Intruder Association Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and After Action Report

The 2005 Intruder Association (IA) Board of Directors (BoD) meeting was held 21 April 2005 in San Diego, CA.

In attendance were:
Charlie Carr, Chairman of the Board
Rupe Owens, President
Bo Boswell, Vice President
Bill Westerman, East Coast Representative
Larry Yarham, West Coast Representative
Steve Dumovich, Webmaster
Steve McCaslin, Secretary and Treasurer (via phone)
Clyde Cain, Membership Director
Bruce Byrum, USMC Officer Representative

The meeting started at 0900 in the Captains III conference room at the Holiday Inn on the Bay in San Diego, CA. Charlie Carr kicked the meeting off with a very brief welcome and guidance.

1. By-law review and Officer Requirements. The first topic of discussion was the IA by-law review by Bill Westerman. When first drafted a tremendous amount of effort and good, hard work went into the creation of the original set of by-laws with special appreciation given to Herb Kinney, the primary author of same. However, over the years the IA has morphed into a bigger and more dynamic organization. Many changes were proposed to more accurately reflect the way the IA is conducting business and to ensure we are able to do business in accordance with the by-laws. The proposed changes will be reviewed one more time by the BoD and submitted to the membership by 17 May 2005 for approval.

The BoD then discussed Officer Requirements. With the recent resignation of John Schork as President, Mike Bryan as Webmaster and Denny Westhoff as Maintenance Officer the IA needed to fill the vacancies. The board appointed Rupe Owens as President, with Bo Boswell remaining as VP. In accordance with our by-laws, the President will appoint a nominating committee to identify a full slate of Officers and Board members to be voted on by the membership in July 2005. The slate will assume duties 01 August 2005. Stay tuned for more details.

2. Membership update. Clyde Cain briefed the Board on the current membership status. The IA currently has 874 active members. We have put out an extensive effort to locate those members on the inactive list and to get the word out to the A-6 community that do not know that we (the IA) exist or that have not joined yet. At present, all membership dues are set for an October renewal each year (or every 2 to 3 years based on how many years the member signed up for). We are moving to a new Internet Service Provider (ISP) to update and maintain our website. Members will also be able to update their personal information via the web too. This will allow the membership the ability to let us know of changes in your status more efficiently.

In an effort to find former A6 folks the BoD has approved a modest advertising campaign in MCAA, Tail Hook, Navy League, Naval Aviation Museum Publications, Navy Times and other pertinent publications likely to reach our Intruder shipmates.

The Board also approved the ability to have Associate Memberships. Associate Members are supporters that don’t meet the normal membership requirements but have an interest in being part of the IA. Associate Members MUST be nominated by a current member and that application will be sent the BoD for approval.

3. Tax exempt status. Bill Westerman led a discussion on migrating from our regular non-profit status to a tax exempt 501 (C) (19) association. This would allow us to manage our funding of scholarships, the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum effort and other like type initiatives as they arise with more control. The BoD voted and approved the move and Bill Westerman will provide the Board with a report by 12 May.

4. Website update. Steve McCaslin briefed the BoD on the search for a new ISP to take over the day to day maintenance of our website. Fred House did a fantastic job putting the current website together. After his death we have not been able to find a volunteer with the time and expertise Fred had to continue managing the website as it exists today. In addition, there is much more technology out there to make our website even more useful for the BoD, Officers and membership. It is the vision of the BoD to make the website the MAIN conduit of information for the IA. To do so we need to have it professionally managed.

The Board has approved the selection of Hard Corps, Inc. out of Arlington, VA to provide update and maintenance of the IA website. Among the many features that will be available to us (in addition to being professionally managed) will be a bulletin board function for the BoD and Officers to communicate, a quantum increase in personal information security, the ability for members to manage their personal information, credit card payment via the website (we may keep PayPal too), individual login and passwords with an automatic recovery feature, a new look to the flight schedule, an auto archiving function with access to the archives as desired, better security for online transactions and many, many others that are too numerous to mention. The cost for this migration and implementation of the additional capabilities will be $6500 for the first year. We will have the option of reducing the annual cost after the first year by assuming portions of the updating and maintenance of the site with an IA member.

We will discuss the migration with Hard Corps, Inc. and determine the timeline for the move. These milestones will be communicated with the membership as information becomes available.

5. Treasurers Report. Steve McCaslin briefed the state of the IA’s finances. We are very solvent with about $26K on balance. This solvency will allow us to invest in the things necessary to make the IA more effective for and responsive to the membership. Based on the current membership and the assumption that it would remain static (although there will be growth year to year), the IA should never see a year where we operate in a deficit (based on that year’s revenue less the anticipated fixed and variable expenses). The BoD is committed to fiscal solvency and responsibility.

6. TH Mini-Reunion / 2006 Reunion. A general discussion was held and it was decided to have a mini-reunion at Tailhook this year. There will be no formal activities except a breakfast one of the mornings. Details for this are pending.

The next Intruder Association National Reunion is being planned for 2006 in Virginia Beach, VA. More details to follow. We are looking for VA Beach members to take the conn on some of the arrangements necessary.

7. San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum (issues). Larry Yarham and Pete Young presented the USS Midway Intruder Ready Room "Preserving the Intruder Story" briefing. The mission statement of the Midway is "To collect, preserve, and display the heritage of US Aircraft Carrier Aviation" and the vision for the Intruder Ready Room is perfectly aligned to this mission. The goal for the Intruder Ready Room is to create a lasting memorial for the many sacrifices made by the members of our community - the men and women who built, maintained, supported and flew the A-6.

The Intruder Ready Room will cover both Navy and Marine Carrier Aviation and will replicate many of the features of an operational ready room, including RR chairs, PLAT, WX TV, Greenie Board, SDO desk, manikins briefing, etc. In addition it will have A-6E memorabilia and artifacts. Each Navy and Marine squadron will be represented as will a tribute to crew lost to the A-6 mission. Audio/visual kiosks are planned with a number of selectable presentations available. Kiosk presentation nominations include A-6 pictures, cruise movies, tribute to MIA's, KIA's, POW's, medal awardees, the wars the A-6 participated in and portions of The Flight of the Intruder, etc. Other displays could include an ejection seat, tail hook, windshield, in-flight refueling probe, etc

The brief provided a summary of donations, now over $30,000 including the Northrop Grumman $10,000 donation. Discussion also included the funding of squadron, symbolic painting the restored A-6 on Midway's flight deck.

The second portion of the Intruder Ready Room brief was a presentation by Lisa Grider of Graham-Pelton Consulting, Inc, a professional fund raising agency. The presentation was very informative and educated board members on the strategies and scenarios of professional fund raising. The idea of engaging Graham-Pelton to raise funds for the Intruder Ready Room was discussed during the USS Midway tour and the Holiday Inn Happy Hour that followed. General discussion has not ruled out the use of G-P's services.

8. USS Midway tour. Members journeyed to the USS Midway for a look-see at the beautifully restored A-6 on the flight deck and a tour of Ready Room 5, which was once the VA-185 ready room and later VA-115 ready room. The Midway aircraft ordinance curator briefed the upcoming plan to load the A-6 with 28 MK-82 slicks and agreed with the suggestion of staging two crewmembers in the cockpit in full flight gear. During the tour of the Intruder Ready Room (ready 5), RADM (ret) and SDACM CEO Mac McLaughlin joined up and provided insight into future Midway plans, endorsed the basic strategy planned for ready 5 and provided insight into the success of Midway. Mac McLaughlin also gave a thumbs up to making the VA-115 gear locker room available for display of manikins donning flight gear and preparing for the next launch. The briefings and tour provided board members a much better understanding of the overall Intruder Ready Room program, effort and the extent the Intruder Ready Room will be as a tribute to all Intruders.

9. Other business items. The BoD has approved purchasing a floral wreath for the memorial service/funeral of regular IA members. After much discussion on what to do for A-6 comrades that are not members the BoD has decided not to purchase a wreath for non-members or member’s spouses. Although the BoD wants keep the faith with all of the A-6 community we feel our first priority is to our membership.

To the best extent possible, we will notify the membership of any IA member or other Intruder brethren that passes on. We encourage the help of the membership to let us know when one of our brethren passes on.

Also, BoD has formalized our tradition of providing a Lifetime Associate Membership, free of charge, to the spouse of any IA member that passes on.

The BoD and Officers are very excited and energized. We see the need to make the IA an organization that all members of the A-6 community will want to be part of and also benefit by being a member. We are always looking for volunteers from the membership to take an active role in our association so please let us know if/how you would like to participate.

The meeting was adjourned at 1600. The BoD and several local IA members met for a Happy Hour at the Holiday Inn followed by dinner at the Fish Market.