Virginia Beach, 19-23 October 2016
Your Chapter Commander and Adjutant attended the Fall Conference on behalf of the Chapter. Both had additional duties. Commander Ashford is a Department Inspector who was required to report early to attend a hearing in that capacity. Adjutant Spencer is also Chair of the Department Membership Committee and made a scheduled presentation in that capacity.
We were honored to have both our National DAV Commander Dave Riley and our National Adjutant Marc Burgess attend the conference.
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| Adj Spencer with Natl Adj Burgess, Natl Cdr Riley, PDC Ron Cottrill & former DSC Chair Bob Bent |
The first day's sessions included a Benefits Protection Team Leaders presentation, a Chaplains Seminar, and meetings of the Awards Committee and Department Service Commission. ...
The Benefits Protection Team briefing included Team Leader duties, the national legislative process, and details of the DAV resolution process. In addition, the Grassroots Campaign was discussed in terms of the call to action through the Commanders Action Network (CAN). Personal contact with elected officials was also discussed (as we do at our Mid-Winter Conference), plus writing campaigns and the use of social media. Virtually all members of Congress are now on Facebook and Twitter. There was also the warning that DAV is non-partisan and members must not wear DAV-identifiable items at any campaign gatherings.
The Chaplains Seminar was geared toward Chapter Chaplains and customizing prayers beyond what is in the DAV Ritual Manual.
The Awards Committee was attended by both Commander Ashford, who is a member of the committee, and Adjutant Spencer, who had four new Membership Award proposals to present to the Committee. Unfortunately, the Chair of the Committee was unable to attend, so the proposals were tabled for the time being. The current status of the proposals is unknown.
At the Department Service Commission (DSC) meeting, where Adjutant Spencer is also a DSC Commissioner, he gave a short report, centering on transportation problems at the DC VA Medical Center, both the maintenance problems of the vans and the lack of certified volunteer drivers. Commander Ashford shared his problems with passing the physical to become a volunteer driver.
The second day included more committee meetings: the Finance Committee, Social Media Committee, the combined Welfare/Relief and Homeless Committees, Women's Committee, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee (in a closed meeting), Legislative Committee, Incarcerated Veterans Committee, Employment Committee, and Adjutant Spencer's Membership Committee presentation. In addition to the committee meetings, there was a session of Chapter Commanders briefings. A scheduled Awards Seminar was canceled due to the absence of the Committee Chair.
Saturday's Joint Opening Session began with a speech by our DAV National Commander Dave Riley. He talked about a discussion he had with the head of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) about suicide prevention. The VHA is working on some data analytics to proactively identify service members at risk of suicide and cold calling them to prevent a possible suicide.
Next, he discussed a typical day in the life of the DAV Commander, to include discussions with the head of the VHA, the Caregiver Program Manager, a new judge on the Court of Veterans Appeals, a live Facebook segment, and an evening USO Gala with the Zach Brown Band and Ann Margaret. He also met John Peck, a quadruple amputee like himself who recently underwent a double arm transplant. At the end of his speech, he was given a distinguished award by the Coast Guard, since he is the first ever DAV National Commander from the Coast Guard, with an impressive review of his career accomplishments.
He was followed by representatives from each of the Virginia VA Medical Centers plus the DC VAMC since most of the veterans the DC center treat are from Virginia. They all discussed statistics of volunteer services provided by DAV members and ongoing improvements at their respective Medical Centers. It was also mentioned that Rob Reynolds, Virginia's own Past National Commander, was recently selected to be the new Deputy Undersecretary of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).
They were followed by John Newby, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Veterans Services. He discussed the Virginia legislature's funding of the two new Veterans Care Centers, one in the Tidewater area and one in northern Virginia. A site has now been selected in northern Virginia. It will be in the Vint Hill area of Fauquier County and will have a 120 bed capacity. [Ed. Note: Vint Hill Farms Station was a US Army and NSA electronic warfare facility near Warrenton, closed in 1997.] Ground-breaking is tentatively set for October 2017. He also stated that they will open four new offices, including the Pentagon and the William & Mary Law School.
The final talk was by two representatives of Healing Waters, including their new CEO. Healing Waters is a non-profit program that teaches fly fishing to veterans.
At the conclusion of the Joint Opening Session, the DAV Auxiliary and the DAV broke out into separate sessions. The DAV conducted their Department Executive Committee meeting. After the roll call, the minutes from the Department Convention and the Department Officer reports were approved, and two new members for the Finance Committee were approved.
There were four proposals for the location of the 2018 Fall Conference covering two different weeks in October. After some discussion, the Richmond Sheraton Four Points Hotel was selected, with the guaranteed price of the prevailing government rate at the time.
The Time and Place Committee reported that 122 members were registered for the Fall Conference. Donations and pledges were then taken for the DSC, various Department committees, and the Winter Sports Clinic. Finally, it was announced that the official hotel for the DAV 5K Run/Walk, the Marriott at Oyster Point, still had 10 more rooms available for $89 + tax.
The session was then adjourned until the evening banquet. At the banquet. At the banquet, your Adjutant won $20 in the 50/50 raffle, which he in turn donated to the DSC.
Sometime after the conclusion of the Fall Conference, it was announced that the DAV National Commander had appointed four Department members to his national staff, including our own Commander Ashford. The appointments are below:
National Deputy Chief of Staff: John Simmons
National Deputy Chief of Staff: Robert McPhaul
Aide to the National Commander: Stan Ashford
Aide to the National Commander: David Cuff
