Good afternoon everyone,

We had a good meeting today.  Sixteen members and four guests attended our meeting. I want to welcome WO1 Lia Mort and WO1 Romano Salcedo.  It was nice having you. You are always welcome and we hope to see you back. We had two Staff Sergeants just selected to go to school and become a member of our Corps.  Unfortunately I don't remember their names.  Dan Singh recruited them. It was my last as your Chapter President and Dan Singhs first as your new President.  After I swore Dan in as the Chapter President, he nominated Angel Acevedo for the Vice-Presidents’ position.  A vote of confidence was taken for Angel.  Nomination unanimously passed.  They will complete my unfinished term, which runs to March 09.  Since I was elected to the position of Northeast Region Director and can not hold two elected positions at the same time.  I want to thank everyone for their support and I know you will continue to support Dan and the Chapter.

The National Past-President Roy Valiant handed out certificates of appreciation to the following members for their work in support of the AMM:

Dan Singh, Chris Farmer, Amy Jones, Pete Hill, and myself .  I presented a plaque to Amy Jones because without her support I would have gone crazy.  Seriously, Amy was a big help.  Thanks again Amy!  I have a plaque for Angel Acevedo, because he too, provided a lot of support which made it easier on me.  Thanks Angel.  Roy passed along certificates to Val Valiant and Trish Hill for their support during the AMM also.

The chapter is doing very well monetarily.  We voted to donate $500.00 to the Heritage Foundation, $500.00 to the Chaplains Tithes and Offering Fund here at APG, $350.00 to the Scholarship Foundation, $350.00 to the AMSAA Holiday Family Committee who collects monetary and food donations to support a number of special need families in our community (both military and civilian), and $350.00 to the Wounded Warrior Foundation.  The total is $2,050.00.  CONGRATULATIONS to our Chapter!  This is what it's all about.  Supporting others.  I don't care who you are, that's going to make you feel good!!!  Real Good!  So, as the Northeast Region Director, I told the membership that the Northeast Region will match the donation of $500.00 for the Heritage Foundation and will donate $250.00 to the Scholarship Foundation.  Like I said, "I don't care who you are, that's going to make you feel good."  Together we just donated $2,800.00 to organizations that need help!

I briefly talked about the 4 Focus Group Topics that were presented at the AMM.  I printed the presentations and had them available at the meeting.  I also told everyone they could go on the USAWOA web site to read the outcome of the Focus Group Topics.

Dan is still collecting money for the going away plaques.  Arland Jackson presented two more examples of plaques from Mike Carpentier, who couldn't be at the meeting today.  We have about 5 different styles of plaques to choose from ranging in price from $40.00 to $85.00.

I told the membership that the chapter has 67 members and 15 associate members, the region has about 1,348 members, and the association has about 6,155 members.

 As the Northeast Region Director I spoke briefly about the goals for the Region and I'd like your support to pursue them.

1. Support the Warrant Officer Association.  What I mean by this is SELL it in everything you do, your actions and behavior, how you communicate to others and how you present yourselves as Warrant Officers in your daily activities.  This alone will pay dividends, because Chief is always being watched.  Market the association to increase membership.  I'm not asking you to pressure anyone, but I'm sure you have your own method for getting new members. If they don't come to your meetings or sit on any committees, that's okay.

2. Support the Heritage Foundation.  This Foundation is about keeping the history of the Warrant Officer Corps alive.  If you haven't already, check out the details on USAWOA web site.  It is organized, administered, and operated exclusively to receive, administer and expend funds as a public charity for among such other objectives and illustrative purposes only, and not by way of limitation, the following purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code as it may be amended from time to time:  http://www.usawoa.org/woheritage/

*       Educate our fellow military and the general public about the rich history of the U. S. Army Warrant Officer Corps;

*       Assume responsibility and accountability for the Warrant Officer Museum Fund from the U. S. Army Warrant Officers Association (USAWOA) (See the Origin and Status of Warrant Officer Museum Fund <http://www.usawoa.org/woheritage/MuseumFund.htm> );

*       Assist in the development, creation and maintenance of items and material presenting the history and heritage of the Warrant Officer Corps.  We will endeavor to arrange placement of selected items and materials in the National Museum of the United States Army being planned for Fort Belvoir, VA;

*       We will endeavor to design, fund, and maintain a Memorial to Our Fallen Warrant Officer Comrades at the planned the National Museum of the United States Army;

*       Develop fund raising methodology to support the programs of the foundation;

*       Distribute funds raised in a manner that supports the goals of education of the general public on the history of the Warrant Officer Corps; and

*       Produce and publish a Warrant Officer History Book covering the period July 1918 to September 2006, the royalties of which will support our other projects

3. Support the Scholarship Foundation.  The United States Army Warrant Officers Association Scholarship Foundation focuses on providing scholarships to qualified members and family members of warrant officers serving in or retired from the United States Army, the U. S. Army Reserve and the Army National Guard of the various states and territories. A donation can be made through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Sep 1st - Dec 15th, 2008 (CFC ID 11871)   http://www.usawoa.org/woasf/

Kurt please add this to the web site.  Thanks.

Next meeting is scheduled for 18 December at the HUT.  Unfortunately, I will be TDY in Germany.  Wow, did you catch that.  Germany in December! 

VR
Greg
Gregory A. Gouty
Director,
Northeast Region
USAWOA
DSN 298-0391
COM (410) 278-0391
Blackberry (410) 652-3173
FAX (410) 278-2353
Email: gregory.gouty@us.army.mil
Email: gregorygouty45@msn.com
Web Site: http://www.oocities.org/usawoa_apg_ea/