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Florida Military Message Center (FMMC)

Interstate Military Message Center (IMMC)

Editorial Policy


Florida Military Message Center (FMMC)

The FMMC is an e-mail network operated by volunteers from the Florida Council of Chapters of MOAA. This is a free service for anybody interested in issues affecting members of MOAA Chapters/Clubs as well as other veterans and their families. 

The FMMC operates three nets as follows. 

1. The Council Net is used by the Council President, the Legislative Affairs Chairman, and the Electronic Communications Coordinator to communicate with Council and Chapter/Club leaders.

This takes place either directly with the principals concerned or via one or more e-mail contacts for principals who do not have an e-mail address. In addition, any other person interested in receiving this type of traffic may subscribe.

2. The MOAA Legislative Net retransmits MOAA legislative updates and alerts. Only traffic originated by MOAA is transmitted on this net. Anybody can obtain the information from the MOAA Web Site at https://www.MOAA.org/, but we maintain the MOAA legislative net for those who would rather receive MOAA retransmissions from the FMMC. 

3. The Florida VetNet transmits traffic primarily affecting other veterans' organizations and members, but also includes veterans' information of interest to Chapter/Club members.

We keep the FMMC address list confidential. A subscriber should never see anybody else's address on FMMC group messages, nor should anybody else see theirs. This does not mean that we will not provide a council member the address of another subscriber. It only means that we seek to protect our mail list from spam (junk mail) operators.

Anybody with an e-mail address who is interested in the missions of MOAA, the Council, or other veterans' organizations can subscribe to the FMMC. You do not have to be in a leadership position in your organization to subscribe, nor do you have to belong to a veterans' group. Furthermore, we do not ask that you agree with all the issues presented. We do, however, encourage you to disseminate the information you receive to all persons who might be interested, so they will have their chance to respond . 

We believe the FMMC is the best source in the state for timely information affecting the well-being of those on active duty, those who have worn our country's uniforms, and those who will wear them.

Sign up today by e-mailing your name, voice phone number, rank and service affiliation (if any), and organization and title (if any) to the FMMC Editor, LtCol Fred Edwards, USMC (Ret), at edwards@tampabay.rr.com.

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Interstate Military Message Center (IMMC)

The IMMC is an e-mail network operated by volunteers from the Florida Council of Chapters of MOAA to help implement MOAA and State legislative objectives, and to facilitate interstate, inter-council and inter-association coordination.

The IMMC serves all who are interested in MOAA�s eight missions. This includes Council/Association Presidents or their E-mail contacts as well as board members, Chapter/Club members, and others with similar interests from all states and countries. 

We keep the IMMC address list confidential. You should never see anybody else�s address on IMMC messages, nor should anybody else see yours. This does not mean that we will not provide a subscriber the address of another subscriber. It only means that we seek to protect our mail list from "spam" (junk mail) operators.

We fully understand that there is no vertical line of authority between MOAA , Councils/Associations and Chapters/Clubs. Further, we know that today�s President will be tomorrow�s Chapter or Club member, while today�s interested subscriber may be tomorrow�s President. This means we think in terms of lateral communications so that all interested readers can receive the information we transmit.

With the IMMC, we can easily transmit messages to many addressees. However, our small number of volunteers would be overwhelmed if our subscribers wanted to treat the IMMC like an internet chat group. Furthermore, our experience has shown that a network such as the IMMC should be reserved for priority traffic or the subscribers will tend to ignore all messages. Thus, it is doubly important that the traffic we send be valuable to most subscribers. 

Because of the principle of lateral communications, we are in the position of implementing editorial policy based upon what the various organizations want, while being guided by the legislative and organizational goals of MOAA. 

What is our agenda? It derives solely from MOAA�s eight purposes.

 Subscribers can do anything they want with information they receive � pass it on for organized action, act on it as individuals, or do nothing. Thus, there is no commitment when signing on. The subscriber simply receives an electronic newspaper containing items that won�t be found in the local media � and the subscriber has the opportunity to submit articles of mutual concern. 

We believe the IMMC is an invaluable source of coordination for timely information affecting the well-being of those on active duty, those who have worn our country's uniforms, and those who will wear them. Sign up today by e-mailing your name, voice phone number, rank and service affiliation (if any), and organization and title (if any) to edwards@tampabay.rr.com

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Editorial Policy

The following editorial policy for the Florida Military Message Center (FMMC) and the Interstate Military Message Center (IMMC) applies to submissions of articles and reproduction of information contained in FMMC/IMMC messages:

I. Submissions

We encourage submissions of articles for possible use in the FMMC and/or IMMC if they meet the following criteria:

* Support one or more of MOAA�s eight goals, which follow:

1. To Inculcate and stimulate love of our country and the flag.

2. To defend the honor, integrity, and supremacy of our national government and Constitution.

3. To advocate military forces adequate to the defense of our country.

4. To foster the integrity and prestige of uniformed service.

5. To foster fraternal relations among all branches of the services.

6. To further the education of children of service personnel.

7. To aid active and retired personnel, their families, and their survivors.

8. To present their rights and interests when service matters are under consideration.

* Are of possible interest to all or most of our subscribers.

* Meet standards of subject matter and professional presentation as exemplified in The Retired Officer Magazine and the MOAAGRAM. 

* Can be submitted as finished articles, requiring minimum editing. 

* Are accepted for publication by the Florida Council of Chapters, which reserves the right of final approval for publication. 

II. Reproduction

We encourage subscribers to reproduce and use articles transmitted via the FMMC and/or the IMMC under the following conditions:

* No article identified as copyrighted may be reproduced without permission of the copyright owner.

* Reproduction of an article not identified as copyrighted must credit the source (either FMMC or IMMC, operated by the Florida Council of Chapters of MOAA), and the author if any is listed.

* Any reproduction must be for legitimate use in supporting one or more of MOAA�s eight goals, which follow:

1. To Inculcate and stimulate love of our country and the flag.

2. To defend the honor, integrity, and supremacy of our national government and Constitution.

3. To advocate military forces adequate to the defense of our country.

4. To foster the integrity and prestige of uniformed service.

5. To foster fraternal relations among all branches of the services.

6. To further the education of children of service personnel.

7. To aid active and retired personnel, their families, and their survivors.

8. To present their rights and interests when service matters are under consideration.

Fred Edwards, LtCol, USMC (Ret)
FMMC / IMMC Editor
Florida Council of Chapters of MOAA

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