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Spring Meeting - March 01, 2002:

National Marine Corps Council Meeting Minutes

NOTE - non-profit, versus for profit and specific requirements should be defined for everyone to ensure applicable legalities are not overlooked. We can include this as separate link on website or document for download.

Jerry Brown called meeting to attention and offered to move the meeting to a larger conference room. Several board members were invited not as part of the executive council - Will Donaldson invited them based on Council list, not executive board list.

After the meeting was deployed to 1st deck conference room, at 0915 Sam Saxton called it to order.

Sam initiated the meeting with his desires to accomplish specific objectives of reviewing the concept paper provided by Gen Maloney and the first review of the Council directory identified as a requirement at the last meeting.

Capt Stewart read the minutes from Jan 11, 2002 meeting.

Introductions of personnel
1 - Capt Sam Saxton (Ret.) Chairman
2 - Col Jerry Brown (Ret.) Vice Chairman
(in order of table position, no particular order)
3 - Jim Kizer, 3rd Marine Division Association
4 - Maj Bill Sager (Ret.) China Marine Association
5 - Al Hammer, Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
6 - William 'Brooks' Corley, Marine Corps League
7- Vern Leubecker, Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association
8 -Col George Hoffman (Ret.) Marine Executive Association
9 - LtGen Bill Maloney (Ret.) Korea 2000 Foundation
10 - BGen Margaret Brewer, Woman Marines Association
11 - Capt Alyssa Stewart, Special Projects, HQMC
12 -Col Walt Davis, Marine Corps Association
13 - Jim Smith, Edison's Raiders
14 - LtCol Steve Eckberg, Marine For Life, HQMC
15 - Will Donaldson, Hard Corps, Inc.
16 - Dan Meador, Marine Corps Aviation Association
17 - Angelo Bianco, 6th Marine Division Association
18 - LtCol John Hales (Ret.) Marine Corps University Foundation
19 - MSgt David Horn (Ret.) 1st Marine Airwing Association

· Meeting minutes corrections from last meeting were identified by Jim Kizer, 3rd Marine Division Association vice 3rd Marine Division on Oct meeting minutes.
Gen Maloney provides concept paper brief worked with Warren Wiedhahn and George Hoffman.

· The Author was George Hoffman, who discussed the concept paper.

· 1. It is a draft paper.
Sam took a 15-minute break from the meeting to have people review the concept paper.
George Hoffman - reviewed the concept paper

· Marine Corps Council can not do anything today because of approval process requires 100% approval from all members

· Organization requirements to truly support the Marine Corps and the CMC requires "teeth" to get anything accomplished

· Paper is a concept paper, a draft, and a starting point

· The organization should be based on mission, not other way around.

· To include the extended Marine family you need

(A) Legitimacy, or incorporation

(B) Structure, or bylaws to make decisions, and veto process

(C) Support - Hoffman stated that his experience has shown that the there is a definite amount of support required to perform the mission. He discussed the Military Coalition, a group of military community lobbyists, and borrowed from MCROA's relationship with the coalition.

· Reiterated that the concept paper is a starting point.

Sam - response · Is the National Marine Corps Council a lobbyist group? Is there a need to change bylaws/charter?

Brooks Corley - Spoke of Arlington Ridge, and the question of the NMCC in its support for the Marine Corps during that issue with the Air Force and protection of the Marine Corps War Memorial, Iwo Jima. At that time Brooks questioned the existence of the NMCC when the Council was told, "not to get involved"

Also said some of the functions of MCROA and Marine Corps League could be repeated or enhanced by the NMCC, which would be a big part of the overall Marine For Life program. NMCC needs legitimacy.
Marine Corps Gazette article by Jack Glascow was passed to members.

Sam Saxton advised that the NMCC was operating in 1940 environment while we are in 2002. He stressed that if the Council is not looking at where we are going and where we want to be the Council will not be effective.

Bill Sager - "How can we take a position if several organizations object within the council?"

Jerry Brown spoke of education versus lobbying and mentioned certain organizations prohibit via bylaws of lobbying. He then said making the NMCC a 501 (c) or C-19 organization this may be able to support this effort.

Vern Leubecker mentioned the MCROA is a 501 (c) 3 organization, but did not think the NMCC would be effective as one.

Sam read excerpts from the Marine Corps Gazette article by John Glasgow, page 2 of the December 2001 issue. He said that the CMC believes that NMCC would be very effective with resources.

Vern Leubecker asked about workload for specific requirements after voting on specific issues and then the Council members lack of resources to actually accomplish anything.

Jim Kizer - Reluctance of members to lose some of their individuality (autonomy) and "punch" by working too much with NMCC - and the preclusion of certain organizations to actively lobby through bylaws. Also questioned the liability with tax status for non-profits for the lobbying effort. Said the council could lose members if a reconfigured structure was implemented. Should it be a few large organizations or many smaller ones?

Gen Margaret Brewer viewed the issues as more of a communications vehicle, for the member organizations to take action as they see fit, vice ordering or requesting support from the organizations. Our role should be more along the lines of implementation not policy.

She said that roles of the NMCC member appointees/representatives need to be solidified to ensure that the word is passed to the organizations and not just the representative.

Sam Saxton said funding requirements should not be passed to the organizations.

Gen. Maloney brought out "transformation" buzzword in the beltway, brought out from SecDef. He said changes from 60's and 70's in the military operations and the possibility of 5th military service, a special operations service, and how the Marine Corps would work with them. In addition the Marine Corps is working with homeland defense today. He stressed that while the Marine Corps accepted and harnessed these changes, the NMCC has not. Then he discussed the Marine For Life program and the CMC's stated support requirements OUTSIDE of the Corps, so when the Marines are civilians they are still Marines, not former, not retired, but Marines. It stressed that the Marine Corps must stay alive in the competitive structure and ability to stay alive when its been threatened, as it has been in the past and will be in the future. The Council can respond the grassroots requirements, but it's going to take the organizations efforts to make it work. And perhaps some organizations may not be able to participate. But to do the council's job and improve services, he needs the council to "transform" and accept the "transformation" effort.

Col Walt Davis spoke about the transformation of the association through his experience and records of the NMCC. The only criticism he had is that he felt it did not go far enough. He responded to the 3 requirements George spoke of and agreed that they are valid, and necessary for the future of the NMCC. What is the value of the council? What can we do? Its time for change. The organization needs continuity. 2-year terms are not enough for active support. Day to day requirements are there but do not have support. Structure to coordinate and disseminate information is a requirement. Asking to have the MCA take control of these requirements as the chair and have an elected co-chair, and use its backbone for the mission of the council.
He has the CMC liaison, support requirements and communications services in place to do so. Understands certain organizations would have issues with this.

Brooks Corley, meetings are too infrequent, and the Military Coalition is a role model for this. Member organizations need to do the requirements daily. Spoke of ease of information flow with email once services are in place. But said there is an issue with meeting 4 times a year and expecting responses.

Sam stated the executive committee is a temporary requirement for the NMCC and should be disbanded once the NMCC has gotten to a point to really make a difference. Agreed with the transformation and maybe working with an organization which is already prepared to handle it, such as MCA.

Vern Leubecker said mission statement needs to be more encompassing and definite. Mentioned the "go to guy" of special projects, which is now Joel Eissinger. He also made reference to the fact that the stipulation of membership should be a minimum of at least 2 years. He was introduced to Captain Stewart who was the representative at the meeting for Eissinger.
Brooks Corley mentioned that as head of SPD, he isn't really performing the actions of the liaison as of yet.

Sam asked for requests from the council for mission statement request bullet points.

The Concept Paper contained a few of these requirements.

Vern Leubecker then spoke of the lack of specific methods for accomplishing the mission of the NMCC.

Col Davis responded that the specifics should be delegated to specific times, people, etc after a finalization of the mission statement.

Brooks stated that the CMC has vocalized his 3 priorities are the AAAV, V22, Blount Island. He said that the NMCC functions should mirror these priorities.

Bill Sager, mentioned that the non-profit issue needed to be addressed for participating members.

Jim Kizer also mentioned taxes, and organizations should have 2-year minimal requirements, for credible organizations.

John Hales, asked about the charter and if the NMCC was operating under it.

Angelo, stated the NMCC was effective small and without bureaucracy -

Dan Meador - stated the Marine Corps Aviation Association has the same issues with the charter of the organization as the NMCC. Certain issues with fund raising faced with the MCAA are the same as the NMCC.

Col Eckberg - States the NMCC mission could simply be a communications tool between the CMC and the Marine affiliated organizations.

Jim Smith - Said the mission statement should be generic in nature to ensure its flexibility.

Col Jerry Brown - Said 501(C)3 would be best incorporation method for the NMCC. Thanked the MCA for the support services for the NMCC. Operations in the information technology support.

Capt Stewart -Eissinger reviewed the goals of the NMCC.
· Term limits of 1 year was a concern
· Did not understand the difference between the council and the executive committee
· Meetings between the CMC and the NMCC - SPD wants to be the official conduit for this
· Col Walt Davis agreed continuity was an issue as Marine come and go in the SPD office, but a GS worker would add continuity

Gen Margaret Brewer - Agreed mission statement would need to be brief, but organizations require specific details for acceptance/membership. Said the co-chair support from MCA should be labeled as "Support chair"

Col Davis offered that the president of MCA would be the chairman of the NMCC and another organization would be the co-chair.

George Hoffman - asked for clarification of the billets, and the board of directors' guidance and roles. Envisioned that the association presidents would be the directors, and the chairman would be the head. So requirements would be presented to the directors.

Gen Margaret Brewer asked for membership criteria clarification.

George Hoffman reviewed non-profit versus lobbying efforts, and the legality of education versus lobbying. Demonstrated how education differs from lobbying. He said the member organizations can keep their autonomous operations, and that model is already in place with the military coalition. He said the conduit for services is critical for the service and support that the NMCC can provide to the CMC and the Marine Corps.

Vern Leubecker states the military coalition uses a simple signature point paper for member organizations to vote on issues.

Jack Glasgow - Says the NMCC is identified as the conduit for the dissemination of CMC information. Said the technical requirements can provide the expeditious flow of information and that would provide the necessary medium to assemble the organization and ensure that all members are linked.
There should be specific representatives who should be identified from each organizations and those should be the ones we send the information to immediately.

1100 Sam Saxton called meeting to order after 10-minute break.

Marine For Life (MFL) by LtCol Steve Eckberg National Network Resource Coordinator for the MFL program. Mentioned the Gazette article and the Proof of Concept test - and the funding of the program by the CMC. Since they have accomplished the PCT they are now funded, changing structure and deploying new services to 52 cities. He then went over the MFL program brief (Attached here.)

LtCol Steve Eckberg said the organizations can provide the support to the MFL program by being involved at the local levels and would be a two-way source to help the organizations with membership and Marine resources.

Sam Saxton said the next meeting for response of Executive committee milestones will be made

Next meeting date will be centered around CMC schedule, which is assigned to Capt Stewart to find when CMC was available. Sam

Saxton stated NMCC should have document available for pre-CMC meeting with NMCC board. This document will be initiated and managed by Col Hoffman with the help and support of an ad-hoc committee of the NMCC board. This ad-hoc committee will be on a voluntary basis by council members who desire to be a part of the ad-hoc board who need to contact Col Hoffman ASAP to be included in future correspondence.

Sam Saxton stated Joel Eissinger should have all information to CMC prior to meeting as read ahead.

Sam Saxton brought up Wall Street Journal article concerning the lack of military support for funeral honors details.

Col Jerry Brown spoke of the tasking of such funeral details through the NMCC as a more formalized process. He said that once the process has been formalized they can do so in a "Marine Corps Manner."
He said that was a local support service that could be accomplished.

Brooks Corley mentioned the Marine Corps League and its efforts to help local funeral directors with military honors and support. He mentioned even one detachment doing more than 700 funeral details in one year, and that they offered support regardless of branch of service. He said that DoD has a tape he would offer to the council members which provides the outline of the funeral details.

Col Jerry Brown said we can go even deeper than the funeral director, and Brooks stated his organization worked with the national funeral directors, which is effective. Sam requested an information package for the funeral details to be supplied to Will Donaldson for inclusion on the NMCC.MarineCorp.com website.

Saxton read letter from Helen Peters, who wrote from in a hospital, who is requesting prayer from the Council as she is on her final days in the hospital. She is a former Marine who was a former Council members.
Sam stated as an administrative note that the bank account (Sun Trust) of the NMCC is approximately $64.

Loose rounds:

Brooks will be speaking to Gen Myatt this month in San Fran.

Jim Kizer - Restrictive access chat room.

Gen Brewer- Pointed out that per the current Principles of Marine Corps Council, "The council shall meet upon call of the Chairman and Notice of meetings shall be given, at least thirty (30) days prior to the date set for the meeting unless this Notice is waived by all representatives on the Council. (This was to clarify discussion on when meetings were to be held)

11:33-Meeting adjourned. Jerry Brown closed with a prayer.