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For continue live coverage in D.C. click on the C-SPAN link below
A message from your President,
As you all know we are facing some very tough economic times. We have all seen the news and heard about the "Fiscal Cliff". There isn't a magic wand or an easy fix to the financial issues our country faces today. One thing does remain constant and that is the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States. Eangus's primary focus is to fight for and protect the benefits that we Enlisted Soldiers and Airmen enjoy and will be enjoying. The fees to join Eangus are some of the lowest fees that any organization charges its members to join. As your President, I am asking for your help. At the moment we have around 500 members out of a potential 4000 prospective members between the Idaho Army National Guard and Idaho Air National Guard. My goal has always been to have at a minimum 1000 paid members. So what does 1000 members do for Idaho.
1000 members gives us 10 voting delegates at our National Conference. At the National Conference we prioritize resolutions from each state that our National Office will give to the lobbyist so he can meet with our representatives to remind them not only what Eangus is about, but what issues we are going to need support on. During this process, each state like Idaho will have delegates vote on these issues. The more delegates Idaho has at the National Conference, the louder Idaho's voice will be. The other important part of membership comes when we visit Washington D.C. at the annual Legislative Workshop. This workshop is intended for us to meet with our representatives to discuss what we call the top three point papers from our National Office. These three point papers are the three highest priority items that Eangus from a national perspective is fighting for. With a membership of 1000, we will be able to get our representatives attention and keep it. Why is this important?
I want to share with you part of a conversation I had with someone that I respect very much. This person is fighting extremely hard on two fronts, the local level and national level for all of us. This individual made a phone call to our Senators and Congressman in Washington D.C. During the conversation, other organizations were brought up to show support for what this individual was asking for and to get the representative's attention. Membership came up and the question asked by our representative was if your people don't support your organizations why should we support the issues that you are fighting for. You see the representative asking this question knew our membership was low for our organization. At that time our membership number was around 300 out of a prospective membership base of 4000. The impression was since we didn't have a large membership base supporting the Idaho Enlisted Association supporting this individual, why should our Senators and Congressman support The Idaho National Guard. You see membership is critical and our representatives look at organizations like ours to see how big the membership base is. A low membership base says that people aren't interested and the organization isn't important. A large membership base says people are interested and organization is important. If we Enlisted members of the Idaho National Guard don't believe enough in Eangus to be members, then why should our Senators and Congressman fight for us? This is a question we all need to think about and one that has many impacts on all of us.
I will tell you, your membership does matter and collectively our voices carry. Imagine how loud a 1000 voices can be or even how loud 2000 voices can be. We live in special and unique times today. We have to tell our story and encourage our enlisted men and women to join us in our fight and show our representatives we are serious and that we do in deed care. As you may know The Air National Guard has been going through all sorts of battles on Capitol Hill over budget cuts. The Army National Guard is next and these battles are not fun and the stress level gets rather high. So I challenge each and every one of you. Become a member of the Idaho Enlisted Association and lets show our folks at our National Conference that Idaho has a loud voice and lets prove to our Senators and Congressman that in fact we as members of the Idaho Enlisted Association do care about the Idaho National Guard's Enlisted Soldiers and Airmen.
On behalf the Executive Council, I thank you for your membership, your service and your help building this great organization.
For more information about Eangus click the Eangus 101 link below.
Thank you again,
Steve Vinsonhaler
President
The Idaho Enlisted Association, EANGUS
Click on the youtube link below to listen Senator Lindsey Graham on the The National Guard Empowerment and State-National Defense Integration Act of 2011, sponsored by Graham and Senator Pat Leahy (D-Vermont), would boost the status of the National Guard Bureau chief to the level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and give the National Guard influence at the highest level of the Pentagon.
In addition, it would create a three-star position of vice chief of the Guard bureau, stabilize funding for Guard domestic missions, provide more transparency in the Guard equipment procurement and require the Pentagon to assess the cost savings and feasibility of shifting more of the national defense to the Guard.
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