Seeking Board Applicants

Chairman’s Invitation

MOAA is an association of individual members. When members vote on matters of importance, we don’t have a delegate system or vote by region, service, or component. We vote as individuals who hold or have held warrants and commissions in the seven uniformed services. It is one of our association’s great strengths: one officer, one vote.

This year we will elect a new “class” of the board of directors — 12 new directors to succeed the 12 who will complete their service in November. Following our membership’s approval last year of a bylaw change, board eligibility now includes all officers — officers on active duty, officers in active status in the Guard and Reserve components (including those in the “gray area”), and former officers, as well as retired officers.¹

The board is charged with governing and overseeing the operations of the nation’s fourth-largest military association. This year’s operating budget is some $20 million, and the board currently shoulders fiduciary responsibility for some $138 million in assets. These responsibilities demand directors who can think strategically and understand their responsibility to govern MOAA in the best interests of its members.

MOAA directors serve one six-year term and must be members of the association. Each director serves on at least one of the 10 standing committees, which currently oversee strategic planning, finance and audit, government relations, health care, publications, council and chapter affairs, educational assistance, membership, member services, and investments. Most committee meetings are held in conjunction with the three scheduled board meetings each year.

Interested officers should submit their applications and letters of recommendation by March 31, 2006. A nominating committee — one MOAA member from each service who is not an MOAA director — will consider all applications received. Details of the application process are on the facing page and will appear in the next two issues of Military Officer.

Board seats are allocated by service and geographic region, and there are no quotas for uniformed officer grade. (Current directors served in grades W-5 through O-10.) The nominating committee also will be charged to consider service component (regular, Reserve, National Guard), gender, and ethnic diversity. The committee will seek candidates with special qualifications — such as financial management, investment banking, accounting, health care, legal, and political access — that complement essential board functions.

MOAA’s continuing leadership in the world of military associations requires a broad cross-section of our membership on the board. We need a large number of well-qualified officers of all ranks in the application pool. Within MOAA’s membership there are many officers with the knowledge, experience, and special skills we can use to good effect.

Each eligible voting member will receive a ballot with the August issue of Military Officer. Space will be provided on the ballot to write in votes for other MOAA members not on the committee’s slate of nominees. Online voting also will be available. New directors will take office after the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 18, 2006.

We need highly skilled men and women in all officer grades. Please consider offering yourself as a candidate, and above all, plan to vote in the upcoming election.

Applications sought for board of directors

This year eligible MOAA members, as required by association bylaws, will elect 12 new directors to take office this fall to replace those completing their six-year terms. We need highly qualified officers with proven track records in the grades of W-1 through O-10 to serve on MOAA’s board.

The bylaws prescribe the apportionment of board seats by service. In addition to the four vacancies to be filled without regard to service affiliation, service-specific vacancies this year are one Army, three Navy, three Air Force, and one NOAA. The Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Public Health Service have no service-specific vacancies, but officers from those services may apply for the four at-large seats. Applications are specifically sought from officers with financial expertise.

A special Committee on Nominations will select for each upcoming vacancy the nominee who, in its judgment, will best serve the interests of MOAA and its members. The committee’s slate of nominees will be presented directly to the voting membership by mail for election. Printed ballots will be furnished with the August 2006 issue of Military Officer, and Internet voting also will be offered. Newly elected directors will be installed after the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 18, 2006.

Submitting an application

An officer wishing to apply should either download the application from MOAA’s Web Base
(www.moaa.org) or call (800) 234-MOAA (6622), ext. 167, and request a copy. (After working hours, please leave a voice mail message that includes the spelling of your first and last names, your telephone number, and, if known, your member number.) The form will be mailed to you immediately and will ask for:

• a résumé of your military service;
• an account of your present involvement in business, local civic and political affairs, and service
  to the military community;
• your reasons for wishing to join the board and the skills you would bring to the business management and other affairs of the association;
• a recent head-and-shoulders photograph in civilian clothes that is suitable for publication;
• a list of commercial and nonprofit boards on which you currently serve;
• for active-duty and active-status officers, a copy of a recent Leave and Earnings statement; for active-duty retirees and former officers, a copy of your Report of Separation from the Armed Forces (DD Form 214); for Reserve and National Guard retirees, a copy of your retired pay order or letter of transfer to retired reserve status;
• the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the three references whom you will ask to write to the committee on your behalf; and
• your consent to a credit check, if nominated.

Send the completed form to Committee on Nominations, Military Officers Association of America, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314-2539. Applications and all letters of recommendation must be received by March 31, 2006.

Special Committee on Nominations

In March, incumbent directors from each service will select primary and alternate representatives from their service for election to the nominating committee. Neither incumbent directors nor staff members may serve on the committee. Members interested in committee service should submit their names now to the board secretary.

Bylaw requirements

There are 36 directors of the association: eight Army, eight Navy, eight Air Force, three Marine Corps, two Coast Guard, one Public Health Service, one NOAA, and five at-large (without regard to service affiliation).

• Directors must be uniformed-service officers and members of the association.
• Each director represents the total association and not a regional or service constituency.
• Directors hold office for six years.
• The board directs and controls the business management and affairs of the association and has the authority to approve contracts, incur liabilities, expend funds, and attend to other association matters.

There are no grade or other limitations on the numbers of regular, Guard, and Reserve officers who may serve as directors at any one time. Efforts are made to obtain the best-qualified officers from within the membership of the association.

Service on the board

Directors serve one six-year term and discharge their governance responsibilities primarily by partic­ipating in the three board meetings convened each year, two in northern Virginia and one in another region of the country. Each board meeting includes meetings of the various standing committees and requires about one-and-a-half days, not including travel.

A director should be able to devote a total of two to three weeks each year to MOAA matters, including travel, board and committee meetings, and participation in such other events as the annual Council Presidents’ Seminar, regional chapter symposia, and individual visits
to councils and chapters.

A director must refrain from activities that could reasonably be viewed as conflicting with, or possibly influencing the director’s judgment regarding, his or her responsibilities to MOAA. Directors receive no compensation but are reimbursed for their MOAA-related travel, lodging, and meals.

Regional Vacancies To ensure the board reflects the geographic distribution of the voting membership, at least five directors must come from each of six regions, in which reside approximately equal numbers of voting MOAA members. Region Vacancies Region Vacancies I 0 IV 1 II 1 V 3 III 2 VI 0 At-large (without regard to state of residence) 5   1 DoD and Coast Guard ethics regulations provide that DoD and Coast Guard personnel may participate in the management of non-federal entities, such as MOAA, in a personal capacity provided (1) they act exclusively outside the scope of their official positions, (2) they were not offered the management position because of their DoD or Coast Guard assignment or position, and (3) their management status or activities do not conflict with their official duties. Coast Guard officers also must secure a favorable ethics opinion from their servicing Coast Guard ethics attorney.