Date: 13 October 2025
Dear USAWOA Members,
Welcome to October. While this monthly message would primarily be focused on our upcoming Annual Meeting of the Members (AMM) and the excitement of heading to Tacoma, Washington for the first time in our association’s history, I feel compelled to first address the crisis that is the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Americans and more directly, ALL Federal Government employees, find ourselves once again in a situation where the Government is officially shutdown. As of this writing, it has been 13 days. Going into this past weekend, 40% of the federal workforce, totaling more than 750,000 employees, were on unpaid leave. Those federal employees identified as critical and exempt find themselves remaining at work, without pay, and with diminished and depleted work staffs. For the Army, and all Active-Duty Soldiers and military members, they work 24/7 so the mission continues. The commonality between all is that no one is getting paid and there is no guarantee that our federal civilian workforce will receive any backpay. Over the weekend, President Trump did direct the Department of War to use previously allocated funds to pay the military on 15 October.
To be clear, this political standoff between Republicans and Democrats in Congress must be resolved, and soon. This shutdown is impacting millions of American families, to include USAWOA members. In the October Newsliner, we published a letter signed by USAWOA and more than 20 Military and Veteran Service Organizations to both the Senate and House of Representatives Majority and Minority speakers, urging them to put aside their political differences and pass a 2026 spending bill.
While the shutdown continues, USAWOA is still having our 53rd AMM which is only a week away. The Bigfoot Silver Chapter is ready to host, and I look forward to another productive meeting. As always, warrant officers remain flexible, and we are prepared to shift any of the agenda items to facilitate our Army Senior Leader discussions. To those members travelling to Tacoma, my wife Amy and I wish you safe travels and we look forward to seeing everyone.
Finally, a reminder for members to ensure we have a current and valid USAWOA Member proxy to facilitate voting at the AMM. As we are reviewing all proxies on hand, we have noted a sizeable number that identify a person by name, who is not expected to be attending the AMM. Many of these proxies date back to 2018 when different leadership was in place. If a member's proxy identifies someone not at the AMM or no longer a USAWOA member, that proxy (and vote) becomes invalid.
If you are unsure if your proxy is valid, or do not recall whom you named as your proxy holder, we encourage you to submit a new one. Additionally, it’s always a good option to name a nationally elected officer or the Region Director/Representative by position, rather than by name. You can download the form from the home page of the member portal (https://usawoa.site-ym.com/) or the USAWOA digital library (Member Proxy Form 300-16). Completed proxies can be mailed to the USAWOA HQ or emailed to director@usawoa.org.
I thank everyone for all that you do in support of this great association. Please let me or the other national leaders know how we can better support you or answer any questions you may have.
CW5 Michael D. Dye
National President
“The Quiet Professionals®”