Monthly Message from the Major - Friends - April 2007

Gentlemen,

How important are your friends, family, and associates? I hope your answer is VERY! They come along side of you when you are weary or need assistance, and they tell you straight to your face when you need correction or are in sin. The book of Proverbs tells us that the wounds of a friend go deep but an enemy multiplies his kisses. It is our friends that help us stay on the narrow path in our Christian walk.

My friends and accountability partners at ALERT Cadets are the Cadet Captains (and of course, my wife, Sue). We at ALERT Cadets could not function as we do if it were not for these men in the field who directly support the 90 plus squads and units we have in the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia. I would like to tell you what they do and introduce them to you. I also encourage you to get to know your Captain better; their contact information is listed below along with their geographic responsibilities. You will find their personal testimonies on the ALERT Cadet website at http://www.alertcadet.org/leadership/.

Each of the captains has the following responsibilities to:

  • Be the public face of ALERT Cadets - to represent ALERT Cadets in a given region as a liaison to government officials, media, church leadership, and other organizations
  • Coordinate ALERT Cadets activities - to suggest, organize, and execute activities, such as bookfair displays, camps, or service projects for their region
  • Act as a resource for ALERT Cadet squad and unit leaders in their area - to serve as a resource to ALERT Cadet squad and unit leaders providing wisdom and encouragement in the areas of activities, meetings, awards and promotions, teaching ideas, and other areas of need
  • Be an advisor to ALERT Cadet Headquarters - to serve as an advisor to the ALERT Cadet Commanding Officer in the areas of program and curriculum development, beta testing of new materials, and other areas in which they have wisdom and knowledge

Their geographic areas are broken down as follows along with their personal contact information:

South Central Region - Tom Butler - Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; tbutler@characterlink.net; 918-355-6628 - Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi

South East Region - Gary Reckner - Sebree, Kentucky; Reckner10@juno.com; 270-835-7331 - Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina

Western Region - John Smythe - Hillsboro, Oregon; john.smythe@itggroup.com; 503-642-3958 - Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii

North Central Region - Jim Snyder - Churubusco, Indiana; psalm91.1@comcast.net; 260-637-3814 - Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa

Eastern Region - Bill Waddell - Carlisle, Pennsylvania; william.waddell@us.army.mil; 717-258-8450 - Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware

The above men have served as Captains since the end of 2005. As the program has grown we have needed to add and promote two additional men to the rank of Captain. In March we promoted Sreedhar Subramaniam to oversee the ALERT Cadet activities in South Asia, primarily in Singapore and Malaysia. Cadet 1st Lt. Randy McDonald has agreed to take on the responsibilities of Cadet Captain for Texas, the state with the largest contingent of ALERT Cadet members. We will be scheduling his promotion ceremony shortly. Their contact information is as follows:

South Asia Region - Sreedhar Subramaniam - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; sreedhar_my@yahoo.co.uk; +60.1.633.00639; Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines

Southern Region - Randy McDonald - Ben Wheeler, Texas; rlm@afo.net; (903) 852-5656; Texas.

These men are vital to the ministry and to me personally. We meet six times per year, by telephone conference, to plan, evaluate, and execute the ministry of ALERT Cadets. And yes, we often pray together as well to discern the will of God concerning this ministry and the direction it should take. Will you also please pray for them that they would be wise counselors to me?

I appreciate your feedback and comments. You can contact me at 903-636-9214 or by e-mail at rfarr@alertacademy.com.

In Christ,

Roger D. Farr
ALERT Cadet Commanding Officer and Program Director

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