President's Corner - February 2005

Dear FTVA Members,

Your association's board of directors continues its efforts to strengthen support to AIA people recognition programs and promote activities which highlight the organization's rich heritage of military service. I'm pleased to report that both individual membership and Vigilant Partner program participation are in solid shape, and the association's financial condition is strong. In particular, I want to recognize the outstanding job Okey Warden has done in strengthening our Partner program. He has now passed the baton for Partner recruitment and retention to Jim Hilliard , and I'm confident Jim will keep the program in good shape.

As this newsletter gets ready to go to press, we congratulate one of our association lifetime members and past AIA commanders, Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, on his selection to serve as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence. General Hayden has served a record-setting six years as Director, National Security Agency, and brings an incredibly strong set of credentials to assist the new DNI, Ambassador John Negroponte in guiding the nation's intelligence effort. We wish him all the best.

In March, your association will lend its financial support to the AIA Annual Awards Week activities, and we'll make a presentation on FTVA's mission and activities to participants from all parts of the AIA family. This event recognizes outstanding people from the ranks of AIA's officers, enlisted, and civilians. They'll participate in a series of briefings and panels that provide the �big picture� on AIA, and our presentation will describe the linkage between the agency and our association.

We're in the initial stages of planning and coordination for this year's reunion, which will be conducted October 20-22 in conjunction with AIA Commanders Conference events. One change you'll see in this year's reunion events is the location of the golf tournament. This year we'll be playing at the Alsatian Country Club in Castroville, a few miles west of San Antonio . Full details on the reunion will be in the mail to you as soon as possible.

Elsewhere in this newsletter, you'll find an article soliciting Hall of Honor recommendations and the form used for submitting nominees. I strongly encourage each of you to consider all of the professionals you served with, what their contributions to the command mission were, and to nominate one or more of them whose performance meets the standards established for Hall of Honor membership.

One of the more enjoyable features in our association newsletters is the �war stories� and other remembrances our members have of significant events in our command's history. Our editor, Dan D'Apolito, is always on the lookout for items like this, and he's delighted to put your submissions into print. I'm sure virtually every one of us has a favorite recollection that others would enjoy reading, so send your �cards and letters� to Dap for future newsletters.

For our many members in Central and South Texas, you'll be getting an invitation to our spring social, which will probably occur in late March or April.

Remain in touch,

Grover Jackson

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