Page 8 - FCA Diamond Point June 23_edits

FROM THE RAFINO PRESIDENT
Greeting FCA Members,

RAFINO Membership Recruitment Activity. Our membership Vice President
will soon be canvassing FCA members who have 20 years of Army service to
recruit them for RAFINO membership. RAFINO recruits retirement-eligible
Finance Corps Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers in addition to already
Retired soldiers. Many FCA members may already be eligible for RAFINO
membership but do not realize that they qualify while still on active duty. For
example, I am a Life Member of both FCA and RAFINO. Relationships that I
enjoy in both organizations have enriched my retirement years greatly and
provided me with more networking and mentorship opportunities. So, if you COL (R) Kelly
are at the 20-year mark in your career, please consider joining RAFINO today;
don’t wait until you are already retired!

RAFINO has set its 2024 Reunion dates for Charleston, South Carolina. They are from 16 October
through 20 October 2024. It should be a great event and we are working hard to make it a first-
class operation. We will have more detailed information coming out in the coming months.

2023 Regimental Ball:

I thoroughly enjoyed the FCA leadership hospitality, camaraderie, and professionalism during my
visit to Columbia and Fort Jackson. I was particularly impressed with the awards ceremony and
the energy in the room during the event. The youth of our Finance Corps truly inspire as does the
diversity that was evident in the entire proceedings.

Despite all of the functional and organizational pressures to downsize that the Finance Corps has
encountered since my retirement, at least, in 1999, the Corps is not only still standing but
thriving. The Finance Corps Association has so much to do with the Finance Corps
organizational success in the field.

The FCA continues to engender an Esprit de Corps among today's Finance Corps active-duty
units, Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Civilians. From the older generation of the
Finance Corps, we thank you for your continued dedication to your mission and for embodying
our common DNA of "To Support and Serve".

One of the landmark activities in the history of the Finance Corps was the relocation of the
Finance School from Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Building
10000 at Fort Jackson was dedicated as Gates-Lord Hall. And the Army Finance Museum was
likewise relocated and re-opened to much fanfare. I found an American Society of Military
Comptrollers article from September 2001 that spotlighted the Schoolhouse and its heritage. I
found this article to be a compelling read as well as nostalgic. This article is a perfect example of
FCA and RAFINO members past and present maintaining our Regimental Motto of “Support and
Serve”. Enjoy!

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