A SPECTACULAR DAY FOR NEW OFFICER INSTALLATION

“This is not about MOAA, although I’m proud of its remarkable legislative record of success,” said General Michael P.C. Carns, USAF-Ret, Chairman, MOAA Board of Directors, as he began his formal presentation to Monterey County Chapter members, spouses and guests. “It’s no recitation of MOAA, but a look at what’s ahead for our country.”

The view from the Rancho Canada Golf and Country Club in Carmel Valley was absolutely stunning with the huge picture windows framing the greens of a gorgeous golf course and surrounding foothills sprinkled with coastal oak trees. The sun was bright and it was a lovely warm day, a perfect time for fine fellowship, a delightful gourmet luncheon, the chapter’s installation of officers, and a very interesting and informative presentation on world affairs.

Early arrivals included BG Gerald Griffin, USA (RET), currently a local physician and surgeon but in the reasonably recent past commander of a military hospital complex in Iraq; CAPT Gordon Nakagawa, USN (RET) and his lovely wife, Jean, who introduced special guest CDR Fred McGuffin, a chaplain at the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School who has just been reassigned to the Navy’s Personnel Command in Tennessee; and, COL Warren Enos, AUS (RET), President, California Council of Chapters (CAL-MOAA).

LTC Richard Barratt, USA (RET), at the moment 1st Vice President but soon to be installed as the chapter’s president for 2008, extended his welcome and announced that as the meeting was taking place CDR Herbert Hansen, USN (RET), the chapter’s president, was in surgery for a heart bypass procedure, and he offered the prayers and best wishes of the membership.

Following the opening ceremony COL G. Russell Wiley, AUS (RET) teamed with CAPT Gordon Nakagawa, USN (RET) to introduce special guests at the head tables. At least two new members were in attendance. Mr. Dick Peckham, the chapter’s newsletter editor, was taking pictures for “The Nugget.”

Casual conversation topics during the luncheon ranged from military affairs to politics, with General Carns’ wife Victoria sharing tales of worldwide travel, including one chartered air trip to the Arctic Circle.

Arriving at the luncheon table a bit late after greeting and checking in attendees was Mrs. Mary Kalinyak, who serves the chapter as treasurer, auxiliary liaison to MOAA, membership chair, and the individual who makes all the meeting arrangements. Mary has a strong interest in the California Council of Chapters (CAL-MOAA) and at one Executive Committee meeting quickly performed a required financial audit.

The installation of officers was a solemn ceremony with General Carns telling the new officers about the opportunity to serve, and congratulating them on their willingness to serve at a time when fewer and fewer members choose to accept leadership roles. He administered the oath of office and then greeted each officer and director with a hearty handshake and personal word.

The general began his presentation by telling how the president early in the 20th Century painted 15 battleships white, the “Great White Fleet,” and sent them around the world, some 43,000 miles, to deliver a very special message. It was a time strikingly like the present.

He told how the Islamic World and China will be challenges in the future.

So many countries are theocracies ruled by a small number of clerics who use the Koran for guidance and especially to create foreign policy. The U.S. treasure is being transferred in part to the Middle Eastern Countries because of a “$70 premium per barrel on oil,” and this will have a dramatic impact on the U.S. status as a superpower.

The enemy teaches with the use of the internet because it is one of the most effective ways to reach widely dispersed populations. In turn, the U.S. does not do a good job communicating information to the world about the U.S. society, culture, and democracy.

The United States and China have numerous common interests. China has little oil and natural gas and depends on the global marketplace to gain needed resources. Stability is important., And the United States wants and needs China as a trading partner. China has plenty of problems with its heterogeneous population, and it will take time to work through the complexities.

General Carns went on to talk about special issues pending with Russia, Kosovo and Albania, all directed at the truism that the world needs policies that will sustain global growth. Again, the future will be interesting and challenging as economics has changed America’s superpower status.

Iran is a country, according to General Carns, which is behaving rationally in terms of its apparent efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon. If others such as Israel and the U.S. have such weapons, Iran maintains it should be able to be nuclear armed to “keep others at arms length.”

General Carns, in closing, suggested that the United States is a republic, meaning that the people formulate their positions on the issues and send representatives to to do their bidding. On that basis, he suggests chapter members make sure their elected or about-to-be-elected political leaders share their own thinking and views. And that everyone should be sure to vote in the upcoming elections.

Following the meeting many members were seen in conversation with others. LT Hal Jordan and his wife Martha were at one table where Hal was showing off a Japanese rifle picked up on a World War II battlefield. Later the Jordans departed in a Chrysler convertible headed for their home in Pebble Beach.

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