HARRY FORNWALT OFFERS OUT-OF-THE-BOX VISION

Here are some comments on the paper you plan for presentation in a few weeks: The bottom line is that the time is here for a stronger state organization.

1. GET MORE PEOPLE ON THE STATE ROLLS WITH A RULE CHANGE:
Capture the many MOAA members who are not chapter members and give them an opportunity to belong to a state organization, as they do to a national organization, without active participation. There is a certain comfort in belonging to a national organization that is acting on your behalf and to your benefit without having to do much work yourself. Changing the nature of the state organization would require a rules change to make every MOAA member an automatic dues paying member of a state organization dedicated to promoting welfare of all officers at the state level. It seems that such an organization would get almost 100% participation from our National Guard fellows. We need to change the voluntary contribution of 75 cents from the chapters’ pocketbook to a mandatory 75 cents from the national pocketbook so you have some money to work with. Get MOAA to scrap the scholarship funds which help only a few non-MOAA members in favor of funding and creating stronger MOAA state organizations that beneficially effect all MOAA members.

2. RECOGNIZE THAT CHAPTERS ARE PREDOMINANTLY SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS OF RETIREDFOLKS: Dynamic individuals who are retired, but not retired retired, make a few visits to a chapter and conclude that Chapter members who are retired retired are a different breed of officer that is not attractive to them. Active “type A” personalities are usually looking for something meaningful to accomplish and that includes more than retelling old war stories. I believe it is the most assertive retirees that do not join local MOAA chapters. With some definite exceptions, most chapter members are retired retired and folks with these goals are not usually dynamic. I own and manage an RV Resort in Arizona that caters to retired retired people so I have an appreciation for their habits, the scope of their interests, and the limits of their participation in anything other than bingo and card playing.

3. MODEL THE STATE ORGANIZATION AFTER THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION: All military officers understand the value of a “union” at the national level and would understand the value of a “union” at the state level to work state level problems. But it takes only a few visits to most chapters to recognize that there is little “union” benefit from belonging to local chapters. There is a void of unionism at the state level the state organization could fill by becoming more active and less passive.

4. WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? The National Organization publishes a magazine, offers insurance, and demonstrates their lobbying power with Congress on issues important to military officers. The state organization has no such public relations contact with their members. While I believe there are some state lobbying efforts, I am generally unaware of them or their successes. The state organization needs to be more visible to the members it serves not just to Chapter presidents. The state organization needs to convince the membership they are doing something identifiably meaningful for the membership.

5. FUZZY GOALS WHOSE SUCCESS CANNOT BE MEASURED ARE NOT REASSURING: Support the national military objectives, attend national conclaves, help chapters when they ask for help, etc that are now the framework of State MOAA goals are very fuzzy goals whose success are difficult to measure. Any 8th grade English composition teacher would chastise a student severely for writing a paper with such broad general subject material. Pick out one or two items and declare that something will be done that is measurable. You can still have the fuzzy goals in one section of your future plans document, but have another section that defines some smaller goals that stand a chance of being accomplished in the next fiscal year! I would care more about the fact that CA State MOAA is distributing 2 flags to every VA medical center in the state during 2009 than I do about Cal MOAA ‘supporting” an amendment to the Constitution that would ban burning of the flag. You can claim accomplishment of the former all by yourself because it is directly measurable, but, you would have a hard time convincing me you accomplished the latter all by yourself or played any significant role.

6. GET OUT A STATE NEWSLETTER: This has been done on a limited basis and was wonderful when I received it several years ago. (1) A state newsletter to members would keep the state organization on its toes because every month you would have to report your successes to the membership, which requires that a series of measurable activities be underway at all times. (2) A state newsletter to members would help bring cohesiveness to all members that does not now exist. It would strengthen the union. (3) A state newsletter to members is needed to supplement existing chapters or act as a replacement of failed chapters. Chapter membership has been declining and is likely to continue this decline. Someone, other than chapter officers, needs to step in and fill the cohesiveness gap. Chapters in urban areas have ever-more competition from improving electronic media, improved opportunities for community involvement, etc that challenges what MOAA chapters have to offer. The state MOAA can offer insights into state level activities not reported in local newspapers and TV programming that could be valuable to members.

BOTTOM LINE: Your current statement of objectives is similar to ones produced in the past. Each year a state organization has an opportunity to become more useful to its membership, but instead takes the easy way out of “supporting” and “facilitating.” The “victim” syndrome is obvious. Cal MOAA is a victim of National because Nationalal does not actively support state organizations. CAL MOAA is a victim of Chapters because the chapters will not all voluntarily send them money. CAL MOAA needs to rid itself of the victim syndrome and accomplish some meaningful function for its members. Maybe those meaningful functions are already being done, but their successes are not understood by thier constituency. At sometime soon, the state organization needs to begin the lengthy process of chipping away at the goal of becoming more meaningful in its member’s eyes. It should be a migration that occurs over 10 years, not an overnight revolution. Let’s start defining a program, “X” years in length, that will begin making the state MOAA a more meaningful supplement to both National and Chapter organizations with demonstrated competence in substantively replacing the predictable decline of chapters that will continue to occur.

Harry Fornwalt
Council Leader 2000-2001

I have thought since I was somewhat involved in 2000/2001 that Cal MOAA needs to assert itself more to pick up the slack of declining chapter enrollement and failed chapters. And declining membership and failed chapters will continue to occur. If MOAA were entreprenural it would recognize there is a vacuum here that needs to be filled. CAL MOAA needs to replace the focus of chapters when chapters no longer exist or when chapters are severely ailing.

Think about this - - Maybe chapter organizations are vestigages of the past and a more virtual organization that can be supplied by CAL MOAA is preferred by the members. We all know that the competition afforded our MOAA members by other orginizations in thier communities rivals what MOAA chapters can give to local MOAA members. The membership numbers validate that members seem to like the virtual organization provided by National MOAA. Only a small percentage of MOAA national members belong to chapters. There is a strong message here that CAL MOAA can respond to and make itself and ever more responsive and useful entity.

There is room for leadership here. There is an opportunity to ask for forgiveness after the fact of a successful CAl MOAA initiative than to ask for permission at the outset from the by laws, etc. Nothing will be done it you wait to ask for permission because many who preceeded you searched for permission.

Harry Fornwalt

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