ACADEMY CANDIDATE “SEND-OFF” DINNER – 15 JUNE 2023:
Note – See the Veterans Reporter News Article, pages 1-2, here.
For the past 15 years MOAA has invited the Service Academy Appointees to a joint dinner meeting with the Las Vegas Academy Parents Club to congratulate them and give them a MOAA and community “Send-off.” This year we had another joint “Send Off” Dinner.
Our June meeting was a Joint chapter “Send-Off” dinner for the Academy Appointees and Service Academy Parents Club. There are 17 candidates selected to attend all the Academies for the classes of 2026 from Southern Nevada: 3 Army, 10 AF, and 4 Navy. The speaker was Major Jennifer Ruhnke, USAF, Air Force Academy Class 2011, assigned as the commander of the 432d Maintenance Squadron, Creech Air Force Base.
The Parents Club conducted a Cadet Forum consisting of actual cadets so that the appointees and par-ents could ask any questions and obtain answers from currents cadets. Our members were appointed table hosts so that the parents and appointees could interface with our members and actual graduates from past years.
The purpose of the dinner is to:
– Invite the Appointees to a dinner to celebrate their selection to one of the service academies.
– Demonstrate to the young candidates that they are part of a larger tradition of trained officers for the leadership of the US Military Forces.
– Give Parents Club members and Appointee parents an opportunity to meet veterans who have been educated at the service academies, and/or have served in the US military forces.
– Demonstrate to the parents that candidates will receive a great education at the service academies, and join a long line of career officers who have dedicated their careers to the service & defense of the country.
The purpose of the Parents Club is to provide an organization to support their cadets at the service academies during their 4 years of study.
The Southern Nevada Chapter will continue to support the effort to send these young candidates to the academies with the strongest MOAA, parental and community support possible.