April 11, 2023

Dear Chapter Presidents:

Spring is officially here and welcome to April. I just returned from Fort Huachuca, AZ, to attend the Change of Responsibility for the Chief Warrant Officer of the Branch (CWOB), Military Intelligence Corps. This ceremony welcomed CW5 Pete Davis as the 9th CWOB and bid farewell to CW5 Aaron Anderson. With this transition, CW5 Anderson fully assumed his duties as the Combined Arms Center (CAC) CCWO, where he will continue to work on behalf of our cohort and represent our association. Additionally, I want to give a shout out to thank the members of the Arizona Silver Chapter for the no-host social, attended by more than 50 Warrant Officers.

Later this month, the USAWOA board of directors (BOD) will meet, and each regional director (RD) will provide updates on all their chapters. I am troubled that we still have chapters that are not in contact with their respective RDs. Over the past three months, I’ve spoken with several chapter presidents who say they do not even know who their RD is. When I ask what they have done to reach out to their RDs, the answer is usually “nothing.” Similarly, RDs have expressed frustration in not being able to contact chapter presidents, via multiple emails and phone calls to addresses and numbers on file, to which they have never received replies. Please take a few minutes to update your personal information member portal netFORUM Pro (avectra.com), so we can ensure we have your current contact information.

I firmly believe that we cannot operate effectively as an association if our chapters are not communicating with their respective RDs, and vice versa. As volunteer association leaders, we have many things going on in our lives. I recall asking a former chapter president how he found the time to dedicate to leading a chapter and he simply replied, “I don’t have the time, I simply make the time.” As volunteer chapter leaders, I ask you to find a few minutes in your daily/weekly schedules to perform some association business. It is vitally important that you know what is happening in your regions, and the greater association, and share that information with your members. If you are not hearing from your RD, or do not know who that is, contact me directly (president@usawoa.org) and I’ll gladly help you out.

I want to remind everyone the USAWOA Scholarship Foundation is still accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year, but time is running out. The deadline for submission of applications is 15 May 2023, and these will be accepted from the natural or adopted children, grandchildren, and dependent stepchildren (age 23 or younger) of USAWOA members in good standing. All applicants must be in their senior year of high school or higher, planning to attend or continue their education in an accredited American college/university or vocational technical institution on a full-time basis. The school must be a degree- or certificate-granting institution. The Foundation will award scholarships of $1,500 each, and one $500 book scholarship, in the second week in July. Additional information can be found on the USAWOA scholarship page https://scholar.usawoa.org/index.html.

As mentioned in my past letters, the Fort Dix Doughboy Chapter President CW4 Dennis Brydges and his entire team are making great strides in planning this year’s 51st AMM in Atlantic City, NJ. We are working on the meeting agenda and details will be forthcoming in the near future. For updates, I encourage everyone to visit their two social media platforms, https://www.usawoadoughboy.org/51st-amm and Facebook (3) USAWOA Doughboy Chapter (0606) | Facebook. As a reminder, individual chapters can use their own funds to defray or pay for the attendance of one of their members at the AMM. I encourage the chapter presidents to attend or send a chapter member to the annual meeting.

Finally, it is with a heavy heart that I inform everyone that longtime USAWOA life member, CW5 (Ret) Phil Tackett passed away after a lengthy illness. Phil served in key USAWOA leadership positions while assigned in Europe and most recently served as Mid-Northern Region Director. Phil brought a wealth of knowledge, sense of humor, and optimism to our meetings, and I ask that we all keep his loving wife, Paula in our thoughts and prayers. I vividly recall when he spoke to the BOD at the 49th AMM in Huntsville, Alabama, told us of his prognosis, and encouraged us all to live each day to the fullest. A true professional, mentor and caring friend, Phil will be missed by us all. I’ve included the obituary for everyone’s awareness as well. https://www.memorialchapelsandcrematory.com/m/obituaries/Philip-Tackett/Memories

Sincerely,

CW5 Michael D. Dye
National President
“The Quiet Professionals ®”