ASSOCIATION PERSPECTIVE
DIANE SCANGA
Welcome National Academy Attendees Before Graduation DEAR FELLOW FBINAA MEMBERS,
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OOKING FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR, I am humbled to be the 2012 President of the FBINAA. This column was implemented years ago as a tool to keep the membership abreast of the NAA business and Association matters. With the inception of the monthly newsletters, the new Website, and NETWORK NAA, communication with members is now more timely and practical. That leaves me with the dilemma of what I can bring to The Associate of value to you, the membership. And then, as I attended the 247th Session graduation on December 16, 2011, it came to me. Suddenly, I was drawn back to my own graduation. Transported back in time to Sep. 9, 1988, sitting in the theater (with the same orange seats), waiting for my name to be called and have my chance to walk across the stage to receive my diploma from then Director William Sessions. I thought that was the end of my 11-week experience. Then, coming back to the present day, I realized my graduation was really the beginning of a lifelong membership in the greatest law enforcement organization I have been involved with during my 35+ years in law enforcement. That membership brings me to this point, this place, and now for the next year, to be your NAA president. I will have the privilege to address the next four graduating sessions, at graduation practice, welcoming them into the NAA family. My dilemma? I should not be the one to “welcome” session graduates into the family. The night before the 247th graduation 2011 NAA President Matt Raia and I talked to a number of the graduates. Although it had been many years since we had graduated, the bittersweet emotions at graduation were the same: going home, but not being with session mates; returning to work, but not being with session mates; the routine of home, family and chores, but not being with session mates. Few had ever been to a Chapter event before coming to the NA. Why? FBI Field Offices usually announce future attendees several months, if not a year, out. Why not invite those future attendees to our Chapter events? As an Association, introduce those future members to the Chapter before they attend the NA. Most FBI offices and chapters offer some sort of orientation for the NA attendees to help prepare them for the Academy. Often, recent NA graduates are part of the orientation to offer suggestions and guidance for a healthy, happy, and successful NA experience. We could multiply that help by 10-, 20-, or 100fold if those same NA nominees had the chance to attend your NA Chapter events before attending the NA. Imagine the ex-
citement that those session members could bring with them to the NA. The Eastern Missouri Chapter sends care packages and/or cards to our attendees while they are in the Academy. I believe those attendees carry the message of the NAA to their session mates. Introduce and reinforce how important remaining active is to complete the NA value; to actually wield what they have learned and use contacts that are not just regional or statewide, but national and international in scope. The year 2012 promises to be filled with opportunities to identify, accept, and adapt to challenges and change. I extend the same opportunity to you, the membership, to be the catalyst behind our efforts. Accept the challenge to reach out to future attendees. Change the mindset that they are “not one of us” until “they are one of us.” Who of you would not have appreciated the insight and expertise of any one of us who had already attended and survived, and go ahead and admit it, miss the NA? Take the wind out of my sails as I stand before the graduating classes to introduce the NAA, to invite them, to encourage them to be active in their local Chapters. Let it be my legacy that I am the speaker that the graduating class no longer needs! Make me rewrite the “welcome to the NA speech” to “How can I help you continue to enjoy your NAA membership?” My 2012 wish for every NA graduate is that this be the year you choose to maximize the opportunity that your agency afforded you when you were nominated and selected to attend the NA, no matter how recently or how long ago. Show your family their sacrifices were not in vain. Complete the work you began while at Quantico and take advantage of all the NAA and your Chapter have to offer. Be a part of your local chapter, not just a card-carrying member, “use it on my resume” member, but an active member helping lead the Association to become even more effective and stronger. ■ F B I N A A Sincerely,
Diane Scanga Diane Scanga, 2012 President
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