Military Officer - March 2006 - (Page 41)

chapteractivities Floyd Johnson, USA-Ret. “He gave us an update on pending legislation and told us how he serves as a liaison between servicemembers and their congressional representatives.” Members of the Sandhills Chapter have hosted several high-proﬁle speakers in the past few months, including Col. David E. Quantock, USA, acting chief of staff for the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., and MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., who inducted new ofﬁcers during the chapter’s January 2006 meeting. In addition, the chapter participated in MOAA’s “Give Me 10!” recruiting campaign. According to membership chair Maj. Bob Fazio Jr., USA-Ret., the chapter recruited 12 new national members during the campaign, including an active duty Army ofﬁcer from Fort Bragg. During the holiday season, the 452-member chapter ran the Empty Stocking Fund, a local charity that aids needy families in Moore County, N.C. The chapter took over the fund in 1999, when the fund was on the verge of folding. Each year members spend hundreds of hours interviewing and screening needy families who apply for aid through the Empty Stocking Fund and match them up with area donors and sponsors. Col. Richard Curl, USA-Ret., cochaired this year’s Empty Stocking Fund drive with his wife, Pauli. Six other chapter members served on the fund’s committee, performing tasks ranging from soliciting donors to interviewing family members. Other members volunteered their time as needed. Chapter members’ hard work, which started in September and went right through the holiday season, paid off. In 2005, the Empty Stocking Fund raised more than $29,000 and helped almost 4,000 needy people. The chapter also has its own scholarship program, which provides four $2,000 scholarships to outstanding ROTC students each year. Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Inducts Chapter Members New military recruits were sworn in by Emerald Empire (Ore.) chapter President Brig. Gen. Norm Hoffman, ARNG-Ret., during a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony. ognize a National Guard battalion that served with distinction in Iraq and assisted the National Committee for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). One member currently serves as an ESGR ombudsman and another chairs a state ESGR committee. According to Hoffman, members of the Emerald Empire Chapter are responsible for getting more than 40 area employers to sign an ESGR Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve last year. E ight MOAA members from ﬁve chapters in Arizona were among the 17 veterans inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in Phoenix. More than 600 people attended the October 2005 The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame inducted, from left, Gannon, Minor, and Rodriguez, along with five other MOAA members from the state. induction ceremony, including dozens of chapter members from across the state. Among those inducted with the class of 2005 were Coronado Chapter members Col. Duane Brofer, USA-Ret., and Maj. Gen. Gerd Grombacher, USA-Ret.; Superstition Mountain member Lt. Col. Lowell Fox, USAF-Ret.; Luke member 1st Lt. James Lay, USA-Ret.; Northern Arizona member Maj. John Tapia, AUS-Ret.; and Arizona members Maj. Michael Gannon, USAF-Ret., Col. Albert Rodriguez, AUS-Ret., and Col. Richard Minor, USA-Ret. MARCH 2006 Sandhills Hosts Navy Chief, Spurs Holiday Fund M ore than 100 members of the Sandhills (N.C.) Chapter turned out to hear Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs Rear Adm. Mark Ferguson III speak during a Nov. 15 meeting. Ferguson described his duties, outlined the challenges facing active duty personnel, and discussed some of the new features that can be found on recently commissioned naval vessels. “His talk was very good,” says chapter public affairs ofﬁcer Lt. Col. MILITARY OFFICER 41

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - March 2006

Military Officer - March 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Call For Board Nominations Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum MOAA Member Services Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Live It Up! Top Picks On the Road Again Destination: Arizona By the Numbers Cover Story: One Clean Shot From Combat to Congress Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - March 2006

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