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Re: [IRCA] A summary of some things that happened (or began to happen) during IRCA President Kirkpatrick's term (c. Mar. 1965 - c. June 1967)

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 As promised, here's a summary of some things that I can recall happening during my term as IRCA President, 1965 - 1967. They aren't in any particular chronological order, nor in any particular order of priority as far as what they meant to the IRCA "back then."
(1) Presidential Succession. A few years prior to the beginning of my term, "America" (the last word in IRCA) faced a challenge brought on by the succession of VP Lyndon Johnson to the office of Chief Executive of "America."Â Namely, that the office of "America's" VP was vacant. Realizing this, some of the either "Charter" or "'Almost' Charter Members" conferred (by "Snail Mail," since that was all we had in that day) and I tossed about the issue of how to "guarantee" that the IRCA's presidency would not be vacant--or at least not for very long (Remember "snail mail."), and also that President Kirkpatrick was also an enlisted E-2 in the USAF during the time of the expansion of the Vietnam Conflict, and, hence, might just be tasked with having to move to SEA rather quickly. Different ideas were bantered about, and the final decision was made that, should IRCA's president be "unable to realistically perform his duties, the office would then devolve to the Chairman of the IRCA's Board of Directors.
In January, 1967, I had already received notice that in March, 1967, I would be re-assigned to an air base in the "Federal Republic of Germany, i.e., what then was commonly referred to as "West" Germany." Knowing this, I did what I could do and "snail mailed" all the official records I could access to IRCA's Chairman of the Board of Directors Larry Godwin---who was studying Business Accounting (or something like that). 
OTOH, I was able to get a 10-day pass---courtesy of my supervisor & the chain of command of the 4453d Combat Crew Training Wing's Field Maintenance Squadron's Aircraft Electrical Systems' Repair Center. There were some things I wanted to do in CA, and especially a person I wanted to see who went to school in Berkley CA---at the same college where Clark Kerr presided and the focal point of many student demonstrations that were, no doubtÂ"fueled" by the Hippy Society that was headquartered a few blocks away in Haight (sp?) - Ashbury (sp?) District. If you're wondering who that individual was, I'll tell you:Â Larry Godwin.
Larry and I began our relationship with each other in a not-so-friendly way. I was a member of the National Radio Club (NRC) ---the club from which the IRCA broke away. I personally felt that an organization such as the NRC would be more effectively administered by one single individual rather than by an oligarchy such as the IRCI/IRCA seemed to present itself "back then." Larry Godwin did his best to get me to realize that "this breakaway group of anarchists" weren't really like this 18 YO guy thought they were. Over time he got me to see that, while, in principle, it's probably better to only have one set of hands at the wheel of one's semi, if that semi is headed in the "wrong direction," it's going to require several hands to not only stop it, but also to put in in the right path.
I finally realized that maybe Larry Godwin had a point. So, just to see with my own two eyes if what he told me were true, I applied for membership in the IRCA. Was this bunch of fire-brand secessionists merely blowing smoke from the bridges they'd burnt from the NRC, or were they "for real"? H'mmm! As "they" (Never have figured exactly who "they" are!) say, "The rest is/was history." [BTW, here's a bit of trivia that has nothing to do with radio club(s), but had much to do with "former IRCA President Kirkpatrick." From 1993-2011 I was employed by what started out as Bell South Telecommunications and today is known as AT&T Telecommunications as an Electronic Technician in, of all places, one of their "Network Reliability Centers," a/k/a as, you guessed it, the NRC!]
Anyway, having had prior experience as the creator of the "DX-er's Radio Club," and a contributing editor for the Folcroft (PA) Radio Club, I thought, what the heck, why not run for president of this club for MW DXers called the IRCA. My only competitor was someone from southern CA (Which had a big chunk of the IRCA membership at that time), so he (as a "favorite son") will undoubtedly win [It's 1965, and he'll be LBJ & I'll be Barry Goldwater---after all. I was stationed in Sen. Goldwater's home state of AZ!]. 
I thought up a "platform" that I dubbed "Project G O" which stood for "Growth through Organization" wherein my ideas on what the IRCA needed to do to continue to grow, but with a more organized M.O. than I perceived seemed to be somewhat lacking in the IRCA. 
I don't remember exactly what my "Vision Statement" was in Project GO, but that was over 50 years ago and I was, shall we say, only going to get an Olympic Silver Medal anyway. (Another bit of trivia here: My relationship with Larry Godwin had been somewhat strained due to the fact that back in 1963-64, he and I saw how a radio club ought to be administered somewhat differently. I snail mailed him a letter in which I basically said that now I am a candidate for IRCA president. Whether or not you choose to vote for me is your decision, and I'm not going to ask for your vote. You helped found the IRCA, so you vote for whomever you wish. [The ballots were secret, and I STILL don't know what his choice for IRCA president was.]
After a hard day of trying to figure out how the electrical system on the F-4C Phantom II worked, I plopped down on my bunk and started reading my mail that was in my box at the Consolidated Mail Room (CMR) at Davis-Monthan AFB just outside Tucson AZ. [Another rabbit has come into my view: From time-to-time I'd get mail in my CMR box mail that was addressed to a MAJOR (O-4) Kirkpatrick. I'd just go to the CMR's front window and give his mail to them. 1965-67 was before the USAF had converted to direct deposit into one's own financial institution's account. IOW, two times each month one would find a light brown envelope with a green punched card inside: That computer punched card was "Ye Olde Cheque" for the past pay period. That was one piece of mail one made sure one had secured to his person before said person left the environs of the CMR! While occasionally I'd get mail that was intended for this MAJOR (O-4) Kirkpatrick, somehow I (as an E-2 with about 0.5 years of service) never did get MAJOR (O-4) Kirkpatrick's "Cheque." If I had ever done so, I'm sure that MAJOR (O-4) would have been as shocked when he looked at his "bottom line" on said cheque as I would have been had I received his cheque!!!]
"Them thar durn rabbits. Git y'all off trak rite smart, don' y'all no!!"
Anyway, another item of concern was the:
2) Publication Format. IRCAs' Publication (DX Monitor [DXM]) wanted to not just be a "Knock Off" of the NRCs' DX News. IRCA wanted to have its publication to represent better the "America" it basically represented vis-a-vie DX News.Just how to accomplish this was the task of IRCAs' "Publication Format Committee" (PFC). What resulted from the PFC's deliberations was essentially reports from members whose QTH was within the confines from either where they had their permanent QTH, or if they were "mobile" [Not the city on AL's Gulf Coast---unless one wanted to visit the USS Alabama & the accompanying display of various other military items. {I did so in 1989. I still have a small tumbler on my "executive desk" that has honorably served as a pen & pencil holder.}], whatever time zone they cared to post whatever MW DX they encountered.
On the "foreign" scene, "DX World Wide" [DXWW]Âaccomplished DXM's reports from what was then determined to be "foreign."Â South America tended to be the more prominent QTH for most of DXWW's reports, but occasionally there were some from Europe or Africa or various QTH's in Asia.
Here comes 'nother dem rabbets:Â Occasionally there appeared in DXMs the alternative DX Merry Mac. Most of IRCA's members would peruse that first when it "clandestinely" appeared, including IRCA's president.
3) Funding for "worthy" foreign IRCA members. Since the middle 1960s were in the Cold War era, once in a while people from, shall we say, "Captive Nations" sought IRCA membership(s). With an organization having "America" in its name, any mailings either to or from said nations were suspect, especially when monetary transactions were involved. This presented a challenge to some IRCA members---I can think of one from Cuba. How could IRCA make it easier for individuals to receive DXM (or the very rarely issued printed matter that was not part & parcel of DXM).To help accomplish this end, a Foreign Membership Fund was established to allow those people whose only "sin" was to be QTH'ed in countries that weren't exactly friendly with the US of A. 
4) A way for the IRCA to recognize individual members who went beyond "the Second Mile" to contribute to not only the IRCA, but also to MW DXing in general. I never had the privilege to meet "Ted V."---a Greek-heritage name I wouldn't want to attempt to spell! OTOH, I knew of his contributions both to the IRCA and MX DXing in general. Because of this, I submitted to the IRCAs' Board of Directors a proposal that a "Ted V. Award Fund" be established to recognize an IRCA member who also did what Ted did for not only the IRCA in particular, but for MW DXing in general. This "TVA Award" would be presented at IRCA's annual convention, and the person who received the TVA award was given a year's free subscription to DXM.
That's some things this former IRCA president can remember from my term office from 1965-1967/8.
If I can recall anything else that happened that's of significance from that time period, I'll let you know via e-mail.
One thing I WILL tell you is why I chose to step down as IRCA president.

ÂÂ

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