GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

17 April 2008

Call to Order: Chief George Moses, President, called the April meeting to order at 0700 in the Lion's Gate Fireside Room. Chiefs in attendance were Brooks, Carter, Carvelli, Dambacher, Hegelein, Kearns, Konsesky, Maddux, Moses, Stewart, Sullivan, Wentz and Willaman.

Approval of March minutes: Minutes for the March 2008 meeting were distributed to the members and approved as written.

So Ya Wanna be the Chief: Chief Moses passed a flyer around showing a book written by a Chief Master Sergeant on being a Chief. We ordered 1 book for our Chief's Gp.

ID Card Changes: Chief Moses informed the members that only the last four of your SSAN will be on Military ID Cards and they hope to have the change over completed by the end of year 2010. There will be more news forthcoming on when and where you can get your ID Card changed.

Delta Breeze Membership Nite: Membership Nite will be on the 30th of April at the Club for all members at 5:00 PM.

Update on Chief's Nite Out: The Chief's Nite Out is on April 19th at 5:30 PM at Serritella's Italian Restaurant on Fair Oaks Blvd.

NCOA Update: Chief Sullivan briefed the following NCOA items:
- NCOA Convention will be held at the Nugget in Las Vegas 15-17 Jul 2008.
- JR ROTC Certificates and Medal in May 2008 (9 or 10).
- DVA Welcome Home Program at Mather VA, 3 May 2008.
- AFA Awards and Scholarship Banquet May 1, 2008 6:30 PM at the Garden Pavilion.
- VA Memorial at Mather is still selling Bricks.
- The election of Officers in NCOA will be at the May Meeting.
- Chief Sullivan made a Motion and was carried to donate $100 to the Folsom Marine Corp League for the Fallen Warrior Freedom Memorial.

VFW Update: Chief Stewart informed the Group:
- That there will be an election meeting on 17 Apr 2008 for
election of Officers at 7 PM.
- VFW is again sponsoring the North Highlands Memorial Day Parade in May 2008.
- AFSA Steak Night on the 25th of April at the VFW Post 4647, North Highlands. From 6PM to 8PM

Membership Comments:

- Chief Moses: Master Chief Lawrence, Coast Guard will be retiring on 20 Jun. Chief
Barrow, ANG will be retiring in May 2008.
- Gathering of the Chief's will be on June 14, 2008 at Beale AFB, CA.

Adjournment: The Meeting was adjourned at 0755

///Signed///
George Moses, CMSgt USAF
President, McClellan Chiefs Group

To just about everyone at Sacramento Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic at the former McClellan Air Force Base, George Moses is still "Chief".

"Chief is still my first name," Moses said with a smile. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1985 after 34 years, with the rank of chief master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the Air Force. Now 72, he has yet to quit serving.

For about 40 hours each week, Moses is director of the Retiree Activities Office on the first floor of the clinic. There, he and other volunteers help the families of veterans navigate their way through a sometimes dizzying process of paperwork and chain of command.

"A lot of people come here, most of them widows, and they don't have any knowledge about the process," Moses said. "They've never heard of a DD Form 214 (discharge papers), which is the first thing we need."

Moses joined the Air Force in 1950 after graduating from high school in New Britain, Conn. He was the senior enlisted adviser at several Air Force bases, including nearly eight years at McClellan, before he retired from active duty.

He and his wife, Rose, settled in Antelope. They have five grown children. Moses spent about 10 years as an account representative for Metropolitan Life. But military life still held an appeal to him and he sought a way to help at McClellan.

The need was obvious, Moses said. The Sacramento region is home to an estimated 144,000 military retirees and their families, the second-largest concentration in the nation.

"I feel the more good you do for other people, the more good comes back to you, " Moses said.

The problems he and his volunteers deal with on a daily basis cover a wide range. Last week, a Marine on his way to Iraq stopped in to get a commissary pass for his mother so she could take her grandson shopping while his father is away.

"He's not a retiree, but it doesn't make sense to send him all the way to Beale or Travis for something we do every day," Moses said.

Moses said the best part about his work are the 16 volunteers who work for him. They include Ines and Nelda Gonzales of North Highlands, who never served in the military but saw the office as a good opportunity to show support.

"There is no better boss," Nelda Gonzales said of Moses.

Moses said a surprising number of veterans and their families don't know about the services his office provides.

"Last week, I had a woman come in, her husband had just passed, but he told her if she ever had a problem to go to McClellan," Moses said. "She didn't even know that McClellan closed three years ago."

Moses has no plans to leave his volunteer post.

"The pay is good," he quipped.

Article by Sacramento Bee/Ralph Montano
Photo by Sacramento Bee/Sara Andrea Fajardo