AAAA President's Corner
As 2007 rapidly
speeds from summer
to fall, the Tennessee
Valley Chapter of
AAAA continues to
grow and contribute
to our Army and
aviation families.
The Chapter board
of directors remains busy managing the chapter's
many events and activities. I'd like to highlight a
few of our 2007 initiatives and successes;
TVC Sunshine Committee: This year we initiated a "Sunshine" project in which we provide some comfort
to our members or their family who have been
hospitalized or suffered personal loss or tragedy.
Through the efforts of Keith Freitag, Melanie Davis,
Bill Lake, and Al Carreon this has been a huge success.
We continue to solicit information about
members who can benefit from this wonderful
service, so please don't hesitate to let a board
member know if any of our members need help or
comfort.
Awards: Presentations of the Order of St. Michael
has accelerated this past year as we continue to
recognize those deserving AAAA members of our
chapter who have made major contributions to the
Army, Army Aviation, and AAAA. We do our best
to manage last minute requests but the process
works extremely well with a little advanced notice
to the board. Remember the nominee must be a
AAAA member.
Scholarships: What an amazing year for our chapter!
Having raised over $100,000 for scholarships,
the TVC is far ahead of any other AAAA chapter.
Additionally, our members and their children were
awarded over $50,000 in scholarships during the
past scholarship board. This amount was, by far,
the most ever earned by an individual chapter of
AAAA and speaks volumes to the quality of students
we are raising in this community.
Aviation Product Symposium: Led by the APS
Chairman, Gary Nenninger and his APS board, the
Joseph P. Cribbins Aviation Product Symposium
continues to grow and draw new attendees.
With over 500 in attendance last year, we will
look for new opportunities to expand and keep
our member’s interest. Through terrific Command
support, our chapter continues to host one
of the most interesting and exciting professional
symposia across the Army. Next year we will
team with the local American Helicopter Society
(AHS) chapter who will host a paper review and
technical briefings prior to the APS. We're hoping
that this will bring even more attendees to
the APS and enhance our symposium across the
board.
Internal Review Committee: During this past
year, our board investigated several ideas to expand
membership, enhance board participation,
and improve the quality of our TVC operations.
We reviewed our by-laws and made some adjustments
to our election process as well as incorporating
several senior advisory group professional
discussions to help guide and improve the TVC
board’s responsiveness to our membership. The
By-Laws are available to read on our TVC website.
Over the next year, you will hear much
more about these exciting changes.
Events and Activities: From our monthly socials,
the Annual golf tournament held this past month,
to the Jack Daniel's Distillery trip coming up in
September, we provide many opportunities for
our members to meet and exchange ideas on
how we can help our soldiers and families.
Finally, thanks to all our industry partners and
Chapter members for making this AAAA chapter
the TOP Chapter in all of AAAA last year. We
hope to repeat this distinction next year. We
are indeed fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful
community. Being a member of AAAA and
the TVC, is one more reason why Huntsville is
the location of choice for so many retired Army
families. I look forward to hearing from you all in
the future.
Bob
Robert P. Birmingham
President
Tennessee Valley Chapter AAAA
