MOS-IRS SWEARING-IN CEREMONY -- DECEMBER 11, 2008
Roll call. Selected names, places, branches of service….
STEVE CICKAY
We are gathered here together today to administer the oath of office to a leadership team: the
newly elected officers of the national MOS IRS employee organization. The executive startup committee
has worked long and hard for this day to arrive, a little more than nine months after the idea for MOS
was conceived on the banks of the Delaware River where a famous general made a fateful decision for
our country long, long ago. I thank my fellow XD classmates Jim Clifford (representing the Navy) , Art
Gandara (representing the Marines) , Fred McElligott (representing the Army) , and Beth
Jones (representing the Navy) for their enthusiasm, their energy and their competence in giving birth to
this fine new organization.
Ritual is a powerful tool to bind a community together with bonds stronger than steel. On the
surface, decorating a Christmas tree, saying a blessing over wine and bread, or turning towards Mecca
when praying, can be seen by the unenlightened as pointless actions devoid of meaning. Alien observers
from outer space may see such activities occurring haphazardly over time and document them as mere
random motions of molecules. But we are not inanimate combinations of carbon, but instead men and
women who are mortal and moral beings, looking always for meaning in our too short lives. And we
sometimes find that meaning in communities of purpose.
Today we will make some sounds, move our limbs and walk away from each other; and, some
will say nothing of importance will have occurred. But those enlightened among us who have joined
freely the community of MOS will know that a great and meaningful thing has happened here today.
Through the rituals we are about to say and perform, we will have become a community of great
purpose. And the first awesome act of a community is to choose its leaders. Leadership is the key to
giving meaning, direction and purpose to the lives of the followers. When great leaders are chosen who
are inspired, who have great vision, who can embed within their followers a dream of better things to
come, great things can and will happen. All in the community may then embrace the vision of their wise
leaders and move forward, aligned with a common mission and common purpose, to accomplish great
things.
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
1|Page
Today we will anoint the leaders of MOS through ritual and begin the journey of our new
community. This will give meaning and purpose to our future activities and then, we will be able to
accomplish good things for those who deserve so much: our brave, valiant, and selfless soldiers.
So let us begin the journey.
Please rise and face, if you do not have an American flag in front of you, the vision in your mind
of our beloved country’s beautiful stars and stripes.
I now pass the speech to Beth Jones, a MOS founding executive:
BETH JONES
Please join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."
I now pass the speech to Jim Clifford, a MOS founding executive:
JIM CLIFFORD
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Military Outreach for Service – Internal Revenue Service (MOS-IRS) employee
organization is to provide support to our veterans of the Uniformed Services of the United States (e.g.
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc.) who have sacrificed so much through
their efforts to defend our nation and to further the cause of peace and freedom around the world. In
providing support to military veterans and their family members, the MOS-IRS will simultaneously
further the interests of IRS and other IRS employees as the unique features of the veteran community
are brought together to enrich life at IRS. MOS-IRS membership is open to all IRS employees and
retirees. No person shall be excluded from membership, segregated or discriminated against within the
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
2|Page
organization on the grounds of sex, race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, age, political
affiliation, or physical/mental disability.
I now pass the speech to Art Gandara, a MOS founding executive:
ART GANDARA
PURPOSE
The purpose of the MOS-IRS is to:
a.
Provide a forum whereby the unique needs of veterans employed by IRS can be identified,
addressed, and communicated.
b. Provide education and information to employees and managers regarding benefits available to
veterans as employees of IRS
c.
Serve as a resource for IRS recruitment initiatives by identifying sources for veteran recruitment,
partnering with IRS recruiters to increase the potential candidate pool and provide information about
the federal hiring, application, and interview processes as needed.
d. Be a champion for veterans so that the IRS can ensure issues of veteran retention and
development in the workforce are appropriately addressed.
e.
Serve as a mechanism to ensure that the unique skills and abilities veterans have acquired during
their military service are effectively understood and documented in employment forms so that the IRS
can take full advantage of veteran capabilities in the workplace.
I now pass the speech to Fred McElligott, a MOS founding executive:
FRED McELLIGOTT
The purpose of the MOS-IRS is also to
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
3|Page
f.
Serve as an information-sharing vehicle with respect to issues unique to veterans such as making
effective transitions from military to civilian life, adjusting to IRS leadership and management styles, etc.
g.
Provide an information network pertaining to how disabled veterans can quickly adapt to
employer needs in the workplace by providing historical and organizational knowledge to current
disabled IRS veterans who are in need of such transitional adjustment services.
h.
Assist IRS employees who are family members of veterans on issues unique or challenging to their
situation
i.
Educate and enhance perceptions of managers and hiring authorities to the benefits of hiring
veterans.
i. Communicate in several IRS media outlets the importance and value that veterans have to offer in
civilian federal service and provide a forum for disseminating information concerning federal holidays
pertaining to veteran history.
I now pass the speech to Steve Cickay, a MOS founding executive:
STEVE CICKAY:
MOS has freely chosen the following officers:
Secretary: Susie Harmon
Treasurer: Jim Quinn
Vice-President: Jon Bird
President: Allan Lichtenwalner (representing the Air Force)
NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS OF MOS, WILL YOU PLEASE REPEAT AFTER ME:
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
4|Page
I, (please state your name), do solemnly swear and affirm ,*** to devote my mind, my passion,
and my energy ***to the mission and purpose of MOS ***to the best of my ability. *** I promise to
lead MOS with integrity, ***with honor,*** and with clear moral purpose ***to improve the IRS
organization ***so that the heroes and their families***, who freely chose to defend our glorious
country with their very lives,*** will be treated with the respect, ***the dignity*** and the honor
***which they so emphatically deserve. ***
I now pronounce you the very first slate of national MOS officers. May the coming year be a
good one for you and for all our soldiers around the world. May all of them return soon safely to our
shores and may a just peace descend quickly upon our troubled world.
And I thank you first officers of MOS for your selfless service.
You may now offer your words to our band of three hundred and then afterwards, allow me to
conclude this first MOS swearing in ceremony with an American poem
I now pass the speech to Susie Harmon, a national MOS officer.
SUSIE HARMON
Comments
I now pass the speech to Jim Quinn, a national MOS officer.
JIM QUINN
Comments
I now pass the speech to Jon Bird, a national MOS officer.
JON BIRD
Comments
I now pass the speech to Allan Lichtenwalner, a national MOS officer.
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
5|Page
ALLAN LICHTENWALNER
Comments
I now pass the speech to Steve Cickay, a MOS founding executive:
STEVE CICKAY:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
MOS has been born. Let’s celebrate the beautiful baby.
MOS-IRS Officers Swearing-In Ceremony
December 11, 2008
6|Page