PLANNING HISTORY

In late 1998 and early 1999 a major strategic planning effort was undertaken by then TROA, with at least a generally accepted mission statement considered absolutely necessary.

We’re going into an EXCOM meeting 26 April to make another run at the process. CDR John Sammons, with the help of a working group, has written a draft and will present it for discussion and an approval vote.

For this current effort, the process started with a new mission statement. An analysis was undertaken of both internal and external environments, leading to identification of opportunities. Once there, it was possible to write a number of goals to be achieved over the 2006-2009 timeframe, along with provision for action plans needed to achieve short term objectives. Later actions will involve organization design and control systems modifications.

Most Council and chapter leaders have been provided a copy of the new draft strategic plan.

Back in 1998 a lot of consideration was given to the mission. Initially, the thinking revolved around an emphasis on state legislative matters or chapter assistance, with one group favoring legislation and another chapter support. But there were difficulties. It seems there was very little state legislation created having anything to do with the uniformed services, and consequently it was hard to justify a reason for being. Also, no one seemed to know what assistance should be provided chapters or how to provide it.

The Council, by charter, cannot intrude in the affairs of individual chapters.

It’s possible, especially considering younger active duty and active Guard and Reserve membership eligible officers, within the context of a differences in value systems, that even now there is no state legislation of interest to current and potential MOAA members, rendering the legislative mission a non-starter.

In the past, in order to create a viable chapter assistance effort, the Council was reorganized into regions and later areas, but none of it seemed to resolve the issue, seemingly making the chapter assistance mission a non-starter as well.

In early 1999, then, some suggested that the real mission for the Council would be to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, to share experiences, and for good fellowship.

It should be noted again that the late 20th century effort to create a strategic plan for the Council failed, with the process bogged down at the point of identifying a viable mission, never going beyond that step in the process.

There are some even today who state emphatically that there is no real purpose for what today is CAL-MOAA and perhaps the organization should be terminated.

What’s going to happen at the April EXCOM meeting? Will we make it this time?

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