eNewsletter - January 2011
January 2011
EF-3 Tornado Hits Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri--Our Corporate Members And Chapters Step Up To Help Out Families In Need
Photo: FLW PAO
On 31 December 2010, an EF-3 tornado hit Fort Leonard Wood causing significant damage. COL Charles Williams, Garrison Commander’s focus was on accountability and safety and security of residents and personnel. Thankfully, there were no fatalities and just minor injuries.
Families had to be relocated and utilities restored. 159 homes were damaged. Of those, 41 were destroyed and 32 sustained significant damage. Initially, there was concern that the museum complex was damaged. The WWII structures were damaged but the Chemical Corps Museum and Memorial Grove were spared.
Among those who suffered extensive damage were 7 Chemical Soldier families and 1 international student who needed assistance. News of the plight of Chemical Soldiers hit by tornado brought a generous outpouring from our CCRA Corporate members and CCRA Chapters. Our gratitude goes out to Mandy Lopez, President of the National Capital Region Chapter, who energized his chapter to provide assistance. Corporate members who provided generous donations were Tex-Shield, Northrup Grumman, Battelle Memorial, IEM, ESI, and NBC Industry Group. Corporate members who pledged donations were Camber, Veterans Corps, and Federal Reserve. CCRA members who donated were MG Stephen V. Reeves, COL (retired) Craig A. Walling, SGM (retired) Robert Defebbo, COL (retired) Billy Cook, BG (retired) and Mrs Stan Lillie, Ms Amoretta M. Hoeber, COL (retired) Mandy Lopez, Jr., and LTC (retired) Frank J. Kohout.
Mike Lanphere, President of the McClellan Chapter also engaged in the support of the families along with the Veteran of Foreign Wars.
COL Dave Wilcox, 3rd Chemical Brigade commander stated, “Overall, we had 32 families (including 1 foreign exchange officer from Singapore) affected by the storm, with 7 of those families losing partial household goods and cars, to losing everything. The money and gift cards were distributed beginning with the neediest families to those least affected. The outpouring of support and kind words were overwhelming and made us all feel proud of our CBRN Family”.
Thanks go out to all who gave so generously.
Chemical Corps Regimental Association Elects New Officers
The National Chemical Corps Regimental Association (CCRA) held a special election on 19 January 2011 at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. The Board of Directors (BoD) met to consider nominations for Directors at Large and Vice President for Programs. Prior to voting on the nominations, the BoD approved a recommendation to increase the number of Directors at Large from 4 to 10. Rationale for the increase was twofold. One, increasing the number of Directors provides better representation across the Corps. Two, there was a need to have participation from the Active Duty community. The BoD voted to add 2 Directors at Large for active duty noncommissioned officers (NCO). In addition to Regular Army, active members of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve are also eligible for these positions.
We want to thank John Fuller, Tom Nard, Dean Kolker, and George Friel for their contributions to the CCRA. Their selfless support and dedication to the CCRA is greatly appreciated.
The newly elected members of the BoD are Andy Bobbitt, Tony Francis, Jon Pool, Stan Tunstall and Craig Walling.
We extend our Congratulations to these new Directors. They join the incumbents consisting of Paul Cockman, Chuck McArthur and Pete Vega. The Corps Sergeants Major have been asked to nominate candidates for the two active duty Director positions.
The Board also elected Robin Simino to fill the Vice President for Programs. We greatly appreciate his willingness to serve and congratulate him.
The Board also voted to add the position of CCRA Chaplain. We are pleased to announce that John Fuller has accepted to fill this essential position. We are also grateful that he will continue working with the CCRA.
The CCRA still has vice president positions, and the secretary position that need to be filled. If you know someone who may be interested or if you are interested, please refer to Policy Letter 2 in the Member Section of the CCRA website for duty descriptions and nomination procedures. The available positions include: Vice President for Membership,Vice President for Chapters, Vice President for Museum and Historical Affairs*, Vice President for Administrative Affairs*, and Secretary.
*Must be from the Fort Leonard Wood area.
Annual State Of The Association
The CCRA has never published our state of the association before, but the Board of Directors feels it is important to share the operation of the CCRA with our members. This is the first of such states of the association and we will continue to keep you abreast of what the CCRA is doing through the year with our eNewsletter. We value our membership highly and endeavor to provide open lines of communication with our members and Chapters.
Interim Actions
Since January 2010, there have been many changes to the National Chemical Corps Regimental Association. In January 2010, our President, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Secretary resigned their positions. We were very fortunate that Randy Kennedy stepped in initially as the interim President and then was elected by the Board of Directors. He remains dual-hatted as the Vice President for Membership until that position is filled. Art Bland, who served as the Vice President for Business, was elected to the COO position and the Vice President position was eliminated. Pat Nilo, CCRA Chair, assumed the Secretary duties until that position is filled. So due to the dedication and contributions of Randy Kennedy, Art Bland, Pete Hiltner, and Pat Nilo, the CCRA was able to continue operations without disruption.
Revalidation
The National CCRA Constitution and Bylaws were revised replacing the 2001 documents. This was needed before the CCRA could be revalidated to operate on Fort Leonard Wood.
Executive Committee
It was recognized that there needed to be better control over the day-to-day operations of the CCRA. On 15 April 2010, the BoD approved a charter that established the Executive Committee. This committee is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the CCRA and comprises of the President, Chair, Vice Chair, and COO, who are voting members, and the Secretary, who is not a voting member. The key provision in this charter is that the Executive Committee (EXCOM) must report its actions to the Board, and its financial obligations are limited to $1,000. Anything in excess of $1,000 must be brought to the Board for decision. The establishment of the EXCOM has greatly increased the openness and efficiency of the Association.
Policy Letters
The CCRA started generating policy letters that provide more detailed information than what is in the bylaws for procedures and programs. This will also facilitate making changes to these procedures and programs without having to revise the bylaws as a whole. One key policy letter is the Nomination and Selection of CCRA Officers, Policy Letter 2. This document codifies how National CCRA officers are selected.
CCRA Officer Selection
The selection of new National CCRA officers was conducted on 19 January 2011 and followed the procedures outlined in Policy Letter 2. In the collective memory of the current BoD, this was the first time that the CCRA went out to the General Membership for nominations. We believe this is a positive step in the right direction and will continue to pursue Life Members who will be willing to volunteer their time and efforts.
The CCRA congratulates Andy Bobbit. Tony Francis, Jon Pool, Craig Walling and Stan Tunstall for their selection to serve as Directors, and Robin Simino for his selection as Vice President for Programs.
The Board also decided to increase the number of directors from 4 to 10 that includes 2 senior Noncommissioned Officers on active duty (includes full time Reserve and National Guard). This increase in the number of Directors provides better representation across the Corps and we recognized a need to have participation from the Active Duty community.
Financial Status and Budget
Another first was the briefing of the BoD on the projected budget for 2011. Since we know recurring expenditures, we will be better able to project profit and loss, and provide our membership with better support.
Audits
Over the past six years, we conducted audits of the Association that is required by law and needed in order to maintain our validation on Fort Leonard Wood. There were some recurring deficiencies that required attention The COO, in coordination with the Business Manager, took these shortfalls on to ensure that our business operations are efficient and that we safeguard the financial operations of the CCRA.
Chapters
Charters are the heart of our Association and do great things for our Soldiers. To those of you who belong to a Chapter, we appreciate your ongoing efforts. If you do not belong to a Chapter, I urge you to get involved. It is becoming easier to get involved since our Chapter numbers are on the rise.
The CCRA currently has six Chapters. They are National Capital Region, McClellan, Golden Wyvern, Ozark, Fort Drum, and Fort Lewis.
The CCRA anticipates to growing from these 6 Chapters to a potential 12 -13 Chapters. This is a very good news story. We welcome the newest Chapter at Dugway Proving Ground, and appreciate the fine work by COL William King and Mark Hensheid in getting the chapter up and running.
Chapters have more say in what happens at the National level. We seek the input of our Chapter Presidents in major policy development, CCRA actions, and issues. Chapter Presidents are an important part of our Quarterly CCRA Board of Directors Meetings and are encouraged to provide their input.
A new initiative this year was the plan to recognize an outstanding Chapter. This year at our general membership meeting in June, we recognized the McClellan Chapter for the fine work they have done in supporting our Soldiers and their families. The choice was difficult since other Chapters also work hard for our soldiers. The CCRA is a team and we will continue to strengthen our bonds with our chapters.
Website
If you have not been to the website lately, please take the time to do so. Scott Newell has been working very hard to give you a website that will provide you with information from the CCRA. The old website was not very user friendly. The new website makes navigation very easy. We will continue to improve that site and we welcome suggestions from our members. The website is also being used by our Chapters to post events and information.
Memorial Grove Park
The CCRA recently took on the project to provide upgrades to the Memorial Grove. We will provide more details in upcoming newsletters.
Gift Shop
Our Gift Shop continues to be a success story! We are grateful to Sunny Hiltner for her perseverance and dedication in making the Gift Shop a centerpiece of our operations. The Gift Shop has made great strides in providing the merchandise our Soldiers can be proud of. The Gift Shop also provides merchandise for Transportation Soldiers. Profits go to providing these Soldiers with graduation plaques as we do for Chemical soldiers.
The Gift Shop and Business Office computer systems were recently upgraded. The new computers provide more up-to-date capability. A bar code reader system was also purchased to help the Gift Shop and the Business Office with the ability to maintain a very accurate inventory system. The bar code readers also expedite purchases in the store or at mobiles, and eliminate the time consuming writing out of sales slips for purchases.
Our Gift Shop continues to improve the merchandise lines. In addition to CBRN and Chemical Corps items, CCRA lines of merchandise are now available which serves our Chapters better.
An initiative is underway to conduct an assessment of the Gift Shop operations. The CCRA is working with the University of Missouri, Rolla, to use the Gift Shop as a project for their business students. We are looking forward to their recommendations.
Chapter News
McClellan Chapter:
Support packages for troops deployed were provided to the 20th SF Group and 165th Transportation Battalion.
Several members participated in the Veterans Day Parade in Anniston.
$1000 donated to FLW Tornado Relief (Jan 2011).
Guest Speakers on 28 Oct 2010 were Roy Williams and Harry Sutton – Presentation on current CBRN Training/Exercises at the Command & Staff and War Colleges. Next Guest is LTC Rick White, Commander JSU ROTC Program, on 28 Jan 2011.
The Christmas Breakfast was held on 17 Dec 2010.
Golden Wyvern Chapter:
The Golden Wyvern Chapter, along with local businesses, donated over 450 bags of Brach’s holiday candy to the American Legion Post # 3 for shipment to Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Golden Wyvers donated bags of toys collected from local business and unit contributions to local units and organizations for the Christmas Season.
Wyvers’ assisted in preserving local military history in local Army Reserve Center. See Golden Wyver Facebook page under history. The 30th Infantry Division and the 81st Infantry Division trained in Greenville, South Carolina before deploying to the European Theater in 1918.
Chemical History WW1 and Signal History
Plans are in the works for the chapter to help and sponsor a celebration of the 40th Birthday of the 415th Chemical Brigade in February 2012.
The Golden Wyverns will host its Second Annual Golf Tournament in May 2011.
DPG Area 52 Chapter:
Thanks to the efforts of COL William King, there is a new CCRA chapter at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The new chapter has been officially designated the ‘DPG Area 52’ Chapter and its first chapter president is Mark Henscheid. During the past year Dugway has inducted 44 past and current employees into the Honorable Order of the Dragon, recognizing them for significant contributions to the Chemical/Biological Test and Evaluation community, the Chemical Corps, and our Dragon Soldiers. Dugway welcomed BG Les Smith as its guest speaker at its annual Green Dragon Ball in June.
National Capital Region (NCR) Chapter:
The NCR Chapter has planned the following events for 2011:
1. Spring Golf Tournament at Joint Base Andrews (formerly Andrews Air Force Base), April 8, 2011.
2. Membership meetings for Edgewood and the NCR folks, May and June 2011.
3. Summer Annual Green Dragon Ball at the Joint Base Andrews' Officer Club, August 27, 2011.
4. Fall Membership meetings for the Edgewood and the NCR folks, September and October 2011.
5. The Edgewood Fall Golf Tournament at Ruggles APG Club, October 2011.
Last Roll Call
We dedicate this section to those who gave the last full measure.
Donald O. Pike
Donald was born Dec. 13, 1924, in Lisbon to the late Orlan S. and Josephine (Cox) Pike. He retired from Commercial Shearing after 15 years of service. “Don” attended Youngstown College, studying Mechanical Engineering.
A proud veteran of World War II, Donald served in the U.S. Army's 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion. He was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received on Omaha Beach on D-Day, as well as the Bronze Star with cluster for his meritorious service.
He was a member of VFW Post 5532 in Washingtonville, and a member of the Chemical Corps Regimental Association. Donald was very proud that he received the Order of the Dragon from the 81st Regiment Chemical Corps. He was one of two non-commissioned officers that received the award in Ohio.
He is survived by his beloved wife, the former Thelma E. Brickman and they were married Nov. 29, 1946, and recently celebrated 64 wonderful years of marriage; a daughter, Donna (Chuck) Beal of Struthers; three sons, James (Linda) Pike of Wooster, Dennis (Corky) Pike of Canfield and Robert Pike of Meadville, Pa.; seven grandchildren, Amanda Pike, Erin (Mike) O’Shaughnessy, Jordan Pike, Jarid (Tricia) Watson, Hayleigh Watson, Ian Watson and Caitlyn Pike; eight step grandchildren, Amy Banko, Jennifer Orecchio, Rob Evans, Corey Evans, Meagan Evans, Vanessa Soria, Hector Soria and Adam Soria; and three great-grandchildren.
Phillip Trued III
The CCRA shares in the sorrow of the passing of Phil Trued’s son. Phillip passed away Tuesday, January 18, 2011.
He is survived by his parents, Phillip M. and Alicia Jill Trued of Jacksonville; a sister, Ashley Lauren Trued of Jacksonville; his grandparents, Phillip and Sue Trued of Belton, MO, Carol Wilson of Anniston and Richard Welch of Joplin, MO. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Junior High and Senior High Baseball Teams at Jacksonville High School.
Phillip was an honor student at Jacksonville High School, where he played baseball. He was an All American boy.
CCRA Contact Information
CCRA National Headquarters:
Chairman – BG(R) Pat Nilo at 941-637-5881
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Vice-Chairman – RCSM(R) Pete Hiltner at 573-528-0630
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President – LTC(R) Randy Kennedy
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Chief Operating Officer - LTC(R) Art Bland
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Business Manager – Mrs. Jennifer Walton at 573-329-0600
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IT Manger – SFC(R) Scott Newell at
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McClellan Chapter
President: Mike Lanphere –256-231-2186
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VP: Gary Stratton
Operations: Gresham Harris
Treasurer: Penn Wilson
Secretary: Dorothy Quarles
Programming: Ken Miller
Military Liaison: SSG Michael Brown
Advisory Board: Chuck Trull, Jim Mains, Larry Hilton,
Robert (John) Clark, Curt Sasser
National Capital Region Chapter
Chapter President -Mandy Lopez, Jr.
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NCR Vice President -COL Thomas Woloszyn
Edgewood Vice President – Mr. Joseph Ortiz
Treasure – Mr. James Snyder and COL Joseph Marquart
Secretary – Ms. Lisa Cramer
Planning Director –Ms. Dee Morris
Golden Wyvern Chapter
COL James Crout
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Ozark (FLW) Chapter
Bobby Williams
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Fort Drum Chapter
CPT Hanibl Olmeda
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Fort Lewis Chapter
Javaid Slyal
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DPG Area 51 Chapter
Mark Hensheid
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Help increase CCRA Membership!
Do you know any Dragon Soldiers, Active, Retired, or former Dragon Soldiers who are not members of the CCRA? Get them on the website and get them signed up!
Please Update Your Account Profile
Very soon, you will be able to update your contact information in real-time on our Website. Until then, you can still update your contact information in the member area, on the Yellow Book page (https://www.chemical-corps.org/memupdate.htm). You may also contact Jen Walton our Business Manager. If you know of a member who is not receiving this newsletter, have them give us their email address, or have them ensure that emails from the CCRA are not being blocked as “spam” or ending up in the junk box. Thanks!
Donations . . .
If you wish to provide a donation to the CCRA, you can send your check, payable to:
CCRA
to the CCRA Business Office:
Jennifer Walton -Business Manager
Chemical Corps Regimental Association
PO Box 437,
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473-0437
OR
Donate online using our Website.