CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE
3rd RECON ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE I - OBJECTIVES
Section 1. General. The objectives of the Association are
as follows:
To promote renewed fellowship of all Marines and Navy
personnel who served with
or were attached to the 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine
Division with service in
the Republic of Vietnam during the period of 1961 through
and including 1971; To
locate and account for all who so served; To preserve the
memory of those who so
served and are now deceased, either while in Vietnam or
since; To promote
preservation of an accurate historical account of such
service; To promote
research and understanding and healing with a regard to
those who so served; and
to promote artistic expression of the Vietnam experience.
Section 2. Non-Profit.
None of the aforementioned objectives shall be construed
to authorize the
Association to conduct activities for monetary profit or
financial gain or to
attempt to influence legislation.
ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Criteria.
All Marine and Navy personnel who served with or were
attached to the 3rd Recon
Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, in the Republic of
Vietnam, during the period of
1961 through and including 1971 shall be eligible for
membership in and
affiliation with the Association.
Section 2. Associate Membership.
The Association shall provide for associate members. An
associate membership may
be granted to any parent, wife, child or sibling of any
person set forth in
paragraph one above, alive or deceased. Associate
membership shall be limited so
that at least 90% of the general membership remains
military veterans.
Section 3. Deceased Veterans.
All who meet the qualifications for membership as
specified in Section 1, above,
and who died either while in Vietnam or since, will be
carried on the membership
rolls as they become known.
Section 4. Dues.
There shall be no dues. However, all members are asked to
make donations, within
their financial means, to defray the cost of publication
of the 3rd Recon
Association Newsletter.
ARTICLE III - MEETINGS
Section 1. Periodic Meetings.
There shall be periodic meetings of the membership for the
election of officers
and such other business which shall be held and conducted
at least once during
every 5 year period commencing from the year 1990. All
members present shall be
eligible to vote on any matter. Meetings may be called by
the President or by
written petition of two-thirds of the members. In order to
conduct business,
there shall be present a quorum of no less than ten
members.
Section 2. Committees.
Committees shall be appointed by the President from time
to time, and may
include the following: Audit of the Treasurer's Report;
Nominations; Convention;
Newsletter.
Section 3. Subordinate Associations.
Subordinate Associations may be formed under the umbrella
of the 3rd Recon
Association that are comprised of members that served with
an individual 3rd
Recon Battalion Company, specific time period or event,
ie; Alpha Recon
Association, Bravo Recon Association, Khe Sanh Recon
Association, ect.
Subordinate Associations will have their own By-Laws and
Officers and may seek
assistance from the 3rd Recon Association in developing
and sponsoring reunions.
Section 4. Approval of Subordinate Associations.
3rd Recon Bn Association will have the overall right of
approval on the name
and mission, if any, of all associations formed under
their fiscal umbrella."
ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS/EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section 1. Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee shall consist of the President,
Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at- Arms, Chaplain,
Historian, and
Publicity/Membership Director and one Associate Director
from each subordinate
company chosen by it's company membership as their
representative. The Executive
Committee shall be the governing body between meetings of
the 3rd Recon
Association. The Executive Committee shall be responsible
for the general
management of the Association business.
Section 2. Election, Term of Office and Removal.
The Officers of the Association shall be elected by the
general membership for a
term of five years. Any vacancy in any office caused by
any reason whatsoever
may be filled by temporary appointment by the President
with concurrence with
the other Officers in writing until the next periodic
meeting when the office
shall be filled through election. Any Officer may be
elected to succeed himself.
Section 3. President.
The President shall preside over all meetings of the
membership. He shall have
charge of the affairs of the Association and shall see
that all orders from the
membership are implemented. He shall execute contracts,
documents, checks,
bonds, or other instruments as authorized by concurrence
of the President,
Secretary, and Treasurer in writing, and by resolution of
the membership. The
President shall represent the Association at all meetings
with other civic,
political and/or other veteran organizations where the
representation of this
organization is desired, requested or deemed necessary.
The President shall
direct the annual IRS Report of the 3rd Recon Association.
Section 4. Vice-President.
The Vice-President shall have such powers and duties as
may from time to time be
delegated by the President. In the absence of disability
of the President, the
Vice-President shall also perform such other duties not
inconsistent with these
By-Laws, as may be assigned to him from time to time by
the President or the
membership.
Section 5. Secretary.
The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the general
membership and record all
proceedings. the Secretary shall be the custodian of the
records of the
Association and shall affix the seal to all such documents
as may be required.
He shall perform all duties pertaining to the office of
Secretary and such other
duties, not inconsistent with these, as may be assigned to
him from time to time
by the President. In addition, the Secretary shall
prepare, post and disseminate
all legal notices, correspondence and other materials as
required by laws,
statutes and regulations. The Secretary shall make certain
that the minutes of
all meetings are properly prepared and
filed.
Section 6. Treasurer.
The Treasurer shall receive and collect all monies payable
to the Association
and deposit the same in such banks or other depositories
as may be chosen by the
Membership by resolution at its periodic reunion meeting.
He shall make all
lawful payments of obligations. He shall have custody of
all securities,
valuable papers and documents of the Association. He shall
keep or cause to be
kept a book or books that contain an accurate record of
all receipts and
disbursements, and shall, when and as required, render a
statement of the
financial condition of the Association. He shall perform
all duties incident to
the office of the Treasurer, and have such powers and
duties as may from time to
time be delegated to him by the President. In general, the
Treasurer shall
perform all the duties not inconsistent with those, as may
be assigned to him by
the President of the Association. The Treasurer shall
prepare a financial report
for the periodic reunion meetings and such other records
which may be required
by law.
Section 7. Sergeant-at-Arms.
The Sergeant-at-Arms shall be responsible for maintaining
order during all
meetings. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall lead the meetings in
the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall
maintain sign-in sheets for
recording attendance at all membership meetings. The
Sergeant-at-Arms shall
collect and count any and all written ballots when secret
elections or other
secret votes are conducted.
Section 8. Chaplain.
The Chaplain shall open and close all meetings with
prayer, shall correspond
with all surviving next-of-kin of members who may die, and
shall conduct or
cause to be conducted memorial services as necessary.
Section 9. Historian.
The Historian shall research, catalog and maintain
military historical data on
the 3rd Recon Battalion's participation in the Vietnam
conflict. The Historian
shall develop programs for the Association that will
increase public awareness
of the heroic efforts put forth by Marines and Navy
personnel during the Vietnam
conflict.
Section 10. Publicity/Membership Director.
The Publicity/Membership Chairman shall maintain the
membership roster of the
Association. He shall develop programs to increase the
membership through
periodic reunions and advertisements. He shall interact
with various Veterans
Service Organizations and Military Membership Associations
to gain additional
membership and support for the Association. He shall
develop plans for periodic
reunions of the general membership in coordination with
the Association Officers
and needs of the members.
Section 11. Associate Directors.
Associate Directors will consist of one representitive
chosen from each company
to serve as company representitive and serve as full
Executive executive
committee members. There will be one representitive from
each company-Alpha,
Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, H&S, and
Force
Section 12. Compensation.
Officers shall not receive any salary or other
compensation for services
rendered as an Officer
Section 13.
Authorization to expend monies.
Monies shall be expended as determined by the
membership at the periodic reunion meetings. For such
expenses that may occur
between meetings of the general membership, upon written
concurrence by the
President, Secretary, and Treasurer, funds may be expended
in any amount
necessary to ensure printing of the association Newsletter
and to defray
expenses in connection with legal requirements of the
Association or any other
expenses necessary that will benefit the membership as a
whole. Monies may be
temporarily lent to the Association without interest to
ensure payment of
expenses.
Section 14. Trustee Board.
The Association will have a Trustee Board installed for
life. The members of
this board are Raymond E. Strohl, Alan T. Rooney, George
G. Neville Jr., and
Robert E. Young.
Section 15. Contracts.
" The Executive Board of the 3rd Recon Association is
given the authority to
pursue and enter into contracts pertaining to
merchandising at Battalion
sponsored events."
ARTICLE V - AMENDMENTS
Section 1. These By-Laws may be amended, supplemented, or
repealed from time to
time by a two-thirds vote of the membership at the
periodic reunion meeting.
ARTICLE VI - DISSOLUTION
Section 1. Procedure.
The Association may be dissolved at any periodic reunion
meeting upon a
two-thirds vote of all members present provided that an
announcement of such
intended action has been published to all members at least
three months prior to
the intended act of dissolution. In the event that the
Association is dissolved,
then the assets shall first be transferred to the U.S.
Marine Corps League for
use in youth support programs, provided that such fund
qualified as exempt from
Federal taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954,
as amended, or any successor statute
thereto.
Section 2. Alternative Distribution.
In the event that the Association shall be dissolved, all
of its remaining
assets and property, less outstanding valid debts,
accounts, claims and the
necessary expenses of dissolution, shall be distributed to
such corporations,
associations, trusts, funds or foundations as are selected
by the membership at
meeting, which are then exempt from Federal Income
taxation under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as
amended, or any successor
statue thereto.
NOTES CONCERNING THESE BY-LAWS
1. The provision concerning "Associate Membership" so
limited that 90% remains
military veterans is necessary in order to
qualify as tax-exempt under provisions of the
IRS.
2. All provisions for an Executive Board have been omitted
since they are, at
this point, unnecessary due to the small amount of
business and number of
meetings.
3. Provisions concerning the officers are standard.
4. Compensation not being given to officers is necessary
in order to maintain
tax-exempt status.
5. Authorization to expend monies is necessary to ensure
continued printing of
the Newsletter. It enables a member or members to deposit
funds temporarily to
guarantee printing of the Newsletter.
6. The Dissolution provisions are necessary in order to
obtain reduced mailing
expenses from the Post Office. They are a prudent
procedure so that member know
that any funds they donate will always be for good
purposes that benefit the membership.
7. Article IV - Section 14. This section was added to the
bylaws as an amendment
during a meeting of the members held on April 28, 1990 at
Las Vegas, Nevada.
8. Article III - Section 4. This section was added to the
bylaws as an amendment
during a meeting of the members held on March 23, 1991 at
Hilton Head, South Carolina.
9. Article IV - Section 15. This section was added to the
bylaws as an amendment
during a meeting of the members held on March 23, 1991 at
Hilton Head, South Carolina.
10 Article IV -Section 1 and Article Article IV -Section
11 was amended during a
meeting of the members held on September 23, 1998 at Las
Vegas, Nevada.