April is upon us and for many of us, we celebrate Easter.  April is also the month when the Persian Gulf War had its official Cease Fire on the 11^th; Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day is celebrated on the 9^th and finally, the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo is remembered on the 18^th.  Thank you to all who served during the Gulf War and a special thank you to all who have been former prisoners of War.

We are only a few months away from our annual conference.  This year will be in San Antonio from July 20-23.  Registration and hotel information will be on our national website www.ncoausa.org very shortly.  Since we did not get a chance to meet last year due to COVID, it will be great to have the freedom to meet in person. As NCO’s and Petty Officers, we need your help turning things back to normal.  Many will have your vaccinations by then which should make a trip risk free.

This year we have been working on a strategic plan that should be ready for release by the conference in July.  From that plan will be developed our updated strategic communication plan as well as a newly created marketing and financial strategic plans.  Your staff and leadership have been working hard to bring NCOA into a position of long needed growth and service to not only our current membership, but also to the entire enlisted force and their families.  Come and be part of that excitement.  The long-awaited budget that had not been available the last time we met will be available in July.

There have been a lot of changes to NCOA since we last met in 2019.  We hope to have most of our supporters and partners available to meet with you so that you fully understand just how significant the benefits available to you as members really are.  There will also our traditional Vanguard awards that recognize heroes from each branch of the military.  It is hopeful that by 2022 we will be able to also add Space Force to the Vanguard program.  They are still in the formation phase and have indicated that they are not yet ready to participate.

Finally, congratulations to the newest chapter in NCOA, The All American Chapter #1679 out of Ft. Bragg.  Thank you SFC Llewellyn and your team.  There are several other sites across the country that interest has been shown to start new chapters.  Thank you all who are willing to step up and make NCOA stronger.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at retiredveteran89@outlook.com 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

March is upon us and with our entry in this month we can look forward to the coming of spring and the departure, very soon I hope, of winter.  March also marks the establishment of the Navy Reserves as well as marks the birthday of the Navy Seabees.  The one phrase that I associate with the Seabees, “Can Do” is one that resonates with me as some small signs of coming out of the pandemic are beginning to surface.

No matter what political affiliation that you claim as your own, we can all agree that we want our economy to start opening back up.  We want the ability to gather once again, see friends that have been sheltering-in-place, and have some sort of normalcy in our lives.  We want sports back and our kids to be able to interact with other kids in a school setting participate in sports and cultivate friendships that can’t happen with an on-line educational scenario.

The Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) has been impacted by businesses being closed that limited social gathering but so has every other organization. It is our plan to hold our conference in San Antonio in July and I encourage all of you who have been suffering from cabin fever to come and begin the recovery to a semi-normal life.

NCOA is still looking for volunteers that have knowledge and experience with websites and/or different social media platforms that can help us develop and maintain a vibrant and effective means to communicate with our current and future members.  If willing to be considered, please contact our executive director at jterry@ncoausa.org for further information.

This pandemic has provided NCOA with more than enough lemons, so as an organization, we are going to make some lemonade.  Efforts are in the works behind the scenes to build a strong and sturdy foundation that will launch NCOA back as the most effective military service organization that we have ever been.  We are focusing on new ways to more effectively represent the 80% of our military, past present and future as well as their families.  If you would like to be part of that, let me know.  Some chapters are using zoom to hold meetings and a few chapters are in the planning phase to hold hikes aimed to inject fun and comradery in an effort to actually do something about the issue of veteran suicide.  Look up irreverent warriors on the web to see what this is all about and perhaps get involved.If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact headquarters or contact me at retiredveteran89@outlook.com 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