To the Officers of the Minnesota Army and Air National Guard
Greetings! I am honored to be serving as your President of the Association this year. I am very pleased to continue my service to this great organization and the great State of Minnesota. I would like to take a minute to thank all of our service members for their sacrifices this past year, and the upcoming year, it continues to be a very stressful time for our military. The NGAMN board is also feeling this OPTEMPO as well, our Vice President Air Col Paul Cummings has just returned from a deployment and Vice President Army MAJ Kent Porter is deployed at the time of this message, so we are without their guidance and support as well.
As we enter 2009, it's good to reflect on 2008. Among many different things the board worked on in 2008, of note, last year we started the NGAMN Scholarship program, where the Association will award two (2) $500 scholarships annually. For 2008 Ms. Rachel Miller, daughter of LTC Tom Miller and CPT Jacob Helgestad from 2-135 IN were the winners! Congrats to these deserving individuals. For details please check our Association website at:
http://www.ngamn.org/scholarship.pdf. Last year, we continued to see a high deployment tempo for many of our units. We've had many members return from deployments and reintegrate with their families, employers and communities. We've had inspections, mission certifications, and mission changes. We will continue to face many if not all and more of these events and challenges in the up-coming years.
On the legislative front, we had our share of challenges and successes as well. Gov. Pawlenty submitted a legislative package that was very supportive of the Minnesota National Guard. Through this package, there were actions passed that will benefit our members, and some that did not that will need to be readdressed. This year's legislative package promises to be supportive to the Guard as well. It takes all of our members to communicate to our district representatives the importance of continue support for the National Guard. Each of us needs to take the opportunity to voice our opinions to our legislative representatives to ensure that we are heard and that our concerns are addressed. It will be no surprise to any of us that in today's economic and political climate, tax money is tight, and the demand for those dollars is strong. We need to be as strong as those we are competing against.
This year while I am president the board will focus on two things. First, MEMBERSHIP. How do we encourage young officers to participate? How do we garner support from our senior leaders? Second, COMMUNICATION. How do we effectively communicate the benefits of Association membership and participation? How do we communicate legislative efforts of our delegations both state and nationally? How do we communicate the NGAMN efforts to improve the organization? If any of our members have suggestions to help us improve these two things this year during my tenure as the President, I would encourage you to contact me directly at: Robert.intress@us.army.mil or attend any one of our monthly meetings held at the Ft. Snelling Officer's club. Dates and times can be found on our website. Please feel free to attend.
Speaking of membership, we must continue to ensure that our organization is strong. It's not free to fund the actions of those who are working to further our interests. The only way we can do that is through our membership. Our membership levels have been the lowest they have been for many years, which is unfortunate because we are not as effective. We must encourage eligible members to join our organization and to participate in the efforts we put forth. Membership applications for 2009 are available at the National Guard Association of Minnesota website at www.ngamn.org or you can get one from your organizational representative. You can join either on line via credit card or complete the application and mail it and a check to:
NGA-MN Headquarters
Walt Schulz
3530 E. Medicine Lake Blvd
Plymouth, MN 55441
Finally, I encourage each of you to attend our state conference this year which will be held in Mankato, MN the 24-26th of April, 2009. It promises to be an enjoyable and worthwhile event for all. Registration can be accomplished via our NGAMN website as well.
As we enter 2009, it's good to reflect on 2008. Among many different things the board worked on in 2008, of note, last year we started the NGAMN Scholarship program, where the Association will award two (2) $500 scholarships annually. For 2008 Ms. Rachel Miller, daughter of LTC Tom Miller and CPT Jacob Helgestad from 2-135 IN were the winners! Congrats to these deserving individuals. For details please check our Association website at:
http://www.ngamn.org/scholarship.pdf. Last year, we continued to see a high deployment tempo for many of our units. We've had many members return from deployments and reintegrate with their families, employers and communities. We've had inspections, mission certifications, and mission changes. We will continue to face many if not all and more of these events and challenges in the up-coming years.
On the legislative front, we had our share of challenges and successes as well. Gov. Pawlenty submitted a legislative package that was very supportive of the Minnesota National Guard. Through this package, there were actions passed that will benefit our members, and some that did not that will need to be readdressed. This year's legislative package promises to be supportive to the Guard as well. It takes all of our members to communicate to our district representatives the importance of continue support for the National Guard. Each of us needs to take the opportunity to voice our opinions to our legislative representatives to ensure that we are heard and that our concerns are addressed. It will be no surprise to any of us that in today's economic and political climate, tax money is tight, and the demand for those dollars is strong. We need to be as strong as those we are competing against.
This year while I am president the board will focus on two things. First, MEMBERSHIP. How do we encourage young officers to participate? How do we garner support from our senior leaders? Second, COMMUNICATION. How do we effectively communicate the benefits of Association membership and participation? How do we communicate legislative efforts of our delegations both state and nationally? How do we communicate the NGAMN efforts to improve the organization? If any of our members have suggestions to help us improve these two things this year during my tenure as the President, I would encourage you to contact me directly at: Robert.intress@us.army.mil or attend any one of our monthly meetings held at the Ft. Snelling Officer's club. Dates and times can be found on our website. Please feel free to attend.
Speaking of membership, we must continue to ensure that our organization is strong. It's not free to fund the actions of those who are working to further our interests. The only way we can do that is through our membership. Our membership levels have been the lowest they have been for many years, which is unfortunate because we are not as effective. We must encourage eligible members to join our organization and to participate in the efforts we put forth. Membership applications for 2009 are available at the National Guard Association of Minnesota website at www.ngamn.org or you can get one from your organizational representative. You can join either on line via credit card or complete the application and mail it and a check to:
NGA-MN Headquarters
Walt Schulz
3530 E. Medicine Lake Blvd
Plymouth, MN 55441
Finally, I encourage each of you to attend our state conference this year which will be held in Mankato, MN the 24-26th of April, 2009. It promises to be an enjoyable and worthwhile event for all. Registration can be accomplished via our NGAMN website as well.
posted by ngamn.blog at
9:19 AM
