January 2025 Newsletter
A note from Amy Tuschen our National Director
Happy New Year from the National SCRA! It is our intent to update our members on activities happening within the SCRA with email newsletters. We continue to grow our membership and chapters and take feedback from chapter officers and active members to continue improving our organization. If you have feedback or other information you want on the site or that you would like to receive updates on, please send it our way.
We have been working behind the scenes to update our membership management software from CiviCRM to Salesforce; they offered discounted licenses for us as a non-profit, and as you may know Salesforce is a proven CRM that offers much more security for your information. Please be patient with us as we finish this migration, in that some things are not as searchable yet. This actually is the first newsletter sent from the new platform.
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Message from our Chapter Mentor, COL Charles D. (Dean) Smith
As a SCRA Chapter Mentor, I work with many chapters across the world to reestablish or rebuild membership in SCRA. We have noticed a challenge with email addresses and membership details. To ensure you receive information from SCRA HQs, we ask that you update your member profile at https://signalcorps.org and you set as your primary main email address a civilian address with a .com extension. Our email delivery system has significant kickbacks from .mil email addresses. Also, if you have moved or are planning to move during this PCS cycle, you can find a chapter close to you to affiliate with. Thanks for all you do as SCRA members. Please reach out to me at chapters@signalcorps.org with any questions or if there is any way I can help.
National Board update:
Our National Board met during TechNet Augusta 2024 and voted to reorganize the BOD and incorporate an Advisory Council with experienced former members. We set up focused Board members with 3 Committees: Awards, Chapters and Memberships, which helps to give leadership support as our staff performs these task areas. Also, after the Bronze Order of Mercury requirement enforcement of being a member a minimum of 6 months, the feedback we received led us to establish an entry-level award for new members that have demonstrated achievements in supporting the SCRA. See the Award section for more information on this new medal!
Upcoming Events/Chapter News:
Chapter Annual Reports
Annual Reports are due at the end of the month: 31 JAN 2025. Chapter officers can submit using this simple form!
If you have any questions regarding the annual report or other chapter procedures, please check the website, or reach out to chapters@signalcorps.org.
Announcing NEW CHAPTERS!
We are pleased to welcome the new Hospitality Chapter with the Mississippi National Guard! Also, happy to announce the new Alamo Chapter in San Antonio, TX! Be sure to change your chapter affiliation if you are in these areas!
National Team – Augusta, GA
Our team hosts in-person professional development (PD) events on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. These are open to any SCRA members who want to network or learn about the topics and are listed on the Signal School Facebook page. If you are interested in being a speaker for a future PD event, reach out to us at events@signalcorps.org, this can be virtual if you are not in the Augusta area. If you want to see what events are upcoming, find us on Facebook at SCRASignalSchool and SCRA.National
The PD topics vary from the SCCC CPT panel for the SBOLC students; other leadership panels, learning about military service from numerous Signal leaders and retirees in the Augusta area, topics like networking, obtaining certifications, and financial readiness. We can also record these and share with chapters to use as PD sessions, if interested reach out to Director@signalcorps.org.
Ongoing & Upcoming Membership Drives
Voice of SWA Chapter membership drive is still ongoing! – 09DEC-24JAN
Each chapter may host one membership drive per calendar year. Get yours set up today!
Chapters can provide short updates, either for this newsletter or for our social media sites, of interest to their chapter and other members. Have any upcoming events or news for your chapter? Please contact chapters@signalcorps.org and we can share your information in the next newsletter!
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Career Center/Corporate Partnerships:
The SCRA has a Career center on our website available for members and their family members seeking employment. You must log in to the site to get access. Check it out here at the SCRA Careers site
If your organization is interested in partnering with the SCRA, we have a Corporate Partnership program in place that allows them to get recognition and includes job postings in the SCRA Careers Center.
Depending on the level, Gold, Silver, or Bronze, they also receive some individual memberships and recognition at National and Chapter events. For more info see the Corporate Partnerships Webpage
We are starting an incentive for any chapter that encourages a corporate partner to sign up, that chapter will receive a finder’s fee for their role in getting them to sign up. Share with your potential Corporate Partners the information above.
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Awards:
Announcing the Mercury Medal of Achievement
The first Wahatchee was awarded in 1996, the SCRA has not introduced a new award since. The SCRA is proud to announce the establishment of the entry-level Mercury Medal of Achievement (MMA), available this Spring. The purpose of the MMA is to recognize excellence within the Signal Corps, honoring individuals who demonstrate exceptional achievements, significant acts of service, and embody the values of a professional Signaleer. Also to promote the mission of the SCRA through acknowledging members who actively support the Association’s goals and objectives.
Learn about the new award and all the SCRA awards here: SCRA Awards
In 2024, we presented the following awards to SCRA and Signal Corps Regiment contributors. We hope to continue seeing and awarding deserving members and volunteers in 2025! Check out all the award rosters on the website!
157 Bronze Order of Mercury Awardees
13 Silver Order of Mercury
46 Bronze Wahatchee Awardees
3 Silver Wahatchee Awardee
18 Brevet Colonel Awards
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FAQs & Articles:
We have created and will continue adding to our FAQs page which can be found on our site homepage!
Why don’t I see my name listed in the membership directory? Check out the FAQ Page for our response.
Is there an information flyer or handout I could use for my unit regarding the benefits of the SCRA? Check out the FAQ Page for our response.
Articles that members can find useful from the past, as well as posts shared on our social media, can now be published on our website!
Additionally, these newsletters will be shared on the website! Check out past newsletters here!
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Memberships:
In 2024 we had 685 new members join the Association! Our current membership total is 6,852 active members.
Please mention these newsletters to anyone who is a member that may not have checked in recently! They may not receive our emails and need to update their contact info. Keep in mind that .mil email addresses do not receive notifications from the site (including this newsletter!). Members should use a personal/commercial email address.
Are you aware that one of your membership incentives is also being a member of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA)? We provide membership information to the AUSA monthly, so if you hear from them about free membership, this is a legitimate incentive.
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Online Store:
This month we are giving you a chance to expand your personal or unit libraries and are discounting all the books in our store by 10% for the month of January. Use the coupon code READ2025 at checkout to get this discount. Happy reading! Online Store
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Museum Updates:
As a reminder our 501(c)3 partner, the Signal and Cyber Museum Society (SCMS) that was formed to help bring back the Signal Museum to the Augusta community, is our designated donor for contributions submitted to the SCRA. We have received two $100K pledges from individuals for building the new museum. If you want to learn more, check out SignalandCyberCorpsMuseum.org or to contribute to the virtual museum, reach out to ExecDirector@FGHMS.org
If you are interested in volunteering with the SCMS to help to bring back the Signal Corps Museum to the Augusta area, which permanently closed in February 2021. That Board of Directors is a fully separate entity from the SCRA National Board of Directors, and we are seeking some new BOD members to support that mission. If you are interested, send a note to ExecDirector@fghms.com
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Need info regarding chapters, our store, careers, or other SCRA topics? Visit our Contact Us page and send us an email!
