FROM MG (CA) Jay M. Coggan
Commander of the California State Guard and
President of the State Guard Association of the United States (SGAUS).
Sacramento, CA.
First as we start off a new year, let me congratulate BG Hayhurst and BG Santiago for a great annual conference in Biloxi, MS. Unfortunately, prior California State Guard commitments kept me from attending, but I received great feedback from our members. Your dedication and work is appreciated!
As we move into 2020 we have the opportunity to build on our past success and make this a transformative year. My singular mission focus for SAGUS this year is to improve our communications to make us the most effective organization that we can be. My key strategies to accomplish this goal are:
- Improve our communications with members
- Increase our external communications to educate the public and government at all levels as to our mission
- Expand training opportunities across the country and online
Internal communications have been driven mostly by our web, newsletter, and periodic announcements. We will be updating our email capabilities to provide more relevant and timely information to our members. To make this effort successful, I ask that each member please go to their member profile in the SGAUS web site make sure your contact and email information is current. We are establishing a team to evaluate and implement new strategies for internal communications. More information on this effort will be forthcoming.
Now, regarding external communications, I firmly believe that this year SGAUS can take it to the next level in how we make ourselves known outside our association walls. That will require a formal external marketing strategy, followed by specific actions and timelines. I believe that once we get this implemented, our SDF recruitment numbers across the nation will improve significantly. We want to help the SDF’s do a better job in recruiting so we are going to have a team focus on the development of the strategy and also developing tools and recruitment best practices that our SDF’s can use. Bottom line, we want to be not only useful to our members, but also a value-add source for all our SDF’s and their Commanders.
An example of how we are expanding our training activates was the first Expert Medical program created by our our Medical Committee. The Field Casualty Course event at Camp Atterbury, Indiana was not only a success, but sets the bar for where we are going with training. Thank you to Drs. Ungar and Cohen for making this possible. We will be again offering the program at Camp Atterbury in 2020. This is just one example how we can bring the best training and practices to all of our members.
In 2020 we are starting the planning process for establishing our Cybersecurity center of excellence. This project has been conceptualized for some time and now is the time to bring it forward into reality. Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing challenges to our national security and this is an opportunity for SGAUS to SDF help our respective states deal with this issue.
It’s never too early to start planning for the 2020 SAGUS Annual Conference. Mark your calendars for 9-12 September 2020 at the Wyndham Irvine, in Orange County, CA. The hotel is located less than a mile from John Wayne Airport (SNA), minutes from some of California’s best beaches and only a short drive from Disneyland. Start making your plans now.
I hoped you had a joyous holiday season and I wish you all a Happy New Year full of joy and prosperity, but also full of desire to make SGAUS better.
Thank you.
MG Jay Coggan, President
SGAUS
MG Coggan’s Bio and Career Highlights
