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Military Officers Association of America
Minutes of the First Quarter 2010 Meeting Council President COL Fred Black called the meeting to order at 0830 and welcomed all present. He called upon Former President COL Vern Pike to provide the Invocation and CDR Smoke to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. CDR Smoke, Council Secretary, called the roll and all 18 chapters responded. We welcomed three new presidents: Maj. Amy Corning, USAF-Ret. of the Lloyd A. Osborne-Piedmont Chapter; MAJ Mark Hayden, USAR of the Central Carolina Chapter, and CAPT Dave Ehrhardt, USN-Ret. of the New River Chapter, our newest chapter. President Black commented on the great hospitality of the Tarheel Chapter and introduced Ms. Amy Snow, a member of the board of the Tarheel Central Chapter, who spoke about Snowball Express, a great program that benefits the children who have lost a parent in the war on terror. (See Attachment 1.) The Financial Report was reviewed. (See Attachment 2) It was noted that all chapters were paid up! MOAA’s efforts to change DOD’s approach to using SSAN on ID cards have resulted in the desired results: From now on only the last four digits will appear on ID cards. MOAA will host a President’s Symposium in Jacksonville, FL, September 16-18. Chapter presidents, VPs, TOPs and membership chairs, along with elected Council officers from the southeastern part of the country will be invited. Chapters should make sure that their Officer Data on file at MOAA accurately reflects who is in these positions as these are the folks who will be invited. MOAA pays for all expenses in Jacksonville. President Black will join other council presidents, April 19 to 22, in MOAA’s annual “Storming the Hill”, a well organized effort to speak to our elected representatives in Washington to effect legislation of interest to the military and to veterans. On May 26 Council representatives will join other veteran’s groups in Raleigh to address military issues with the General Assembly. LTC Chris Canipe has been appointed as a Senior Advisor to represent the Guard and Reserve components, and assist in our outreach efforts to these organizations. Chapter leaders and newsletter editors are reminded that there is a lot of content on MOAA’s website. It can be downloaded and used in letters, newsletters, etc. President Black called upon VP Graham for a report on communications issues. COL Graham explained the challenges we have faced in getting a new webmaster and keeping our Council website current and functional, reporting that it looks like we are on the path to recovery. (See Attachment 3 for more information). In a brief discussion period that followed, about half the chapters reported that they have an active website (The Council website has links to 13 of the 18 chapters. I did not check each for content.) Websites and electronic newsletters allow for more content by simply providing the link to the relevant information. Several chapters send their newsletters by email, or post it on their website. For those few members who don’t have access to the internet, a “buddy” is designated to download, print and share these documents. Making people aware of our good work continues to be challenge. Many newspapers no longer print schedules of community events, or carry stories about our meetings. About the only way we can get into the news is to make contact with editors and reporters to establish a relationship. One can build that relationship by taking them to lunch and/or inviting them to a meeting. Let them know of your awards activity, etc. You may have to write the story and take the picture, but we must keep our name in the news. And while it is hard to get into the news, individual letters to the editor and OpEd pieces are usually printed. Write about your service’s birthday, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Veterans Day, etc. VP Garman talked about membership and meeting participation. Our recruiting efforts should use every means available to attract new members and retain current members. (Approximately 10 percent of MOAA’s members residing in NC belong to chapter. The national average is much higher.) The Give Me 10 program will continue. Two chapters are participating in the God Bar program. (See Attachment 4 for more information.) VP Keck talked briefly about legislative issues at the national level. He focused on three items: (1) The SBP/DIC Benefit Offset, (2) The “Disabled Veterans’ Tax,” and (3) Issues regarding Medicare, all addressed by MOAA under an umbrella called “Undue Sacrifice.”For information go to MOAA’s website: http://www.moaa.org. President Black introduced Senator Richard Burr. Senator Burr talked about his concern over a host of current issues of national interest. His remarks were very interesting and informative. (For a partial list of his comments, please see Attachment 5). For more information on the Senator’s position on these issues go to: http://burr.senate.gov/public. Our next meeting will be in Goldsboro on May 21 and 22. The meeting was adjourned at 1155. COL Fred Black, USA-Ret.
March 26, 2010 |
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