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Hello and welcome to the official website of the Montana National Guard Association. I know you will find this site useful and informative, and I hope you take the opportunity to visit it often, to stay informed on all of the happenings, issues and developments of our Association. One of the biggest challenges is quick and effective communication with you the member. We believe this internet website is a great, responsive solution to that challenge, so again, we invite you to use this site as often as possible or necessary.
As the elected Chairman of the Association, it is my sincere hope that we can achieve a number of ambitious goals, and introduce the next season of effective leadership and representation for all members of the Montana National Guard.
Our first goal remains that of educating all Montana National Guard Officers, Air and Army, about the MTNGA. This is to include the clear understanding that we are an Association that represents not just our membership, but all Montana National Guard Officers, their family and career interests, whether members or not. We accept this charter with the sincere hope that all of our officers will come aboard and work together with us.
Secondly, we aim to increase not only the Junior Officer and Retired Officer membership, but also their active representation and involvement in board and committee activities and leadership roles. COL Joel Cusker (Vice Chairman), the entire Board of Directors, and I sincerely invite you to step forward and visit with one of us personally, if you have an idea or interest in becoming involved.
Thirdly, we want to build on the great success of the Corporate Membership Program. Please help us do this by reaching out to new Corporate Members. We have barely scratched the surface of this exciting partnership with the Business and Corporate patriots of Montana and America. These important partners have sponsored young officers to the National Conferences each year, they have supported our State Conferences, and continually contribute to our veterans and family programs.
NGAUS is the tool we use to convey our message at the national level, in Washington D.C. The MTNGA is part of NGAUS, and together are an incredibly strong organization and voice on Capitol Hill, fighting to promote the development and execution of a relevant force structure for the National Guard. NGAUS is also the tool we use to ensure that the interests of our membership and their families are represented.
In Montana, we have enjoyed many successes in past legislative seasons with many solid bills that made life better for our men and women in uniform. We have an agrressive agenda for the next legislative session. If you have something you would like to add to our agenda please contact myself or any member of our Board and bring your legislative item forward.
I hope this helps illustrate why your membership and participation are so important, and so worth the investment. Your membership dues provide a valuable resource necessary to sustain the fight. That is one reason we feel it is so important for every officer in the state to join the MTNGA, but also as an officer and a professional every one of us should be very concerned about the issues and initiatives that impact the National Guard. This Association is the strongest ally to ensure we continue to be a relevant part of the Total Force, and ready and available as a state resource to the Governor and the people of Montana.
We need your help and welcome your membership. We also want to invite you to play a more active role in the variety of MTNGA duties and activities. We want and need your ideas, and we also need to know what we can do to improve the Association and make it more effective.
Thank you in advance for your great help and active support!
Lt Col Buel Dickson
Chairman, MTNGA