It's Just Not Fun Anymore

I'm about ready to hang up my hat with my local Marine Corps League detachment.  Earlier this year, we had a bitter and contested leadership election, and the root of the problem is that the old guard is used to having their way, whereas the current Commandant is trying to bring our detachment into the 21st century and attract younger membership.

Earlier this year, the old guard nominated a challenger to the current Commandant and lost at this year's election.  A couple of guys immediately stopped coming.  A couple of others just successfully pushed through changes to our bylaws, effectively making this our current Commandant's last term.  What they did was change the term limits in our bylaws, reducing the previous four-year limit to a two consecutive term limit.  I have to admit that it was clever.

At the same time, I have several problems with this.  First and foremost, they changed bylaws because they didn't like the outcome of a single election.  That's a huge case of overkill, kind of like an NFL fan pushing through a rule change because his team lost the Super Bowl.  Second, the previous term limit was four years total for an individual and the new term limit is two consecutive years.  For as long as I've been a member of this group, finding people to serve in leadership has been notoriously difficult.  By shortening the term limit, this problem is exacerbated.  Third, the role of Commandant in particular has a learning curve.  The first year is just learning the ropes, and speaking from experience, year three is where you really hit your stride.  This means the rule change will reduce the effectiveness of future leaders.  This, of course, is what the old guard wants.

We have become a microcosmic example of the exact problem that Veteran Service Organizations across the country are experiencing.  We are unable to attract and retain the younger generation of veterans.  This is precisely because the old guard veterans are completely out of touch with the needs and motivations of younger veterans.  We understand the problem and know that we need to change, and meet the younger veterans where they are.  When we do get younger folks, they show up with enthusiasm, but it's quickly crushed by the old guard.  The new guys have ideas about things we can do to bring in more young guys, but the old guys shoot down the ideas, because they're too expensive, or they tried it once before and it didn't work.

And the shit these guys are bitching about is stupid shit!!!  They're getting pissed off over things like place mats at a formal dinner.  They're getting pissed because they're used to their good ol' boys club internally selecting the local Marine of the Year, despite the fact that the nomination process requires submission by members at large.  They're behaving like stereotypical boomers.  They talk about wanting to grow, change, and attract younger members.  But when the rubber meets the road, they're not willing to change or sacrifice anything to achieve the outcome they say they want.  They say they want change, but they mean they want everyone else to change.

I'm proud of being a veteran, and I love serving the veteran community, but I've got to admit that I don't know how much more of this I can stand.  Where I used to look forward to the monthly meetings, and left feeling energized, I'm now feeling a pit in my stomach before the meetings and am consistently leaving with a strong case of the ick.  It's just not fun anymore.