President’s Cockpit / By BG Steve Mundt, Ret.: We hope that everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and that your 2019 has started off with a bang. We on the National Executive Group, the Board and the National Office join in wishing you all a great 2019!
Army Vice Chief of Staff, GEN James McConville (center) talks with (right to left) MG (Ret.) Jeff Schloesser (AAAA Sr. VP), CW5 (Ret.) Steve Davidson (Army Aviation Hall of Fame), MG William K. Gayler, Army Aviation Branch Chief, and (partially hidden) AAAA President, BG (Ret.) Steve Mundt at the 2018 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit. / AAPI FILE PHOTO
Time is flying by and before you know it we will all be in Nashville, TN for the 2019 AAAA Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit (14-16 April, 2019). It is really shaping up to be a great event and we hope to see all of you there.
We opened registration for event tickets a few weeks ago; the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center is sold out and the overflow hotels are starting to fill up as well – but don’t panic! There is still time to register and enjoy the largest event of the year dedicated to our Army Aviation Enterprise in support of our Soldiers and their families.
Exhibits are again at an all-time record breaking high. The professional program includes speakers from GEN Jim McConville, our Army Vice Chief of Staff, to LTG Laura Richardson, the Acting FORSCOM Commander; and our Aviation Six-Pack led by our Branch Chief, to our Branch CSM and Chief Warrant Officer of the Branch will ensure that this gathering of the entire Army Aviation Community is effective and relevant to you, the warfighter, deployed around the world.
Attendance is also expected to break records as CW4 Becki Chambers, our AAAA VP Membership, is really making an impact with the current trend increasing to over 17,400 members. Remember – the goal is for every member to recruit one new member and to reach our goal of 20,000 members by the Summit in 2020. Our chapters are also trending up with a number of new chapters about to be activated above the current seventy-eight, thanks to the efforts of our VP Chapters, LTC Jan Drabczuk, Ret.
As we head into our biggest event of the year, I hope you will join us in Nashville as we build on our tenets of Recognition through our national awards presentations to so many worthy units and individuals of all Components, and the Hall of Fame inductions of LTG Kevin Mangum, Ret., COL Jeff Williams, Ret., and CW4 Bob Monette, Ret.; and by raising your Voice through participating in the programs and enjoying the mutual Support that AAAA provides through our Scholarship programs, chapter sponsored Soldier program and the Chapter officer workshops.
Add in the social events like the Soldier Appreciation Dinner Concert with Ryan Weaver and Lee Brice; a brand new internal water park experience at Gaylord; and you have all the elements of a celebration of what AAAA is all about: “Supporting the U.S. Army Aviation Soldier and Family”.
Finally, we are pleased to announce the new “Grant Program” in support of Soldiers pursing their Airframe and Powerplant license. Check the AAAA website at www.quad-a.org to see what you need to do to apply for this cost offsetting benefit – we expect to award the first 10 grants prior to this year’s Summit, so time is of the essence.
See you in Nashville!
BG Steve Mundt, Ret.
33rd President, AAAA
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Army Vice Chief of Staff, GEN James McConville (center) talks with (right to left) MG (Ret.) Jeff Schloesser (AAAA Sr. VP), CW5 (Ret.) Steve Davidson (Army Aviation Hall of Fame), MG William K. Gayler, Army Aviation Branch Chief, and (partially hidden) AAAA President, BG (Ret.) Steve Mundt at the 2018 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit. / AAPI FILE PHOTO
