The Sponsor a Company Grade Officer program is alive and well. You can support our Officers and Warrants by sponsoring their 2023 NGAUS / NGANH membership. Visit NGANH.org and hit the JOIN button. Joe Smith is our Membership Chair and Nikki Steinhart is the Co-Chair.
We’ve just finished creating our fiscal year 2023 budget. A big shout out to Mark Sears and his team. Mark formed an Ad Hoc committee with Darik Day, Nicole Bixler, Dave West, Joe Smith and Doug Aiken. We’ve migrated all of our records to computer-based products to insure accountability and transparency.
We continue to modernize and update our website. Expect more of this work during 2023. We’ll start posting this newsletter as well as adding updates to events through the year.
The NGAUS Conference in Columbus Ohio was a huge success for NGANH. We had our delegate suite and hosted our Corporate Partners on Hospitality Night. Each year we participate in the New England Hospitality Night extravaganza. This year was at Howl at the Moon in downtown Columbus. Our CGOs James Lawrence, Alex Waitner and Mark Styles navigated the busy schedule of the four-day conference and helped us by visiting Corporate Partners on the Exhibit floor. MG Mikolaities provided numerous mentoring opportunities with them.
It was also elections for the NGAUS Area1 BOD members in Columbus. I’ll be serving my 4th term as the Air Representative along with MG Frank McGinn (6th term) and Maj Gen Gary Keefe (3rd term). I’m humbled to continue to serve our region in this capacity.
Preparations for the Spring NGANH / NHNGEA are under way. April 15th is the date and the Puritan Center in Manchester is the location. The venue seats approximately 80 people and the invitations are posted on our website.
We’re updating our annual NGANH scholarship to offer two for $2500 a piece. Expect that announcement in the first quarter of 2023.
I attended the NGAUS BOD meeting in November and was appointed by the Chairman to be part of the seven-member Ad Hoc committee to screen incoming candidates for the position of NGAUS President. BG Roy Robinson winds down his tenure in the spring of 2024.
We’re coordinating our efforts with the Air and Army to identify CGOs to attend the two 2023 NGAUS Capital Summit visits. We’re streamlining this process to make sure those slots are filled by our best and brightest. Visit the NGAUS website for more information.
We attend the monthly State Veterans Advisory Committee (SVAC) monthly meetings, giving us visibility across the spectrum of veteran issues and legislative initiatives. Staff members of each of the CODELs attend and we continue to forge personal relationships with them as well.
I was honored to attend the Business NH Magazine awards banquet as they recognized the “2022 New Hampshire Best Companies to Work For” in Manchester. Our association hosted the NHNG delegation table. What a proud moment when they were recognized as the 8th best business to work for in the Granite State.
The NGANH also partnered with the NH Military Assistance Foundation (MAF) to provide breakfast and lunch for the Boss Lift to Ft Drum to witness a HIMARS demonstration. I attended the morning brief as local employers were treated to the rare opportunity to ride on the KC-46A then watch the HIMARS firing. The ESGR program strengthens our community partnerships and reminds our employers of the essential role the National Guard plays in the defense our state and nation.
The NGANH summitted a resolution at NGAUS to align the National Guard HIMARS battalions to reflect the size of active duty. This would change the current Army Guard battalion from 2x8 (2 batteries with 8 launchers) up to 3x9 (3 batteries with 9 launchers). Thank you to Roy Hunter and Erik Fessenden who headed up that effort.
A big shoutout for the opening of the Heritage Room in Concord at the State Military Reservation! We’ve been utilizing that space for meetings and interactions with our soldiers and holding NGANH BOD meetings. This will greatly facilitate our ability to “meet and greet” the Army at a centralized venue.
In closing, we’re focusing on increasing membership and working legislative issues at the state and federal level. Dave West is actively recruiting new members to support our Corporate Partnership Program which helps fund these efforts.
Thank you to our senior leaders for their support so we can tell our story and make the lives of our soldiers and airman better.
SAVE THE DATE
April 15th
Spring NGANH / NHNGEA Conference
Puritan Center in Manchester