Revised April 15, 2013

The United States Marine Corps

Combat Correspondents Association, Inc.

Section a. The name of the organization is the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, Incorporated (herein referred to as “USMCCCA” or the “Association.”

 Article II:  Purpose

Section a.  The purpose of the USMCCCA is to serve the general welfare of its members and establish and maintain a rapport between the USMCCCA, the U. S. Marine Corps, and related agencies; to promote the professional development of its members and recognize their achievements; to recognize achievements and provide awards for active duty Marines, including reservists serving on active duty; to provide a means for the exchange of information of interest and importance to its members; and to aid and assist the public affairs and other programs of the Marine Corps.  This organization’s objectives are patriotic, professional, and fraternal.  The Association shall not be used as a vehicle for personal achievement.  No part of the activities of the Association shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and The Association shall not directly or indirectly participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office..

Section b.  The USMCCCA is a not-for-profit organization.

Article III: Fiscal Year

Section a.  The Association’s fiscal year shall be calendar year:  January 1-December 31.

Article IV: Membership

Section a.  REGULAR MEMBERSHIP may be granted to any present or former U. S. Marine who has served as a Marine Corps print or broadcast journalist, photographer, motion picture or television production person, artist or illustrator, reproduction specialist, public affairs officer or audiovisual officer.   Regular members shall have the right to vote in elections and on issues raised as at annual meetings of the Association, and to hold national elected office.

Section b.  ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP may be granted to any Marine veteran in the profession of mass communications or any member of the communication media who is or was professionally associated with the U.S. Marine Corps.  Associate membership may also be granted to any individual working in a support capacity with a Marine Corps Public Affairs Office.  Associate members shall have the right to vote in elections and on issues raised at annual meetings of the Association and to hold National Director office. (Amended September 1998).

Section c.  AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP may be granted to any individual interested in furthering the aims and goals of the association through affiliation with the Association.  Affiliate members are encouraged to attend meetings and debate issues; however they may not vote or hold national office.

Section d.  LIFE MEMBERSHIP may be granted to any regular, associate or affiliate member who satisfies the dues requirement for lifetime membership.  (Amended September 1998).

Section e.  HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP may be granted to any individual who has been of outstanding service to the Marine Corps through his or her professional works.  Honorary Life Membership shall be granted to any member who was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.  Honorary Life Membership may only be granted upon approval of the Board of Directors.

Section f.  All membership applications must be forwarded to national headquarters and may be subject to approval by the board of directors.  No one may join a local chapter unless a member of the national Association. .  Applications may be made by U. S. Mail or email direct to CCHQ or by using the provisions of the official USMCCCA website www.usmccca.org.

Section g.  Annual dues in amounts determined by vote of the regular and associate membership are due and payable to the national headquarters on October 1.  Nonpayment of dues results in the loss of voting and other membership privileges.  Dues may be paid by credit card by using the provisions of the official USMCCCA website www.usmccca.org or by calling, mailing or emailing national headquarters with necessary credit card information.

 Article V:  Annual Meetings

Section a.  The Association shall meet in conference annually to conduct business, review progress and develop united action toward accomplishing the goals and furthering the aims the purposes and furthering the aims of the Association. The site of each annual meeting shall be determined by majority vote of the board of directors.

Section b.  National officers and directors shall be elected during the annual meeting.

Section c.  A quorum for the annual meeting shall be fifty percent plus one (50% +1) of the regular members registered at the conference approximately one hour before the beginning of the annual meeting.

 Article VI:  Management

Section a.  The management of this Association is entrusted by the membership to a nine-member board of directors.  The board shall consist of four officers (the Association president, vice president, secretary and treasurer), each to serve a one year term; and five directors who serve two year-terms of office.  Three directors will be elected in even numbered years and two directors will be elected in odd numbered years.

Section b.  The board of directors is vested with the responsibility of formulating the Association’s general policies, goals and objectives.  Once these strategic plans and objectives are established it is the President together with the officers of the Association, acting under the direction of the board, who are responsible for implementing plans and strategies to meet these objectives.

Section c.  The board of directors shall meet in a body at least twice annually.

Section d.  The president shall preside at all meetings of the board of directors and the Association.  With the secretary, he or she shall execute all legal papers, documents, and instruments ordered to be executed by the board of directors.  The president shall appoint chairs of standing committees and other committees as may be required; shall be ex-officio a member of all committees of the Association; and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the board of directors.  The president shall be the spokesperson of the Association.  The office of president shall not be held by an active duty Marine except when the office of president is vacated and the vice-president, if an active duty Marine, assumes the full duties of the present president until the next regular election.

Section e.  The vice president shall be chief of protocol and shall ensure appropriate observance of etiquette, military customs, and courtesies in all Association activities, especially in connection with the annual awards banquet.  The vice president working with the executive director shall set the agenda for the annual membership meeting and perform such other duties as may be assigned by the president.   The vice president shall act on behalf of the president when the latter is unable to preside, and, should a vacancy occur, shall assume full duties of the president until the next general election.

Section f.  The secretary shall, together with the president, execute such legal papers, documents, or instruments as authorized by the board of directors.  The secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings of the Association and of the board of directors.  Following each meeting the secretary shall prepare a full set of minutes and an executive summary of these minutes.  The executive summary will be published in the Association newsletter, Now Hear This, and on the Association website, usmccca.org.  A complete set of minutes may be requested by members by writing, calling or emailing CCHQ.

Section g.  The treasurer shall serve as custodian of all funds and securities of the Association and shall cause them to be placed in depositories as approved by the board of directors.  He or she shall execute fund expenditures within guidelines and provisions directed by the board.  The treasurer shall see that an accurate record of the funds are kept and shall make monthly reports to the board of directors.

 Section h.  Should an other-than-presidential vacancy occur, the board may elect an individual to assume the duties of the vacated position for the unexpired portion of the term.

 Section i.  The board of directors shall have the power to enter into cooperative relationships with other agencies or organizations when, in its judgment, such a relationship is desirable toward achieving the Association’s objectives in the area concerned, in which case they shall have the power, on behalf of the Association, to execute articles of agreement setting forth the rules of the government of the cooperative operation – to include provisions for severing the relationships when, in the judgment of the board of directors, it is in the Association’s best interest to do so.

Section j.  The Association, through its board of directors, may hold or dispose of such property, real or personal, as may be given, devised, bequeathed to it, or entrusted to its care or keeping, and may purchase, acquire, and dispose of such property as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the Association.

Section k.  The board of directors shall control and manage all property of the Association.

Section l.  No contract, debt or obligation shall be binding unless contracted under the authority of the board of directors.

Section m.  An Association historian shall be appointed by the board of directors to compile and maintain the Association historical data and material.  He or she shall be a member of the Association and will serve, ex- officio, as a non-voting member of the board.

Section n.  A Marine Corps liaison shall be appointed annually by the board of directors to serve as the connecting link between the Association and the Marine Corps.  He or she will provide advice and counsel on matters pertaining to active duty members of the Association and will coordinate with Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, for action required in the conduct of the Merit Awards program and annual conference.  If not an elected member of the board of directors, this individual shall become, ex-officio, a non-voting member of the board.

Section o.  To ensure continuity and efficiency in the conduct of Association business, the board of directors may engage professional management services to operate the Association’s national headquarters, assist in planning and conducting organizational business, provide parliamentary advice and perform such duties as directed by the board.  The management services’ principal representative for the USMCCCA need not be a regular member of the Association.

Article VII:  Standing Committees

Section a.  The administrative work of the board of directors shall be divided into three standing committees and such other committees as deemed necessary by the board.  The standing committees are:  Awards; Nominating, and Ways and Means.  The president shall assign members of the board of directors to chair or serve on standing committees.  Regular, associate and affiliate members of the Association may volunteer to serve on a standing committee by making their desires known to any board member.

Section b.  The Awards Committee shall administer and review all awards presented by the Association.  These include Merit Awards, the Donald L. Dickson Memorial Award, the Brigadier General Robert L. Denig Memorial Distinguished Performance Award, the William T. Perkins Combat Cameraman of the Year Award,  the Marketing and Public Affairs (MPA) Awards, as well as awards of Association membership, and other special awards which may be given from time to time.  This committee, together with Division of Public Affairs, HQMC, when appropriate, shall solicit nominations for awards, ensure nominees meet appropriate eligibility criteria, assemble judging panels if necessary, and present nomination packages to appropriate voting or judging authorities, in accordance with established award criteria.

Section c.  The Nominating Committee shall solicit and compile a list of names of individuals eligible and willing to serve as Association officers or directors.  This list will be provided as a slate of candidates from which the regular and or associate membership may elect officers and directors by voting in the annual election.

 Section d.  The Ways and Means Committee shall plan, review, and oversee all methods of raising funds for the Association.  These include membership dues and conference registration fees, conference journal advertising, Merit Awards, and memorabilia sale.

 Article VIII: Elections

 Section a.  Officers and directors of the Association shall be elected by majority vote of regular and associate members who may cast their votes either by absentee ballot or in person at the annual meeting.  No member shall be entitled to vote by proxy.

Section b.  Any regular or associate member of the USMCCCA may nominate a candidate for national office by submitting nominees’ names to the nominating committee which will determine the candidate’s eligibility and willingness to serve.  Nominations shall be accepted at any time between the announcements of a given year’s election results and May 15 of the subsequent year.  Nominee names may be submitted by regular or electronic (email) mail.

Section c.  When the number of candidates does not exceed the number of positions open in a given year, the need for preparation and mailing of an absentee ballot is waived.  (Amended September 18, 2009)

 Article IX: Chapters

Section a.  Local chapters of the USMCCCA, composed of members of the national organization, are chartered for the purpose of furthering the patriotic, professional and fraternal goals of the Association.  The board of directors may authorize formation, in any geographical area, of a provisional chapter with at least eight (8) regular or associate members in good standing.  New chapters are subject to a two-year probationary period upon approval of the board of directors, with a date retroactive to the date provisional approval was granted.

Section b.  Elected chapter officers generally include a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.  Terms of office, as determined by local chapters, shall be one or two years in duration.  The offices of chapter president and vice president shall be held only by regular or associate members of the national Association.  Newly-elected officers shall be installed no later than sixty (60) days prior to the national Association’s annual meeting.  Each chapter shall submit a list of current officers to national headquarters no later than forty-five (45) days prior to each annual conference.

Section c.  Each chapter shall meet at least quarterly and shall submit minutes of each meeting to the national headquarters not later than two weeks after each meeting.

 Article X: Bylaws and Governing Regulations

Section a.  New bylaws may be adopted and existing bylaws may be amended or repealed by majority vote of the regular and associate members present at the annual meeting or voting by absentee ballot mail.  Absentee voting (bylaw changes only) can be submitted by U.S. Mail or by electronic (email) mail to national headquarters.

Section b.  The board of directors may set, modify, or cancel such governing regulations as may be helpful in standardizing operations and procedures within the Association, so long as these regulations do not conflict with the Association’s incorporating documents or bylaws.

 Article XI:  Procedure

Section a.  Unless provided otherwise in these bylaws, procedure at all meetings shall be governed by the most current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Section b.  These bylaws were approved and adopted during the Association’s annual Business Meeting  September 14, 2007.  The latest revision voted upon and approved was September 18, 2009)