“Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty and the graves of our fathers. ” – Tecumseh
The question has been raised whether the “US” in US Defenders stands for the “United States” or “us” as in you and me? The correct answer is YES !!!!
In Mission and definition the US Defenders is a grass roots movement of manpower, “Citizen Biker Manpower” designed to provide an efficient way to organize and rally a rapid response on legislative issues that are of concern to all motorcyclist.
US Defenders will also be in a position to provide post emergency assistance in the case of flooding, tornadoes, Amber Alerts, etc., to local communities when called upon by community disaster authorities.
HOW IT WORKS IN A NUTSHELL
Each member club of a States’s Confederation of Clubs, Coaltition of Motorcycalist and Independent Riders’s Groups will designate two members, one primary and one alternate, to represent their club or association. These representatives, known as US Defenders, will be considered commissioned state officers who are assigned to the Regional US Defenders Unit where they were inducted. The US Defenders will wear a state sanctioned patch that cannot be sold or traded. Any change in personnel must be coordinated through the unit’s commander.
CALL _TO_ACTION
When a motorcycle rights organization “MRO” or similar organization designs a political campaign and solicits the US Defenders for support a review board will examine the campaign and a “Call to Action” will be implemented if it is determined that the campaign falls within the Defender’s criteria. All US Defenders would then be activated, called into a meeting where they are briefed and trained on teh call to action by their unit’s staff officers and then these US Defenders would take that information and training back to their clubs and groups and implement and document the action.
SEQUENCE OF ACITON IN A CALL-TO-ACTION (CTA)
1) A MRO solicits the COC to support a political campaign such as letter writing, etc.
2) The COC staff reviews the campaign to determine if it meets the COC’s required criteria.
3) If the campaign meets the criteria the state US Defenders Commander will activate the State’s US Defenders unit(s) and call them in for briefing and training on the CTA.
4) The US Defenders will take the training back to their perspective clubs or organizations and implement the CTA making certain to document “copy” all letters.
5) The US Defenders will mail all letters checking for the correct recipients’ address and turn in all documentation to the unit commander at a designated time and place within 72 hours.
6) The unit commander will process the information and submit a report to the US Defenders COmmander within a timely fashion not to exceed 72 hours.
LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY
The two most important that are necessary for this program to work are leadership and accountability.
After every Field Training Exercise (FTE) or Call to Action (CTA) an evaluation must be conducted on the club or organization, on the unit and state level. A Field Evaluation Form (FEF) has been produced to help US Defenders and their unit commanders evaluate the productivity of any FTE or CTA.
The Following is an example:
A MRO has solicited the state COC for support in a political campaign calling for letter writing to state legislators.
The state COC determines that the campaign fallw with the required criteria and the State’s Secretary of defense issues a CTA.
Unit commanders call in the US Defenders who are briefed on the CTA and return to their clubs or organizatons to implement the action.
Within 72 hours the US Defenders will deliver to their unit commander all documentation (copies) of letters and submit a FEF based on the performance of their individual club or organization.
The unit commander will review all FEF and submit an overall FEF on their unit to the State Secretary of Defense. www.usdefenders.org.
PROCESSING INFORMATION (FOLLOWING UP)
The purpose of processing information from a Call to Action (CTA) or a Field Training Exercise (FTE) is to evaluate the unit’s performance and to identify areas that need help or additional support.
If a member clug or organization with approximately 15 members turn in 15+ letters, congratulations and recognition should be given at a COC meeting.
If a 15 member club or organization turns in only 3 or 4 letters, this is a challenge and it needs to be addressed by their unit’s commander ASAP! The club’s US Defenders should be called into a private meeting and asked to explain the poor performance. This is not in an effort to humiliate or punish the club but in an effort to identify where the challenges are and then to work together with the Defenders Network to address those challenges.
On occasion a unit commander may need to address the club or organization during one of their meetings and stress the importance of their compliance and provide any support as needed.
It is the responsiblity of a unit’s commander to address any situation that may hinder the potential production of any club or organization within his unit. By accessing the potential production of any club or organizaton within his unit. Buy accessing the potential of a club or group and then working together with the US Defenders assigned to the group a unit commander can reach the full potential necessary to produce maximum results.
This is LEADERSHIP!!
US DEFENDERS OFFICERS:
National Commander ~ Gimmi Jimmy ~ gimmijimmy@usdefenders.org
National Lieutenant Commander ~ Paul ~ paul@usdefenders.org
National Treasurer / Secretary ~ Suds ~
National Logistics Consultant ~ Casey ~ casey@usdefenders.org
Oklahoma Commander ~ STICK Keiner ~ us.defenders_oklahoma@yahoo.com