EDITORIAL COMMENT:
In Our Opinion

What a difference a year makes.

One year ago, on this very page, we talked about the silence coming from an association that built its reputation as the voice of Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) from its formation in the early 1970s.

In its heyday, the International Military Community Executives Association (IMCEA) supported quality-of-life programs for servicemembers and their families in many different and critical ways. In fact, IMCEA was pursued by Congress to testify at every quality-of-life hearing.

Most importantly, at that time, IMCEA provided an extensive amount of training opportunities for MWR professionals to improve their job performance in support of military families. The association hosted expos to provide a forum during which suppliers met face-to-face with MWR staff members for the benefit of networking and purchasing.

Why has IMCEA gone off track? Why was that voice silent? Why did IMCEA appear to be floating, as we said last year, like a rudderless ship in the ocean?

Rather than dwell on that dark period, let’s focus on the positive energy emanating one short year later after attending the association’s annual awards ceremony and reception in March at Catersource.

It was like a breath of fresh air; a new beginning, so to speak, as a combination of old and new blood came together in Las Vegas with the common goal of promoting quality-of-life programs and restoring IMCEA as an important resource for the market.

The new blood begins right at the top with Fred McKenney, CMCE, installed as president of IMCEA and Bill Ginac, CMCE, temporarily returning to IMCEA as executive director.

Last year, Ginac took on the difficult task of righting the IMCEA ship to get the association back on track. An IMCEA Hall of Famer, he, along with the help of many others, has already given an identity back to the association since retaking the helm.

As the result of a lot of hard work, the awards ceremony and reception at Catersource was well attended, with more than 150 MWR professionals and vendors coming together to honor their own.

With quality-of-life issues and the support of military families as its primary focus, IMCEA is also involved in the Air Force Food and Beverage Workshop in San Antonio in July, especially in the area of joint service training. Air Force food and beverage professionals will be joined by food and beverage personnel from the Army and Navy for a joint training event, something IMCEA had formally been noted for.

In conjunction with the training, IMCEA and its newly formed San Antonio chapter will host an expo at the workshop, not just for those who attend, but for the entire Joint Base San Antonio community.

MWR food and beverage operations are undergoing a major transformation, with an emphasis on supply chain efficiencies. In addition to the Air Force workshop, this year’s National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show provides ample training opportunities for military hospitality and foodservice staff members to expand their knowledge on what they can do to improve their operations.

Toward the end of June, Navy food and beverage managers on the MWR side and culinary specialists on the subsistence side will get together in Washington, D.C., for Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) MWR Food and Beverage Performance Development Week.

This five-day workshop will provide an ideal opportunity for MWR food and beverage managers and culinary specialists to train together and separately, with the common goal of taking Navy food service to the next level.

It is reassuring to know that training opportunities and IMCEA, rebuilding its reputation as a training powerhouse, are both back on track.