Photo by Susan Schneider, National Headquarters
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS – Civil Air Patrol’s Board of Governors approved an updated Constitution and Bylaws on Monday. The document incorporates the organization’s new governance structure.
The governance changes streamline the organization’s decision- and policymaking processes; clarify the role and responsibilities of key personnel; incorporate a new selection process for CAP’s national commander and other executives; change the composition of the CAP membership on the BoG; and extend indemnification to all CAP members who were previously indemnified.
Members of the BoG’s Governance Committee – Maj. Gen. John Speigel and Brig. Gen. Sandy Schlitt and CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr – received input and recommendations from CAP’s Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and this information was considered by the BoG in finalizing the document. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee consisted of five members – Col. Russ Chassell, CAP’s national chief of staff; Col. Bob Karton, Great Lakes Region commander; Col. Barry Herrin, chief of CAP’s legal corps; Rafael Robles, CAP general counsel; and Susie Parker, chief of personnel and member actions.
“I am pleased to announce that the initial phase of CAP’s long-awaited governance change has taken place,” Carr said. “A lot of long hours and hard work were required to transform our vision of a stronger, more viable CAP into reality. I commend our 61,000 members for their support of this important initiative, and I look forward to working with everyone to fully implement the new governance structure.”
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley commended the new organizational structure: “I have carefully reviewed the changes and believe that the rules of governance bring clarity and consistency to implementation of the structures and procedures as set forth by Congress,” he wrote in a Sept. 24 letter to Brig. Gen. Rich Anderson, BoG chairman.
“We have crossed a significant milestone in our journey, and I sincerely appreciate the focused way in which everyone has met the task before us,” Anderson said. “The end state will be a better Civil Air Patrol for its volunteer members and for our country.”
All of CAP’s regulations affected by the governance change are scheduled to be updated by Jan. 1, 2013, which is the final implementation date for the changes, said Carr.
Also, on Nov. 2 CAP’s Senior Advisory Group, formerly the National Executive Committee, will review applications and select three BoG members-at-large. The CSAG consists of 11 voting members – the national commander, national vice commander, CAP’s chief of staff and the organization’s eight region commanders.
The Constitution and Bylaws can be reviewed online.
