MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA TRIANGLE CHAPTER P.O. Box 19861 Raleigh, NC 27619 VOLUME LI NUMBER 1 FEBRUARY 2014 DINNER MEETING WEDNESDAY, 12 March 2014 Guest Speaker Ilario Pantano Assistant Secretary of the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs 1830 SOCIAL, OPEN BAR; 1915 DINNER Printable Reservation Form Inside Reservations MUST Be Received by Friday, 7 March 2014 President’s Message Dear Members, Last month Joe Long and I attended the quarterly Council of Chapters meeting in Pinehurst, where we heard a very interesting and entertaining talk by Col. Peter Dotto (Ret) on the subject of membership recruiting. The major point of his talk was that MOAA is declining in membership and may disappear entirely if some changes are not made. Simply stated, the problem is we are still considered to be an officer retirement organization and the number of retiring military officers is declining precipitously. It could happen sooner than you might think due to the large gap in the number of officers who served between the end of the Vietnam War and the start of Desert Storm. Col. Dotto said that our organization needs to make three major changes. First, we need to change from a “retirement organization” to a service organization. Many will say, “I thought we already did this,” but there is still a perception that we are retirement-oriented, and sometimes perception is more important than reality. Secondly, we need to attract younger members. We’ve heard this before, and the challenge is how to actually do it. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that younger people (30 to 50 year olds) are not typically joiners. Thirdly, we need to attract more former officers who, like myself, are not retirees. This is where we as individual members can make a difference. Think about the former officers you know among your friends and associates and ask them to join. Ken Tigges did this with me several years ago, and I have never regretted it. John C. Loving President Scholarship Fund Update Matt Segal As you will recall in the last issue of the TriangleGram, we requested members consider small contributions to the scholarship fund to help replenish it so we can continue to award scholarships annually to deserving recipient as we have in the past. After awarding this year’s scholarships (totaling $2,250), the account balance was down to $1,700 - but with recent contributions totaling $530, we now have just over $3,000 in the Scholarship Fund. So let’s keep giving to reach our goal of $4,000 or more! 2014 Chapter Membership Dues Ken Tigges PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES ARE DUE IN JANUARY OF EACH YEAR. You can include your dues with your dinner reservation form for our March dinner meeting by sending a check to Matt Segal at the address shown on the reservation form, or use the new on-line method of paying your dues. See the information by Matt Segal. Remember that if you are a life member of MOAA National, chapter dues are still due. Annual dues are $25 (or $5 for spouses of deceased members). If you have a chapter life membership (which is no longer offered but was offered a few years back), you do not owe dues. If you do not have an email address and would like to have a paper copy of the TriangleGram, you MUST pay your annual membership dues. Please fill out the applicable information on the attached reservation form and send it to Matt Segal at the address shown. Guest Speaker Mike Flynn Ilario G. Pantano Assistant Secretary of the North Carolina Division of Veterans’ Affairs We have a timely program for our March dinner. Our guest speaker is Ilario Pantano, Assistant Secretary of the North Carolina Division of Veterans’ Affairs. Make your reservations early to hear what our state government has in mind in this important area. Secretary Pantano’s bio sketch is included for your information. This should be an exciting evening. In September of 2013 Mr. Ilario Pantano came aboard as the new Assistant Secretary for North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Pantano enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 17 and fought in the First Gulf War (1991). He went on to become a sergeant and lead an elite Scout/Sniper team in support of UN Peacekeeping Operations in the former Yugoslavia. He earned his BA in Business in three years, at night, while working as a commodity trader for Goldman-Sachs. He went on to start interactive media businesses until he was an eyewitness to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the WTC. When the World Trade Centers collapsed, the building where Mr. Pantano worked (4 WTC) was also destroyed. Mr. Pantano rejoined the Marines and after seeking age waivers, he earned a commission in the US Marine Corps at the age of 32. He led a platoon of Infantry Marines in the first fight for Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Pantano continued serving his community as a Sheriff’s Deputy, business consultant, Red Cross volunteer (Katrina) and a veterans’ advocate. He has produced films, written books and given speeches to raise money for several veteran’s charities, and has also been a candidate for the US Congress in North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District. Mr. Pantano has provided military commentary on Fox News, CNN, and MSBNC. His numerous articles, profiles and interviews have appeared in American Legion Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED.com, Soldier of Fortune, and TIME. His first book, Warlord: Broken by War, Saved by Grace, details his experiences in Iraq and his spiritual salvation through Christ. His second book is on the American Revolutionary War in the South and will be released in 2014. He is a competitive shooter and an IronMan Triathlete. His greatest achievements are his two wonderful sons and his marriage to his beautiful wife, Jill. He seeks to embody his life’s verse, John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Mr. Pantano’s desire to make North Carolina the most veteran friendly state in America is contagious. His drive to protect and honor our dedicated servicemen and women has provided North Carolina with a renewed sense of appreciation and pride in our national heroes. USO of North Carolina Support at RDU Meg and Matt Segal As you all know, every year our Chapter makes a contribution to the USO of NC at RDU Airport. Many of you have used the USO at RDU when traveling, and you know how important it is. Some of you also volunteer there. Here’s a touching example of how the USO team pulls together on short notice to provide our troops with well-deserved support (see photos below). On 29 Jan, we were notified that an aircraft was being diverted to RDU because of icy runways at MCAS Cherry Point, SJAFB Goldsboro, and Pope Field. It was a United Airlines chartered 747 bringing back 275 Marines from Afghanistan, and was scheduled to arrive at the charter runway (by UPS and FedEx) at +/- 2000. With only a few hours until arrival time, USO at RDU kicked into high gear, putting together a plan to handle this large group, who would be transported home to Lejeune the following day. Here’s what happened to make the Marine arrival “transparent”. Vendors were contacted - several hundred subs were provided by Sheetz and Jimmy Johns, pizza was provided by The Original New York Pizza, and Golden Corral provided chicken wings, rolls and a few other items. Remember these folks when you need products they sell. Bottled drinks, chips, cookies and crackers were provided by USO at RDU. Hotel rooms had been graciously provided by United, and buses were made available to transport the Marines to the nearby hotels. We would have kept the Marines overnight at RDU, but as you can imagine, Marines in uniform carrying their weapons might cause a bit of a panic for regular travelers. It also would have been a major challenge for the airport to handle and store all of their bags. Instead, the National Guard Armory stepped up and arranged to store the gear overnight. As the aircraft’s arrival time approached, USO volunteers braved the cold and mobilized to pick up the goodies, load them onto the buses, and bring welcome home banners to take to the charter runway. The aircraft touched down, the required brief Customs inspection was completed, and the bags were loaded onto the NG Armory trucks. Then finally, the Marines deplaned to a richly deserved heroes’ welcome, had some great chow on the buses to their hotels, got to take nice hot showers and sleep in comfort after a very long journey, and returned home to Lejeune in the morning. This is just one of many examples of all that the USO at RDU does for our military, often on short notice. We also support Marines bused up from Camp Geiger most Tuesdays of the year, along with boot campers heading off to Basic from Raleigh MEPS. Last year, those Tuesday numbers alone amounted to almost 5,000 – all processed through RDU and sent on their way well-fed and smiling by the dedicated volunteers. Our support is critical to the mission, and something the Chapter can be proud of! MOAA Triangle Chapter High School JROTC Scholarship Bob Penny The Triangle Chapter of MOAA presents college scholarships to local high school JROTC senior cadets each year. The total amount of these scholarships in 2013 was $2250.00: one for $1000.00, the second for $750.00, and the third for $500.00.