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Serving those who serve
MACPA members join the effort to arm National Guard members and their families with financial knowledge
By Bill Sheridan
Statement editor
They have volunteered to leave behind their civilian lives — jobs, family, creature comforts — to serve their country.
But when National Guardsmen and women need help, who serves them?
A great many people, it turns out, and among them now are CPAs.
MACPA members were among those on hand Dec. 10 to answer Guard members' questions during a "Soldier Readiness Processing," or SRP, event at Camp Fretterd in Reisterstown.
SRPs provide Guard members with legal, financial, spiritual and job-related information before they are deployed. In Camp Fretterd's case, dozens of Guardsmen and women received such advice on Dec. 10 before leaving for Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where they were to provide administrative support at the detention facility known as Camp X-Ray.
MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood and members Jeanne Strickler and James Crites were on hand to offer Guard members advice and information about the tax, financial planning and retirement issues that are unique to military personnel.
"I really feel it's important that (CPAs) give something back to those who need it," said Strickler, a CPA at Goucher College. "This is an important group doing such important work, and we're just trying to help them out."
The event is just one example of how MACPA members are providing financial resources to Maryland National Guard members and their families. Other efforts include speaking engagements, individual counseling, e-mail question-and-answer sessions and the like. To date, 16 members have signed up as volunteers for this initiative.
"I believe it is our duty to do anything possible to support our troops, whether or not we believe in the necessity of the event or the politics involved in this national venture. They are our best people, and our future," said Crites, of JL Crites & Associates, LLC. "My own experience was in Vietnam. When we returned from combat ... acceptance by our populace was simply not there. I sincerely hope we as a nation learned our lessons and never again spurn the men and women who put their lives on the line for our freedom."
The MACPA's participation in the Camp Fretterd SRP grew out of two events — the launch of the association's financial literacy campaign, which aims to increase the financial I.Q. of all Marylanders; and Sen. Barbara Mikulski's recent call for a concentrated effort to provide financial information to military personnel and their families.
"At the same time, we were putting together a finance operation of our own," said LTC (MD) Hugh Robinson of the Maryland Defense Force. "As a result, three groups — the National Guard, the Maryland Defense Force and the MACPA — got together to coordinate financial programs for soldiers."
The Maryland Defense Force is one of four "pillars" of the Maryland Military Department; the others are the Army Guard, the Air Guard and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.
"We are so grateful to the MACPA, because it gives us essentially a 'force multiplier' for financial information," said Robinson, whose civilian title is senior vice president at Bay National Bank. "We can refer soldiers to members of the MACPA, who have the ability to answer a quick question, solve a very quick problem or, if need be, get more in depth with the soldier to provide some assistance."
The MACPA is looking for members who are interested in participating in future SRPs and other efforts to provide financial resources to Maryland National Guard members and their families.
If you would like to get involved in the MACPA's financial literacy efforts, please contact our public relations manager at (410)296-6250, (800) 782-2036, or pubrel@macpa.org.
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