Nasw Inc, 412 Morson St, Raleigh, NC 27601, US

The North Carolina National Guard Association ( NCNGA ) is a non-profit organization established in 1960 to support the active, separated and retired members of the North Carolina Army and Air National Guard. The Association is governed by the Executive Council ( board of directors ) comprised of equal representation from each major command, the Air National Guard, and the retired group. The basis for the web site is to provide our 15, 000 members with complete and accurate information concerning membership, benefits, and legislative actions affecting the National Guard and our members. Please look around our web site and gain more knowledge about us. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact us at ncnga@bellsouth.net or call 919 851-3390. Excerpt from the Legislative Report By Fisk Outwater, Legislative Committee Chairman: You are our most powerful tool, individually and collectively. If we have your e-mails, we can keep you better informed on the issues and let you know when help is needed to support these issues. We can even provide you with pre-worded messages and a direct line to the General Assembly. The benefits that we strive for, and that have been painstakingly achieved over the years, require hours and hours of planning, formulating, and nurturing. Meetings must take place, and publication of Association activities must be done. This is done, for the most part, by a small dedicated full time staff, an executive body and its committees, and a few members who can always be counted on to step up when they are asked to support issues involving the NCNG. The rest of our members are, at present, a very silent majority. Fiscally, this is probably the tightest two-year span that the state and nation has seen since WWII. The immediate future does not give much indication that there will be any positive changes forthcoming. Scarce resources available to this state's legislature will be scrutinized and squeezed as never before. If we are to be effective in achieving our goals of improving our pensions, exempting Title 32 pay, reestablishing funding for the Tuition Assistance Program and others, then our voice must be strong, unified, and convey to our legislators that we are deserving of their support. This will never happen if less than 1% of our members are involved in the process, as is now the case. We must be heard above the many deserving organizations that will be lobbying for these resources as one loud, recognizable voice. There are of course many ways to do your part. You can make a phone call. You can e-mail a message. You can mail a letter. You can visit a Senator or Representative at home or in Raleigh. You can work for the Association. You can talk to your fellow unit members and retirees and family members. You can attend the convention. You can invite legislators to speak about the Guard at the local organizations to which you belong. But for now, the easiest and most effective contribution you can make to help all of us is to make certain that the Association has your current contact information, most importantly, your e-mail address. If you don't have an email address, your best phone contact and mailing address is fine.