February 2017
In This Issue
Wingman
Field Operations Update
A lot is happening in the next few weeks as we get ready for the Air Warfare Symposium (AWS) in Orlando. Everything is pointing towards a very successful symposium, which is good news for us. Our two symposiums are the two biggest money-makers. Our AFA Staff is pushing towards finding another opportunity for a third large event. This is critical to balance our future budgets without that burden coming from the field!
As we all start working toward a self-sufficient way of life there are some things we are doing that I want you to know about. 
 
As part of the USAF 70th Anniversary AFA is offering half price one year e-memberships for the remainder of the year. The best part is the chapter gets the whole $15 back as a rebate. If you sign new members up online, be sure to include your chapter number and the promo code "70for70". If you have a sponsor who wants to donate some memberships, pass this info over to them and pocket that rebate. If you want to give chapter recruited memberships away to a group of Airman Leadership students, you buy them for $15 each, and later in turn get it all back as a rebate. This is a good deal, if you have questions contact your State President. They should have the details by now.

I have also asked Texas State President, Bob Gehbauer, ( afatxpres@gmail.com) to lead our Revenue Generation sub-committee on the Field Council. He has been tasked with finding out what revenue generation ideas/programs are working with our chapters, gathering them up and finding a method to share these best practices with all Chapters. If you have a successful program please contact Bob so we all can benefit from your great programs.

We need a little help with the Technology sub-committee headed by Debbie Landry ( pokeynav@yahoo.com). They are tasked to look at ways to help communication, use social media tools and most importantly, be our interface with the IT staff as new IT technology begins to roll out this year. This committee is also responsible for maintaining and updating the Field Operating Guide (FOG). If you know someone who has an interest in this area, please let us know ASAP. Possibly an up and coming future Emerging Leader Program candidate. This is a great opportunity to start learning how our national organization works. 

Speaking of ELPs, we are about 90 days away from selecting next year's class and mentors, if you haven't thought about it yet, it's time. Paul Weseloh ( phweseloh@gmail.com) is our ELP coordinator, and he will be putting a call out to the Field after AWS. We have great candidates out there. If they are qualified please submit them!!

Finally, as  information starts to leak out from the Fresh Look teams, please don't get excited if something seems like a wild idea. There are many ideas that are being reviewed. Some will make the cut and many will not. When the time is right we will be involved in this process. In many cases changes will need to be approved by the delegates at our National Convention in September. This may be the most important convention we have held in years. I urge every state to send delegation. Even if only a Head of Delegation can attend, please come and cast your votes! HoDs and RPs are reimbursed up to 2 night's hotel and up to $525 travel. 
I look forward to seeing you all in Orlando.

Mac MacAloon 
Vice Chairman, Field Operations
AFA Nominating Committee Reminders 
The Nominating Committee will meet in May to select candidatures for the AFA national officer and national board of director positions to be presented to the delegates to the AFA National Convention in September for election. These are the open offices for 2017:
  • National Secretary 
  • National Director - East Geographic Area (Central East, Florida, New England, Northeast, and Southeast)
  • National Director at Large (2 open positions)
If you would like to be considered as a candidate you must submit an email notifying the Nominating Committee of your intent by February 28, 2017. You can find more information on candidacy and candidate deadlines here.  

2017 Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition 
The Air Force Association's 33rd Annual Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition will take place March 1-3, 2017 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Invited speakers to the Symposium will include the Secretary of the Air Force or Acting Secretary of the Air Force (dependent on changes coming from the new administration), Chief of Staff of the Air Force David L. Goldfein, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright, and other top Air Force leaders. Click here for more information, including information on registration and hotel room reservations. 

AFA's Air Warfare Symposium
AFA's Air Warfare Symposium

AFA's 33rd annual Air Warfare Symposium is less than a month away! Join your Air Force and industry leaders to discuss C2 and Fusion Warfare, March 1-3, 2017 in Orlando, FL. Please share this video and any AWS17 material to your chapter members and on social media. This is the professional development event you won't want to miss! Click   here to register today. #AWS17

Uniformed US Military and DoD Civilians attend free.
1501 To Field Webinar 
We have started a new initiative to increase communication between the Field leadership and AFA National staff. Each 1501 to Field webinar will have a presenter to give updates, introduce new staff, or conduct training. Our next 1501 to Field webinar will take place on Tuesday, February 22nd at 1:30pm EST. Invitations have been sent to all Chapter, State, and Region Presidents. If there are officers in your chapter or state that you would also like to be involved in the 1501 to Field webinar, please feel free to invite them. For any questions, please contact field@afa.org
Submit Your Design for AFA's "Airmen for Life" Logo Contest
Calling all artists and graphic designers! The Air Force Association is soliciting logo ideas for our " Airmen for Life " campaign. We've all heard the saying "Once a Marine, Always a Marine." Well AFA is the connective tissue that enables us (Active Duty, Reserve, Guard, Officer, Enlisted, Civilian, Retired, Civil Air Patrol, students, cadets, and family members) to become "Airmen for Life." 
 
General Jimmy Doolittle built AFA in 1946 in order to "keep the gang together" in fear that they would lose touch after World War II, encouraging these Airmen to stay connected to their Air Force roots for life. Even though today's Air Force has changed drastically since WWII, one fact remains unchanged: American Airmen fight for a common mission to promote aerospace power for our nation. This is a mission that will not falter and will not fail. AFA calls on all Airmen to maintain their bond to this mission. Become an "Airmen for Life" today.
 
Help AFA create a logo that exemplifies the "Airmen for Life" culture.  The contest will run from Jan. 17 - Feb. 17, 2017.The winning logo will be unveiled at AFA' Air Warfare Symposium on March 2, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.  The winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card. Additional details on contest requirements can be found here

2017 Scholarships
The 2017 Air Force Association Scholarships are open! See the details about each of the scholarships
here on our website.  Please help promote AFA scholarships throughout your Air Force community!  If you have any questions please contact, 
Whitney Distaso at
.
 
Aerospace Education Council Update 
The New Year is off to a great start with many opportunities to recognize outstanding people and to educate and advocate for the Air Force right around the corner. To read General Bundy's AEC update, please click here
Aerospace Education School Window Decals and Certificates 
The new AFA Aerospace Education School window decals and accompanying certificate are available for you to recognize the schools in your area that have AFA programs.  Please contact field@afa.org to acquire your decals. To download the accompanying certificate, please click here. You can also find this certificate on the Field Leaders Homepage of the AFA website under the Aerospace Education Schools section. You can purchase blank certificates at your local office supply stores to print the certificate template on. Once you have the decal and certificate, present them to the school, perhaps at a faculty or PTA meeting, and recognize the teacher and/or program for which the school has become an AFA Aerospace Education School. 
Barnes&Noble Locations to Purchase Air Force Magazines 
Please click here to find out about the various Barnes&Noble locations where you can purchase the Air Force Magazine. 
Training Subcommittee Update
This month's training theme is recruiting and retaining members and leaders. Recruiting new members, and then retaining them, gives chapter leaders the chance to recruit, develop, and retain new leaders. Both are must-do activities in order to maintain a healthy chapter.

Part 3 of the series on recruiting new chapter members teaches you how to build a recruiting plan to focus your recruiting efforts so they're most effective. This module is meant for all chapter officers, plus State and Region Presidents, Leadership Development VPs, and State Vice Presidents.

Part 3 of the series on recruiting, developing, and retaining chapter leaders focuses on retaining those leaders. Keeping them, after you've spent all that time and effort recruiting them into the chapter and then into a leadership position, is vital. Otherwise you're just wasting all of that work. This module teaches you how to succeed at keeping your new leaders motivated and engaged. It's for Chapter Presidents, Vice Presidents, and VPs for Membership and Leadership Development, plus State and Region Presidents and Leadership Development VPs, since they can provide guidance and support to their chapter counterparts.

Finally, I know it's only February, but April will be here before we know it, and that will mean quarterly reports for the first quarter of 2017. Fortunately, it looks like the QAR form for 2017 will be essentially unchanged from the 2016 form, so, like the 2017 AAP video, the 2017 QAR module will just touch on any important changes and otherwise use the 2016 material.
Government Relations Update 
The U.S. Air Force is our nation's first responder around the globe, however, it now has the smallest, oldest, and least ready force in its history. It operates an aging and increasingly costly force of refueling tankers over 50 years old; bombers, trainers and helicopters over 40; and fighters over 30 years old. The Air Force, in particular, has a growing strategy-resource mismatch--it is too small for its growing missions and too big for its budget. Since 1991, the end strength decreased by 38 percent and the force structure drew down from 8,600 to 5,500 aircraft. Their aircraft average 27 years old. They downsized from 134 to now only 55 fighter squadrons. The service needs 1,500 pilots and 3,400 maintainers and needs to grow to 350,000 active duty personnel to perform all their missions. In the meantime, America's potential adversaries are rapidly closing the technological superiority gap. The Air Force needs to grow its force and recapitalize its aging force structure to ensure continued core mission capabilities. Air and Space superiority are not American birthrights and need to be fought for and won.

The Air Force Association needs your help in our efforts to promote a dominate U.S. Air Force.

Questions?  Contact Keith Zuegel, Col (Ret), USAF, Senior Director, Government Relations at KZuegel@afa.org or call 703.247.5808.
StellarXplorers Update 
Top 30 teams advance to the Semi-Finals
After two competitive rounds of qualification, thirty teams have qualified for the semi-final competition.  The list of teams advancing in the competition can be found here.  These talented high school teams are vying for an invitation to the National Finals in Colorado during 5-9 April and the opportunity for scholarships from USAF STEM and United Launch Alliance, and to be crowned "National Champion."  Registration for STLX IV will open 1 May.  More information about this exciting STEM program can be found (here - stellarxplorers.org).
 
Questions?  Contact the StellarXplorers Program Office at stellarxplorers@afa.org or call 703.247.5800, ext 4899.
Field Spotlight
A new museum related to Rolls-Royce engines opened with a big event in Indianapolis on January 23.  
The museum aims to get adolescents interested in science and technology and may encourage future careers in aerospace. 
AFA Vice Chairman Gen. Dick Bundy and AFA 2016 National Teacher of the Year Greg Ennis attended the event. They helped to cut the ribbon for the opening and took a tour of the new museum, which is located in downtown Indianapolis. The Rolls-Royce sponsorship of the AFA Teacher of the Year program has been a huge highlight for AFA this year. We are so happy to have a sponsor that cares about STEM education as much as AFA does. We would like to give a huge thank you to Rolls-Royce for their support this year! 
Community Partner Spotlight      
Bennie's Barn, Inc. 
This month we highlight the Community Partner Bennie's Barn recruited by the Enid Chapter located in Oklahoma. Bennie's Barn is a therapeutic horseback riding establishment that allows students with physical, cognitive, emotional and/or developmental disabilities to develop physical strength, balance, control, self esteem, and self-confidence. Caring for the horses encourages an understanding and practice of good habits that are transferred to everyday life.  We would like to thank Bennie's Barn  for all they do and their support to AFA! To learn more about the program, click here .
Explore AFA on Social Media!