Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 42) chaptersinaction Centers of Influence Many chapter members serve on committees or hold positions that allow them to influence state legislation. Find out how this has positioned them to assist servicemembers and their families. I hope you had a chance to look over this issue’s special chapter cover wrap, which thanks MOAA’s current chapter members and lets non-chapter MOAA members know about the great opportunities being a part of MOAA’s chapter system provides. If you aren’t a chapter member now, consider taking the extra step that more than 70,000 MOAA members already have taken — join a chapter near you. MOAA chapter members make a difference by helping the association, America’s servicemembers and their families, and their local communities. That service often leads to other opportunities to help even more people as this department’s main story, “Get in on the Action,” shows. The visibility chapter members achieve by continuing to serve their country — this time in their communities — can lead them into state or local goverment positions where they are able to have a positive influence on issues national MOAA isn’t able to take on. A great example of this is Col. Julia Eszlinger-Jensen, USAF-Ret., second vice president and legislative chair of the Minnesota Chapter, who was appointed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) to serve on the state’s Veterans Health Care Advisory Council. Another example is New Hampshire Chapter board member Cmdr. Peter Burdett, USN-Ret., who is vice chair of the New Hampshire Veterans Committee, which reviews and makes recommendations on pending state veterans’ legislation. Be sure to read this issue’s feature “Helping Hands,” page 64, to learn about a variety of ways MOAA chapter members have been helping America’s wounded servicemembers and their families. MOAA chapter members are pitching in to help in the recovery process and assist wounded servicemembers. More than a few of MOAA’s chapter members have been wounded themselves; they have a personal connection with a clear understanding of what today’s servicemembers are going through and how to help them. We hope you see some things in this issue of Military Officer that lead you to take that extra step and join your local MOAA chapter. — Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret. Director, Council and Chapter Affairs Get in on the Action N ON THE ROAD: This month, Col. Barry Wright, USA-Ret., deputy director of MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs, will visit chapter members in Kentucky and Louisiana. Go to MOAA Calendar, page 84, for dates. 42 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2008 * ational MOAA members often ask why they should join a local MOAA chapter. After all, national MOAA represents their interests on the congressional level. But it’s MOAA’s state councils of chapters and individual chapter members, some of whom serve on committees and foundations or hold leadership positions, who represent servicemembers’ interests on the state level. These chapter members serve as valuable assets because the state-level issues they work on, which range from exempting uniformed servicemembers’ retired pay from state income tax to building a new state veterans’ home, aren’t addressed by national MOAA. In Maryland, MOAA chapter members are providing key leadership to the Maryland Retired Veterans Task Force (MRVTF), whose mission is to exempt uniformed serPHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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