered TEF to provide meaningful grants for our GS students, breaking all previous GS grant records as well as ensuring five GS scholarships are now externally sponsored, with three of them perennials. Our sincere thanks to ADM McRaven!
To top off our record-breaking year, four prior-enlisted applicants earned $14,000 in grant funds. This is more enlisted grants and funding than TEF has ever awarded in the past. TEF also greatly appreciates our 2025 committed donors. Your support enabled these 150 Naval Aviation legacy awardees to earn TEF grants this year. To see the list of 2025 donors, please visit https://www.tailhook.net/2025-donors.
In addition to providing grant funds to college students and sending nearly 1,000 copies of The Hook magazine to educational institutions all over the world and our grant awardees, TEF’s mission statement highlights our role “… to Educate the Public in Past, Current and Future United States Navy Aircraft Carrier and Carrier-Based Naval Air Operations and Missions.” When you have some spare time, we encourage you to visit the TEF scholarship awardee pages and read the write-ups. Those pages are full of stories about Naval Aviation legends, famous battles and ships, aircraft types, astronauts, Medal of Honor recipients and all kinds of “Past, Current and Future … Carrier-Based Naval Air Operations” tales.
Tailhookers, we have thanked you extensively for your 2025 donations and support to date. However, we also need to thank you in advance for continuing your support for the rest of the year. Your support throughout the year is the only way TEF can continue to grow our awardee funding streams and help our grant recipients keep pace with ever-increasing college costs. Your two wingmen, TEF and THA, remain in combat spread, working to keep both of your Tailhook organizations on centerline and glideslope as we serve you. Thank you all again for your long-standing assistance, conviction and inspiring support for our Tailhook team. We look forward to seeing everyone on 20–22 August 2026, at the GSR for Hook ’26!
CAPT Rodger Welch, USN(Ret)
Executive Director
Tailhook Educational Foundation
TEF GiveDirect Donation QR Code
TAX ID: 33-0487778
About The TEF
The Tailhook Educational Foundation (TEF) is a charitable nonprofit California corporation created in February 1992. The Foundation's charter is "to educate the nation's public with regard to the history and present day activities of the United States Navy carrier aviation and its importance to our country's national security."
The main activities of the Foundation are:
To support the Tailhook Association
To distribute The Hook magazine to schools throughout the nation at no cost to the schools
To provide scholarships to qualified applicants
To support U.S Navy and Naval Aviation leadership
TEF Scholarships
TEF awards over 100 scholarships annually averaging more than $4,000 per grant with our top grant awarded at $20,000
Funding TEF scholarships is achieved either annually or perennially.
Perennial Scholarships
A perennial scholarship is funded by donating $70,000 or more to TEF. A $70,000 TEF Scholarship portfolio yields a $3,500 grant for your named scholarship per year in perpetuity.
An $80,000 TEF Scholarship portfolio yields a $4,000 grant for your named scholarship per year in perpetuity. Several of TEF’s perennial scholarship portfolios now exceed $100,000, all yielding at least $5,000 in an annual grant.
Sponsors funding perennial scholarships should also add funds to their portfolio whenever they can to ensure these portfolios continue to grow to keep pace with the increasing costs of colleges (1%~2% per year). When donations to existing perennial portfolios reach $10,000 or more, the annual grant yield for that scholarship increases $500 per year from that year on.
Annual Pass-through scholarships
An annual or “pass-through” scholarship is funded by providing TEF a payment of $3,000 or more each year to sponsor your named scholarship that year.
Pass through scholarship donations can also be for more than $3,000, and they can change each year by donating more than $3,000.
TEF’s current annual scholarships average more than $3,000 with our top grant awarded at $15,000.
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Gold Star Scholarships
TEF has a special interest in our Gold Star applicants. We will award Gold Star scholarships to Naval Aviation legacy students who lost their TEF eligible sponsor parent while they were still serving on active-duty.
These scholarships are not awarded based on merit; all qualified Gold Star students will receive an annual grant each year they apply.
Proof of sponsorship is the parent-sponsor's
CASREP, OBIT (etc.). TEF will award Gold Star grants for up to four years to qualified undergraduate students at an accredited college or university. Gold Star scholarships are only available to those students whose parent-sponsor passed away while still on active-duty, not their grandparent-sponsor.
Enlisted scholarships
Current or former Naval Aviation (USN, USMC, USCG) enlisted personnel who earned their Aircrew wings or who served on a US Navy aircraft carrier in ship's company or in an embarked staff are themselves eligible to apply for a TEF Enlisted scholarship. These scholarships are merit-based and competitive, however TEF has found most qualified current, or former enlisted TEF scholarship applicants who apply will earn a scholarship based on their Naval Aviation related enlisted service to our nation. Since these enlisted personnel are also qualified as eligible TEF scholarship sponsors, their children and grandchildren may also apply for TEF scholarships, but they need to fill out and submit TEF's graduating High school senior or current college student applications, not the enlisted applications.
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TEF awards over 120 scholarships annually averaging more than $4,000 per grant with our top grant awarded at $20,000.
A number of our annual scholarships are awarded to students pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum.
All TEF grants assist Naval Aviation legacy undergraduate students obtain a higher education.
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Scholarship Eligibility
To qualify for a Tailhook Educational Foundation scholarship, an individual must graduate from high school and be the natural, step, or adopted child or grandchild of a current or former (U.S. Navy / U.S. Marine Corps / U.S. Coast Guard) Naval Aviator, Naval Flight Officer, or Naval Aircrewman. Also eligible are individuals or children/grandchildren of individuals who are serving or have served on board a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier. Eligible applicants must also be accepted for undergraduate enrollment at an accredited college.
Applications are available at 1200 NOON PT on 15 December 2025 through Monday, 1200 NOON PT 16 February 2026
Scholarship Timeline
