GUIDELINES

I. MISSION STATEMENT 

The mission of Charlie Company Veterans Association is to locate and contact veterans of Charlie Company and to provide an annual reunion for those veterans and their guests.

II. MEMBERSHIP

A. Only men who have served in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 20th Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division in Vietnam between the years 1967 to 1971 and who have paid their yearly dues will be considered a Member of this association.

B. Membership begins on June 1 and ends on May 31 of the next year.

C. Annual dues cover costs for our website hosting and the printing and mailing of our planned quarterly newsletter to Members and non-members. Any remaining balance of funds is available for reunion planning and any incidental pre-event costs.

D. Only Members have voting privileges in association decisions. Others, such as family members and friends, who wish to contribute to the Association will be considered a Benefactor but not a Member and will have no voting privileges.

III. ADVISORY BOARD 

An advisory board has been established to be of assistance in all matters needed to make the mission statement a success. 

A. The current board members are Al Blosser, Mike Feltes, Ronnie Ray, Michael Stinnett and Chuck Unterberger.

B. If a need for additional Advisory Board member(s) arises or a vacancy occurs, the remaining Advisory Board members will fill the addition or vacancy and submit the name(s) for the approval of Members present at the next reunion’s business meeting.

IV. AIDS TO MISSION STATEMENT
A. NEWSLETTER – A quarterly newsletter will be available to Members and non-members in either hardcopy or email format. All issues will be posted on our web site. All Members electing to receive a hardcopy of the newsletter will be considered first priority. Charlie Company veterans who are non-members will be the second priority. Family and friends will be the third priority. If cost becomes an issue, family and friends requesting the newsletter may be required to receive it by email only or pay a yearly subscription fee to be determined by the newsletter staff.

B. WEB SITE – The Association will maintain a domain name and web hosting for our web site www.charlie1-20.org. Board Members have received the necessary names and passwords to continue the web site.

V. FINANCES

A. Membership fees and or any other type of funds will be deposited in the checking account "Charlie Co 1st Battalion 20th Infantry" established with U.S. Bank in Clarksville, Tennessee. Michael Stinnett, Treasurer, has been authorized to make deposits and to write checks.

B. The present checking account is an account with no maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirement.  A  credit card is available to this account at the present time.

C. A Financial Report (CCo Excel SS & a copy of the monthly bank statement) will be emailed to the Advisory Board each quarter beginning in July after receipt of June’s bank statement and the balancing of the account. Any Member may receive an email copy of the quarterly Balance Sheet by requesting the report from the Secretary or the Treasurer.

D. The fiscal year will run from reunion to reunion. Expenses conclude with the reunion but Income from dues and donations at the same reunion will go on next year’s Income Statement. A summary Financial Report will be presented at the annual reunion and reported via the Charlie Company Newsletter.

E. Expenses incurred by Charlie Company 1-20 should be settled by check issuances from the established checking account or by the credit card. However, other methods may be used for convenience as long as proper recordkeeping is maintained.

F. Settlement of ordinary expenses should take place by involving the board only. Extra-ordinary expenses should be pre-approved by majority vote of board members prior to commitment for the actual expenses. Funds must be available to maintain the newsletter and usual reunion expenses for the rest of the fiscal year.

G. An invoice or an email given to the treasurer will constitute an authorization to proceed with the payment of any approved, outstanding charge.

H. Advisory Board Members and any appointed committees should be reimbursed for urgent or petty expenses paid using their own money. These should be pre-approved if at all possible. Members MAY be reimbursed for certain expenses if the Advisory Board approves the item. The treasurer is NOT obligated to repay any unapproved expense by a Member or non-member.

I. The advisory committee is granted some leeway in adding expenditures. Large expenditures require members to be notified by email and newsletter of their intentions. Expressed opposition by one-fourth of the members will result in the change being dropped until it can be voted on by the entire Membership.

VI. REUNIONS

A. Reunion Attendance - Any Charlie Company Veteran is invited to attend our annual reunions. Their personal guest(s) are welcome.

B. Our association’s main mission is to our own reunion and we will not support others who may request advertisement or announcement.

C. No outside media are allowed at reunions.

D. The Advisory Board or someone acting in their behalf has been approved to make contracts with a hotel for rooms and meals and for other reunion arrangements as long as the Advisory Board is consulted with the arrangements and agrees these arrangements are acceptable.

E. Items for sale at the reunion or donated for fundraising, must be approved by the Advisory Board.

F. The Advisory Board has approved the use of company funds to purchase t-shirts for sale at the reunion or to others who might order them. Sales to those not attending the reunion will be charged the postage due to mail the t-shirts or other approved items. 

VII. OTHER POLICIES

A. Deceased Protocol 

We will let our group know of a death via email and newsletter reports but sending flowers or other acknowledgements should not be expected from our association. Donations for flowers or other memorials are considered a personal matter instead of a matter for our association. 

B. Data Collection and Sharing 

i. Data collected concerning veterans of Charlie Company will be kept private.
ii. LISTS of veterans’ contact information (address, phone, email) will NOT be provided.
iii. All requests for information or a request for veteran contact information from someone other than a Charlie Company veteran will go to the veteran first and he can decide whether or not to personally contact the requestor.
iv. Information concerning veterans who have agreed to share contact information will be shared with other veterans with caution.

If no prior agreement has been given by a veteran to share his contact information, efforts will be made to contact him, ask for agreement and if approved pass his contact information on to the requestor, or provide to the veteran the requestors' contact information and let him make contact.

The address book handed out by the Reunion Committee is not to be considered our official address book. This booklet is voluntary as to who is included and we have never published our entire database of known Charlie Company Members.

C. CHANGES TO GUIDELINES

i. Initiation - The Advisory Board welcomes, and will consider, any Member suggested change to our Guidelines that will aid in the accomplishment of our mission, or clarify and improve the policies, practices and operation of our association.

ii. Approval - Changes to Charlie Company Veterans Association Guidelines will be implemented upon a majority vote of the Advisory Board and will involve Membership approval as appropriate at the reunions.

iii. Review – A yearly review, preferably at the reunion with the Advisory Board and other Members, is recommended