The mission of the Illinois Council of Chapters is: to promote the aims of The Military Officers Association of America, to further the legislative and other objects of The Military Officers Association of America, to protect the rights and interests and to provide expert advice and guidance to our members who come from every branch of service, and include active duty, retired, National Guard, Reserve, former officers, and their families, to assist in the formation of new chapters of The Military Officers Association of America in the State of Illinois, and to provide assistance to member chapters enabling them to effectively serve their members, their communities and our great nation.

If you are now, or have been an officer in any of the branches of the armed services, active or reserve, the U.S. Coast Guard, Public Health Service or NOAA, you are eligible for membership in MOAA. Information on joining any of the nine Illinois chapters can be obtained directly from your nearest chapter. Some, but not all of the chapters have websites which are linked to this site.

The Illinois Council of Chapters has no chapter meetings, per se. Council members attend selected local chapter meetings on a quarterly basis and subsequently conduct Council meetings at these host sites. The Council president and vice president attend as many chapter meetings as their schedules permit. Further, the Council of Chapters represents MOAA by its Council members attending numerous civic, military, ROTC and veterans’ organizations events, and is proud to be an active community member.

Each year, generally in the April timeframe, the president and immediate past president of the Council of Chapters participate in the MOAA-sponsored, “Storming the Hill”. During these several days, the Council members meet in Washington, DC with senators and representative from the State of Illinois. These meetings center around legislative issues of interest to MOAA and are designed to inform and solicit legislator support on national issues and initiatives. In addition to the face-to-face meetings with elected officials, the Council actively encourages chapter and individual contact with their elected officials on key legislative issues affecting the military community. The Council point of contact for legislative affairs is: Col (USAF, Ret) Mike Wieland who may be reached at: wieland@charter.net

Through the dedicated efforts of the Illinois MOAA Chapters, $7,500 was donated to the MOAA Scholarship fund during 2008. Little Egypt Chapter provided gold bars to newly commissioned lieutenants from Southern Illinois University ROTC programs.

The Illinois Council of Chapters is an elected board of officers whose purpose is to assist the current nine local chapters located within the State of Illinois. These chapters have a total membership of approximately 1,200 and their locations are shown in the “Information on Joining the Chapter” section of this website. The Council meets quarterly at dates and locations coinciding with the hosting chapter’s meeting, and this hosting is rotated amongst the affiliate chapters. Officers are elected in accordance with the Council Bylaws, and effort is taken to seek candidates from each of the local chapters.