From the Desk of the NCOA Chairman of the Board of Directors Robert Barnett

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Holiday season. Congratulations to the Navy Midshipman on their win in college football over the Army Golden Knights.

In January your Board of Directors will be finishing up changes to the NCOA Bylaws and Awards Manual. You can look for them to be posted on the website for your review, giving you the opportunity to provide comments. This will allow more time for review unlike in the past when changes were presented at the Annual Conference leaving members very little time to review these items before being asked to vote on changes. The Board does want your input so please take the time to read content and respond.

With the Annual Conference now just 195 days away, I hope you are making plans to
attend. For the first time, the Conference will be held in the Virginia Beach area which is
exciting. The NCOA Staff will be making a trip to the area in the spring looking for great
opportunities around the area to share with the rest of us.

As always, I am open to any questions you have about the Board. You can reach me
by email at [email protected].

Proud to have served. "REMEMBER."
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I sincerely hope that you and your family enjoyed your Veterans Day and the weekend.  I spent Veterans Day with our Grand Knight Sir Scott Ytzen, Director of Government Affairs Levi Sadr, and some outstanding active duty service members from our Colorado Air Academy Chapter and North Carolina All American Chapter.  A huge thank you goes out for their support in laying the NCOA wreath and proudly carrying our Nation's Flag (CPL Chase Frick) and NCOA Flag (SSG Jarkeveous Williams) during the Veterans Day Ceremony Parade of Colors at Arlington National Cemetery. These young members are the future of our great organization.  Chapters, please be sure to share your Veterans Day experiences with our members via social media.

With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the new year knocking on our door, I would like to ask that you take some time to think about some past and current friends that you served with and reach out to them just to wish them happy holidays.  Your call, text, or email could change or even save a life.  Please continue to share your chapters' best practices, they are great training tools for our new chapters and members.

Thanks for being a member of our outstanding organization.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Strength in Unity!®
Garry A. McClure
​FORCM, USN (Ret)
NCOA President