ACA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting Minutes – 13 Mar 2010

To: ACAMC Membership                                    March 16, 2010

Subject: ACAMC Meeting Minutes

1.  Date, Time, Location:  March 13, 2010, 1:15 pm (1315 hours), 1 FW Munitions Flight Administrative Facility, Langley AFB, VA.

2.  Purpose:  General membership meeting.

3.  Attendees:  A quorum was present (10 of 19 voting members including 2 proxies).

PRESENT    

Michael Gavin (President)

Mike Robertson – (Vice President)

Wilbur McCullough – (Secretary/Treasurer)

Richard Pennington

John Matthews (Proxy)

Tom McConnell

Ed Weisheit

Dan Munro

Rick Follett

Phil Kennedy (Proxy)

ASSOCIATES

John Usefara

4.  The following Agenda Items were discussed:

a.  Mike Gavin welcomed our new members to the group:  Dan Munro and Rick Follett were at the meeting and Ken Jackson joined but could not make it to Langley.

b.  The Secretary presented the minutes from the December 12, 2009 meeting.

i.            Motion to accept – Rich Pennington

ii.            Seconded – Mike Robertson

iii.            Unanimously approved.

c.  The Treasurer provided a detailed fiscal update (attached).  Our current balance of $662.45 was supported by coin sales and membership dues.  Since the December meeting, we disbursed awards to base-level Ammo troops ($150.00), donated to the CMSgt Richard Gauvin Scholarship Fund ($250.00), and assisted Ammo troops in need during the Christmas holiday period ($400.00).  Mike Robertson asked if we had anything in writing regarding reimbursement of dues if a member leaves the area.  There is nothing in our by-laws.  Bill mentioned we had contacted Dan Fri when he was about to leave the area and he told us to keep the dues.  We’ll approach this the same way with other departing members.

5.  Old Business:

a.  Awards Committee:  We had no annual winners announced in January.  We are awaiting word on the 1st quarter winners.

b.  Membership:  With the recent addition of Rick Follett, Dan Munro, and Ken Jackson, our active Ammo Chief membership roll is up to 19 plus 3 Associate members.

c.  Fundraising:  The coins sales continue to do well and we expect to have a spike in sales due to the upcoming ANG (Apr) and CAF (May) conferences.  Mike Gavin will have the yard sale at his house on June 19 and was accepting donated items after the meeting.  Further details on what type of help he will need will be sent out as the time nears.  Tom McConnell stated the beer mugs go for about $4.00 and we can sell them for a good profit.  He wasn’t able to get any information on the gilded glasses from Incirlik similar to the ones given away at the ACA reunion held at Hampton, VA.  During the meeting we collected $8.00 for coin sales, $20.00 for shirt sales, $75.00 for ACAMC dues, and $75.00 for ACA dues.  Rick Follett mentioned coins may be cheaper from Turkey.  The quality issue was discussed and LENAJ set some high standards.  However, the set-up fee is high so it is best we not alter designs too often.  The use of raffles to raise funds was discussed.  There were concerns about the legal issues on a military installation.  Additionally, there was discussion about risk in selecting a prize that would reach a broad spectrum of people and not create a debt for the chapter.

d.  Sunset Committee:  Gen Leo Marquez is going through chemo and perceives he is doing better.  The Ammo community lost TSgt Jeffery Culp, SrA Sean McGinnis, and MSgt Wali Lanier.

e.  Participation in ACAMC meetings:  Overall attendance has been up.  Weather issues along the  east coast prevented some members from attending.  Hopefully, June will yield a better turnout.

f.  Update on the Langley AFB (December 11th) dinner honoring the 50th Anniversary of the rank of CMSgt.  No information provided by the Langley Chiefs or in the base paper.  Item closed.

g.  Virginia license plate with active duty Air Force recognition.  Phil Kennedy was not present to discuss status.  Because 300 or so people need to commit to the purchase of the plate, it was deemed to be out of our purview.  Another group on Langley should lead this effort.

h.  Marble bench recognizing Ammo community by Wright-Patterson AFB museum.  Rich gave the group an update.  The ACA is acquiring two plaques from a company in Dayton, OH.  One will be at this museum and the other will go to the Air Armament Museum at Eglin AFB.  The goal is to dedicate the plaque at Eglin during the ACA reunion.

i.  ACA reunion update.  The dates for the reunion are 4-7 November and it will be held at the Sunrise Holiday Inn in Ft. Walton beach.  The off-season room cost should be about $65.00 plus tax.  The ACA is looking for inputs on the extracurricular activities.

j.  Etching of current inventory of gold ACAMC coins.  Mike Gavin will have Jeff Purdy do a test at the Armament Shop to ascertain if it can be done, and how to best etch the numbers.

6.  New Business:

a.  Fund-raising proposal; already discussed in paragraph 5c.

b.  The CAF conference will be held 2-7 May at a hotel in the Langley area.  No funds are needed to support the CAF.  There is an opportunity to sell some coins and socialize  with fellow Ammo troops at the conference.

c.  The floor was opened for new business.

a).  Mike Gavin brought up John Cecere’s proposal for establishing lifetime dues for ACAMC members.  The group discussed the idea and determined that our limited membership size and unpredictable flow of new members prevents us from cutting off guaranteed funds.

i.  Motion to keep annual dues – Rich Pennington

ii.  Seconded – Bill McCullough

iii.  Unanimously approved.

b).  Mike Gavin brought up deleting the “Sharp Troop” award.  This was discussed based upon all of the monies that went out for other award programs.  It was determined the award would be kept as a way to recognize young Ammo troops and was good public relations for the ACAMC.

c).  Rich mentioned the AMRAAM award submittals are due.  The ACAMC supports winners in our area of responsibility.

d).  Due to new information, Rich asked for an updated 2010 calendar of events (attached).

7.  The meeting was adjourned at 2:21pm (1421 hours).

i.            Motion to adjourn – Mike Gavin.

ii.            Seconded – Rich Pennington.

iii.            Adjourned by unanimous decision.

8.  The next meeting is planned for June 19, 2010 after the yard sale at Mike Gavin’s house.

9.  The group socialized for awhile and feasted on sandwiches, chips, and beverages provided by Mike Gavin.  We then went out and loaded up Mike’s truck with yard sale items.

//signed//

Wilbur C. McCullough III

"It was only in this far before I lost sight of it."
“It was only in this far before I lost sight of it.”
Mid-Atlantic Chapter holds meeting 13 Mar 2010
Mid-Atlantic Chapter holds meeting 13 Mar 2010
Mike Gavin Prepping the Food!
Prepping the Food!
"This one would have fit me a few years ago!"
“This one would have fit me a few years ago!”