June 2017
In This Issue
Wingman
Field Operations Update
This month we're finishing up the final touches for the process to pay your chapter's first increment of their 2017 Support Payments.  Once done, each active chapter will receive $0.50 per member based on the chapter's membership numbers as of 30 June.   In the future, chapters will be paid $0.50 per member twice a year.   Additionally, chapters will also receive any rebates that are due from chapter recruited members.  States will no longer receive separate allocations, they will receive a single payment of $0.25 per member also based on 30 June membership numbers.  Payments are estimated to be issued the 3rd week of July.

That's the easy part.

Here's where I need your Field Leadership.  I will not preach to you because there are many of you who are doing great things for our association every day.   Sadly, there are 25% of our Chapters that are not performing, not carrying out our mission to "Educate, Advocate and Support" ... that's 40 chapters that that are just on the books.

This month I have asked the Region Presidents to begin a "deep dive" of all their chapters that are not performing.  They in turn will need State and Chapter Presidents' assistance in identifying chapters that need to be closed or merged with others.   We need everyone's leadership as we go forward and you may need to make some hard decisions as to the future of these chapters.

We have had some successes this year with reviving dormant chapters and a few innovative mergers.   It's time for your leadership and ideas as to how we go forward.  The Field Operations Guide (FOG) lays out the process to close a chapter, but the FOG is just a guide.  We need to try and find leadership at some of these chapters.  Even if only one person is willing to step up at a dormant chapter maybe we can find a way to satellite them from another chapter.    Tennessee has a great success story this year of doing that.  Ohio is merging two chapters and a chapter in Florida at an Air Force Base is back because of the leadership of 4 Enlisted ANG members.   

As we head towards the final quarter of my first year as your VCoB-FO, I will continue to stress field leadership.  Fellow Airmen for Life, I believe that with all the issues we face today, and I mean all of them, if we exercise leadership at every level we will make the necessary and correct decisions.

My summer challenge to every field leader is to have a look at leadership development in your Region, States and Chapters.  Every organization needs to have a Leadership Development VP who is always looking ahead for the next leader and insuring your organizations are creating an environment where that future leader wants to lead!  If you already have someone doing that - great, if you're a small chapter and you need help let your State or Region President know you need help.   Call, text or e-mail me!   ( vcfield@afa.org / (540) 295-2774).

As field leaders we have many roles and are responsible to several constituencies.  One job we all have that never changes, is a responsibility to grow our AFA of tomorrow!  That means identifying, mentoring and training future leaders.  Ross Lampert and his Training Sub-Committee of our Field Council have developed a group of training modules hosted on the AFA webpage to assist you with your training efforts. Please use them!!! They cover a wide area of topics from how we are organized to ....wait for it....Leadership development. These training modules were developed by dedicated volunteers for dedicated volunteers as tools to make your life easier! Please have a look.

Final note on leadership, thanks for all the last minute Emerging Leader nominations, we have our work cut out for us in the next few weeks selecting a few from this amazing group.  Look for this announcement shortly.

I look forward to seeing many of you over the summer at your conventions and meetings as we prepare for our annual holy grail - our delegate convention where we, the heart and soul of this organization, come together and decide our own path for the future.

Thank you all for everything you do every day and all you will do as we move forward.  It is a pleasure to represent every one of you every day in our AFA!!

Mac MacAloon 
Vice Chairman, Field Operations
Airman for Life
2017 Slate of Candidates for National Office 
The Nominating Committee, under the leadership of Scott Van Cleef, met May 6th via Vidyo. See the full slate of candidates  here
2017 National Convention and Air, Space, & Cyber Conference Registration Now Open! 
The 2017 AFA National Convention will be held September 16-17 and the Air, Space & Cyber Conference and Technology Exposition will be September 18-20. Both will once again be held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. Read full details on delegate registration for the event here.
IT Update 
We have been working on Salesforce Association Management System product which will replace our legacy iMIS system. We are in User Acceptance Testing cycle of the project and our target is to go live is in late July. We moved the go live date from June to July so we can perform our membership and Field year end activities in iMIS without any delays.
 
As stated in our previous message, our first phase of the project is to launch Salesforce and stabilize the system. Users of the system for the first phase will only be National office. The second phase which will be to expand the functionality by providing Field leaders the ability to view their members' data online, pull customized reports on demand and update member records. We anticipate to start in late fall of this year. Our third phase will provide AFA chapters with chapter websites templates with the same design and theme as National AFA website in the first quarter of 2018. We will engage a handful of chapters to work with us in the design phase in fall of this year.
 
AFA's IT, Membership and Field teams are hard at work transitioning our outdated technology systems to include our Financial and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems along with our website. We hope to minimize any service interruptions during this transition and appreciate your support for any unanticipated delays. 

Falahyar Fatmi
Chief Information Officer (CIO) 
Aerospace Education Council Update 
Summer is upon us but we are not taking a break as we continue on our fast pace with a number of upcoming opportunities for chapters to stay involved or to become involved. Please click here to see some of the available opportunities as you plan your Aerospace Education activities for the upcoming year.
Commissaries and Barnes&Noble Locations to Purchase Air Force Magazines 
Please click here to find out about the various commissaries where you can purchase the Air Force Magazine. Please click here to find out about the various Barnes&Noble locations where you can purchase the Air Force Magazine
Guidance for Chapter Insurance and Incorporation 
Please click here to learn more about chapter liability insurance.
Training Subcommittee Update
BIG NEWS! AFA's contract with Brainshark runs out at the end of August, so starting soon, you'll see changes in where the training videos are hosted, how you get access to them, how you move around in some of them, and how you take the in-module surveys. The details are still being worked out, but I can give you an early look at a couple of things.
  • Access: The Training Modules box that is currently on the Field Leaders page will move to its own page. You can already see the new "Training Modules" item on the blue menu bar on the Field Leaders page. We're still working on the exact layout of this new page, but you should expect to see all of the current videos listed there, including some we've had to take down due to space limits in Brainshark. We expect  that you'll still be able to just click on a module's title and go right to it.
  • Content: In the past, we've had to combine some videos, like the AFA Organization series, into a single Brainshark module. In our new format, we expect to be able to break them out.
Watch for more information in next month's Newsline.  As for this month, there's only one module scheduled for you to view: Building Effective Base and Chapter Relationships . If you're a Chapter, State, or Region President, or a Chapter Vice President, or VP for Family Support, Government Relations, or Veterans Affairs, this video is especially for you.
A FA's eBay Page
AFA is selling merchandise on eBay. You can find USAF 70th Birthday t-shirts, the 2017 almanac, various art prints, and Airmen for Life merchandise. If you would like to check out the page, please click here.
Mitchell Update
Upcoming Mitchell Institute Events:
 
June 16: Space Budget Forum with opening remarks from SECAF Heather Wilson
June 20: Space Breakfast with Gen John Hyten, US Strategic Command
June 22: "State of Electronic Warfare in the DOD" with Dr. William Conley, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
June 27: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Lt Gen Henry "Trey" Obering, Booze Allen Hamilton
June 28: Study Release- "Consolidating the Revolution: Optimizing the Potential of Remotely Piloted Aircraft" by: Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.); opening remarks from Sen John Boozman (AR)
June 28: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Rebeccah Heinrichs, Hudson Institute and Frank Rose, Atlantic Council
July 10: "The Future of Air Superiority" by: Brig Gen Grynkewich
July 13: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Brad Roberts, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
July 20: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Ambassador Ron Lehman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
July 25: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Senator Joe Donnelly (IN)
July 28: Nuclear Deterrence Breakfast with Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-3)
 
Mitchell Institute Releases New Forum Paper: Reclaiming the Initiative
 
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce the release of its latest Mitchell Forum paper, Reclaiming the Initiative: Organizing the Air Force for Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power, by Col Tom Ruby, USAF (Ret.). Ruby, a veteran intelligence officer and former chief of ISR doctrine, believes the US Air Force should act now to reorient its organization and structure to better prepare for the wars of the future, or risk becoming outmoded. He suggests the service should embrace sweeping reform of its fundamental structures-its major commands (MAJCOMs), which are the entities responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the service's forces, from satellite operations to combat aircraft.
 
Please click here to view the press release. 
Government Relations Update
We are coordinating through the State and Region Presidents on the 'Air Force Association's Top Issues - 2018' document.  Over three rounds of review, we will consolidate inputs and refine the top issues that AFA should address in 2018.  AFA's Board and delegates will review and approve the priorities in September at our annual Convention.  We hope to have the first round's inputs no later than 10 Jul 2017.
 
Watch for another 'AFA Legislative Update' coming out over the next week.
 
This month's ADVOCACY MESSAGE:
 
Since 2010, the world has grown more dangerous and volatile. Yet t he Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 left the Air Force with artificial budget caps. This weakens the force by reducing its readiness, cuts needed research and development of advanced technologies, and delays the acquisition of new weaponry. To do what is asked of it, the military needs an increase in the defense budget cap. The Air Force, in particular needs stable and predictable (Regular Order) spending bills, at sufficient levels, necessary for the Total Force to grow their force, modernize their bases, and recapitalize aging weapon systems.

KEY DATES TO WATCH
Jun 28:           House Armed Services Committee Mark-Up of FY 2018 NDAA
Jul 11:            AFA Capitol Hill Breakfast with ACC Commander General Holmes
Jul 26:            AFA Capitol Hill Breakfast with CSAF General Goldfein
Sep 18-20:     AFA's Air, Space, & Cyber Conference, Washington, DC
Sep 30:          Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017) Ends
Oct 1:             Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018) Begins
CyberPatriot Update
CyberPatriot X Registration is booming
 
Over 1,500 teams have already registered for CyberPatriot X! Register before July 1 to get a 20% discount on the registration fee! Want to know what teams in your area are signed up to compete? Check out our registration map!
Registration for CyberPatriot X will continue through October 4, 2017.
 
2017 AFA CyberCamps have officially begun
 
June 5th kicked off the first of the 2017 AFA CyberCamps! Over the next two months, 160 individual CyberCamps will take place at 106 host locations across the country. Among camp hosts are CyberPatriot sponsors Northrop Grumman, AT&T, and Cisco. For a full list of camps, please click here
 
For questions regarding AFA CyberCamps, please contact Emily at AFACyberCamps@uscyberpatriot.org.

AFA Breakfast Series 
AFA was joined by The Honorable Heather Wilson as the speaker for the inaugural Capitol Hill Edition of the AFA Breakfast Series on June 5th at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C. Secretary Wilson discussed her top priorities as the 24th Secretary of the Air Force as well as issues facing the Air Force including modernization, the B-21 bomber program, space, cyber, technology and innovation. Learn more about the AFA Breakfast Series Capitol Hill Edition,  here.

Upcoming AFA Breakfast Schedule
July 11: Gen James M. "Mike" Holmes, Commander, Air Combat Command
July 26: Gen David Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
 
Thank You to Our Sponsors
A special thanks to our AFA Breakfast Series sponsors: General Dynamics, Harris Corp., Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, and Pratt & Whitney.

The Breakfast Series is an excellent opportunity for sponsors to meet, greet and listen to senior Air Force decision makers. Unique sponsorship opportunities are available for these events. If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Fred Ullman at fullman@afa.org or 703-247-5842.
Wounded Airmen Cycling Challenge 2017 
AFA held its first annual Wounded Airmen Cycling Challenge on May 20th in an effort to raise funds toward AFA's Wounded Airmen and Family Programs. The challenge took place at CycleBar, an indoor cycling studio, in Arlington, Va. Early on, AFA set a goal to raise $50,000 in direct support of our wounded Airmen. AFA was thrilled to announce that over $56,000 was raised thanks to our generous donors, sponsors, and riders who wanted to show their love for our Air Force and Airmen. Click here for the full update.

Field Spotlight 
We would like to give a special thank you to the deployed Airmen that rode for the Wounded Airmen Program in Niger from May 1 - May 29th. They have currently raised $3.1K with a goal of 5K. If you would like to donate please click here

Read the full article about their ride here and to view a video about the experience, click here.  

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