Thank you for placing your trust in me to serve as the Lance P. Sijan Chapter President.  I am extremely honored that you are allowing me to serve and I pledge to do all I can to maximize the effort for this chapter to Educate, Advocate and Support the Air Force and our Air Force family. 

There are a number of things I feel we need to address as a chapter.  First, we are looking to grow engagement of our members.  We have an amazing solid core of volunteers, but they are the same volunteers for every project.  We are looking to you, as members, to take a close look at our projects and support areas to see if there is anything you would like to donate your time to.  I don’t expect anyone to be there for everything, but I’m certain there are areas that may particularly interest you.  What about mentoring a Stellar Xplorers student team or a CyberPatriot student team?  Mentoring isn’t the same as coaching, but I know you would be able to encourage and help organize.  We have aerospace education volunteers who would be more than happy to sit down with you and explain the programs. 

We are also trying to revitalize general membership meetings.  We began with a Vietnam history and honoree program over a year ago, then followed up with a meeting to honor our Cold War Warriors in Oct 2018.  Next on the agenda is an Enlisted Heritage program on April 22nd.  Any ideas you have about what you would like to see at a general membership meeting would certainly be welcome—and we’d welcome your volunteer time to organize those meetings as well. 

What about the Air Force Ball or Image Golf?  These annual events draw big crowds and need volunteers in a variety of areas—planning, registering, decorating, organizing, you name it—we need volunteers.  The AF Ball honors all Air Force members, hosts Outstanding Airmen and Wounded Airmen; Image Golf funds our scholarships for students and spouses.  And that brings up another idea—what about volunteering to judge the scholarship entries? 

There are so many ways to Educate, Advocate and Support the Air Force and the Air Force family, but it takes involvement of all of our members in some capacity.  Please help me with my new responsibilities as your Chapter President to continue our amazing efforts and revitalize areas where we need to be stronger.  I’d love to hear from you and I want to know what you have to say.  Please reach out to me any time.  You can reach me at charles.apodaca@us.af.mil. 

Thanks again for the trust you have placed in me!! Doc Apodaca

Highlight on Sijan Activities: AFA Lance P. Sijan Chapter Presents “Enlisted Heritage”

Sijan Chapter Members, active duty and retired, and anyone interested in a great presentation about the history of our enlisted heritage, please join us for a FREE General Membership Meeting!  Monday, April 22nd , 5:30 to 7:00 PM MDT at the Radisson Hotel, 1645 Newport Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80916. We’ll gather at 5:30 pm for hors d’oeuvres  and the presentation will begin at 6:00 pm.  We are honored to have SMSgt Kelli Jackson, Superintendent from 21^st Space Wing Medical Group, as our moderator and we will have a panel of Command Chiefs from the Pikes Peak Region. Hope to see you all there!