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Ohio Military Reserve Association Activities at Annual Training 2009
Posted by: ohmra on Friday, October 16, 2009 - 04:04 PM
To: All Ohio Military Reserve Association Members

From: Roger Lee Patrick, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer

Date: 29 September 2009

Re: Ohio Military Reserve Association Activities at Annual Training 2009

I am pleased to report that another successful AT has come to an end. One of the many benefits of serving in my capacity as your Secretary-Treasurer is the ability to meet and talk with each of you while at the association’s table during lunch each day and at the after dinner social event on Thursday night of AT. This year I was unable to attend the social on Thursday due to my attendance at mandatory training each evening in Delaware, Ohio. My dual commitments made for a difficult balance between my certification requirements with the state and my duties as an officer in the Ohio Military Reserve, however, the challenges have been met.

As annual training ends, the planning for the OHMRA Annual Meeting begins and Association President Ken Ringold and the rest of the board are looking at potential dates, places and activities to make your association meeting in Spring 2010 worthwhile. This is the perfect time for you as members, who are interested in stepping up and taking on the challenges of becoming an officer of this great association, to start thinking about running for office. All offices will be up for election by majority vote of those in attendance at the annual meeting. The offices open for election are President, 1st Vice-President, 2nd Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer.

Other non elected positions that need to be filled are Legislative Liaison and Chaplain. These are made by appointment of the incoming President upon taking office. The incoming President may also appoint an advisory board if he feels necessary to assist him in matters such as membership, etc.

At annual training this year, we signed up 21 NEW members and obtained approximately 22 renewals. We are currently at 135 Active Members, which is not bad and represents app. 25% of the total OHMR service members. However, as your voice, the association would like to have each member of the OHMR both Active and Retired, as well as those on the Individual Ready Reserve and MOBDES status, enrolled as members. There is something to be said about strength in numbers.

The common question that I get is “What do I get out of being a member and what does the association do ?”. Well, as I stated before, we serve as your voice in promoting what the Ohio Military Reserve is and what core values our soldiers value. In doing so, this year President Ringold and other members reached out to the legislative body of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and asked them to come to AT and see firsthand what Ohio’s finest volunteer military members do on a routine basis. I am proud to say that at least 3 members did attend and walk around to see what you do and some made time to talk to soldiers individually. This is important for us because as you may know, our small budget was cut further because of budget constraints at the state level. The Ohio Military Reserve will be able to move forward even further if the legislature has a core of its Representatives and Senators fighting to provide for us more in the budget. The Legislative Commission that was conducted a couple of years ago was a good start to the transformation we are seeing today.

The association also benefits its members through fundraising and providing grants for the benefit of all members. Some past projects that were done by the association through the work of its members were:

· Accepting donations for the purpose of buying Search and Rescue Equipment for the 5th Brigade in 2008.
· Making a matching grant to the G3 section for the purpose of buying shoulder cords to be presented to soldiers passing the MOSQ skills test at AT 2008.
· Sponsoring the Social Event held at the end of Annual Training, each year, after the AT Dining In.
· Assisting in providing the entertainment for the Annual Dining In
· Creation of a Challenge Coin, specific to the Ohio Military Reserve, for purchase by members to show pride in their service to the State of Ohio.

There are probably some projects that I failed to mention, but I just wanted to illustrate a few. Our financial position is improving but we are nowhere near the position that a organization of our size and purpose needs to be at. One of the main things that I constantly focus on is ways in which we can improve our financial position. If you have a fundraising idea, then please let me know. Some suggestions were provided at AT and the board is going to review them to see which ones will be feasible for us based on the number of persons who are readily available and willing to help in each project in light of time constraints and resources needed.

Again, it is my pleasure to serve as you Secretary-Treasurer for this second straight year. The quarterly financial report will be submitted to the Board during the first half of October as this quarter closes September 30th. Any member that wants a copy for their review may request a copy from my by sending your request to : 2950 Voeller Circle, Grove City, Ohio 43123 or e-mail your request to me at RPatrickLaw@columbus.rr.com

Fraternally,

Roger Lee Patrick, Jr.
Secretary-Treasurer
Ohio Military Reserve Association