The Chairman's Corner

By Thomas McCarthy

July 2019

How is it July already?  Steve just texted me, “Happy Fourth, don’t forget your column is due on Friday.”  Seriously?  I swear I just finished the last one last week.  Plus, who really wants to read my column while they are busy with their own businesses and life in July.  So, for the six of you out there that are taking the time to read this, this month is for you. 

If you read the history of fourth of July, you will learn that the second of July was argued by many as the day that should be considered our nation’s birthday.  But just like in today’s time, until the paperwork got turned into the van line or continental congress, it didn’t count.  So here we are celebrating fourth of July all these years later.  Our independence came at a cost, sacrifices were made, and our nascent nation took its first steps into a new world.  It is incumbent on us not to squander, but to appreciate what we do have.  I hope we all take a moment to reflect on what came before us today to earn our freedoms, including all those that lost or gave everything so that we can continue to enjoy those same freedoms. 

We can draw correlations from our history to what we do today in our professional lives.  While I hope and pray that no one is having muskets pointed at them, we are in the middle of what would be our big battle, which is trying to do our best to make sure that we take full advantage of our busy season and position ourselves to maximize our year.  It can be a fight to the finish. Some days it feels like you are the hammer, and nothing can stop you. The next day, you are the nail.   June has sadly come and gone. We have this month to make our push before we start to see the beginning of our traditional downward slope of our season going into August, and then the peak season has passed.  During summer especially, time goes by faster and faster it seems, but when we were in school, maybe it was just me, but I could have sworn that the minute hand on the clock would go backwards sometimes.  Now I wish I had the ability to slow down time to get all the things I need done. 

In July, the Chapter President orientation meetings starts; in August, the Executive Committee meets to prepare for the upcoming year; then before you will know it, September will be here and the Chairman’s Chapter tour begins.  But before I get ahead of myself, I did see some encouraging news for the agents that service military moves. The military is looking to finally adopt the TWIC card as the primary method of identification to get into all bases.  While details are being hammered out, this is something we have been pushing towards for a long time.  In San Diego while our bases use DBIDS, you still have to go base by base to get approved.  I am hoping having the TWIC card will help streamline this process as I know combined, we have all spent far too much time waiting to get onto bases.  Alongside our other associations, namely IAM and AMSA, we have been working to stay on top of the outsourcing of the military program.   CMSA, IAM, and AMSA have sent out emails requesting letters be sent to congressmen and congresswomen to make sure our voices are heard.  If you are not getting these requests, please reach out to CMSA so you can be a part of the solution.  I leave you these words from the author of our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson: “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

July 2019 - CMSA Communicator