MISSION:

            To foster and improve the Army and Air National Guard of North Dakota through the  education of the public, the state and national legislatures on the purpose and value of the National Guard in the Homeland Security Program and the promotion and improvement of relationships among all members of the North Dakota National Guard.

VISION:

            A vibrant association that promotes 100% membership and active involvement of all Officers in the North Dakota National Guard in the formulation of resolutions which drive the improvement of the National Guard at the State and National level.

POLICIES

GENERAL:

G1: NON-DISCRIMINATION

            The Corporation shall not adopt policies or conduct activities that discriminate against any person based on color, race, religion, sex, age, or national origin.

G2: NON-PROFIT

            Corporation net earnings shall not inure to the benefit of any director, officer, or member.

G3: POLICY MANUAL REVIEW

            This manual will be reviewed, amended if required and ratified at the first Board of Directors meeting after the annual conference and installation of new directors. The acceptance of the policy manual will be recorded in the minutes of that meeting.

G4: ENDORSEMENT OF POLITICAL CANDIDATES

            No member of the Association may use the Association’s name or reference the Association in any manner for endorsement of any political candidate or party.

G5: INSURANCE PROGRAM

            The State Sponsored Life Insurance (SSLI) is sanctioned through public law (37 USC 707; DoD 5500.7 (JER) 3-209). The Adjutant General was placed in charge of this program and delegated its management down to the National Guard Association of North Dakota (NGAND). The corporation will sponsor this insurance program making it available to members of the North Dakota National Guard and their families. The administrative agency and carrier currently selected by the Board is Militia Insurance Trust and New York Life. Changes in Insurance Administrator or Underwriter must be recorded in the Minutes of the quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors.

G6: NGAUS NATIONAL CONFERENCE

            The Board of Directors will review the financial position of the Association and budget an appropriate amount for attendance at the NGAUS National Conference, to be distributed to offset costs in the following order of precedence:

1. The Chair’s and President’s travel, room and registration fees

2. A pro-rata share of registration fee and hotel room deposit for delegates who do not receive reimbursement from any other source

3. A pro-rata share of remaining funds to delegates who do not receive reimbursement from any other source.

            Historically the State has sponsored one Army and one Air member to the NGAUS Conference, the Association has determined that it is in the best interest of the Association to reserve these allocations for the Army and Air Resolutions Representatives as these individuals cannot attend on any federal status and their duties are the primary reason for the State to attend the conference. Additionally, NGR 37-106/ANGR 177-07 authorizes each state to place one Army and one Air member in federal status (orders) to attend the conference. The Association has determined that in order to encourage attendance and involvement in the Association by junior officers, these authorizations should be used for Company Grade officers. The order of preference, in the absence of more important criteria, will be:

1. Company Grade Officers of the Year, Army and Air.

2. Most junior Company Grade Executive Board member that has not attended on orders previously

3. Most junior Company Grade Board of Directors member that has not attended on orders previously

4. Nominations received from the Directors for Company Grade Officers, selected by ballot

5. If no Company Grade Officers are willing to attend, a Field Grade may be selected in the same order of preference

G7: ALLOCATION OF DIRECTORS

                The intent of the Allocation of Directorships is to represent each major subdivision of Army and Air units while keeping the number of members under each director to a manageable size.

G8: MEMBERSHIP FEES

G9: OUTSTANDING OFFICERS OF THE YEAR

            The Association will recognize the outstanding field and company grade officers of the North Dakota Army and Air Guard at each year’s Annual Conference Banquet. Association members are only eligible to win the company or field grade category once for their service. The member can win in both company grade and field grade during the course of their career. The selection committee will be comprised of the three most recent Past Chairs with the Immediate Past Chair heading the committee. Should one of the three past Chairs be unavailable, the next past chair in line will be asked to fulfill these duties. The Association’s President will act as archivist, recorder and facilitator for the committee.

            This committee will request nominations from any member in good standing. The nominated person must also be a member in good standing to be considered or selected. The nomination can be in verse or bullet, memo or letter format, either hard copy or e-mail (with routing that verifies electronic signatures) exact format will be determined by the committee. There is no formal form required. However, the nominations must include:

Name and Grade of nominated individual
Unit of Assignment
Award individual is being nominated for
Examples of outstanding performance or justification for nomination
Name and Grade of Recommending Officer

            The selection committee should meet to organize and set deadlines at least 90 days before the Annual Combined Conference. Deadlines should be based upon operational tempo, times required to process nominations, preparation of the award plaques or any other relevant criteria with selections made at least 30 days prior to the conference. Once determined the deadlines should be published and adhered to. Solicitations for nominations should be made at least 90 and not later than 60 days ahead of the Conference, multiple requests and several methods of solicitation may be required to reach all unit commanders, directors and members at large.

POSITIONAL

P1: INSURANCE REPRSENTATIVE

            The Board of Directors will select an Insurance Representative from the membership at large to oversee the Insurance Program and record the selection in the meeting Minutes. The position should be advertised in a manner to assure the widest possible dissemination in order to attract as many qualified candidates as possible. It is preferable that the Insurance Representative be a licensed Life Insurance Agent (or capable of becoming licensed and willing to do so), but is not required. Note: Care must be taken in order to avoid conflict of interest situations if the selected individual is currently selling Life Insurance. The Insurance Representative: will be an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors, the Representative’s performance will be reviewed annually and will be responsible for:

1. Advising the Board of Directors on the selection of a Insurance Administration Agency and will be the primary point of contact with that agency

2. Advising the Board on the availability and cost of new products from the Insurance Underwriters and coordinating the marketing strategy needed to insure that all members, enlisted and officer, are aware of the coverage available

3. Prepare and present an Insurance Report for the Annual Meeting of the membership

4. Attend Board of Directors meetings and to the maximum extent possible, attend all mobilizations of members to ensure that they have the opportunity to adjust their protection prior to deployment 5. Be willing to attend Insurance related conferences as the Associations Representative 6. Will head the Insurance Committee

P2: PRESIDENT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

            The Board of Directors will select a President (Executive Director) and record the selection in the meeting Minutes. The position should be advertised in a manner to assure the widest possible dissemination in order to attract as many qualified candidates as possible. The President will be an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. The selection results should be recorded in the Board of Directors meeting Minutes. The Association Executive Committee will conduct an annual Performance Review of the Association Executive Director by 1 April of each year after the Annual Conference. The Executive Committee will then negotiate the subsequent year’s contract with the Executive Director and submit the results to the Association Board of Directors for approval at the next regular meeting of the Board of Directors. The Association President shall have the authority to spend up to $500 of Association funds for any item needed for Association business.

            The Primary purpose of the President of the National Guard Association of North Dakota is to advise and assist the current Chair, Chair Elect, Vice Chair, Directors and Standing Committees in fulfilling their leadership duties in the Association. The position of President should not be looked upon as a decision making entity, as the President is not a voting member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. The President’s position should be that of a source of continuity of information and mentorship from one Chair to the next and one committee to the next. Specific duties the President is expected to fulfill, to the best of his/her abilities, include the following items:

1. The President will maintain the membership records in the format required by the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), which is currently Data-Guard, and will be the primary POC in regards to membership issues with NGAUS.

2. This will entail obtaining quarterly updates from SIDPERS from the Army as well as MPF from the Air and relaying those updates to NGAUS through Data-Guard, at the end of each quarter.

2.1 The database needs to be as accurate as possible prior to the annual 30 September submission to NGAUS as this information is used as a basis for membership numbers and percentages for the next year.  Projected separation actions for the next three months should be conducted prior to submission in order to facilitate reaching 100 % Membership before the end of the Rebate Drive Period, usually 28 Feb.

2.2 The President will work with the Treasurer to insure the Dues submission is accomplished prior to the Incentive Deadline date, as well as the 100% cutoff Date, which are set by NGAUS – usually 28 Feb and 30 Jun respectively.

3. The President will receive the dues from the various Directors, record the receipts in the membership database, and deposit the receipts or send the receipts to the Treasurer for deposit. The President will provide the Treasurer and the Chairman the Batch information that the Treasurer will use to submit the dues collected to NGAUS.

4. The President will work with the Membership Committee in providing information to the Directors to facilitate their efforts in collecting membership dues.

6. The President will be a member of the National Guard Executive Directors Association and will be expected to attend the NGEDA Conference to represent the State Association in matters concerning arrangements for the National Conference of NGAUS. The President will be the primary focal point for lodging and registration issues, and if determined appropriate, group travel issues. This responsibility will include two periods of travel, the first of which is to the NGEDA Conference (usually held in January), and the second to the NGAUS National Conference in the fall, usually mid September.

7. The President will assist the Congressional/Legislative Committee and if appropriate the Congressional Action Coordinating Officer (CACO) with coordination and organization of legislative activities including but not limited to, State Legislature Reception or State Legislators Dinner and Congressional Reception.

8. Legislative Reception in Bismarck – (Normally held in the Late January early February time often referred to as the spaghetti dinner) is the primary responsibility of the Legislative Committee. The Legislative Committee/President should coordinate with the TAG’s office to insure that a blanket invitation to all State Legislators has been issued. Both Associations executive boards are responsible for notifying the members of the events and coordinating the manpower support needed to accomplish this event.

9. Congressional Reception – The Chair and President will coordinate with the NGAUS staff, Congressional staffers and the TAG’s office in establishing the best date to hold the reception. This should be accomplished not less than 90 – 120 days before the event. The Chair and President will coordinate with the TAG’s office in issuing the invitations to the Governor, Congressman and their staff, Senators and their staffs, and Distinguished Guests.  All other attendees will be contacted by the association’s Legislative Committees. The President will coordinate with the NGAUS staff and arrange for caterers if appropriate.  Unit members who have official business with the command agencies in the DC area should be encouraged to coordinate those activities with the Congressional Reception date.

10. The Resolutions Committee (with the possible input of the CACO) has primary responsibility for getting the locally submitted resolutions prepared for consideration at the State Conference and formatting them for submittal to the National. The Resolutions Committee is also responsible for downloading and distributing the National Resolutions to be voted on during the State Conference. The President will help mentor and prepare the Resolutions Representatives Army and Air for their floor activities at the National Conference.  The President should ensure the State Resolutions are submitted by 1 June to NGAUS.

11. The Chair is has the primary responsibility for any newsletters produced. The President can advise the Chair on distribution issues and provide assistance in the way of active and retired membership mailing lists. The Board of Directors should monitor the contents of the Website and newsletters and make recommendations for materials to be placed on the Website and in the newsletters.

 P3: TREASURER

            The primary duty of the Treasurer shall be to track the day to day income and expenditures of the association. The long-term investments will be recorded by the treasurer but the responsibility for making investment decisions will reside with the Finance Committee and the Executive Board. The treasurer should prepare quarterly reports to submit to the Board of Directors at the quarterly meetings to facilitate budgetary decisions by the Board, and an Annual Report to be presented to the membership at large during the Annual Conference. Additionally, an annual budget should be prepared for review by the Board for the 4th quarter meeting of the Board for approval prior to the beginning of the next calendar year. The following list of income and expenditure items are for awareness purposes and are not to be construed as the budget:

Income (yearly):

Dues (based upon 90% of the total annual that could be collected)............Approx $3,300
Affinity Income (NGAUS programs like technician insurance) .......................Approx $1,300
Insurance Program................................................................................Approx $1,200                       
Early Bird Rebate (NGAUS).....................................................................Approx $   600
100% Membership................................................................................Approx $   600           
Experience Refund (Insurance)...............................................................Approx $1,000
Combined Conference...........................................................................Approx $3,500

Ensure preparation and filing of tax receipts and documents is accomplished (if required).

P4: DIRECTORS

The Directors are the primary point of contact for communications between the Association Board, NGAUS and the membership at large. They are expected to

• Pass communications from the Board and NGAUS down to the membership at large
• Notify the membership of events like the National Conference, Legislative Reception and State Conference
• Bring their member’s concerns and suggestions back to the Board
• Be the primary point of contact for collecting dues for their units
• Attend all Board of Directors meetings unless a life event (wedding, funeral, graduation, etc) or duty requirement prohibits attendance
• Directors must contact one of the Chairs if they are unable to attend to coordinate an excused absence
• After the second unexcused absence the Chair will notify the director and the Commander of the Director’s unit that the next unexcused absence will be grounds for replacement of the Director

P5: FINANCE/AUDIT COMMITTEE

            The Finance Committee will prepare and maintain the Investment Policy of the Association, monitor the performance of Association Investments and propose/carry out changes in the make-up of the Investment Portfolio. The Policy will be reviewed and/or approved by the Board of Directors and recorded in the Minutes of the Board of Directors meeting. Changes in Investment Portfolio will be brought to the Board of Directors (when time constraints permit) for approval and recording in the Minutes. The Chair will recommend members to be appointed to the Finance Committee. The recommendations will then go to the Board of Directors for ratification. Upon ratification, the selections should be recorded in the Minutes of the meeting and a letter of authorization will be drafted up with all the Finance Committee names upon the letter. The letter will authorize the Committee to make timely changes to the investments of the Association by presenting to the Investment Brokerage house a written instruction of the changes to be made along with signatures of a majority of the Finance Committee. The intent is to protect the investments from radical changes in the investment environment. It may be detrimental to the investments to delay changes in investment while waiting for an Executive Board meeting or a quarterly Board of Directors meeting to convene. The Committee will report such changes and rationale for them at the next Board of Directors meeting where the transaction can be recorded in the Minutes.

 P6: TIME AND PLACE COMMITTEE

            The Time and Place Committee will be chaired by the Vice-Chair and will work in conjunction with the Enlisted Association’s Time and Place Committee, forming the Joint Conference Time and Place Committee. The Chair will recommend members for this committee for ratification by the Board of Directors. The Joint Committee will research Cities as possible off-year sites for the Annual Joint Conference as far in advance of the Joint Conference as is required to obtain the facilities required to successfully hold the Joint Conference. The following factors should be considered:

• adequate meeting rooms conveniently located for all three Associations, Officer Enlisted and Auxiliary
• large enough display and joint meeting areas conveniently located to accommodate expected attendance and vendors
• large enough banquet facility for anticipated attendance
• adequate number reasonable cost and quality of lodging rooms in conference hotel and nearby facilities
• cost and quality of banquet meals

P7:  ANNUAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

            The annual conference committee is chaired by the Executive Director. Members will be appointed by the Chair. The committee is responsible for establishing the agenda, arranging for speakers, assisting the President in marketing advertising and booth space and other duties as recognized and assigned.

P8: RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE

            The Resolutions Committee will be comprised of, at a minimum, the Chairman, the Army Resolutions Representative and the Air Resolutions Representative. The Chairman may also appoint additional personnel as necessary. The responsibility of this committee is to accept potential resolutions from the membership at large, to research, and format those proposed resolutions for presentation to the membership at the annual meeting. If adopted by the membership the committee will then prepare, coordinate and present these local resolutions at the national conference. The Representative of each branch will be aware of all national standing resolutions and proposed resolutions in order to answer questions from the floor at the annual conference, and represent the state at the national putting forth the memberships consensus on those resolutions put forward.

P9:  LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

            The Legislative Committee will be comprised of, at a minimum, the Chairman, the President and the Chair Elect. The Chairman may also appoint additional personnel as necessary. The responsibility of this committee is to accept potential legislative proposals from the membership at large or the Directors, to research, and format those proposed pieces of legislation for presentation to the membership at the annual meeting or Board of Directors (driven by timing). If adopted by the membership or Board the committee will then prepare, coordinate and present these pieces of legislation to select members of the State Legislature in order to get a sponsor for the bill.

P10:  NEWSLETTER/WEBPAGE COMMITTEE

            The Newsletter/ Webpage Committee will be comprised of, at a minimum, the Chairman, the President and the Chair-Elect. The Chairman may also appoint additional personnel as necessary. The responsibility of this committee is to prepare and distribute newsletters and or updates for the webpage. The purpose is to disseminate information to our members in a timely fashion. All material submitted should be reviewed by the Chair before dissemination.