Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 44) chaptersinaction 2007 Levels of Excellence Awards Each year, MOAA recognizes its top-notch chapters. This year, 52 chapters earned coveted five-star awards for their outstanding performance, and 28 chapters earned four-star awards for their excellent performance in 2007. Congratulations! Large Category (600 or more members) Five-Star Chapters Sacramento (Calif.) Pikes Peak (Colo.) Cape Canaveral (Fla.) Ark-La-Tex (La.) New Hampshire El Paso (Texas) Richmond (Va.) MOAA Alamo (Texas) Hampton Roads (Va.) Category I (400-599 members) Five-Star Chapters Montgomery (Ala.) Northwest Florida MOA Inc. Pensacola (Fla.) Tampa (Fla.) Hawaii Mount Vernon (Va.) Spokane (Wash.) Four-Star Chapters Riverside March Field (Calif.) MOA of Sarasota (Fla.) Inc. Heart of America (Mo.) Charleston (S.C.) Category II (300-399 members) Five-Star Chapters Tucson (Ariz.) Mile High (Colo.) St. Petersburg Area (Fla.) North Shore and Chicago Cape Fear (N.C.) Sandhills (N.C.) MOA of Albuquerque (N.M.) Mount Rainier (Wash.) Four-Star Chapters Miramar (Calif.) Louisville (Ky.) Memphis (Tenn.) Category III (200-299 members) Five-Star Chapters Fort Rucker (Ala.) Arizona Coronado (Ariz.) Luke (Ariz.) Superstition Mountain (Ariz.) Silver Strand (Calif.) Kingdom of the Sun (Fla.) Mayport (Fla.) Atlanta 44 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2008 Aloha (Hawaii) Wichita (Kan.) Southern Nevada New Jersey Lakes and Pines Pittsburgh Hilton Head (S.C.) Lone Star (Texas) Officers Club Inc. Southside (Va.) Seattle Four-Star Chapters Alta (Calif.) Charlotte Harbor (Fla.) Southwest (Ill.) Fort Knox (Ky.) Area Inc. South Jersey Emerald Empire (Ore.) Cumberland Valley (Pa.) Category IV (120-199 members) Five-Star Chapters Northeast Arkansas Green Valley (Ariz.) Calusa (Fla.) Savannah (Ga.) Area Heartland of America (Neb.) North DFW (Texas) Columbia River (Wash.) Four-Star Chapters Orange County (Calif.) Orange Empire (Calif.) Military Officers’ Club Ventura County (Calif.) Citrus County (Fla.) Clearwater (Fla.) White River (Ind.) Jayhawk (Kan.) Santa Fe Trail (Kan.) Military Officers Club of Long Island (N.Y.) Pen-Mar (Pa.) Category V (fewer than 120 members) Five-Star Chapters Southeast Arkansas Sweetwater (Calif.) Upper Potomac (Md.) George C. Marshall (Va.) Potomac (Va.) Four-Star Chapters Yuma (Ariz.) Lake Area (Fla.) South Georgia Sunflower (Kan.) at the state level. For the past 15 years, he’s served as the senior legislative aide for Virginia Delegate and House Majority Whip Kirk Cox (R). During Cox’s tenure, Flanagan estimates Cox has introduced or supported more than 60 pieces of legislation that benefit the military community. “Yes, I work for a state representative, but I’m sure there are retired officers out there working in every state legislature,” says Flanagan. “I think the real value I bring is helping our state council members understand the process. They’ve learned who to contact [and] who serves on various state committees, and they come and meet with Delegate Cox now.” Having an insider act as a guide in the state legislature has helped members of the Virginia Council of Chapters with their lobbying efforts. In the past few years, council members have passed a wide variety of state legislation, including securing funding for two new state veterans’ care centers, increasing the number of veterans’ service officers who process claims by 50 percent, and obtaining in-state college tuition rates for servicemembers and their families who are assigned to Virginia. Many other MOAA chapter members are working hard to improve the lives of servicemembers and their families in their state. Whether they do this through public service or by serving in a local chapter or on a state council, it’s another way to complement national MOAA’s efforts and be one powerful voice. MO — Contributors are Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret., director; Col. Barry Wright, USA-Ret., deputy director, Council and Chapter Affairs; and Kris Ann Hegle. For submission information, see page 18.
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