FOCUS ON BUILDING MEMBERSHIP

The recent correspondence between our two current and past State Council leaders is healthy and welcome.

Most of us just finished watching the Colts stomp the Bears. It is a dangerous sign of our times when something so frivolous as a football game and lousy half-time entertainment by Prince could captivate the full attention of the majority of our citizens and take more serious matters off the front pages.

The war in Iraq has not touched the lives of 95% of our citizens and the deadly storm in Florida was not on the national radar today either. Such is the power of the liberal media to divert our attention from important issues.

To his credit, winning QB Peyton Manning and the Team Owner did express their concern for victims of the great storm. CBS was more concerned with commercials.

Together, our Councils represent a fifth of the membership of MOAA. We have the potential to drive the agenda and the success of our worthy organization.

Let us make the most of our capability and not waste it chasing ghosts or on unproductive diversions from our most important priorities. Building our membership and working legislation on behalf of service members, their families and survivors must be our major goals.

On 31 January at the AFCEA Convention in San Diego, we heard Mayor Rudy Guiliani talk for an hour about the value of “relentless preparation” for likely and unlikely events.

He stated clearly that prior planning, preparation and practice enabled NY City to cope with the disaster of September 11, 2001. He emphasized that the combined teamwork of City, State and Federal agencies working together from a single Consolidated Command Post to marshal resources and respond to that unthinkable event and the recovery that followed were responsible for saving thousands of lives and expediting the search and rescue and recovery of victims. He noted this preparation and partnership were missing from the Katrina response.

These same principles, so evident in our Strategic Plan, can help us maintain our focus on keeping our membership numbers up, working legislation, and helping others.

I have not seen one message from any of our friends or relatives in Florida complaining or asking for help. Yet, the lives of thousands of Florida residents have been impacted forever. To our friends there, please know that you are our current highest domestic emergency priority and concern. The lessons learned from the Katrina Disaster will certainly expedite your State’s recovery.

We wish you well and stand ready to assist you.

William F. Gavitt, Col., USAF (Ret)
Member, Board of Directors
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)
7007 Seville Way
Riverside, CA 92504-4832

MoaaMan@aol.com
951-780-3978 Home
951-206-3939 Mobile
www.moaa.org

MOAA is a nonprofit Veterans’ organization dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and to preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families and survivors.

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