Desk of the Chairman
February 2020 Update
Vets at Grants Pass breakfast 2-6-20
February is here and we celebrate President’s Day which consolidates Lincoln’s birthday on February 12th and Washington’s Birthday which is February 22nd into one national Holiday so that most of us get a three day weekend. Additionally, February is Black History Month and we must celebrate the many contributions made to our nation by our African American brothers and sisters as well as other descendants from non-African cultures. It is still cold not the kind of weather to get too excited about unless you are a snow skier or ice skater.
There have been some questions about the creation of the sixth branch of the military that I want to address. I have seen a logo for Space Force and the new commander was recently sworn in, but it has been estimated that the full roll out could take up to 18 months. It appears that manning for this new branch will come out of the Department of the Air Force and installations will transfer from current Air Force properties to Space Force. Doctrine, Policies and Procedures, Regulations and other administrative and regulatory processes will take time to create and implement. I can assure you all that your Board of Directors and National office are aware and thoughtfully proceeding forward with a plan to make whatever changes are necessary in a comprehensive process.
Terry presenting NCOA to Grants Pass Veteran’s breakfast
We continue to look at potential partners to join forces with that add purpose and meaningful opportunities for our members to step up and make a difference in your communities and for our nation. We are also looking for the right fit for benefits that truly meet the need of our members and their families. Our goal is not to be like all of the other organizations out there, but to be unique. We are now an organization that represents all enlisted forces from all active, reserve and separated armed forces. Up to this point in history, no war was fought exclusively by one and only one branch of the military. It took the teamwork of all five up to this point and now going forward six branches of the military. A vibrant, educated and well trained enlisted force makes the United States military the best and most formidable fighting force ever compiled. Be proud of that!
The Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) holds a unique place amongst military service organizations. We need you to help us remain in this unique position. If each one of you brought one family member or current or former member of the military into our roles, we would explode up the ranks of organizations. Can you, will you help?
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at chairman@ncoausa.org and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines
Chairman, International Board of Directors
January 2020 Update
January is upon us and we look forward and hope that this next decade starts off in a memorable way. The Christmas and New Year holidays usually mean family, time off and an up-lift for our outlook. Many of you will do the traditional New Year’s resolutions and only hope that they survive long enough to have made a difference in your lives.
The swamp in DC murkied the waters to end last year and we can only hope that 2020 takes an upswing. I pray for good health for all of you. I pray for patriotism to gain momentum and that all that have and are currently serving will experience peace and unity this coming year.
NCOA Christmas Social
Our National Commander, Vince Patton, shared a thought recently that gave me something to think about. 20/20 vision is what we all hope for, as with it, we can see clearly and avoid the many pitfalls that find their way into our lives. We are now in the year 2020 and it seems appropriate to equate 20/20 vision to what NCOA’s vision will be going forward. I know what I and the Board of Directors would like to see, but in order for you, our valued members to buy into whatever vision we settle on, it is best to ask you for your opinions. So I am asking each of you to spend a little time pondering what you would like to see for NCOA. We are trying to formulate some ideas on how we can work together with the other veteran and military service organizations to strengthen our unified voice as well as to cut costs. We are searching for projects and missions to engage our members to support our troops and their families.
I and your leadership do value each and every one of you. Ideas that provoke thought, even if we disagree on the pretext, can ultimately help us change course to something even better than where we were headed. Every input received, whether I agree with it or not, gets sent to all of the leadership. Change is not a bad thing but stagnation can truly harm any organization. So put on your thinking caps and send me an email. Your ideas might just turn out to be the best thing we have going.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at chairman@ncoausa.org and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines
Chairman, International Board of Directors
December 2019 Update
December is upon us once again. We start off remembering Pearl Harbor Day. December 7th, the Day that will live in infamy and transition to Christmas to end the month with a big family day that usually means that most of us mortgage the year trying to keep up with the Jones’ and give our kids more than we should.
Things are nice, but they soon break or are stuffed in a drawer because we lose interest in them when the next “big thing” hits the market. The one thing that I have learned as I grow older is that things come and go, but memories are forever.
Many of you have served in some type of combat and probably have some memories that you would rather forget. Try as you may, it is difficult to purge those memories that haunt you and as long as you chose to recycle those memories, they will haunt you for the rest of your life. Here is an idea. During this Christmas season that truly represents the birth of our Savior, try paying it forward. Help someone in need and perhaps make a difference for that person. On the battlefield, we live by the premise that we leave no one behind, yet there are veterans out there in almost every community that are struggling because they feel left behind by a society that doesn’t understand what we have been through. We have gotten to a point where people will say “Thank you for your service” out of habit when they see a hat, but they don’t really understand what that means. They can’t because they have never been there, but you have!
This year, help a brother or sister in need and you might just make their day and give them a memory that is fresh and perhaps will replace the nightmare of their daily existence. Who knows, you may even save a life by befriending someone who is close to giving up.
There are people out there that during this family time don’t have a family close by. They are lonely, frustrated and perhaps even depressed. Look out for them as they may even be someone you served with. Give a person you don’t know the most precious gift that you have, your time and attention!
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at chairman@ncoausa.org and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines
Chairman, International Board of Directors
November 2019 Update
November is the month that we in America celebrate three significant events. Veterans Day, November 11th is a day that was originally called Armistice Day commemorating the end of World War 1, the “war to end all wars”. It has evolved into a day when all veterans from all wars are now honored and many businesses give free meals to veterans, many communities host Veteran’s Day parades to honor those who have worn the uniform defending this country against all enemies. It is a day when we who have served receive some level of appreciation back.
Additionally, November is the month that we celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday is steeped in tradition surrounding family, a traditional meal together and a remembrance of the difficulties that the early pilgrims endured upon arrival in this country seeking freedom from religious persecution.
Finally, November 10th is the Birthdate for the United States Marine Corps. Semper Fi to all of you who served.
Bud Cordes and Terry Haines at Texas Roadhouse on Veterans Day raising fund.
I wish all of you an exceptionally proud Veteran’s Day where you can accept the appreciation of a grateful nation and move around within your community because we are free because each of you wore that uniform. Thank you! I also hope that you have a warm family type Thanksgiving celebration either with your family or dear friends. No matter how dysfunctional it seems like at times, we still have an ample supply of things to be grateful for in this country. Even on our worst day, we are still better off than much of the world.
The Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) is our mechanism for affecting positive change for those who have served and those currently serving and their families. One voice by itself can quickly be drowned out and ultimately have no effect. By gathering input from our membership, NCOA can act as a conduit to join multiple inputs and then join together as part of the Military Coalition to have your concerns addressed by the powers that be.
Some future issues that need to be addressed are ensuring that when our troops return from combat that they are properly decompressed, evaluated and trained on how to cope with Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injuries. The suicide rate for veterans is significantly higher than non-veterans and that is unacceptable. Divorce rates for combat veterans are extremely high (80-85%). If a service person goes into combat and when they come home can’t communicate with their families that is a problem which needs to be addressed.
Another area of concern is that transitioning from the military requires more that being taught how to fill out a resume. A better job needs to be done in the area of certifications and credentialing and making those certifications and credentials universally acceptable. Employers want employees with skills and one of the measuring factors that they look for are certifications and credentials. We need to find a way to make these tools for seeking employment acceptable in all 50 states.
Let me know what you think and if this is something that you feel NCOA should take on.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at chairman@ncoausa.org and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines
Chairman, International Board of Directors
October 2019 Update
One of the jobs of a leader is to lead. Being a leader does not necessarily mean that you will be everyone’s friend. From time to time we all need to take a step back, evaluate where we are going and more specifically how we are going to get there. That may mean that a leader goes out of their way to say or do things that raise the hair on the back of your neck, and it may also mean that from time to time we must calibrate what we are doing against what we are trying to do.
Terry Haines swearing in our newest Trustee, Dan Reno.
A nautical phrase many of you may have heard before is that you cannot change the direction of a ship if you are tied up to the pier. One must set sail in order to change direction. Years ago when NCOA was a good sized organization and we had an affiliation with Academy Life, no one paid much attention to how we were doing things and how we communicated. No one cared much about fiscal responsibility because we had a fat cat covering all of the bills. A few bad apples did things that they shouldn’t have and brought some bad publicity to this organization. Using some of the liberal mentality of today, we remove any semblance of memory to those times. The problem is some of our members were hurt. Some of our members did not, or perhaps even today, do not have the capacity to forgive. Removing the memory doesn’t solve the problem, but learning from it does. NCOA needs the good members who were hurt back then to return as a contributing part of the organization. We need to recapture the good things that NCOA had done. History happened and removing it like many in our culture today would have us do removes teaching moments and is like “throwing out the baby with the bath water.”
If you are one that still bears the hurt from our past, I humbly apologize and ask you to give the current leadership team an opportunity to make things right with you. NCOA has made some significant improvements over just the last five years. Our Board of Directors is smaller and not just a conference board, but we meet via conference calls every month or so to deal with issues that impact you and your family. The level of communication from the Board out to you has improved significantly where you can now hear what is going on monthly from myself, the President of the Association, our Executive Director and most recently from our Grand Knight.
Our new Executive Director has held almost every possible position within the chapter and board hierarchy before assuming the operational day to day running of the association. He truly cares about each and every one of you because he has been where you are and has felt your pain.
While we are not as young as we used to be and our energy levels have declined, we still have one asset that is not to be underestimated. Experience! I and your current leadership love this association and have taken an oath to do everything in our power to “Make NCOA Great Again”. We can’t do it by ourselves. Equally important is that we realize that we can’t force how we used to do it down the throat of today’s generation or we truly will cease to exist. If you are a parent or grandparent or maybe even a great grandparent, we must be patient and teach today’s generation the truly important accomplishments of our past and guide these young members through the maze of confusion that is today’s culture. You would do it with your kids or grandkids, so why not our new young members? Be flexible and patient for the alternative is death!
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at chairman@ncoausa.org and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines
Chairman, International Board of Directors