August for most of us is the traditional last month of summer.  Many are still traveling on vacation and kids are preparing for the inevitable return to school.  Baseball is still going strong and college and NFL football are beginning to stir in preparation for a new season.  Things are kind of routine if you are not still on active duty and deployed somewhere in the world, especially if you are in a war zone.  For them one day seems like the next.  It is just another patrol or perhaps another day at sea if in the Navy or the Coast Guard.  Life for those still serving isn’t the same as those of us who no longer serve.  We need to keep that in mind and do what we can to ease the strains on those still serving.

I just returned from our 2019 annual business meeting.  Our staff did a remarkable job pulling this year’s event off since the venue that we were booked at was sold and closed just a few short weeks prior to us getting together.  The crowd that showed up was treated to an exceptional event.  The senior enlisted panel was reported by many in attendance as the most informative and relevant one in years.  The business meeting, although compressed for time, produced some positive changes for our association that will allow us to grow and remain competitive with our competitors going forward.  The Vanguard awards banquet produced another crop of young heroes that we can all be proud of.  I hope to see all of you in San Antonio, Texas for the 2020 conference!

On my way home from the conference, I had a layover in Denver and as I was standing in line to grab a bite to eat I noticed a clean-cut young man right in front of me.  We spoke and he informed me that he was headed for Marine Corps boot camp. I treated him to dinner and discovered he was the youngest of three brothers and his older brothers were in the Navy.  He was excited about his future.  I gave him my card and asked that he stay in touch after he graduates from boot camp.  Many of us have fallen into the trap of hasty generalization assuming that all young people are not as good as we were based on casual observations.  There are plenty of quality good young men and women in this country who are ready to assume the watch.  It is up to us to mentor the youth coming behind us and encourage them.  That old saying “how do you eat an elephant? The answer is one bite at a time.”  This analogy can be applied to our young people. Mentor one young person at a time and you will have done something to make this country and that young person proud.

I challenge you to each take that one bite and mentor a young man or woman.  I challenge each of you to bring one new member into this great association.  I am encouraged by what I see and there are a lot of good things happening within the NCOA.  Send pictures and a brief report of what you are doing to headquarters.  There are a lot of you who are not attached to a chapter but are still doing things to make our organization and our country better.  Please share them.  That will help others realize that they are not alone.  There is a saying from another group that I belong to that fits NCOA.  “No man fights alone!”   We are just bad about sharing what we do so at times it feels like we are alone.  Together we will overcome fear, complacency and a feeling that nothing we do makes a difference.

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

July brings upon us the celebration of our Nation’s birth.  Many of us will be involved in patriotic parades either as participants or attendee.  There will be a massive amount of attention to fireworks, parades and patriotic music.

As men and women who served our country to support and defend the constitution, July 4^th has a special place in our hearts.  Most if not all of those who signed the constitution gave up everything throughout the remainder of their lives as a result of signing that sacred document.  We should spend some time and reflect on the true cost of the freedom we all take for granted.  We should share with our children and grandchildren what that cost really means.  Service in the military is not easy and it surely isn’t convenient.

To see so many in this country right now trying to tear down our constitution is disturbing.  Perhaps we are suffering through this disassembly of our constitution because we have gotten soft or just assumed that our schools would teach the truth about the formation of our country.  My friends and fellow patriots, it is time for us to stand for the very thing that we were willing to potentially give our lives for.  However, since we survived, we may feel that we have given enough.  My question to each of you right now is do you acknowledge that while not perfect, this country is the best option in the world?

This 4^th of July, were you proud of your service and what this country was formed around?  Do you feel that you have grown complacent about the reason the 4^th of July is so important?  To those who have never served in the military, the 4^th of July has evolved into a day off work with fireworks and parades.  The birthdate of our country used to represent thoughts about the sacrifice of our founding fathers.  Far too little is taught in our schools about the ideas of what freedom truly represents.  The core thoughts represented by the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution have faded with time.  I fear that the 4^th of July for many has become just another day off of work and a reason to blow up fireworks.

I and a bunch of honored veterans just returned from an Honor Flight where our first visit was to the National Archives where we visited and got to see the actual Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  The next day we visited Arlington National Cemetery to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Driving through hundreds of acres of graves of lost Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard as well as historical leaders of our country, places an appropriate reference on the cost of freedom that came about as a result of the efforts of our founding fathers.

When is the last time that you read the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution?  As veterans who have served and sacrificed to defend this nation, I pray that you place more importance on the 4^th of July than just another holiday with fireworks.  It represents the core values that every noncommissioned officer or petty officer swore to uphold when they/you put on that uniform.  Teach that to your children and maybe we can begin to turn things around in this country!

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

Rogue Chapter members on a recent Honor Flight.

As we approach the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, another milestone in modern military history will be remembered.  Thousands and thousands of terrified young men stormed numerous beaches in France in what ultimately proved to be a turning point in the war in Europe.  It was the beginning of the end of the Nazi threat that had swallowed Europe, encompassed a plot to destroy an entire race of people and changed the course of history as we know it.

Some of you may have faced your own D-Day type of experience in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia or the Middle East.  While they may not have been on the same scale as D-Day 75 years ago, they still played a significant role in impacting your life going forward.  Some of you served during peace time and were not faced with the horror of battle and that is ok.  The point is that you served.  Last month we remembered those who did not survive and this month I want to remember you, the survivors!  You served, you sacrificed and you survived.  Thank you for your service.

Many of you joined the Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) because it seemed like a good thing to do at the time.  For others, someone pestered you or twisted your arm until it was just easier to join rather than put up with being harangued.   Some of you joined because you believed in what we do and it made sense to you.  Some of you joined long enough to take advantage of a discount in your education.  Let me ask you a question.  Have you gotten anything out of your membership in NCOA?  If you have, I would bet it was because you put some skin in the game.  The generations that stormed the beaches of Normandy, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, the Cho son Reservoir in Korea, and numerous battles in Vietnam put some skin in the game.  They made a choice, nothing ventured, and nothing gained.  Perhaps if you haven’t gotten any value out of your membership is because you haven’t put any skin in the game yet.

Something that you can do even if you are not near a chapter that will reward you in spades is help with projects like Honor Flight that takes our older vets back to Washington DC to visit their Memorials and along the way experience what a grateful nation feels like.  Experience watching an elderly veteran transition to a proud man or woman who stands or sits a little taller because of this project.  I have heard of veterans who experienced closure to a lifetime of wondering after an Honor Flight.  I firmly believe that if any veteran or retiree experiences the results of this type of program, it will deeply affect how they perceive their fellow veterans but also a nation that they live in.

My job as a leader within NCOA is to lead, motivate, educate our membership in order to make us into an organization that we are proud of, but also an organization that we want our friends and neighbors to belong to.  NCOA is not just an organization stuck in neutral; we strive to be forward leaning and to make a difference within our communities and our nation.  We are not the largest but one day we could be.  It is a challenge to not stay stuck in the past and so fixated on tradition that we lose sight of how to survive in an ever changing world.  Your leadership is committed to look forward, but to never forget and learn from our history and tradition.

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

My fellow members, May is a special month for me and for many of you as well.  For me, my father who passed away almost 17 years ago was born in May.  He served in the United States Navy retiring as a Chief Postal Clerk from the United States Navy.  I just passed the anniversary of his birth a few days ago and stopped to reflect on how he was a great influence on my decision to join the Navy many years ago.  Memories of significant events in each of our lives help shape us into who we are, and I am proud of the fact that I joined and served for 30 years in the Navy that I loved.  Many of you have memories for your respective service and I will admit that for some of you they may not be as comforting as mine, but that service played a role for each of you in developing who you are today.

May is also a month that our country celebrates Memorial Day each year so that we can remember those who served and did not come back.  It is a solemn month and a solemn day that that raises memories of those that we may know that did not come back.  Perhaps it was a family member or a dear friend or just someone that you served with.  In each case, it brings up the reality that one day, each one of us wrote a blank check to the United States of America to serve in a job from which we might not return.  There are lots of professions out there that are dangerous, but service in our military holds a special place among them.

May is also Military Spouse month and one cannot understate the significant role that our spouses play in holding up the home front while we deploy.  Taking care of our families while we serve, keeping the house together, raising the kids and being an emotional support mechanism for us are huge responsibilities that may not be as dangerous as what we do, but are equally important in the grand scheme of things.  Remember those deployments where you have a tearful goodbye knowing that when you get on that bus, you might not come back.  Remembering the longing looks in the eyes of our spouses as they say goodbye knowing that this could be the last time they see you if your deployment was into a combat zone.

Ben Backen from North Medford High School and Maci Noble from Eagle Point High School each received $500 scholarships from the Rogue Chapter.

The Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) is not just another club that takes your money and gives you nothing in return.  NCOA played a significant role in my military career and help me advance to the rank of Master Chief in the Navy.  Maybe there is a similar story in your life that can bring a smile to your face as you reflect back and maybe not.  In either case, I ask each of you right now to consider this request.  With May being Military Spouse Month, if your spouse is not already in the NCOA family, please bring them in.  If your kids are not yet members of the auxiliary, please sign them up.  NCOA represents our entire enlisted force and their families and now you have an opportunity to show your family and your NCOA just how important that is to you.  Your country needs you and NCOA needs you to step up.  May God Bless each of you and may He Bless our beloved NCOA!

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

My fellow members, I want to re-kindle a moment of your service in the military.  Think back to when you felt proud to have been a Marine, or a sailor or a soldier.  Remember a proud moment as a member of the Air Force or Coast Guard.  For you family members who didn’t get to serve but joined our auxiliary to support your spouse or another member of your family, remember that moment that was shared with you by your service member.  Think back to a moment when you were proud to be an American; when wearing your uniform made you stand just a little taller and perhaps walk with a little bounce in your step.

At that moment, was it an individual accomplishment that made you proud or was it a group accomplishment?  I have long felt that some of the best friends that have come into my life are men and women that I served with and I think many if not most of you may feel the same.  Promotions required a lot of individual effort but there was also a contribution from your fellow service members that made the promotion possible.  Perhaps it was a mentor that guided you or your platoon that worked hard together to contribute to group success.  Earning the title of United States Marine is a high point or putting on your anchors to become part of the chief’s mess for you Sailors and Coast Guardsmen.

Maybe it was successful completion of a grueling mission where all objectives were achieved and all of your people came back in one piece.  There are lots of individual accomplishments that make up a career in the military or even a successful enlistment, but more often than not satisfaction is attached to group accomplishments.  Being part of a team, whether it is a squad, platoon, company or even a battalion, regiment or a division give us reason to be proud.

In a certain perspective, the Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) is no different.  Just like in the military, no individual can succeed by themselves.  Success requires teamwork, objectives and effort.  My friends, I just learned this past week that a military organization that has been in existence for 70 years will be closing their doors in a few short months.  Many other organizations, even big ones with millions of members are struggling to move forward.  Individually we can’t do much, but collectively, much can be accomplished.

NCOA currently has approximately 30 chapters located in the US, South Korea and Italy.  We have perhaps another 6 that have gone inactive for not submitting paperwork and another half dozen requests to form new chapters.  Approximately 80% of our membership is not affiliated with a chapter so many of you reading this article fall into that group.  With technology and the Internet, a group of members could form a chapter even if they don’t live in the same state.  A lot can be accomplished in Unity and cooperation and I can assure you that NCOA is not going away.  As Gunny Highway said in Heartbreak Ridge, “we adapt and overcome!”  That is what NCOA is going to do.

Can you help?  Will you help?  Contact me or headquarters and information can and will be provided to assist you. Keep checking our website at www.ncoausa.org and new information will be shared as we move forward.

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