Alabama Council of Chapters

Military Officers Association of America

Council Meeting Minutes

July 13, 2010

1. Opening Activities.

a. The meeting was called to order by Council President, Peter Brambir, at 0957 hours at the Maxwell AFB Officers Club, Montgomery, Alabama.

b. Invocation given by our Council Chaplain Thomas Taylor, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Charlie Marvin.

c. Those in attendance were: Peter Brambir, Charlie Marvin (AL02), Chris Phillips, Richard Erickson, Jim Eubanks, Barbra Stamper, Glen Dunlap, Thomas Taylor, Lew Nyman, John Butler (AL01), Mike Golden (AL03), Brendon Despres (AL04), Smitty Smith (AL05), John Currey (AL06), Scott Larese (AL07), Don Mimbs (AL08), Lee Hallman (AL09), Roger Peterson (AL11) Carl Stevenson (AL05), Jim Wallace (AL09), Lowell Womack (AL02), and Russ Wilson (AL08). Our special guest was Lt Gen (R) Charles Cleveland and our guest speaker was COL (R) Lee Lange, MOAA National Council & Chapter Affairs.

d. Chapters missing from the council meeting: AL10 and AL12.

2. Old Business. (minutes from April 13, 2010, were approved)

a. East Alabama (AL06) was presented with their $100 GMT check.

b. Nomination Committee, - Charlie Block and Jim Wallace are taking nominations for Vice President and Secretary now and from floor at our July meeting.

c. Treasurer (report approved as submitted) - 1 chapter has not paid their dues (AL12) and as long as they remain in a delinquent status will not have voting rights on the board. Two $500 GMT checks are in the account and have not been allocated. At next quarter’s meeting we will discuss the dues rates currently being charged. Council will pay for the travel of its three representatives to the President’s Symposium.

d. Legislative – Committee will bring back the "Scorecard", but will only focus on 3-4 bills. The Scorecard will track the voting of all AL Senators/Representatives and align itself with MOAA Nationals battle tracking. 21% cut in Medicare should be extended to 1 May; in the meantime work is ongoing to eliminate all cuts.

e. Widow Affairs – each chapter needs to press upon its membership the need for a Chapter Survivor Assistant.

f. Stormin’ the Hill (19-21 April) – Peter explained how "stormin" works and the process that MOAA takes, i.e. 1 day Preparation, 1 day Full Attack, 1 day AAR. Next quarterly meeting Peter will provide a quick AAR on his trip.

g. President’s Symposium – 16-18 September 2010 in Jacksonville, FL. Revised invitees from each Chapter and the Council are: President, Vice President, Membership Chair and Chapter TOPS Liaison. The Chapter roster on the MOAA National site must be updated with names for National to send out the individual invitations. Expect invitations to come out in June time frame.

h. Blue Star Salute Foundation – Now that we are a sponsor for 2010, the MOAA logo is visible on all their brochures. Starting in Sep/Oct we need to begin a drive to collect $1000 to retain our sponsorship for 2011.

i. MOAA National Board – Richard Erickson submitted his name for consideration for one of the vacancies on the board.

j. VA Sign up – impress upon all your chapter members the importance of signing in with your local VA rep. Not only will this assist your spouse when the time comes, it also has a direct impact in the funding for your county VA site and the VA has a whole.

k. State Board of VA Affairs – 13 seats comprised from various veteran’s organizations in the state. Organizations get 1 seat per 7500 members, three names are submitted by the organization per each seat vacancy and the Governor selects one per seat. Volunteers serve for life. This commission makes decisions on all veteran affairs for the state. Jim Eubanks and George Singleton led a major push to get MOAA recognized and eligible for a seat on the board. The bill was never brought forward for a vote due in part to four other issues that took precedence (Bingo, Federal Healthcare, PACT and Budget). It will be an uphill battle for recognition, but next year hopefully will be a different story.

l. Alabama Alliance – renaming AL MOAA to include larger numbers of MOAA members within the state; National members and chapter members. This renaming will allow us to garner more seats on the State Board of VA Affairs. We will have to rewrite our Council by-laws to allow for this renaming process.

m. Guest Speaker – Bill Callender – State owned VA Cemetery run by the National Cemetery Administration will open soon in Baldwin County near Spanish Forks. In the next couple of years veterans in the lower half of the state will have the opportunity to be interned in this region. After several years of hard work and the kind heart of Dr Booth from International Paper, land has been acquired and plans are being drawn up to make this site just as eloquent as Arlington National Cemetery.

3. New Business

a. Treasurer (report approved as submitted). All chapters have paid their dues and are in good standing with the council. All council monies were moved from Wachovia to Pentagon Federal Credit Union in June. Purchased a 5-year CD.

b. Legislative Affairs. Review our council website (ALMOAA.com) to see the latest legislative actions such as: the progress of the National Defense Act; new additions to the Vietnam era Agent Orange claims and the effect it will have on the system and the Vietnam vets; no TRICARE increase for 2011 (expect increases in the near future); and how the procedures for filing PSTD injury claims have slackened to allow more service members to file.

c. Widow Affairs.

Ø Anniston just started a Gold Star Wives chapter (2^nd in the state of AL).

Ø 430+ Congressmen have co-sponsored the latest SDC/DIC bill, but will have to wait and see if it will pass.

d. President Updates.

Ø Jacksonville President’s Symposium is 16-18 Sep and each Chapter can send four individuals (positions should be President, VP, Membership Chair and TOPS Liaison). Must attend!

Ø Our very own Richard Erickson has been nominated for a position on the National Board – voting will take place in September, so get the word out to Chapter members to vote.

Ø Stormin’ the Hill recap – 15^th year MOAA has been doing this and has paid great dividends for our organization, members and veterans. Peter was able to see all 9 AL Congressmen or their key leaders and press upon them MOAA’s top issues.

e. Nomination Committee. Nominated Charlie Marvin as Vice President and Chris Phillips for Secretary. Nominations were closed and the motion passed.

f. Blue Star Salute Foundation renewal – all monies donated from the chapters and council will be counted as one entry towards our $1000 sponsorship donation. We will begin a statewide drive in September to obtain our goal. Chapters can start anytime, just be reminded that on the donation form to include "MOAA" as the organization they are representing.

g. VA Sign up – impress upon all your chapter members the importance of signing in with your local VA rep. Not only will this assist your spouse when the time comes, it also has a direct impact in the funding for your county VA site and the VA has a whole.

h. Update Chapter Officer Roster. MOAA National maintains a roster of key leaders in each chapter. They use this roster to communicate with chapter leaders, i.e. the 2010 President’s Symposium and GMT rosters. Chapters can update their roster by either going on-line (under Chapters/Community – Chapter Leaders) or they can call the office of Council and Chapter Affairs (Carol Robertson( 1-800-234-6622, ext.118; email: caroir@moaa.org) or Mary Newman(same phone, ext 168; email: maryn@moaa.org)

i. By-laws Amendment. Jim Eubanks proposed a by-laws change to create the AL Alliance (combining all chapters and the council under one name) which defines the membership and leadership of MOAA in the state. This will allow us to better lobby for a seat on the State Board of Veteran’s Affairs (SBVA). Chapters are to review this amendment and come to vote on the action at the October 12, 2010 council meeting. The amendment will be posted on ALMOAA.ORG for review by all members.

j. MOAA Federal Charter. Lee Lange presented the MOAA Federal Charter to Peter.

k. Lt Gen (R) Charles "Chick" Cleveland, special guest speaker. Discussed his exploits in the Korean War and how he was declared a "flying ace".

l. Lee Lange, guest speaker.

Ø Presented 35 year award to the Council and 45 year award to NE AL.

Ø National’s membership drive from 1 Jul – 30 Sep will focus on National members without a chapter. National sending an invite to these members to join the local chapter and then provide chapters with a listing of potential members who want to join.

Ø Importance of attending the President’s Symposium.

Ø "Lost Patrol" – National will send chapters a listing of those individual they gave free membership to last year so chapter can personally recruit them and get GMT monies.

Ø GMT on-line application is being developed and will soon be available to chapters.

4. Next Meeting. It was announced that the next meeting of the Council will be on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at the Maxwell AFB Officer’s Club.

5. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 1337.

Chris A. Phillips

Alabama Council of Chapters Secretary