Col. David Borden, USAFR, led the revitalization efforts in May and June, with a successful icebreaker event on June 6. This was the first attempt at revitalizing Chapter 63 after the pandemic. Bolden said the success of the event was due to the preparation done by Maj. Chad Nickson, Master Sgt. Elizabeth Majors, and Master Sgt. Ben Mota. Tom Jennings, director of the Grissom Air Museum graciously allowed the chapter to host the event at their facility. Capt. Shannon Tribley (Treasurer) and Milan Tesanovich did a great job explaining the history of ROA and its benefits. Chapter 63 has regular meetings at Grissom Air Reserve Base, with base leadership participation.
The successful revitalization of both the Grissom Chapter (Indiana Chapter 63) and the Flying Viking Chapter in Minnesota can be directly attributed to activity on the bases during drill weekend.
“Both chapters are active and hold regular meetings,” said Scott Russell, chairman of ROA’s Department Chapter Development Committee (DCDC). “In both cases, they are busy on base and have the support of base leadership.”
Russell and the DCDC committee continue to help breathe new life into chapters and departments. ROA Director of Operations Trey Criner continues to provide support by going on the road engaging members and lending support.
Many departments and chapters have successfully supported Air Force Reserve Family Days, Army Reserve Resource Days, and DoD Yellow Ribbon events.
“Today, drilling reservists are about giving back to the community and providing service,” said Russell. “They are reaching out to Military Service Organizations (MSOs) and Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) to give back to the community they live and work in. This is why we came up with our ROA ’22 Days of Service’ campaign, and many drilling reservists are excited about it.”
For any chapters or departments that would like to participate in these events on a base nearby, contact the installation public affairs office. There are also tools available on the ROA Academy webpage to help make your event successful. Click here to access: ROA ACADEMY TOOLKIT.
Col. Gia Wilson-Mackey, USAF Flying Viking ROA Chapter President, manning a table at a recent Family Day at Grissom Air Reserve Base. She has been busy with the Flying Viking Chapter and her fellow ROA members were able to get to all the reserve squadrons on base and brief on ROA during the drill weekend. She is about to start the second round of this and is well on the way to revitalizing the chapter. Above photo, front row from left: Marilyn Chambers, and Col. Gia Wilson-McKay, Flying Viking ROA Chapter President; back row from left are Ann Jones, Paul and Anne Groskreutz.