The
Kansas Council of Chapters held its quarterly meeting at the Wichita
Country Club, Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday, November 16, 2002. We had a
good turnout with representatives from all seven Kansas Chapters. We also
had four of our wives with us for lunch. Lunch was served by the club, and
it was a great affair. We would like to see more wives joining us for
lunch for Council meetings in the future!
Our most important issue for this meeting was election of new officers
to the Kansas Council Board for the next two years. MG Jack Strukel, USA,
has been elected President; Major Harry Malnicof, USMC, has been elected
as President-Elect; Colonel Robert Hadley, USA, has been elected as Vice
President. Colonel William Wunder, USA, will continue as Council
Treasurer. Other positions will be appointed by the new President. In this
regard, Col John Halladay, USA, has agreed to continue on as Council
Secretary. Other Council members staying on are Colonel Hollis Logan, USAF,
as Legislative Chair and CWO3 David Kennedy, USMC, as Public Relations
Chair and Webmaster. Needless to say, all of the above gentlemen are
retired from the military service shown.
As we all know, the name of the Council will change from
"The Retired Officers Association," (TROA), to "Military
Officers Association of America," (MOAA), after the first of the
year. There will be a lot of work ahead for the Council with lobbying
efforts for issues and new legislation at both State and National levels.
There also will be work to do in helping the several Kansas Chapters to
maintain and increase membership, by keeping all of us informed as often
as possible about Council initiatives, and by attracting members from all
Kansas Chapters to volunteer
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for Council duties. We expect this new Board to be very
active in these endeavors. If anyone out there wants to get involved with
Council work, please let us know!
I would also like to cover an earlier Brunch Program on November 10th,
held in Salina, Kansas. This was the initial meeting of the revitalized
Smoky Hill Chapter under the leadership of new President Colonel Brian
Weisel, USAF, and Vice President Captain Skip McAlexander, USN, both
retired. The Smoky Hill Chapter meeting was a gala affair held at the
Salina Country Club with a superb brunch with all the trimmings, including
an assortment of tasty deserts. A number of those present were from the
Kansas Council as well as from other Chapters. All of those attending were
quite happy with the food and service at the club. Colonel Jim Pauls from
National TROA Headquarters was the main speaker and he gave us a good
report on what is going on in the Washington arena. He had interesting
comments on the upcoming legislation related to expectations on concurrent
receipt of disability pay and retired pay. He did not predict that it
would carry completely, but thought it would provide a watered down
version. This is what is happening on the hill currently. Colonel Pauls
also had some words of advice on the newly named Military Officers
Association of America. He felt that this change will be a boon to
increased membership from the younger and active duty ranks. We all feel
that we are making progress in building an organization that will promote
legislation that will benefit both active and retired military personnel
and their families. Colonel Pauls also encouraged us to include the
Auxiliary members as candidates for Chapter Board duties, including
executive positions!
Let us hear from you with any input you may have.
Regards,
Frank
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