Savannah

Savannah Area Retired Officer's Association in Savannah has changed its name to Savannah Area Military Officer's Association because the chapter's national organization is changing its name from The Retired Officers Association (TROA) to Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).

According to Ken Wheeler, the local chapter president, TROA has changed its name to Military Officers Association of America on Jan. 1 to better reflect its total membership composition, focus and organizational scope. With over 250 members, the local chapter changed to its new name on Jan. 1, too.

Although a majority of TROA's 386,000 national members are military retirees or survivors of retirees, more than 30,000 members are now on active duty, including those in the Reserve and National Guard. Former military officers also may belong to TROA, and the organization also represents the uniformed officer corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The association historically has pursued legislative and policy actions on a variety of active duty, Reserve, and National Guard issues, in addition to their heavy and effective focus on lobbying for military retiree programs.

However, TROA officials say that those active duty efforts have not always been understood because of the word "retired" in the organization's name. They also say that this factor also has deterred membership among some active duty, Reserve, and National Guard personnel, plus recently retired officers embarking on second careers.

"Our support for our current members will continue; however, our organizational scope and focus will change as our membership grows," says Wheeler. "We want to ensure that active duty, reserve, and guard officers, former officers, or those just embarking on second careers know that they are welcome as members in our group or as guests at our meetings."

Those interested in belonging to the chapter and/or attending the meetings may contact Wheeler, (912) 897-3138.