ht
M
More than a year ago, Military Officer
This year, MOAA received
73 submissions from retired,
first invited readers to submit essays on
reserve, and currently serv-
ing offi cers and military fam-
a national defense topic. MOAA hoped to
ily members. Army entrants
stimulate thought and discussion among
predominated, but the Marine
Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast
association members on military professional topics. Guard also were well-represented — and naval topics
Reader response was favorable, and we repeated the dominate the fi nalists selected by our panel of experts.
experiment in 2009, offering a more substantial maxi- Visit www.moaa.org/essaycontest before midnight Nov.
mum word count (750 words, versus a 500-word limit 30, 2009, to vote for the winning entry. The author with
in 2008) to give participants more space to compose a the most votes will receive $1,000, the second-place win-
compelling argument on a topic of their choice. ner will receive $500, and third place will receive $250.
ILLUSTRATION: RICHARD TUSCHMAN
NOVEMBER 2009 MILITARY OFFICER 67
NNov_Essays.indd 67ov_Essays.indd 67 99/30/09 3:39 PM/30/09 3:39 PM
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