GULF SHORES, Ala. — Col. Barney Gass of Gulf Shores has been re-elected chairman of the USS ALABAMA Battleship Commission at its September 2009 meeting held aboard Battleship USS ALABAMA in Mobile.

Gass has served on the Commission since 2003. He is an Army Aviator who flew Hughes OH-6 helicopters during the Vietnam War, and served in the U.S. Army for 30 years before retiring with the rank of Colonel.

He is currently the Senior Science Advisor for Alion Science & Technology Corp. in McLean, Va. He and his wife, Maxine, have one daughter.

Gass has been very involved in the Military Officers Association of America and Association of the U.S. Army. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with additional studies at George Washington University and the National War College.

He serves on the board of the Little Lagoon Preservation Society, Friends of Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge, Paradise Paper Company, and attends the Gulf Shores First United Methodist Church.

Commission officers also elected include: Vice-Chair CDR Lee Allen Hallman, USN (Ret) of Tuscaloosa; Secretary, Col. Bill Callender, USA (Ret) of Mobile; and Treasurer CDR B. C. Jackson of Hope Hull.

Additional Commissioners are: Greg Albritton, Range; Terry Ankerson, Mobile; Barry Booth, Spanish Fort; Ben Brooks, Patrick H. Downing and Robert Edington, Mobile; Gary Fitts, Tuscaloosa; William J. “Happy” Fulford, Montgomery; Aubury Fuller, Summerdale; Donna Givens, Loxley;  Doris Hearn, Foley; Hal Pierce, Daphne; Tim Russell, Foley; Judge Herman Thomas and Paul Wesch, Mobile.

The USS ALABAMA Battleship Commission is an independent agency of the state, whose 18 members are Alabama citizens appointed by the governor.

Created in 1963, the Commission oversees operations at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, which displays the Battleship USS ALABAMA, Submarine USS DRUM, 25 aircraft, and other exhibits.

Established to honor Alabamians who served in all United States military actions, Battleship Memorial Park has hosted more than 13 million visitors since opening in 1965, and is an major internationally known tourist attraction. Since inception, the Park has been self-supporting for daily operations without using any State of Alabama, or Mobile city and county tax funds.