From the NFRW Armed Services Committee
The NFRW Armed Services Committee for 2022-2023 is approved and ready to assist. The committee has a wide range of Armed Service knowledge: Chairwoman Cec Tyler (TX) is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, Deputy Chairwoman Christine Benedict (NY) has over 20 years working for the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Mary Smart is a retired U.S. Navy Captain, and Becky Bechtel (IN) is a military spouse and mother of a current servicewoman.
The goal for our Armed Services Committee is to encourage Republican Women to take pride in supporting the U.S. Military which includes Active Duty Military, Reserves, National & Air Guards, Armed Service Academies, ROTC (at universities or high schools), Veterans, and military families. The Armed Services Committee role is multi-faceted: (1) we serve as an information sharing conduit to State FRWs and Clubs; (2) we foster project ideas; (3) we foster the promotion of Republican veterans to run for political offices at all levels (to include school board offices); and (3) we will inform State FRWs and Clubs of significant developments within the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, and Military Services.
Check out the document we have posted on the NFRW website: a pamphlet that will give Clubs ideas for projects. After logging in, go to Members, Committee and Issue Resources, Armed Services. The committee is in the process of updating our pamphlet to include organizations we left out when we first published it. In addition, a synopsis of the projects that received awards at the NFRW 2021 Convention will also be found here.
For those of you new to your positions, we want to ensure that you know that Armed Services is a separate committee from Caring For America; and we have separate awards. If you have questions concerning what is an Armed Services versus a Caring For America project, please ask us early on so you know which track you are taking. For instance, the Coast Guard is Armed Services, but the Border Patrol falls under Caring For America.
Please send us articles with photos of your Club’s support for any Armed Services entity, and we will get it out via one of the multi-media sources that NFRW uses. In addition, we ask that each State FRW (through their Clubs) identify veterans who are members and submit a write-up of your State's veterans to spotlight these women.
The Armed Services Committee looks forward to working with each of you!
Cec Tyler, Chair
Christine Benedict, Vice Chair
Mary Smart
Becky Bechtel