Perks for Military Members
Reprinted from Materials Evaluation, March 2019, Vol 78 Issue 3
I’m calling this month Military Month. The 2020 ASNT Research Symposium is 23–26 March in Williamsburg, Virginia, and we are inviting all active-duty military members to attend the conference at no charge. In order to receive free admission, you will need to request a form from ASNT’s conference department at [email protected] and bring the filled-out form with you. If you are only able to make it to the conference for one day, I would recommend Tuesday 24 March, as there will be military presentations going on all day. Another exciting thing that we have going on at ASNT is the Military Outreach Committee.
Several years ago, I was given a suggestion by two different military veterans. When they got out of the military, they did not realize how certification worked in the civilian world and the importance of holding onto their NDT documentation. This idea was brought forth to the Section Operations Council, and now we have the Military Outreach Committee, which is doing an outstanding job in formulating policies, procedures, and a roadmap to help people transition out of the military into civilian life. (This is also the committee that is organizing the military presentations at the conference.)
Additionally, a recent change to ASNT’s military membership is that now the membership is available to any active-duty military member, regardless of rank. The best way to pass this information on is by word of mouth. Therefore, for those of you actively serving in the military, please pass this on to other active-duty military NDT inspectors.
Back to the topic at hand. Last month I promised to tell you the second way to get involved nationally with ASNT and I did not forget.
During committee meetings, sometimes members tend to get very passionate about specific topics. I myself have been known to raise my voice and speak my feelings now and then. Although it can get heated at times, it is this passion that is important to the Society. Our passion shows that we care deeply about this Society and the direction it is going in.
This passion tends to come out when we feel very strongly about something or are fed up with something. Let’s face it; do we ever call customer service to say that we are extremely pleased with something? Usually we call customer service because we are very upset, and sometimes we even let our feelings fly at that point.
If you do not want to join a committee (yet) but you have an idea—good or bad—for a committee, let me know and I will be glad to take you to the appropriate committee. I will make sure that the chair adds it to the agenda and when the time comes, I will sit back and happily watch as you present your idea.
As for the second way to get involved, that’s it. Show up to a committee meeting, present an idea, get passionate about it, and you will walk out of that meeting a member of the committee. This has happened to me a few times and I have been very fortunate to watch it happen to others. If you want, I will watch it happen to you too.
As I said, this passion is important to the Society. Unfortunately, we sometimes wait too long before getting an idea out there, and the passion may come out in ways we did not expect.
If you are not able to make it to the Research Symposium this year, do not worry as you will have another chance to attend a committee meeting. In November, ASNT will hold its Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. Most of the same committees normally meet at both conferences, which gives you another opportunity to “volunteer yourself” onto a committee.
Remember, the easiest way to get involved is to simply show up.
Michael V. McGloin
2019–2020 ASNT President