- On Sat, 30 Apr 11, LTG(R) Thompson, VP of the Assoc of the US Army (AUSA) National HQ in D.C., presented me the western states Region President's Award at the annual meeting of the 6th Region (western states). It was a good excuse to break out my M.I. blue bowtie and cumberbund. Region President COL(R) Lanning thanked me for serving as Stilwell Chapter President for 3-yrs and for then providing 18-months continuity supporting my successor BG(R) Griffin who strives to create a National Cemetery for Vets at Ft Ord; he also improved ties with local base commanders. Hearing of volunteer efforts by others was humbling: another Chapter President COL Titus passed the reigns to a COL(R) Stage after 22-years!; yet another recipient was recognized for skillfully using his influence as editor of the Ft Lewis/McCord AFB newspaper, The Ranger, to recruit 29 corporate members and to raise $70K used to provide welcome home gifts to troops returning from combat. To put that in comparison many folks in our chapter worked so hard to host two golf tournaments and sell thousands of Krispy Kreme doughnuts netting a total of $15K over several years all of which we proudly contributed to the local military community. It was also humbling to receive the same recognition as MG(R) Hillhouse of Silicon Valley Chapter. To top it off there were so many GOs and COLs, a former US Ambassador, a US Congressional Aide, and the Joint Base CSM from Ft Lewis/McCord AFB, etc. Seated at our table was a brand new E3 recruit who'd enlisted to be a SIGINT analyst and will soon ship out to basic training. I loved the entertainment too. A USAR/ARNG band provided a woodwind quartet and a bagpipe trio decked out in Dress Blues with their trademark kilts. The theme encouraged community volunteers supporting our all volunteer force that's been engaged in combat for over 10-years - the longest period of war in our nation's history.