XD’s Corner

The summer passed by all too quickly. For SAME, the highlight of the summer was the three SAME Engineering & Construction Camps at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., the U.S. Navy Seabees’ base at Port Hueneme, Calif., and the U.S. Army’s Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss. Once again we provided a fantastic experience for 140 high school students and more than 25 SAME Young Member mentors. Congratulations—and thanks—to all those who helped make the camps a success. A brochure promoting the 2007 camps will be sent to all Posts in early 2007 for use in recruiting students for next year’s camps.In September, we sent out an online survey to SAME members to get feedback on our signature publications—The Military Engineer, SAME News, and SAME Government & Industry e-News.

Many of you responded to the survey. Your comments will help us to improve our publications’ content, format and delivery so that you get more value out of your SAME membership. In 2007, we will conduct a general member survey to obtain your feedback on membership issues, as well as the various membership benefits.

Please be sure to take a few moments to complete the membership survey when it arrives; your comments are an important part of our growth and we need to hear from you.

We are moving forward on the new Association Management System (AMS), which is due to be launched in time for Individual Members’ annual membership renewal in December 2006. Watch for more information on this fantastic system, which will greatly improve SAME’s management at the HQ, Regional and Post levels. To assist members in the transition to the new AMS, the Training and Post Operations Team will schedule training sessions online and on-site. On-site training will take place in 2007 at our Post Leadership Workshops in January and August, and at the 2007 Joint Engineer Education and Training Conference & Expo in Philadelphia, Pa., in May 2007.

For the past two years, SAME has partnered with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to conduct our two Post Leadership Workshops. This year, SAME will conduct the workshops on its own. The first Post Leadership Workshop will take place Jan. 19-20, 2007, at the Denver, Colo., airport for Post Leaders who take office in May-June 2007; the second workshop will take place Aug. 24-25 in Minneapolis, Minn., for Post Leaders who take office in December 2007-January 2008. SAME President Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, P.E., USA, will participate in the January workshop.

The 2007 Joint Engineer Education and Training Conference & Expo is slated for May 1-4, 2007. The 30-member National Program Committee, co-chaired by Brig. Gen. (Sel) Timothy A. Byers, F.SAME, USAF, and Anthony F. Leketa, P.E., F.SAME, Parsons, is meeting regularly and solidifying a great program. The five tracks, each with five technical sessions, have been identified as follows:

• Track 1: Contingency Engineering,
       Emergency Preparedness and Response, and
       Homeland Security. Track Chair Michael Duffy,
       COMARK Building Systems Inc.; mduffy@comarkbuilding.com.
  
  
• Track 2: Installation Development and
       Realignment. Track Chair Joe R. Miller, F.SAME,
       Weston Solutions; joe.r.miller@westonsolutions.com.
  
  
• Track 3: Installation Management. Track Chair
       Jeanne LeBron, Leo A Daly; JMLebron@leoadaly.com.
  
  
• Track 4: Professional Development. Track
       Chair Lt. Col. G. Scott Griffin, Ph.D., CPC, USAF
       (Ret.), Colorado State University; gscott@frii.com.
  
  
• Track 5: Military Professional Development.
       Track Chair Col. (S) Sal M. Nodjomian, USAF;
       sal.nodjomian@pentagon.af.mil.

While many speakers will be selected by the National Program Committee, there will be an opportunity for SAME members to volunteer to be speakers. This is the first time SAME has attempted to put together the technical program from a national perspective. The goal is to better support the
education and training needs of our members— particularly those in the uniformed services. Contact the Chair of the Track for which you would like to volunteer as a speaker.

The Academy of Fellows will conduct its fall Investiture of 22 new Fellows in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 8, 2006, at the Marines’ Memorial Hotel. Beginning in 2007, new Fellows will be invested at the national conference—a decision made by the Board of Direction last year. In light of this change, the deadline to nominate SAME members for Fellow in 2007 will be Nov. 15, 2006. The deadline will change in 2007 so that the new Fellows can be approved by the Board of Direction at the Fall Board meeting and invested at the national conference the following year.

Finally, please join me in welcoming Lorrie Cerny as my new Administrative Assistant at SAME HQ. Lorrie is a U.S. Army spouse and is well-versed in military protocol and culture, so we are delighted to have her on our team. She is always available to assist you or to direct you to the right staff person at SAME HQ, so feel free to contact her if you have any questions or need assistance.

Now that fall is upon us, I look forward to seeing many of you at the regional conferences. As always, please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail at rwolff@same.org with your comments or suggestions.