Team EANGUS,
The ops tempo for the past two months began with the Legislative Workshop from 1-4 Feb, and has not subsided since. In late Febraury, Seth Waugh announced his departure to take a coveted position at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, launching an accelerated hiring process that resulted in EANGUS only being without a Director of Government Affairs for only 5 business days. Seth’s last day was March 10th and Daniel Elkins began on March 17th. Daniel will be attending the Louisiana conference, and the Area III and Area V Caucuses in coming weeks. While we are working on many projects, the bullets below represent some of the high notes for the past 60 days. We have switched to utilizing a Blind Courtesy Copy to get past spam filters. This distro is going out to E.C. members, Past Presidents, State Presidents, and National Office staff.
LEGISLATIVE: This period began with the most successful Legislative Workshop and Congressional Awards Reception to date. A total of 108 registrants, plus EANGUS staff and a few corporate partners, descended upon the historic Phoenix Park Hotel in Downtown Washington, DC, from Feb 1-4. More than 200 congressional visits were logged during the final two days. Photos can be viewed at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rfhez6amy033yrh/-0CrY2BxOc
Daniel Elkins, an E-4 in the West Virginia National Guard, was selected as Director of Government Affairs, and began work on March 17th. He is a subject matter expert on military higher education issues. He hit the ground running and is working to reverse the new Army policy of not allowing Tuition Assistance within a new soldier’s first year in the National Guard.
Executive Director Al Garver testified again on March 12th before the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission. The commission requested white papers from EANGUS on the age 57 retirement annuity concept and allowing dual-status military technicians to choose Tricare Reserve Select instead of their FEHBP policies.
MEMBERSHIP: While end-of-year 2013 membership numbers declined by 1,717 (3.8%), online memberships and renewals have increased significantly in the first quarter, now that the back-end of our database system is nearly fully operational.
COMMUNICATIONS: A seven-minute National Office video for release for use by state conferences is in final production. It is expected to be uploaded to YouTube during the first week of April. It includes video highlights of our Legislative Workshop, discusses our legislative successes in 2013, and highlights our priorities for 2014.
There were eight Minuteman Updates during this period:
- 7 FEB – Deadline Approaching for EANGUS Future Phoenix Scholarships
- 20 FEB – Three National Guard Troops Need an Immediate Assist
- 24 FEB – EANGUS Congratulates National Guard #88 Car Win in Daytona!
- 28 FEB – UPDATE: Three National Guard Troops Need an Immediate Assist
- 5 MAR – Legislative Position Opening at EANGUS National Office
- 17 MAR – EANGUS Announces New Director of Government Affairs
- 26 MAR – 2013 Veteran Unemployment Numbers Released
- 26 MAR – Tickets Available for Military Banquet in National Capital Region (DC region blast)
KEY ACTIVITIES:
- 17 Feb: Finance Committee and Executive Council met via Webex.
- 25 Feb: Al Garver attended a Healthcare Update meeting for VSO, hosted by United Health
- 25 Feb: Al Garver and Steve Fink attended the National Guard Youth Foundation Gala in DC.
- 26 Feb: Al Garver attended the U.S. Senate National Guard Caucus breakfast in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, DC. 14 Senators attended the event.
- 26 Feb: Al Garver launched a hiring search for a new Director of Government Affairs.
- 27 Feb: Al Garver and Joan Gardiner met with Hesco, who will likely become a new Corporate Partner
- 28 Feb: Seth Waugh briefed the ANG Chiefs Executive Course (CEC) at Joint Base Andrews.
- 28 Feb – 3 Mar: Al Garver traveled to Louisville, KY, to participate in the Area II Regional Caucus.
- 7 Mar: Al Garver briefed at CEC. The National Office hosted a Farewell Luncheon for Seth Waugh. Al attended afternoon board meetings at NGAUS for Insurance Trust and Education Foundation.
- 8 Mar: Al Garver attended full day of NGAUS Board meeting, including briefings by CNGB, DANG and DARNG.
- 10-13 Mar: Al Garver reviewed nearly 30 applications for the DGA position, conducted three in-person interviews, and one phone interview. All non-selectees were notified via e-mail. New DGA was announced on 14 Mar
- 12 Mar: Al Garver provided new testimony to an Executive Session of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission.
- 13 Mar: Al Garver traveled to Charlotte, NC, to meet with Hendrick Motorsports.
- 14 Mar: Al Garver traveled to Hilton Head, SC, for their combined conference.
- 15 Mar: Al Garver spoke during the first general session of the SC Conference, then participated in a senior leaders panel. After lunch, he briefed during the enlisted breakout session.
- 18 Mar: Al Garver and Steve Fink met with Monster.com regarding the rollout of their new military hiring initiative.
- 19 Mar: Al Garver and Daniel Elkins traveled to Ft Myer to attend a luncheon with the NGB Alumni Association with Gen Grass as guest speaker.
- 25 Mar: Al Garver and Steve Fink met with leadership of the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Washington, DC, to discuss a potential strategic partnership.
- 25 Mar: Daniel Elkins attended the House Armed Services Committee hearings relating to FY 2015 budget and NDAA.
- 26 Mar: Al Garver and Joan Gardiner participated in the weekly coordination call with GLC Custom Media, finalizing the last items for the Spring 2014 New Patriot.
- 26 Mar: Daniel Elkins and Tricia Fitzpatrick attended HELP, a U.S. Senate committee meeting relating to student loan issues.
- 28-29 Mar: Al Garver is scheduled to participate in the Utah combined association conference in Draper, Utah. He will speak at the general session, attend an enlisted breakout, and attend the banquet.
Al Garver
Executive Director
