May - the Dallas Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars

Dallas Military Order News
Volume 22, No. 5
Best Large Chapter in the Nation
May 2014
Chapter Staff
Chapter Commander
LT Walt Laidlaw, USN
972-931-5651
wlaidlaw@sbcglobal.net
Senior Vice Commander
COL Joe Cordina, USAF
972-633-5504
jlcordina@airmail.net
Junior Vice Commander
LTC Ken Boatman, USA
972-393-2718
ken3393@hotmail.com
Adjutant
CPT Alan Backof, USA
972-608-5278
abackof68.aol.com
Treasurer
CPT William Felini, USMC
972-254-4880
wfelini@verizon.net
Marshal
Lt Col Phil Hardin, USAF
214-872-7523
phil.hardin@hotmail.com
Asst Marshal
MAJ Andy White, USA
214 789 0921
andrew.e.white@us.army.mil
Chaplain
CPT Weldon Estes, USA
214-339-3552
weldonelizabeth@juno.com
JAG
COL Tod Almquist, USA
972-458-2161
tfalmquist@sbcglobal.net
Surgeon
MAJ Lannie Hughes, USA
972-661-8509
hughes7220@aol.com
Historian
LTC Charles Alford, USA
214-826-5183
grampsalford@aol.com
We are having a terrific year. We are so very close to reaching
the Chapter goals we set last July.
 Your recruiting efforts are enabling us to meet the CINC’s
goal of a membership increase of 5%.
 You’ve expanded our outreach and support to more Senior & Junior
ROTC detachments than ever before (58 HS and 11 Universities).
 Companions have interviewed almost 200 high school students. We are
on track to send a record [90] students to YLC this summer.
 Your contributions have allowed us to present service swords to
every Senior ROTC Gold Award recipient, this year. These outstanding young cadets will be going on active duty in their selected
service branch, after graduation next year, carrying the swords you
awarded them.
 Your donations have given your chapter the ability to
present each of the 90 Senior and Junior ROTC Award
of Merit awardees an MOWW “Coin of Excellence”.
 Your involvement, personally and financially, is allowing
the Chapter to present a Memorial Plaque to Berkner High
School, in honor of the sacrifice of 1LT Ryan Sanders, who
gave his life in service to his country.
As a chapter we should all be extremely proud of the contributions we have made to enhance our outreach to the young people of our
community and beyond. There is no doubt that what we do as a Chapter will
make a difference in the lives of those young men and women touched by our
programs.
My hat is off to each and every one of you, my Companions.
Walt Laidlaw
Lieutenant, US Navy
Dallas Chapter Commander
Last Month’s Program, April 2014
This Month’s Program, May 2014
Life Lessons from an Air Force "brat"
"Can our Border ever be truly Closed?"
Ken Paxton has served his District's constituents and the
State of Texas, for more than a
decade. His ambition continues
to drive him to seek even higher
office and greater opportunities
as he steers the ship of our state
through the choppy waters of
economic stagnancy and political
gridlock. It was refreshing to
hear his candid insights into the
scope of the myriad issues that
we face and his suggestions for State Senator Ken Paxton,
Constitutional Scholar
potential resolutions.
Kirk Gomes began his career in Law Enforcement as a
US Embassy Marine Security
Guard. His postings have taken
him to some of the most exotic
capitols in the world. Upon departure from the Corps, he
earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Florida University in
Tampa. Kirk is currently assigned to DFW Airport, supervising the Global Entry ProDallas Border Protection
gram.
MOWW's Commander-in-Chief
Speaker Programs Just Keep Getting Better
The CINC is in the House
Capt. Debbie Kash, the FY 2014 Commander-in-Chief of
the Order paid a visit to
Dallas, coinciding with the
annual Dallas Military Gala,
held the following night.
The Irving-based Cloyd Pinson chapter hosted the event,
which was attended by representatives of all four chapters of the Dallas-Fort Worth
area. Following supper at the
Atrium Hotel, each Chapter
Commander briefed the
Vice Commander Joe
CINC on the "State of the
Cordina presents a gift to
Chapter". Debbie congratuCINC Debbie Kash
lated them on their Chapter's
progress and reminded the guests that Region VIII leads
the nation in virtually every category of MOWW activities. Furthermore, she declared that the four North Texas
chapters form the backbone of the Region and the "gold
standard" by which all others are measured.
Milestones
JP celebrates his 90th Birthday
There oughta be a law against anyone having as much fun
as Perpetual Companion
Jim Patterson had last
month, when he and a
houseful of his closest
friends help him celebrate
his 90th Anniversary. Let it
be a warning to you - once
your photo hits the Inter- Perpetual Companion Jim
net, your privacy is com- Patterson serenades the ladies
promised for Life. Jim posted a video clip of the entertainment segment of the evening on Facebook and it soon
went viral. Hang in there Jim, the offers from Nashville
will soon come flooding in.
Next Quarter’s Programs
Supervisory Officer
Kirk Gomes,
6 May 14 – Kirk Gomes, Dept of Homeland Security
“ Border Protection and Law Enforcement”
3 Jun 14 – LT Walt Laidlaw, Chapter Commander
Installation of Chapter Officers for FY 2015
1 Jul 14 – James Falk, Director, World Affairs Council
“Raising your Global I.Q.”
5 Aug 14 – Miguel Howe, Bush Institute
“ Honoring the Service of Post 9-11 veterans”
2 Sep 14 – COL Joe Cordina, Chapter Commander
YLC and JROTC Awards Presentations
7 Oct 14 – Mark Davis, Commentator, WBAP AM
“Turning the Thing Around”
Law and Order
"OP" is Plano's Officer of the Year
Members of the Dallas Chapter assembled in the Plano
Police Department offices to honor the Plano Officer of
the Year Art Parker, chosen by his Chief and fellow
officers, following years of outstanding service to the
Plano community. The majority of his time is spent patrolling the halls of Plano HS. He is such a friendly and
endearing symbol of security that he is known to
faculty, students, and parents, alike, simply as "O.P.",
which as everyone knows stands for: Officer Parker.
L to R, Alan Backof, Maureen Dickey, Officer Art Parker, PPD Chief
Ed Downs, Walt Laidlaw, Joe Cordina, Ken Boatman, & Phil Hardin
In Memoriam
Happy Birthday
One Year Older; A Whole Lot Wiser
1 May
2 May
3 May
3 May
3 May
7 May
10 May
11 May
12 May
14 May
14 May
14 May
18 May
19 May
19 May
19 May
21 May
23 May
26 May
27 May
29 May
30 May
31 May
LTC Guillermo Cisneros
CPT James Karel
MR Christopher Adams
MR Eric Bradford
Mr. Don Loyd
LT William Ferrill III
MRS Donna Starnes
Lt Col Donald Saddler
MR Harold Moore III
MR Ryan Moss
Lt Col Don Payne
LCDR Frank Traynor
LT George Cullum
MR James Applewhite
LTC Robert Brown
LCDR Howard Custer
MG William Campbell
COL Michael Snipes
LTC John Byrns
LtCol Norm Van Gilmore
CAPT Tase Bailey, Jr.
COL Emmett Dubose
MR William Bradford
George Nelson (1935-2014)
LTC George R. Nelson was born in
Houston Texas. He graduated from
Sam Houston State University as a
Distinguished Military Graduate and
received a Regular Army Commission
as a Second Lieutenant in the Field
Artillery. He was a Master Aviator in
both fixed wing and rotary aircraft.
George served in field artillery
assignments throughout the US,
George Nelson, 2014
Germany and two tours
in Vietnam. During his time of service he
was awarded two Distinguished Flying
Crosses, four Bronze Stars, and eighteen
awards of the Air Medal. He and his wife,
Carolyn, lived in Dallas TX.
Boy Scouts of America
Troop 840 elevates another Eagle
George, circa 1964
MOWW Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief John
Hayes presented the Order's
Scout Certificate and Coin
of Excellence to Luke Armstrong during Court of HonHonor ceremonies held in
L to R, John Hayes, Luke
Armstrong, & Don Munson
Coppell.
ROTC Awards
Change of Command
Captain Gable assumes Command
Chapter awards a record
number of Cadets
Perpetual Companion Kermit Gable recently assumed
command of Forward
Support
Company
(FSC) of the 980th
"Lone Star" Engineer
Battalion, US Army
Reserves. His unit
was called to active
duty in 2003 and
served in Iraq, until it Captain Kermit Gable (4th from left) with
reverted back to his platoon leaders and First Sergeant
Army Reserve status in 2005. Kermit served as the
Chairman of the Dallas Veterans Day Parade, in
2008. Shortly thereafter he was commissioned as a
2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and has
been rocketing through the ranks ever since.
The end of the academic year
heralds an intensive push to
recognize those Cadets, in both
the University and High
School programs, who have
excelled in the eyes of their
Instructors. Last year, the
Chapter set a new record in the Congratulations, Cadet
number of Cadets who were awarded the MOWW
Certificates and medal sets. This year, for the third
year in a row, the Chapter broke the previous year's
record by giving awards to 91 Outstanding Cadets.
This year, in addition to medals, each Cadet received
a Coin of Excellence and Gold Medal recipients were
also give a regulation US military service sword.
..
.
KNOW YOUR COMPANIONS
WELCOME THEM INTO THE DALLAS CHAPTER
Christopher Carney, Major, USAF (Ret)
Thomas E Meyer, Lieutenant, US Navy
Major Chris Carney was born and reared in Nebraska. He graduated from
the University of Nebraska, at Omaha, in
1990 and received a
commission as a 2nd
Lieutenant in the US
Air Force. His initial
assignment was in the
316th Training Squadron, Goodfellow Air
Force Base, Texas,
where he was a Cryptology Instructor. In
September 2001, he was deployed to Japan, and became Director of Special Security Management for
the Fifth US Air Force.
From Japan, he move to Iceland and became Chief
of Squadron Intelligence, for the 56th Rescue
Squadron, in charge of Combat Search & Rescue
coverage in the European theater of operations
In August 2005, Chris became a Flight Commander
for one of the Distributed Ground System (DGS-4)
units in Germany. The following year, he was reassigned to Bogota, Columbia, as a Liaison officer to
the Headquarters of the Columbian Armed Forces,
where he prepared daily "Situation Reports" for the
President of Colombia.
In 2006, Chris became Chief of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), Hq, US Air
Forces Europe. In 2009, Chris became Flight Commander, 319th Operations Group, Grand Forks,
North Dakota. Two years later, he was Deputy Director of Intelligence and Security in the Joint Command for Integrated Missile Defense, Schriever Air
Force Base, Colorado.
Following his retirement from active duty in 2013,
Chris has been the Senior Aerospace Instructor at
Central High School, in San Angelo TX.
Welcome to the Dallas Chapter, Chris. We are
honored to have you as a Companion.
Tom Meyer is a magna cum laude graduate of the
US Naval Academy,
Annapolis, MD. Following seven years
aboard Nuclear Ballistic Missile and
Nuclear Attack Submarines, he attended
Harvard University
and received
his
MBA from the Harvard
School
of
Business with majors
in Marketing and Finance.
Thomas Meyer is the founding President and
Principal of Thomas E Meyer & Associates. He
has been a business advisor and consultant for
over 25 years. He is a Certified Gazelles International Coach and has provided mentoring to
CEOs, Admirals, and Senior Level Executives in
the US and China.
He has extensive experience with managing Naval Enterprise improvement programs, including
Enlisted Recruiting and Training, Naval Aviation
Pilot Training, and Nuclear Submarine maintenance in public shipyards.
Management experience in the industrial sector
includes CEO of an office products company in a
Leveraged Buyout partnership with a major venture capital firm, plus general management, financial management, and marketing roles with Fortune 500 companies, Hewlett-Packard and Harris.
Tom is an Independent Consultant to Booz-Allen
Hamilton in the area of supply chain and process
change implementation. He formerly was a Managing Director of BDO Seidman, LLC; Results
Manager for Thomas Group, Inc. and; the Representative for Cassidy & Associates in Texas,
providing clients with US Government financing
and marketing to government agencies.
Welcome aboard, Tom. If you were looking for an
outfit in desperate need of management consulting,
you've found it.
ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST TO OUR MEMBERS
In less than 90 days, Companions of the Order will
assemble in Baltimore Maryland for the annual
MOWW National Convention, 5-9 August 2014. .
Click HERE to visit the MOWW website and
register to attend.
.
The Chaplain’s Corner
Chaplain (Capt.) Dr. Weldon Estes
“When to Worry”
 Set a definite day for worrying.
 Worry about only one problem at a time.
 Select a warm room and lean back in an easy chair.
 Set a time limit. If you must go beyond it, give yourself credit for time and a half.
When Not to Worry!
 When you can help the situation - or - when you cannot.
 Never worry when you are tired, sick, angry, or depressed.
 Never worry in bed, in the dining room, living room, or at church.
 Never worry while working, playing, visiting, shopping or gossiping.
 Above all - Never worry alone. Take it to the Lord and leave it there.
The Dallas Military Order of the World Wars
1000 Basilwood Drive
Coppell, TX 75019-6335
www.dallas-moww.org
www.militaryorder.net
Address Service Requested
To Bring a Guest!!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
2 MAY 2011
U.S. Special Operations Forces killed
Osama bin Laden during a raid on
his secret compound in Abbottabad,
Pakistan.
Texland Printing, 214-926-9058, P.O. Box 116865, Carrollton, Texas 75011