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Our Gabriel Chapter is blessed with a talented team of Executive Committee volunteers including Captain DeWitt Latimer (Vice-President), Fred Knowles (Treasurer), Steve Johnson (Secretary) and General Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, USAF (Retired), our Gabriel Chapter President Emeritus. We also have outstanding Senior Advisors in Greg Harrison (Booz Allen Hamilton) and Tom O'Beirne (SAIC) that provide corporate level perspective and guidance. Additionally the chapter formed a group of strong activity leads and teams to develop and execute the key activities over the next years. All of these volunteers are essential to our chapter providing value to our membership and the AFA organization.

Our 2009 activities are organized around five activity teams:

1. Salutes & Military Affairs -- Provide support to the Air Force and Joint military organizations in our AOR. Plan and conduct the Salute to Space: SAF/US and Salute to Space: NRO. Each gala event provides a first-class venue to showcase the annual award winners from each organization. Sponsorship support from our loyal industry partners provides the resources to conduct the Salute program. Support the Wounded Warrior outreach program and sponsor injured military and family members from all US services to attend a professional sports event. Continue expanding support for the Chantilly Academy Junior ROTC Detachment and Leesburg Civil Air Patrol (CAP) detachment through mentoring and assistance.

2. Education & Teacher of the Year -- Improve the educational opportunities for students in our AOR. Work to expand the mentoring relationship between the NRO professionals and the Chantilly Academy Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program. Encourage completion of education by providing a $500 scholarship funding to the top NRO graduate from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) two-year associate's degree. Participate in the Aerospace Education Foundation (AEF) annual Teacher of the Year competition to recognize exceptional math and science teachers at local schools.

3. Chapter Lunches & VA State AFA support -- Nurture the professional growth of our military, government civilian and contractor members through quarterly luncheons and other speaker forums; encourage participation in activities that support the military organizations in our AOR; and offer professional networking opportunities.

4. Membership and Community Partners -- Strengthen our chapter and AFA to provide better value to our members and Air Force constituency. Actively recruit the people who will form the next generation of aerospace professionals to join AFA and the Gabriel Chapter. Actively identify and solicit community partners to share the support for the military organizations and companies in our AOR.

5. Chapter Communications -- Strengthen our ability to communicate with our membership, community and Air Force constituency. Develop and enhance the chapter web site. Publish a quarterly Chapter Newsletter that provides useful information to our chapter and AFA membership. Advertise our chapter's activities the encourage participation.

These activities depend on our dedicated volunteers to provide the planning and execution support to make them successful. I solicit your support for these worthy activities by volunteering your time to help one of these activity teams. Four to six people on each of these activity teams will enable us to spread the volunteer workload and successfully accomplish our Chapter goals. We appreciate your AFA membership and your active involvement to make these goals a reality. Our contact data is posted on the Headquarters AFA website. Please find an area of interest and get involved. Together we can make a difference for our Gabriel Chapter and the United States Air Force.

Ken Spencer
President, General Charles A. Gabriel Chapter
Air Force Association