April 15, 2024
Dear Chapter Leaders:
April is here and chapters across the U.S. Army Warrant Officers Association (USAWOA) are busy with springtime events, fundraisers, and scholarship initiatives. All these events and more are crucial to the sustainment of our chapters as well as developing and fostering new members and camaraderie across our vast warrant officer network. Simultaneously, this means that many of members are dedicating and volunteering additional time and resources to help lead and manage these events, a fact often overlooked by those simply participating.
In the April 2024 edition of our NEWSLINER magazine, CW4(Ret) Pete Hill, Past National President, and chairperson of the USAWOA awards committee, authored an article about the national awards program. USAWOA awards are the association’s primary means of recognizing the efforts and accomplishments of our members. I highly encourage chapter leaders to nominate their members to reward and showcase the efforts they are making. If you haven’t yet read the article, I encourage everyone to do so. It can be downloaded from the member portal (https://usawoa.site-ym.com/default.aspx).
The USAWOA Award for Excellence (AFE) is the primary award used to recognize the efforts and accomplishments of our members. Using the format and guidance provided in USAWOA Manual 500-1 https://docs.usawoa.org/awards/awards.html, chapter presidents can award the bronze level AFE for a chapter member’s outstanding contributions at the chapter level. Those members with outstanding contributions within their region may be awarded the silver AFE by the Region Director. Finally, those members having an impact on USAWOA at the national level may be recommended for the gold level AFE, with the endorsement of the Region Director. In all cases, the decision to recommend someone for the AFE should consider the scope and impact of the service to USAWOA, Chapter, Region, the WO Cohort and the Army. I encourage all chapter presidents to work with their respective Region Director and when appropriate, recommend your members for an appropriate AFE.
I would also like to stress the importance of all chapters submitting timely and accurate monthly and/or quarterly minutes to your Region Director and national headquarters. Not only are the minutes the primary means for chapters to receive their quarterly rebates, but more importantly, they are key to identifying chapters and members deserving of awards at our Annual Meeting of the Members (AMM). As outlined in CW4(Ret) Hill’s article, the USAWOA awards period runs annually from 1 July to 30 June. In mid-July, the USAWOA Awards Committee will meet to review all chapter minutes and determine winners of the following awards:
Outstanding Warrant Officer Recruiter
Overall Best Region for Recruiting and Retention
Overall Best Chapter for Recruiting and Retention
Highest Recruiting Award
Best Retention Award
Best Recruiting Award
Community Affairs Award for Donations
Community Affairs Award for Service
Community Affairs Award for Sustaining Programs
Best Professional Development Program
Best Social Media Site
Secretary of the Year
USAWOA also has four National Level awards presented at the AMM to recognize the Warrant Officer of the Year, Spouse of the Year, the National President’s Award, and the Don Hess Lifetime Achievement Award. Each national award recognizes outstanding dedication and service to the Army and USAWOA and special recognition to those that support USAWOA goals. Like the chapter minutes, the awards nomination period runs through 30 June 2024. I highly encourage our chapter presidents to give serious consideration to those members who made an impact and to formally nominate them for one of our national awards.
Also, I want to remind everyone that the deadline for submitting applications for the USAWOA Scholarship Foundation is 30 May 2024. Applications will be accepted from the children (natural and adopted), grandchildren, and dependent children of members in good standing in USAWOA. A selection board makes decisions based on the whole-person concept and the Scholarship Foundation will award $1,500.00 scholarships and $500.00 book scholarships. Application instructions can be found on the USAWOA scholarship page USAWOA Scholarship Foundation.
Finally, for the first time ever, the USAWOA 52nd AMM will be held in the vibrant and historic city of Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta Marriott and Convention Center. The Masters Chapter established a 52nd AMM webpage (https://amm.usawoa.org) where you can view the draft business agenda and coming soon, registration forms for the AMM and the WO Ball. They’ve also secured a favorable lodging rate of $117/night so reserve your hotel room now at https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1710158400462&key=GRP.
On behalf of all the USAWOA leadership, I thank all of you for continuing to lead efforts at the chapter level to not only sustain but grow our association. Working together with your Region Directors, we continue to make USAWOA a professional organization that lives the motto, “Warrant Officers taking care of Warrant Officers.”
Sincerely,
CW5 Michael D. Dye
National President
“The Quiet Professionals ®”
