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Our Mission |
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The Southwest Illinois Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is a professional organization of military officers supporting the efforts of a nationally chartered veteran organization comprised of more than 320 chapters that is defending the interests of active duty, Reserve component, and retired military members to the national legislature. Within our local area, we support other veteran organizations supporting our men and women currently serving and those who have served.
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President's Message
Welcome to our newest member - Maj (ret) Doug Jameson, USAR!
And welcome back from the Summer break! While you were off (hopefully) enjoying your time, we were still hard at work keeping the home fires burning and making headway with Chapter business. In July, I was invited to and provided a briefing on MOAA and our Chapter at a meeting of the Military Affairs Committee (MAC) of the Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois (LCSWIL). Out of that meeting, I was able to sign up another retired veteran, and provided a Chapter application to a currently serving member. I also attended a couple of MOAA Webinars and a virtual Leadership Workshop covering chapter management, legislative issues and updates, Surviving Spouse issues, and communications. Very informative. I also attended Veterans Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and DuQuoin. Thanks to Richard Smith and Tom Shively for helping out at the MOAA table. And I, along with the IL Council of Chapters President, Col (ret) Bob Tyler, was able to meet Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, 13th IL District. So, a busy summer for me. The work continues, though, and your help is needed. The Congressional Budget Office is raising the flag again to tack on fees to TRICARE for Life. Your message to the Senators is needed desperately to avoid this additional cost and break the promises made to our retiree community. Lt Gen Brian Kelly, MOAA's current President, sent out a message that you may have seen, asking for your advocacy. If you have not seen it, let me summarize. Currently, less than 5% (16,000 out of 360,000) of MOAA members are registered in Quorum to take action and send pre-written letters to members of Congress. (To register for Quorum, go to MOAA's Legislative Action Center page at moaa.quorum.us.) Hopefully Southwest’s numbers are above 5%, but even so, your voice needs to be added to those who are already engaging. That is our charge and purpose of our serving, to be the voice for the military community. Thank you for your engagements and your dedication. Thank you for supporting the messages and the local community as a member of Southwest Chapter. God bless you, our military members, our elected leaders, the Commander-in-Chief, and our nation. Be strong and courageous. |