FWAPC Annual Meeting 09-09-09

A great turnout!! We had a full house attending, and they were at rapt attention listening to our guest speaker, M/Gen Frank Padilla. General Padilla’s topic was “Building Air Power in Iraq and Afghanistan.” This was General Padilla’s personal assignment during his last tour overseas.

This was a very personal story of the highs and lows in working with troops who did not speak our language, and the up-close efforts it took to teach these people how to organize, lead and operate a new air force in their homeland. His stories, complete with candid photos, reflect a strong learning process on both sides. General Padilla learned the ways and customs of these people and managed to use his personal, friendly and down to earth approach to reach them and complete the task. His boss, Lt/Gen Charles Stenner, Chief of the Air Force Reserve, referred to the results as outstanding, during the change of command ceremony earlier this year.

It’s not common for us to have a guest speaker at our annual meetings, but you can be sure that General Padilla’s presentation left our members wishing for more.

Mike Snyder spoke to the group about this year’s SkyBall VII, and the need for our membership to “meet the challenge” as we move once again to raise the funds so needed to support the families of our neighbors, the military reservists’ in our area who have been or are presently deployed overseas to defend our freedom. It’s a challenge we gladly accept.

Mile introduced the chairman of “Snowball Express”, Jim Palmersheim, an AAL pilot and executive, who is co-chairing our SkyBall event this year with Mike. Jim echoed Mike’s words regarding the needs of the families, and especially the children. American Airlines has heavily invested in our SkyBall projects over the years in many ways, as have their employees, and this year’s program looks to be the best we’ve ever had. The list of headliners is first class-- all the way.

Jim presented plaques and his personal thanks to our outgoing Board members, Ron Hanna and Graydon Vandament. A “Man of the Year” award was presented to Dick Gervais. Don Shelton also thanked Jim for his service as chairman of FWAPC, and presented him with a plaque from the Council.

Don also presided over the nomination and the unanimous election of his committee’s recommendation of new Board members: Sid Eppes, John Green, Cliff Johnson and M/Gen Jim Sluder.

A brief meeting of all board members took place to select new officers for 2009-2010. Those elected were John Kinnear, Chairman FWAPC; Roman Palomares, Vice-Chair; Sid Eppes, Secretary, and Paul Johnson, Treasurer.

During the entire evening, a slide show was on display near the bar area. The photos were those taken during the year at various events attended by FWAPC members. Those same photos appear throughout the” Newsroom” section of this – your web site.

2009-2010 looks to be a very exciting year for the Council. Many activities are in the works, so be sure to frequently check the “Member HQ” page on this - your web site.

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