Marine Corps Interrogator Translator Teams Association

Minutes of  Business Meeting
Chantilly, Virginia
September 03, 2008

 

I.   CALL TO ORDER:  The MCITTA Sixth Annual General Assembly was called to order by the presiding Team Commander James Haskins at 0800, September 03, 2008 at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, Virginia.

      a. The meeting was conducted under the Robert’s Rules of Order with an informal setting.

II.   ROLL CALL:  The Team Commander conducted roll call of officers.

      a. Officers in attendance:

          Team Commander James Haskins

          1st Sub-Team Commander Marden Chlarson

          2nd Sub-Team Commander Howard Kahn

          Team Chief Felix Conde

      b. The 3rd Sub-Team Commander Douglas Brower was absent.

      c. A total of sixteen rank and file members were in attendance.

      d. Since the members in attendance did not constitute ten percent of total number of membership of 250 as of September 03, 2008, the Team Commander invoked Robert’s Rules of Order Chapter 16 on meeting management, “General Consent,” which permits a business meeting to be conducted with the members present.  If there are no objects from those present all items brought up and voted on are legal and binding.  There being no objections, the business meeting was conducted by general consent.

III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  Due to unavailability of National Colors for display at the meeting room, the Pledge of Allegiance was not recited.

IV. INVOCATION: The MCITTA is presently without a designated Chaplain, the invocation was not conducted.

V.   The minutes of the Fifth Annual Gathering Business Meeting of June 29, 2007 were accepted into the record with the correction of the Treasurers Report to indicate the amount of $5157.50 was for bill payment vice excess.

VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS

      a. Advisory Committee:  No report

      b. Constitution and Bylaws Committee:  No report (Chairman Furgal not present)

      c. Historical Committee:  No report (Historian Brower not present)

           1. The Team Commander commented that the effort to write the ITT history needs to be energized and a good process needs to be established.  He stated that one of the primary purposes of the MCITTA was to publish the history of the ITT’s. The Team Commander asked for ideas from the membership and the reviving of the Outline establishing periods of coverage of ITT history.     Mitchell Paradis commented that the Team Chief files in his possession contained the Periods Outline and other documents submitted by MCITTA members.  The Team Commander asked Mitchell Paradis to submit by email to the Historical Committee and the Team Commander for action.

            2.  Harold Weiss volunteered to submit CD of a trip taken by elements of the 2nd and 4th ITT’s to Morocco.

            3.  Chuck Chlarson reported that he had submitted requests to four organizations for grants for the historical committee and that all four requests had been denied.

VII. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:  Mitchell Paradis reported that since the last Gathering in June 2007 the MCITTA membership had declined from 268 to 250.  Presently there are 250 Members, 17 Associate Members, and one Honorary Member. The losses were five members have passed away, 11 memberships have expired due to no current address, and two members requested disenrollment.

VIII. AWARDS COMMITTEE:  Harry Todd reported that the following awards have been issued: 

       a. Awards in 2007:  36 Commanders DSM’s were awarded to NMITC graduates.

       b. Awards in 2008:  18 Commanders DSM’s were awarded to NMITC graduates.

       c. Awards at Sixth Gathering: Six retroactive Distinguished Volunteer Service Medals, two Distinguish Volunteer Service Medals, and two Distinguish Service Medals Second Award.

       d. Committee Chairman Harry Todd asked the members to become more active in the nomination process.  He stated that nominations should come from the members and that the committee should have only the approval authority. 

       e. The Team Commander commented that he had received very favorable comments about the MCITTA’s award system from members of the other organizations at the joint convention.

IX. GATHERING COMMITTEE:  Howard Young recommended that in the future the person/persons hosting a gathering should have the option to organize the gathering personally or to use a professional event organizers.

X.  LAST MAN STANDING COMMITTEE:  Chairman Felix Conde and Jack Parker reported that the Last Man Standing Protocols and Procedures were completed in 2007.

       a. Felix Conde volunteered to continue as the custodian of the Last Man Standing display records and items.  He further asked that the protocol should remain as is, simple, and easy to conduct.

       b. Mitchell Paradis recommended that the names of the members deceased between the fifth and sixth gatherings be entered into the minutes.  The Team Commander and all attending agreed.  Our fellow departed brothers are:

           GySgt Michael Jarman

            MSgt Donald A. Carter

            GySgt Ronald L. Kelley

            SSgt Ronald E. Bragdon

            MSgt Francisco Luciano

            MSgt William Hulsey

XI.  JOINT MEETING COMMITTEE:  Team Commander reported the attendance to the MCIA Joint Convention breakdown was as follows:  MCIA – 6, MCCA – 100, MCCIA – 60, MCITTA – 47, and Active Duty – 60.  All attendees are invited to attend General Ennis’ retirement ceremony. General Mattis will be the honored guest.  General Mattis will be the guest speaker at the Joint Organization Banquet.  The next joint MCIA convention will be in four years. 

      a. The Team Commander Thanked Don James for his work and contribution in making the joint MCIA convention a success.

XII. Chaplain:  No report

XIII. Service Officer:  No report

XX. OLD Business

        a. Inventory of MCITTA files has been conducted by 2nd Tm Cmdr H. Kahn.  It was noted that location of files does not affect the MCITTA’s incorporation status in the state of California.  The 2nd Tm Cmdr will continue as custodian of organization files.

         b. The Tm Cmdr commented on the inventory of Maj James East’s personal files by a group led by Harry Todd.  The inventory was conducted to assess its historical value.  It resulted in obtaining two footlockers full of material taken by the Tm Cmdr for cataloging and disposition.  Of the said material, three pieces were found pertaining to the ITT’s.  Most of the material pertained to other intelligence specialties.  The Tm Cmdr plans to give part of the material the Marine Corps History Division in Quantico and make the rest available to interested parties.

        c. A lively discussion on the 2009 Seventh Gathering in San Diego was held with no consensus on dates for the gathering reached.  It was decided that the Tm Cmdr will meet with the hosts as soon as possible after the 2008 Gathering and determine the dates

XXI. NEW BUSINESS

        a. Eighth MCITTA Gathering (2010)

             1. Members present nominated five locations for the eighth gathering:

                        Tampa, FL; Bellingham, WA; Jacksonville, NC (CamLej); Pigeon Forge, TN; and Virginia Beach, VA.

              2. After a lively and interesting discussion, the members voted and decided on Tampa, FL as the site for the Eighth MCITTA Gathering.  Hipolito (Paul) Hernandez volunteered to chair the hosting committee.

       b. Mitchell Paradis made a motion to establish an Editorial Board consisting of three members to proof articles and approve them for publication, printing, and mailing for the Spot Report.  It was noted that this would in no way limit a contributor’s right of free expression.  The motion was seconded by Harold Weiss.  The motion carried.

       c. Felix Conde made a motion to allow the MCITTA to fund the use of a online person locator to locate 0250/0251’s for MCITTA membership.  The motion was seconded by Mitchell Paradis.  The motion carried.

Note:  Jack Parker donated $100 to be used toward the online person locator.

       d. The members agreed to allow Howard Young to continue as Service Officer for the MCITTA.

       e. The MCITTA Financial Report was presented and read by 2nd Tm Cmdr Howard Kahn.  Chuck Chlarson made a motion to approve and accept the report as read.  The motion was seconded by Jim Haskins.  The motion carried.

       f. Chuck Chlarson made a motion to make the E-Bulletin expenses part of the official MCITTA expenses.  The motion was seconded by Jim Massey.  The motion passed.

 Tm Cmdr’s note:  A reminder that elections will be held at the 2009 Gathering.

       g. Paul Anctil was awarded the DSM for his service to the MCITTA.

       h. The Team Commander thanked Paul Anctil on behalf of the MCITTA for his contribution of the gift basket raffled at the joint convention.

XXII. MOTION TO ADJOURN

         There being no further business, Harold Weiss made a motion to adjourn the MCITTA Annual General Assembly meeting.  The motion was seconded by Mike Bianchino.  Motion Carried by unanimous vote.  The Tm Cmdr declared the meeting closed at 1015.  The next meeting will be held at the Seventh MCITTA Gathering in San Diego, CA with location, time, and date to be determined.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Felix Conde Jr

 Team Chief