workingforyou Local Affiliates W
Find a Local Chapter Use MOAA’s online chapter locator to find a list of affiliates in your state. Visit
www.moaa .org/chapterlocator. For more information about MOAA councils and chapters, see www
.moaa.org/chapters.
48 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2016
MOAA has more than 450 councils, chapters, and satellite organizations. Col. Barry Wright, USA (Ret), explains how they fi t into the structure of the national association.
What is a MOAA chapter? If I’m a Life member of MOAA, do I need to join a chap- ter? What does the Council and Chapter Affairs Department do for MOAA? If you’ve ever asked these questions, you’re not alone. Many MOAA members are confused about the structure of MOAA and how affiliates (chapters) fit in. To answer these questions, let me provide some history of MOAA. MOAA was founded as The Retired Offi- cers Association (TROA) in 1929 by a group of retired officers in Los Angeles. In 1944, they relocated to the Washington, D.C., area and reorganized. The association’s name of- ficially was changed from TROA to MOAA in January 2003 to reflect the association’s growing membership of active duty, Nation- al Guard and Reserve, and former officers and their families and survivors. MOAA is a national organization of in- dividual commissioned servicemembers drawn from the seven U.S. uniformed ser- vices and their surviving spouses. MOAA is registered as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code. This tax-exemption does not, however, extend to affiliates. So what is an affiliate? Local organi- zations of retired, former, and currently serving officers and surviving spouses have existed in various communities since the early 1940s, but it wasn’t until 1953 that MOAA’s national board of directors approved the formal affiliation of such or- ganizations. Affiliates fall into two catego- ries: chapters, which are most often local
organizations, and councils, which are coalitions of chapters within a state. Councils and chapters are indepen-
dent, self-governing, and self-supporting organizations that voluntarily choose to affiliate with national MOAA for the pur- pose of cooperation and mutual support in attaining common goals. Because of the affiliate relationship, national MOAA and chapter membership are two separate and distinct memberships. However, all chap- ter members should be national MOAA members in good standing. So the answer to the MOAA Life mem-
ber question is yes. All members of national MOAA should join their local chapter to help the association achieve its goals — both at the local and national levels. To support and manage the day-to-day
operations of the council and chapter af- filiate system, five staff members make up national MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs Department. With help from the Council and Chapter Committee of the board of directors, the Council and Chap- ter Affairs Department looks toward the future of the chapter system. Today, MOAA has more than 450 coun-
cils, chapters, and satellite organizations. Our council and chapter members and their spouses are our best ambassadors. I’m sure they would appreciate and enjoy hav- ing you as a member of their chapter.
MO
— Col. Barry Wright, USA (Ret), is director of MOAA’s Council and Chapter Aff airs Department.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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