Fellow chapter members, as we get back to “normal times” after the COVID pandemic, I want to reflect on MOAA and its mission, share what we have already accomplished this past year, and our plans for reinvigorating our chapter in the coming year.

First, let me remind everyone that MOAA is a professional association of United States military officers with a total membership is about 350,000. It is a nonprofit organization that advocates for a strong national defense, but is politically nonpartisan. The association supports government policies that benefit military members and their families. Its mission is to preserve and protect earned benefits of our uniformed services, veterans, their families, and surviving spouses through advocacy, leadership, education, and service.

Membership is open to active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, and former commissioned officers and warrant officers and their surviving spouses of the following uniformed services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Our Chapter currently has about 400 active members of which more than half are Chapter Life Members and we have added six new Chapter Life Members this past year.

As you may know, we have joined efforts with the Southern Colorado Retiree Assistance Office (RAO).  The RAO is an Air Force organization that exists to serve the 35,000 military retirees and surviving spouses of all services within the greater El Paso County area. Each year the RAO hosts a Retiree Appreciation Day for our military retirees and, this year, the event will be held in the fall at the Peterson SFB (Details TBD).  Our chapter has committed to support this event as well as the eleven JROTC detachments in our area and this year we will re-establish a relationship with the two ROTC units at UCCS.

As another way of recruiting, we have joined with Mt Carmel and are looking forward to conducting the first of many podcasts that will show what our Chapter and MOAA National can do for its members and the community. It will be a great springboard to get MOAA out in front of the public and, in particular, active and retired officers.

I am looking forward to continuing to expand chapter activities as membership interest and support grows.  I am looking forward to seeing younger inspiring officers and their spouses attend our events and help protect their hard-earned resources.

While we have filled several positions, the chapter is still in need of  individuals to fill the Surviving Spouse and Career Transition positions. Please contact one of our officers if you can help with either of these or any other position to relieve some of the burden from our current officers who have shouldered the majority of the work in getting our chapter “up and running again” and have done a truly masterful job!

I hope to see many of you at a future event and I’m always interested in hearing your ideas for making our chapter even better.  God bless.

Steve Lucks, PPCMOAA President