The AMMO Chief’s Association, Mid-Atlantic Chapter (ACAMC) submits the following 2009 Annual Report to the ACA for review and filing in historical records. We have also included a copy of our annual fiscal report for your review.
As expected, 2009 proved to be another successful year for our Chapter. The membership gathered four times to hold meetings, socialize, and plan for current and future events. With the aid of proxy votes, we were able to have a quorum and conduct official business at all the scheduled meetings. Our main efforts continue to be focused on working on implementing the personnel support initiatives such as, Airman Holiday Support program, recognition of Quarterly/Annual award winners. In addition, we continue to stay visible and solicit new members into the Chapter. To maximize participation we continue to float our meeting locations around to minimize travel on our regional members. This year we meet at the 1st FW Administrative facility (March), ACC Munitions Division Conference room (June), Mike Robertson’s home in Dumfries, VA (Sep) and finished out the year with our annual Holiday social/meeting at Bill McCullough’s home in Fredericksburg, VA (Dec).
Early in 2009 we appointed a By-Laws Committee which completed the Chapter Bi-Annual review and made required recommendations to the membership at the Mar meeting. A line by line review of the By-Laws was completed and all suggested changes were ratified and the membership voted to accept the recommendations. It should be noted the ACA Virginia Chapter name has changed to ACA Mid-Atlantic Chapter (ACAMC). Copies of the newly signed By-Laws were sent to the ACA for review, approval and file (action complete).
During the year, the Chapter membership grew with the addition of Yvonne Watts, Rick Bussell, Eddie Fuquay, Jerry Merichko, and most recently CMSgt Patrick Bowen. We also sent CMSgt Kevin Lewis off to retirement in Florida with our thanks as an active member. We are sure Kevin will stay in the AMMO business in some fashion and wish him the Best of Luck. The current Chapter membership roll is 18 members and 3 associate members yielding $525 in annual dues. Over the course of the year we disbursed $400 during the year for our Airman Support program, $250.00 to the CMSgt Richard Gauvin Memorial Fund at AFCOMAC and $200.00 to unit level award winners. We solicited, but did not receive any unit level Ammo first-termer award packages. The Chapter also recognized SSgt Chappell for his Outstanding Performance in the AMMO Career Field as the 2008 Annual AMRAMM award recipient. Our chapter collected $419.00 in fundraisers from Chapter coins, hats, pens, and other opportunities.
In the ACAMC region from NC to PA the known possible membership base during 2009 was approx 30 Chiefs, representing all Chiefs in the surrounding states. Of the 34, 18 are members in good standing and 12 are inactive. We continue to pass ACAMC information to inactive Chiefs in email messages and information concerning Chapter events and gatherings in the hopes they will join the membership and participate in our Chapter activities. Our three Associate Members continue to provide outstanding assistance.
A nomination committee was appointed in Sep to solicit names for the Chapter Vice President position. Jack Miller has done an extremely good job for our Chapter, but his two year tour of duty is ending. The election of a new VP was ratified at the 12 Dec meeting and Mike Robertson was elected to fill the VP position as of 1 Jan 2010.
Due to the ACAMC membership being spread out over five states (VA, MD, PA, NJ, and NC) and the District of Columbia, it is difficult to gather in force at meetings and events, but we plan for another active agenda in 2010. We have notionally set a Quarterly meeting schedule for 2010 beginning in Mar 09 at the 1st FW Administrative Building. We will continue to meet, socialize, and have fun while working towards enhancing the spirit and drive of the Munitions Community and to keep the AMMO Flame burning bright!!
//Signed, mrg, 24 Dec 2009//
MICHAEL R. GAVIN, President
AMMO Chief’s Association, Mid-Atlantic Chapter (ACAMC)
1. Date, Time, Location: December 12, 2009, 1:33 pm (1333 hours), Bill McCullough’s house, Fredericksburg, VA.
2. Purpose: General membership meeting. The ACAMC General Membership meeting was conducted and the holiday social occurred after the meeting.
3. Attendees: A quorum was present (16 of 18 voting members – 12 proxies).
PRESENT
Michael Gavin (President)
Jack Miller – (Vice President)
Wilbur McCullough – (Secretary/Treasurer)
Richard Pennington
Michael Robertson (Proxy)
John Cecere (Proxy)
John Matthews (Proxy)
Tom McConnell (Proxy)
George Heinlein (Proxy)
Eddie Fuquay (Proxy)
Patrick Bowen (Proxy)
Bernie White (Proxy)
Frank Waterman (Proxy)
Phil Kennedy (Proxy)
Ed Weisheit (Proxy)
Jerry Merichko (Proxy)
ASSOCIATES
None
4. The following Agenda Items were discussed:
a. The Secretary presented the minutes from the September 26, 2009 meeting.
i. Motion to accept – Rich Pennington
ii. Seconded – Mike Gavin
iii. Unanimously approved.
b. The Treasurer provided a detailed fiscal update (attached). Our current balance of $865.45 was supported by coin, hat, and pen sales. Since the September meeting, we disbursed awards to base-level Ammo troops ($50.00), paid for Kevin Lewis’ plaque ($67.20), and reimbursed Mike Gavin for food costs from the July meeting ($50.00).
i. Motion to accept fiscal report: – Mike Gavin
ii. Seconded – Rich Pennington
iii. Unanimously approved.
5. Old Business:
a. Awards Committee: SMSgt Brown’s award presentation occurred on 11 December at the 1 FW. We are awaiting the release of the 4th quarter winners and the annual winners, which should be announced in January. We had no “Sharp Troop” inputs from our Region to review. All major units as well as McGuire, Pope, Andrews, and other small units were contacted on this award program.
b. Membership: With the recent addition of Chief Patrick Bowen, our active Ammo Chief membership roll is up to 19. However, this roll includes all 2009 members and 2010 members who paid since August for 2010. The membership as of January 1, 2010 may drop. We discussed members joining after mid-year should have their dues carried into the following year. Our current By-Laws do not address this issue but we voted to approve and plan on inserting a statement to the effect “New members joining the ACAMC from July 1 and on will have their membership carried forward for the next calendar year” during our next By-Law review. This will prevent us from overwhelming new members with requests for dues within a few months of joining. This does not apply to members whose dues lapse while they are in the ACAMC region. However, if they transfer out and back into the region, they will be considered new members. We have contacted our recent Chief selects and Chiefs within our region and received some positive feedback regarding them joining our Chapter. (Names of inactive AMMO Chiefs in the Chapter region were removed).
i. Motion to accept membership proposal: Mike Gavin
ii. Seconded: Jack Miller
iii. Unanimously approved.
Fundraising: The coins sales continue to do well. Monies were turned in during the meeting and additional coins were sold. We have 61 gold coins left for sale. Since membership dues are uncertain and we want to support more programs, Mike recommended we do a yard sale to help raise funds. It was agreed to try this the morning of June 19th prior to our quarterly meeting. In addition to the donated items, water and food sales were proposed. Goods may be brought down as early as our planned March 13th meeting. The membership has not heard from Tom McConnell about trying to acquire some of the gilded glasses from Incirlik similar to the ones given away at the ACA reunion held at Hampton, VA. During the meeting we collected $72.00 for coin sales, $150.00 for ACAMC dues, and $50.00 for ACA dues. Chapter dues are due by January 15th, 2010. You may send them to the Ammo Chiefs Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter, P.O. Box 65944, Hampton, VA 23665-5944. If you owe annual ACA dues (ACA membership is required to be in the ACAMC), you may send them to the ACAMC address or to: Ammo Chiefs Association (Attn: Treasurer), 6046 SW 98 Loop, Ocala, FL 34476. All members should continue to look for ways to raise funds for our Chapter.
d. Sunset Committee: An old wise man told me – it seems as we get older our medical issues tend to evolve rather than resolve. John Cecere is doing OK and is able to travel. Bill mentioned Bernie White had a hernia operation and is recovering well. The Chapter members present signed a card to send to him. We also sent a card to Gen Leo Marquez who is fighting an uphill battle with cancer.
e. Participation in ACAMC meetings: We are trying to do a better job on the calendar to mitigate conflicts with other activities.
f. Update on Langley AFB December 11th dinner honoring the 50th Anniversary of the rank of CMSgt. Mike Gavin will get feedback for the next meeting.
g. Virginia license plate with active duty Air Force recognition. Phil Kennedy was not present to discuss status. Rich stated he saw an article about the pre-paying of fees ($15.00 he believes) for the plates and a few other rules. He will try to find the article and send it to Phil. Deferred until next meeting.
h. Marble bench recognizing Ammo community by Wright-Patterson AFB museum. Issue sent to ACA. The ACA is looking at possibly doing a plaque instead. There are a lot of restrictions involved in the process and construction of the plaque. Proposed verbiage is being reviewed and a new Ammo badge is being looked at. This is now an ACA initiative and they will keep the Chapters abreast of how it is going. More to follow.
i. ACA reunion update. There is no firm date set yet pending negotiations with the proposed hotel (Sunrise Holiday Inn) in the Eglin, FL area. Rich will track this for the Chapter.
6. New Business:
a. The Chapter held elections for the office of Vice President. Votes from e-mails, proxies, and in-person were tallied. Mike Robertson won the election in a very close race against Jack Miller. Mike Gavin thanked Jack for his service and support of the Chapter. The Vice President will take office on January 1, 2010.
b. The 2010 budget was reviewed (attached). Fundraising is the key to our success and enables us to help our Airman. We have numerous ACAVC shirts donated by John Matthews left to sell and we are letting them go at a reduced cost ($10) Coin sales are steady with 61 left to sell before a new order is required. Mike Gavin suggested a yard sale be held before our proposed June 19th meeting. He believes this can be a real boost to the coffers as a big annual event if we get enough donated goods. We could possibly sell food and beverages during the yard sale. Based on the current fund levels, the Chapter decided on two $200.00 holiday shopping trips to support needy Airman). Sunset donations were dropped to $100. The annual awards program was increased $50.00 to $250.00 based on many regional winners in 2009. Some discussion was held regarding the future of the Rich Gauvin Scholarship Fund donation based in its potential inclusion in the CFC catalog.
i. Motion to accept budget proposal: – Mike Gavin
ii. Seconded – Jack Miller
iii. Unanimously approved
c. The 2010 calendar of events was reviewed (attached).
d. The group reviewed the inputs received from the 1st FW MSA for the holiday support program(Ammo troops in need). Only two candidate packages were submitted. Both packages were approved. If late submissions are received, they will not be considered for action due to our funding limitations.
e. The floor was opened for new business.
a). There was some discussion about us running out of numbered coins (from original ACAVC order). We will plan on getting 20 more numbered coins starting with number 26 when we place the next gold coin order. Since we have new coin design it was asked if there was a way to etch our current membership number on the new coins. There is not a block on the basic coin for a number. It was noted that the 1st FW Armament shop has an etcher and we might be able to get some coins numbered with the new design if our membership would like their original coin number. Mike will look into this. We may possibly be able to etch a 2-digit number on the sides on the face of the coin (i.e., “02” with the “0” on the left hand side and the “2” on the right hand side) to keep the appearance symmetrical.
b). Bill mentioned various versions of pending health care legislation carry increased TriCare fees. All members were asked to keep an eye on this and notify their respective representatives in government if they are displeased with the contents of the bills.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 3:19 pm (1519 hours).
i. Motion to adjourn – Rich Pennington.
ii. Seconded – Mike Gavin.
iii. Adjourned by unanimous decision.
8. The next meeting is planned for March 13, 2010 at the Langley AFB munitions area administrative facility (tentative) at 1300 hours. Members are encouraged to bring their yard sale items supporting the June event . Remember, this is potentially a large money maker, but without membership support it will not be successful.
9. The group socialized for awhile and feasted on a variety of foods prepared by Marilyn.
//signed//
Wilbur C. McCullough III
Secretary, ACAMC
L to R: Rich Pennington, Mike Gavin, Jack Miller, Bill McCullough
Over this past Holiday, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter provide support to two Langley (1st FW) AMMO Troops. This has become a tradition for the Chapter whose BOD budgets for and membership supports. Mike Gavin, the Chapter President posted the following memo:
“Chapter Membership,
On behalf of our Chapter I had the privilege this week of taking two Airman with family hardships out on a Holiday shopping spree ($200 each). Both of these Airman are undergoing separations and have small children to care for. It was great to meet them both and see the spark in their eyes as they realized there are folks within the Munitions Community that care about them and their families. They both wanted me to pass on their heartfelt thanks to our Chapter membership for helping them with Clothes and toys for their children and food for their tables.
Our Chapters collective efforts raising funds allowed us to make a difference in these Airman’s lives and helped make a nice Christmas possible for them. I’m sure they will both learn and grow from their current hardships and continue to be Outstanding Munitions Airman. When you see a tear in young person’s eye when they are thanking you – you know you have made a difference in their lives. Thanks to you all for your continued support of our Chapter. Supporting our Airman is what this group needs to continue to stay focused on. Have a great Holiday season and be safe out there.”
R
Mike
Note: Thanks to the first line supervisors in the 1st FW Munitions Flight for taking the time to submit the packages on these Airman. Both these Airman stated their Supervisors and Flight Chief have helped guide them during the troubling times.
a. Review and approval of minutes from September 26, 2009 meeting.
b. Financial Status: Financial breakdown will be available at the meeting.
4. Old Business:
a. Awards Committee: OPR: Mike Gavin, Bill McCullough. MSgt Brown’s award presentation date is still in question.
b. Membership Status: Seventeen Chiefs and three Associate Members.
c. Fundraising:
Status: Coin, pen, and shirt sales.
2010 Chapter dues are due! You may pay at the meeting or send them to: AMMO Chiefs Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter, P.O. Box 65944, Hampton, VA 23665-5499.
d. Sunset Committee: Alvino A. Ross Jr., passed away on 20 Oct 09 at Hampton, VA (Frank notified us).
e. ACAMC participation and membership at meetings.
f. Update on Langley AFB December 11dinner in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the CMSgt rank.
g. Update on USAF license plates in Virginia (Phil).
h. Update on marble bench at Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum marble bench (via ACA).
i. ACA reunion update.
5. New Business:
a. Election for Chapter Vice President.
b. 2010 budget.
c. 2010 calendar of events.
d. Review of inputs for First-Term Ammo Troop award.
e. Review inputs for Christmas Ammo Troop in Need program.
f.For annual submitters, ACA dues are due. You may pay the Chapter or forward a check/money order to: Ammo Chiefs Association (Attn: Treasurer), 6046 SW 98 Loop, Ocala, FL 34476.
1. Date, Time, Location: July 18, 2009, 1:15 pm (1315 hours), Langley AFB, HQ ACC/A4W Conference Room.
2. Purpose: General membership meeting. The ACAMC General Membership meeting was conducted and the group socialized with a Burger burn after the meeting.
3. Attendees: A quorum was present (11 of 19 members – 5 proxies) and 2 Associate members.
PRESENT
Michael Gavin (President)
Jack Miller – (Vice President)
Wilbur McCullough – Proxy (Secretary/Treasurer)
Michael Robertson – Proxy
Richard Pennington
Kevin Lewis
George Heinlein
Tom McConnell – Proxy
Frank Waterman – Proxy
Yvonne Watts – Proxy
Eddie Fuquay – New Member
ASSOCIATES
TJ Jensen (Associate)
John Usefara (Associate)
4. The following Agenda Items were discussed:
a. The President skimmed the minutes from the March 28, 2009 meeting.
i. Motion to accept – Kevin Lewis
ii. Seconded – George Heinlein
iii. Unanimously approved.
b. The President provided a brief fiscal status from the recent LCFU Statement. Overall fiscal health of the ACAMC is good with a current balance of $851.65. Over the quarter we had deposits of $161.00 from coin sales. Outlays were for Post Office box ($60) and SJ awards ($50). AFCOMAC acknowledge receipt of the $250.00 check for the Richard Gauvin Memorial Fund and sent a letter of thanks to our Chapter. Both Jerry Merichko and Eddie Fuquay joined the ranks of the ACA and paid ACA and ACAMC dues. Numbered coins were provided (29/30). This is the last of our numbered coins so at the next coin order and additional 10 numbered coins will be ordered. The Chapter still has numerous ACAVC shirts and coins for sale. All five trailer hitches covers ordered from Roger Jennings at cost have been sold (non-profit). Four of 12 ACAMC hats were sold ($15 per) at the meeting and the funds went to Mike Gavin whom is carrying that cost as a non-profit – member requested initiative. A complete fiscal report will be sent with minutes after the meeting.
i. Motion to accept fiscal report as presented – George Heinlein
ii. Seconded – Kevin Lewis.
iii. Unanimously approved.
5. Old Business:
a. Awards Committee:
– The Chapter presented quarterly Awards to MSgt Huff at Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC.
— CMSgt Munroe at SJ will present the Award Pkg to MSgt Huff at the end of the month
b. Membership: The President sent out an email note to some of the other AMMO Chiefs in our region soliciting their participation. We received positive feedback from the email and hope to have increased participation at the next meeting. It was noted that our Chapter Membership has risen significantly since we established the 1st ACA Chapter in 2003. We started with 8 members and have increased to 19 active members. We welcome the following new members:
– Jerry Merichko
– Eddie Fuquay
c. Fundraising: The coins sales continue to do well and with the recent CAF Munitions Conference sales spiked very high. We took in $216 from coin sales this quarter. All members should continue to look for ways to raise funds for our Chapter.
d. Sunset Committee: There have been numerous health issues recently with our Chapter members and within the munitions community. It was great to have Rich Pennington back in the fold after his recent medical situation. We continue to think about John Cecere who has been facing some medical challenges. Mike read a medical update on the injured AMMO Troop (John) from SJ who was hit by a door. It was discussed that another AMMO troop (Chris Parks) had went to Wilford Hall and his medical update is as follows:
OUTSTANDING NEWS! The results are in from the biopsy on Chris’s chest….benign and not related to the problem with his thyroid. There is a consult in the system to talk about the removal of this mass because it is active (“collecting things”). Additionally, there are no other spots than those in his neck. The plan remains the same… surgery on 22 Jul 09 (next Wednesday) to partially remove his thyroid. Once tests come back from that, they will determine the course of action to take on the remaining spots in his neck.
e. Constitution and Bylaws: At the last ACAMC Chapter meeting a line by line review of the By-Laws was conducted. The cover page will be signed and the entire package will be provided to the ACA for approval and posting to the site.
6. New Business:
a. ACAMC Chapter By-Laws are ready to be forwarded to the ACA for Approval. Signature page was signed by both the President and Vice President in the presence of the attending members and will be scanned and sent to our Sec/Treasurer for his signature.
b. There was a good discussion around Rich Pennington’s topic submission regarding ACAMC recognition of awards outside the Quarterly/Annual unit awards the membership agreed to support with cover letter, Certificate, coin and $50 cash award. Overall the membership agrees that any recognition we can provide gives the group positive recognition to our great troops that are at the top of their game. It was agreed that the Chapter will provide a cover letter, recognition certificate and Chapter coin to these great troops. The 1st such winner is SSgt Chappell (1st EMS) as the Air Force 2008 AMRAAM Outstanding Performer. There was additional discussion regarding the ACA mother ship and the recognition they should be providing to the AMMO community winners at the Air Force level.
c. John Matthews submitted a discussion topic regarding ACAMC involvement in a 50th (Golden) Anniversary Dinner function similar to the event being sponsored at Wright-Patterson AFB by their base Chiefs Group. Mike Gavin briefed he had contacted the Langley AFB Chief Group and they had indicated there was going to be a base event. Mike went to the Chiefs Website and did not see a date posted yet. The ACAMC membership discussed this at length and the overall feeling was this is a base type event and would be way to large for a Chapter to take on and was not an ACA specific function. This is a good input and all agreed to approach it from two directions as follows:
Option A: Once the base event has been determined the key dates will be sent out to our membership and our membership can attend if they desire.
Option B: During the annual meeting/social at Bill McCullough’s home in Dec we could take a time out and have a general discussion on where we as Chiefs feel we have come from over the years to recognize this very significant event.
d. The new CMSgt of the Air Force Announcement was provided to the membership: CMSgt James A Roy has taken the AF enlisted helm.
e. Mike Gavin informed the group that there had been a recent incident regarding a public email and it was discussed that no one should make off-hand comments on public emails as there is a possibility that someone could take offense. The Chapter considers this a dead issue.
f. AMMO Networking: It was discussed that the group overall should continue to provide a networking venue for our folks retiring and looking for future employment. Yvonne Watts was picked up at PAX River as a direct result of networking within our community.
g. Frank Waterman asked if Proxy’s could be made to stand longer than one meeting. The issue was discussed and the general consensus was that for meeting protocol a new proxy should be submitted for each meeting.
h. Phil Kennedy sent in an item about trying to get an Air Force license plate for Virginia. The group thought this was a good idea and it should be doable with a large quantity of Air Force personnel being stationed in Virginia. We need to get the details on how this process works. The group recommended Phil dig into this.
– Update: None provided
i. Phil also asked the group to approach the ACA regarding getting a marble bench dedicated to Ammo at the Air Force Aerospace Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. John Cecere took this on as an action item. (Post-meeting Note: John passed the request to Fred and it will be discussed/considered as a revision to the ACA strategic plan.)
– Update: None provided
j. Mike Gavin briefed that John Matthews had passed the torch on the ACA Newsletter to Pat Adams. Rich Pennington asked that more submissions be sent in. Mike will submit an ACAMAC update whenever a call for topics comes out.
k. Mike Gavin informed the group that Jack Miller’s tenure as VP is about to expire (2 yrs). He asked the group to think about possible nominees. Jack Miller suggested that nominations should be submitted by the December meeting/social at Wilbur McCullough’s home in preparation for an election process in Jan 2010. Mike will send out a call for submissions.
l. Rich Pennington briefed the group on the following:
— The 2010 ACA Reunion is still in planning phase and the date has not been determined, but it will be in the Fort Walton Beach area.
— ACA is entertaining a motion to extend the term of office for ACA Officers to two years
— Rich thanked the group for the heartfelt cards, emails, and phone calls – he says he’s doing well and now back at work
m. It was noted that we have an ACAMAC member (CMSgt Kevin Lewis) retiring in Oct 09.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 pm (14:15 hrs).
i. Motion to adjourn – Mike Gavin.
ii. Seconded – Jack Miller.
iii. Adjourned.
8. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting planned for Sept, 2009 at Mike
Robertson’s home. The date and directions to follow will be sent out in the next few weeks.
9. The group socialized with a cookout for a few hours and ate some food donated by the Chapter and Mike Gavin (burgers, hotdogs, chips, and beverages). Thanks to all for their active participation and great inputs! This Chapter continues to do things right and sets a standard for other ACA organizations to follow.
