MESSAGE FROM SGAUS PRESIDENT TIM INGRAM
I want to say a heartfelt thank you to our SGAUS Board for placing its trust in me as incoming President.
I plan to hit the road this year and visit with each of our State Defense Force Commanders — take their pulse, hear what works and doesn’t work in their State Guard, and report back to you, our Members.
I expect some surprises. I expect some new ideas. I expect common problems. All to lead to some shared Best Practices for our SDFs.
In the spring we’ll hold our Mid-Term Board meeting in the Washington, DC area, hosted by our new SGAUS Vice President, Maryland Defense Force Commanding General Greg Juday.
We plan to build on last April’s briefing of Congressional staffers requested by U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), and pursue a legislative agenda that puts our SDF Members’ support first. More on this to follow.
MAJ (TN) Steve Estes has been our backbone in the last two years, supporting retiring SGAUS Executive Director BG (TN-Ret) Chago Santiago. MAJ Estes has agreed to continue as Acting Executive Director until a new Director is hired. We have an Executive Director Search Committee in place and will announce the open position soon.
For now, I’m looking at my SGAUS Board Committee notes of 25 April 2015: “(1) Keep it simple; (2) Increase visibility and professionalism of SDFs; (3) Address potential homeland security/disaster response/state missions; (4) Retain flexibility for State Governors; (5) Address issues previously agreed among SGAUS Members.”
Not a bad agenda for us to follow.
Tim Ingram, COL ( CA)
President, State Guard Association of the United States