Region Profile: The Southeast Region

The Southeast Region consists of 14 chapters located in the States of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Region membership which has been seeing small net increases over the past several months currently stands at 7,278. The Region’s two largest chapters, with membership over 1,000, are both located in Georgia (Dobbins Chapter in Atlanta and Carl Vinson Memorial Chapter in Warner Robins). However, several small-to-medium sized chapters within the Region have very robust programs and are highly effective in supporting AFA’s mission. These chapters include the Tarheel and Blue Ridge Chapters in North Carolina, the Swamp Fox and Charleston Chapters in South Carolina, and the South Georgia Chapter in Georgia.

The Region supports several major installations at Robins AFB, Moody AFB, Pope AFB, Charleston AFB, and Shaw AFB, as well as the Air Force Climatology Center near Asheville, NC. The chapters within the Region also actively support 15 Air Force ROTC detachments at colleges and universities, and over 50 AFJROTC units and Civil Air Patrol squadrons.

The Region is a major supporter of Aerospace Education, providing a large number of scholarships and grants to individuals and schools in support of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The chapters near USAF bases all participate heavily in sponsoring and presenting Pitsenbarger Awards to CCAF graduates. In addition, all three State organizations have robust Teacher of the Year recognition programs. In 2009, the top two AFA National Teacher of the Year award winners came from the Region (Mr. William Austin, Sumter, SC, and Dr. Myra Halpin, Durham, NC). Chapters within the Southeast Region sponsor over 70 Visions of Exploration classrooms, led by the Swamp Fox Chapter in SC which alone sponsors 28 Visions programs in several schools in the Sumter area.

Another example of AE support is the NCAFA-sponsored STEM Educators Workshop in Asheville later this year. The workshop will focus on how to motivate students to consider careers in STEM fields. The program is being planned by the Blue Ridge Chapter in cooperation with Advantage West, a regional economic development group, seeking to create a fertile ground for high-tech industry in the Asheville area. The NCAFA has earmarked $2000 in its budget for this event but Advantage West is expected to contribute heavily and, once again, non-sponsoring chapters have been asked to contribute $100 each to the project. This is considered a pilot project that could be repeatable at other locations and with other partners. NCAFA has also formed an alliance with an independent nonprofit organization that employs advanced networking technologies and systems to improve learning and collaboration throughout the State’s K-12 education community. The nonprofit organization provides NCAFA with direct access to North Carolina’s STEM Collaborative and, through it, to key STEM educators and resources at all levels across the state. The ultimate goal is to make the Air Force Association “The Force Behind STEM Education” in North Carolina.

In addition, multiple chapters within the Region provide nearly a dozen academic scholarships for the spouses of Active Duty Air Force members. Also, several chapters near USAF bases provide direct support to STARBASE programs.

Chapters within the Region continue to contribute directly to other AFA mission areas, such as the Cyber-Patriot II competition. This year a CAP Composite Group from Burlington, NC, which NCAFA supports, came in second at the national competition. With the help of the STEM Coalition in NC, AFA is now contacting educators about the upcoming competition to be launched in May.

Submitted by: Don Michels, Southeast Region President

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