Greetings Fellow SGAUS Members!
As President of SGAUS, I get the opportunity to continue the great work put forward by Past President BG (NY-Ret.) David Warager and the previous Past Presidents. The recent pandemic highlighted the capabilities of the various state defense forces and their ability to adapt and respond to whatever the various states and commonwealths needed fulfilled. State Defense Force personnel filled in at food banks distributing food, provided additional personnel at hospitals, testing sites and assisted other state agencies by providing additional manpower. These are just a few examples of how State Defense Forces impacted our nation’s ability to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
As business and offices closed and we sheltered in place, people became disconnected and attendance at the annual meetings has been lower than usual. The pandemic came at a price for SGAUS as well and over the next year the SGAUS leadership will be looking for ways to fix it. Past President MG (MS-Ret.) has been appointed chair for the membership committee. Under his leadership, SGAUS will be reaching out to all of our over 3,400 members to verify contact information and provide each member with upcoming information of vital interest. This is a very important undertaking as we migrate to a new and improved SGAUS website which should have the ability to send communications to our members more frequently. We need to reconnect with the membership and find ways for us to be together again.
The Annual Meeting in Albany, New York was exciting and included SGAUS launching the Cyber Defense Academy, revising the organization’s outdated bylaws, hosting a nationwide Commo exercise and cyber competition as well as providing the opportunity to exchange ideas on how to make things better. Keynote addresses from Dr. Barry Stentiford, Professor of Military History at the Command and General Staff College’s School of Advanced Military Studies In Leavenworth, Kansas on Saturday afternoon and MG Raymond Shields, Adjutant General of the State of New York, at the formal dining in held Saturday evening.
The formal dining in ceremony recognized a number of members who received awards for their efforts over the past year. President David Warager provided a review of accomplishments achieved during his administration before passing the gavel to me to keep moving SGAUS forward. SGAUS has been led by some great Presidents in the past and I have big shoes to fill. As President, SGAUS is going to be focusing on member engagement particularly with enlisted personnel. To achieve this, I have appointed CSM (OH) John Ball as the Command Sergeant Major for SGAUS and he will focusing his efforts to benefit our enlisted members. He can be reached at john.ball@sgaus.org to answer your questions or listen to your concerns.
We are already at work preparing for next year’s conference. The dates for the 2023 conference are November 1-4, 2023 in Dayton, Ohio. Next year’s conference promises to be an exciting and engaging time with valuable training being provided by our various PME Academies and partners. The United States Air Force Museum is located nearby and we will have opportunities during the conference for personnel to visit and enjoy all the museum has to offer. The formal banquet on the final night of the conference will be held in one of the hangars at the United States Air Force Museum. I hope that you make plans to attend and watch the SGAUS website (www.sgaus.org) for more details in the next couple of months as plans are finalized.
Thank you for allowing me the privilege to serve YOU as SGAUS President !
LTC (OH) Roger Lee Patrick, Jr., SGAUS President