Minutes of the General
Meeting of
the
October 2004
Nit Noi
Restaurant
The meeting was called to
order at 2:40 p.m. by President John DeFilippo. Motion was made, seconded and
approved to open meeting.
John announced minutes from July meeting would be reviewed
and approved at end of this meeting. John recognized the ALOs
in attendance – Col. Morgan, Cpt. Rivera and Roy Reiber. John also offered our thanks to Doi
Heckler for the use of his restaurant for our meeting.
John turned the floor over to Roy Reiber
for recognition of the Kimitz family and made a
special presentation to Nathan Kimitz, brother of
USAFA Cadet Ryan Kimitz. Nathan is in the Army and is
presently home recovering from injuries received during a tour in
The meeting resumed with John recognizing the present board
members – Nelly Peña, Treasurer, Lynn Brooks,
Secretary, Matt Godar, Communications, and John and Peggy Omahundro,
Vice Presidents.
John asked for the following reports:
Nelly Peña gave the Treasurer’s
report - took in $3367.00 on the tailgate, paid out $3279.00, made a profit of
$88.00. Our present balance is $1400.00. Nelly also announced there are quite a
few unpaid members. She has asked the class representatives to help her by
calling member in their class.
Vice President, Peggy Omahundro
announced the next meeting would be either the 2nd or 3rd
weekend in January at Ellington Field; however, since the Finches are no longer
in the association to make the delicious chili, the meal had not been decided.
Watch for notice from Matt for the date and time.
Communications Officer Matt Godar asked those present to
check the roster for inconsistencies and make corrections on addresses, phone
numbers, etc. Also, fill in cadet’s address, birthdates,
squadrons, especially Class of ‘08.
Mike Berry, Tailgate chairman, thanked all that came and
helped out. Because of an initial error in placement, additional funds had to
be spent to move the tents, tables and chairs. 14 gift cards were given out to
cadets - $500 bought by association and Best Buy provided $200 in cards. The
John gave a report from the association presidents’ meeting
with General Rosa during Parent’s Weekend. Many changes are being made at Academy
with the focus on character development and accountability. General Rosa feels
the cadets are not holding each other accountable. There is a present culture
at the Academy of things being known about, but not saying anything;
upperclassmen should police and make known behavior that is not acceptable -
don’t wait for something bad to happen. The Academy is going to a four class
training system dedicated to moving towards regular Air Force discipline;
demerit system out - now verbal or written system in - counseling sessions -
all more in tune with regular Air Force system of discipline. Other academies
spend 40 to 50 days at regular army or naval bases; USAFA cadets only spend 26
days; General Rosa is looking to expand to 74 days. To accomplish this goal,
additional class time will be added to the schedule to free up time for cadets
to spend at regular bases.
Col. Gary Morgan, Liaison Office Director then spoke to the
membership. He stated that the ALOs are looking for
character and integrity when recruiting; however, they need our help in finding
acceptable candidates. He also reported that the Academy has one-half of the
pilot slots available to award leaving the remaining for ROTC and OTS
candidates. In 2004 968 cadets graduated from a class beginning with 1250
cadets - 534 were selected for pilot training - every cadet that wanted to fly
in 2004 did. Col. Morgan reported that General Rosa was an ROTC grad from the
Citadel and that several of our ALOs are ROTC grads.
Col. Morgan advised that if for some reason your cadet leaves the Academy, do
not forget about ROTC scholarships and that opportunities are endless and
varied. If you have a cadet that is having problems, please contact John or
him. Col. Morgan also stated that the problem of sexual harassment has vastly
improved at the Academy and that the Academy has been recognized as a leader in
taking care of this problem while other colleges are burying the problem. He
also stated that the Class of ‘08 had a 30 percent increase in female cadets. Further,
18 percent of Air Force officers come from the Academy and 47 percent of
generals are USAFA grads.
John then asked Louisa Brown, United States Military
Academy Parent’s Association, to give a report on the ball being held December
26. Louisa reported the cadets would receive their cash gifts on arrival and
then have opportunities for other gifts. Asked the
association to provide a gift basket for male and female to be given away.
John then reported that our association is number one for
cadet appointments for Class of ‘08. Additionally,
John then asked the membership for corrections to the minutes
from the prior meeting. There being none, John asked for a motion to approve
minutes. Motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved by the membership.
There being no further business to come before the meeting,
a motion was made seconded and unanimously approved to close the meeting.
Signed on January 23, 2005.
________________________________
John
DeFilippo, President
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Lynn Brooks, Secretary