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President's Corner - December 2001
Greetings. I am proud and pleased to assume the duties of President of your
Association. I am joined by a team of dedicated professionals who are committed
to the goals and ideals upon which the FTVA was founded. But wait a minute,
you say. No doubt some eagle-eyed parliamentarians among us have noted that
our Constitution and Bylaws state that officers will be elected at the annual
meeting after mail ballots have been received and counted. And, as the Annual
Meeting was cancelled in the aftermath of the horrific events of September 11
(see the details of that decision elsewhere in this issue), the election could
not be completed, even though the ballots had been counted and the results affirmed
the recommendations of the nominating committee. This was a dilemma. What to
do?
Having never encountered a situation like this before, we researched Robert's
Rules of Order, talked with other organizations about their procedures and even
consulted a lawyer. Our final action was to call upon one of our own, former
Board member Mary Holub, who is a certified Parliamentarian. She confirmed that
in accordance with our Constitution and Bylaws, Robert's Rules of Order and
accepted parliamentary procedure, we had basically three choices: the incumbent
officers whose terms had expired could continue in office until the next annual
meeting and general election; we could conduct an Annual Meeting 30 days after
formal notification to the membership, at a place to be determined, to vote
for the positions of President and Secretary; or the officers whose terms were
to be completed could resign. In the spirit of cooperation that is characteristic
of your Board members, President Feldblum and Secretary Rocha submitted their
formal resignations. As Vice President, I assumed the position of Acting President
and the Board approved the appointment of Grover Jackson as Vice President and
Grover McMakin as Secretary. It is envisioned that the Acting President and
appointed Secretary will stand for election to one year terms in October to
get the officers of the Association back into the regular cycle of elections
and terms. Now you know "the rest of the story." We have also determined
that we need to amend our Constitution and Bylaws so that we can avoid having
to go through extraordinary parliamentary gyrations should we face such a situation
in the future.
In spite of the unorthodox beginning for this new term, we are off to a good
start. We are pleased that Okey Warden has agreed to join us as Director of
Special Activities and help with the Vigilant Partners program. Mike Feldblum
is taking the lead, with assistance from Bob Cope and Grover McMakin, helping
us establish a memorial at the Air Force Museum honoring Air Intelligence Agency
(USAFSS, ESC, AFIC, AIA) reconnaissance flyers who paid the ultimate price during
the Cold War. Our Educational Fund program, headed by Doug Holden, continues
to generate participation and there's still time to send a tax-deductible donation
this year. And, we're already planning the reunion for 2002...mark your calendars
for September 26-28.
We were sad to say goodbye to three Board members who have served with us for
many years. Lou Rocha, Jesse Coultrap and Jo Ann Himes have moved on to pursue
other activities. Grover McMakin has stepped up to serve as Secretary with Lou
Rocha's departure, Jack Grabda has assumed the Historian slot following Jo Ann
Himes and we are still looking for a Sports Director (golfing prowess and/or
organizational skills are desirable) to take over for Jesse Coultrap who served
in that role for some 17 years. We appreciate their many contributions and thank
them for their service.
I want to pay special thanks to Bob Cope and Grover McMakin, two of the stalwarts
of your Association. After the difficult decision was made to cancel the reunion
they took on the unenviable task of contacting all who had sent money for the
annual reunion dinner dance and made sure that they either received a refund
check or that their money went to disaster relief, the education program or
the memorial fund. This was a tedious task at best, but they pursued it with
grace, and I believe everyone has been contacted and appropriate disposition
of funds has been completed. We are indeed fortunate to have both Bob and Mac
helping keep FTVA the viable organization that it is.
With "Operation Enduring Freedom" taking the war against terrorism
to where the terrorists live, our intelligence/cyber warriors become ever more
critical to mission success. The folks on Security Hill, and at AIA units around
the globe are fully engaged and playing a vital role in the fight. As we celebrate
the holiday season, let's all take a moment and keep our forces who are in harms
way in our thoughts and prayers.
Best wishes to you and your families for the holidays.
Remain in touch.
John Worthington
President, FTVA
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