August 2008 President's Corner

Mitch Rowland '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

I know this is unusually late. July and August have been very busy months for me. That is certainly not an excuse, but sometimes things just happen that way.

July was not a busy month for our association. Our only event was the monthly meeting. In June, at our annual meeting, we opened the floor for suggestions. One of the suggestions was to try to have a joint meeting with USMA alumni. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for. July was a perfect fit to invite the WOOP’s to our meeting.

Our speaker, Hunter Hill, was a 2001 USMA grad. So we invited the WOOP’s over and they gave us a nice large gathering.

Hunter had just won the Republican primary for the GA State Senate. After meeting him and hearing him speak, I think he would be a good person to have representing you in the State Senate. If you live in the sixth Senate district, consider voting for Hunter.

Hunter was with the 101^st Airborne when the Iraqi War started. He spoke of the mission and what they had accomplished. He was selected to be the Aide-de-camp to the Assistant Division Commander for Operations and traveled the northern portion of Iraq observing and learning the skills of diplomacy. Hunter left active duty, but stayed in the IRR. In 2006, he was recalled.

Hunter deployed to Afghanistan to mentor and train the Afghan National Police. He spoke on the total difference between police in Afghanistan and the US. There had not been a National Government in Afghanistan in many years. And the attitude was one of what can I get, not what can I do to help. Bribery was common and accepted. Hunter stressed that a change in the mind set of the police was necessary. He stressed that when the police became more professional, they were treated with more respect and the local population would then help root out the bad guys by giving information. Only a few months earlier they would with hold that information because they did not trust the police. Hunter was awarded his second Bronze Star Medal for his most recent service in Afghanistan.

Hunter stressed that there had been much improvement in the professionalism of the Afghan police, but that he felt that the improvements were still fragile. He felt that only with the continued presence of NATO Forces to monitor and continue to push would the changes become permanent.

Those in attendance in July were: Duff Young ‘49, Bill Rentz ‘55, John Stark ‘51, Jerry Mackey ‘54 and his bride Connie, Jim Hatch ‘47, Reggie Vachon ‘58, Jim Slemenda ‘66, Paul Borer ‘70, Lee Whitfield ‘71, Ed Brownlee ‘81, Jon Barton ‘66, Steve Weise ‘72, Steve Frederick ‘72 Rick Haley ‘72, Scott Dillard ‘01, Mario Maddox ‘85, Greg Morrow ‘85, Brent Allen G, Buzz White G, Ranson Haverty G, and from our brothers on the Hudson: Pat Sleem ‘01 and guest Megan Stans, Alan Gould ‘49 and Neal Judd ‘49.

August is upon us. This year has been much cooler than last year. We’ve even had some rain. Our August meeting is on August 15^th. Our speaker will be Roland Haas, a former CIA officer who has written a book about some of his time in the CIA.

And don’t forget that it’s almost football season. There will be information coming out soon about our football schedule and get togethers for viewing Navy Football.

BEAT ARMY!

Mitch Rowland ’71
Chapter President