NHQ Announces New National Staff Members

[CAP Producer]

Sept. 29, 2008

Civil Air Patrol announces three new national officers
New chief of staff, controller and chief of chaplain service confirmed

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – Three new national officers, appointed by Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter, were confirmed by vote of the National Board on Sept. 28.

The following were selected:

•   Chief of staff: Col. Russell E. Chazell of Salina, Utah;
•   Controller: Col. William S. Charles II of South Lyon, Mich.; and
•   Chief of Chaplain Service: Lt. Col. Whitson B. Woodard of Rocklin, Calif.;

Chazell, as national chief of staff, will direct and oversee the organization's national staff and advisors. He has been a CAP member since joining as a cadet in 1978. He has served in various command and staff positions during his CAP career, most recently as the Rocky Mountain Region commander, leading more than 3,100 CAP officers and cadets in 100 units located throughout Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming in their performance of CAP's primary missions of emergency services, cadet programs and aerospace education. He is also a qualified CAP pilot and mission observer. He received his Juris Doctor degree at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., and is a master's degree candidate in nuclear engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Charles, as national controller, will assist the commander in managing the organization's financial and property assets. He has served in CAP for more than 30 years, taking on a variety of leadership roles, including Great Lakes Region commander from 1999 to 2003 and national inspector general from 2003 to 2006. Most recently, he served as the national equal opportunity officer responsible for compliance issues concerning CAP, Air Force and Department of Defense regulations and polices related to nondiscrimination. Before joining CAP, he served with distinction during the Vietnam War as a member of the U.S. Air Force, earning the Air Force Commendation Medal. After 19 years of service as a police officer, Charles retired from the Novi, Mich., police department in 1993.

Woodard, as chief of CAP's Chaplain Service, will guide and support the efforts of CAP's 900 chaplain service personnel nationwide. He joined CAP as a Florida Wing cadet in 1954 before active duty service in the U.S. Air Force. He was appointed to CAP's Chaplain Service in 1967, and he served in a variety of capacities before his most recent assignment as Pacific Region chaplain. He has more than 12 years' experience as a law enforcement chaplain, senior chaplain, training officer and administrator.  He earned the prestigious Master Chaplain diploma from the International Conference of Police Chaplains. As the California Wing liaison officer for assistance to active duty chaplains at Travis AFB for several years, he earned praise from the Air Force for his participation in Operation Enduring Freedom. Woodard served as chaplain to an Army Reserve unit when its assigned chaplain was deployed to Germany and provided chaplain services for the Army Signal Corps High Tech Training Facility in Sacramento, Calif.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 103 lives in fiscal year 2007. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 66 years.

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[cnitas]

Is the new national controller a CPA?

I would think that a national organization as large as CAP should have a CPA at the helm of its finances.  Heck, our squadron finance officer is a CPA...

Perhaps I do not fully understand the job of 'national controller'.

[Cato the Younger]

Seems like someone is following the old adage: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

[FW]

Is the new national controller a CPA?

I would think that a national organization as large as CAP should have a CPA at the helm of its finances.  Heck, our squadron finance officer is a CPA...

Perhaps I do not fully understand the job of 'national controller'.

The role of the National Controller is found in the C&BL of CAP.  The position does NOT require a CPA but, it does require a knowledge of the finance and logistics regulations; which Col. Charles is well versed in.   He will make an excellent addition to the NEC.  
CAPNHQ is responsible for the day to day transactions of the corporation.  The CAP/FM department is headed up by the CAP/CFO or Chief Financial Officer.  It is this professional CPA who is responsible for all the accounting in the organization.  Both the CAP/NFO and CAP/NC works with her to provide guidance on NEC and NB policies of financial matters.

[cnitas]

What is this C&BL you speak of?  Is it in 20-1?

Thanks for the glimpse inside of the finance box at NHQ.  I am a little surprised to see that there is only 1 professional CPA working in the office at NHQ. 

Still, working in finance, when I see the title 'controller', CPA is almost always assumed.

Spacing - MIKE

[jeders]

What is this C&BL you speak of?  Is it in 20-1?

C&BL = Constitution and Bylaws

[FW]

Thanks for the glimpse inside of the finance box at NHQ.  I am a little surprised to see that there is only 1 professional CPA working in the office at NHQ. 

Still, working in finance, when I see the title 'controller', CPA is almost always assumed.

Spacing - MIKE

Sorry I wasn't clear.  The CAP/FM department is staffed by many CPA's, budget analysts and book keepers.  The CFO is the director of the department.