Greetings, all.

As much as I’ve tried to resist, and despite that it makes my wife groan to hear me do it, I’m going to do it – I’m going to quote Monty Python when John Cleese said; “And now for something completely different.” What’s different is that, upon advice of science and public health experts, we’re (finally) opening things up again. So expect more and more of our activities to take place in public once again. And may I add a hearty and heartfelt “Hoo-rah!” to that.

One thing we’ve learned over this last 14 months or so is that there’s a lot of positives to Zoom and other such virtual resources. So we’ll be maintaining a Zoom or Zoom-like component to almost everything we do for the foreseeable future. It simply makes sense when our membership is clustered around two population centers 100 miles apart. And it’s a boon to those who are out of town or otherwise unable to attend a given event in person. So that. But please know that we’re in the process of finalizing in-person members meetings on an alternating basis between the two cities to start ASAP.

A couple of other items of note: we’ve picked up two outstanding new projects: We co-sponsored (with Infragard) FBI explosives expert John Bates’ day-long training session on explosive and incendiary devices in Huntsville at the FBI/HPD firing range on May 12th, and we expect and intend to sponsor additional training sessions at other locations in N AL in the coming months. And our board has adopted another new program, whereby we will sponsor monthly counterintelligence briefings for defense contractors and scientific and medical researchers. Our chapter will handle registration and conduct surveys for each session. As a special favor, our members will be invited to attend these (virtual) sessions. The first of these counterintel briefings will take place in late June, and you will receive an invitation to register and join.

A brief explanation of why these two new projects are significant: we are the first and only chapter in the nation to undertake projects of this sort. We are honored to be asked and honored by the trust shown in our members by the FBI. And we want you all to benefit from our partnership with the Bureau. So please, when you see the invitation to participate by attending or volunteering to serve as we work these events, please do come aboard. You’ll always be welcome and appreciated.

As we transition to “normal” activities, expect to hear from us about upcoming members meetings, a fall CA class in Birmingham, the annual Civil Rights and the Law conference, some pure-fun social outings, and more. I do so look forward to seeing you in person soon. Until then,

Be well,

Paul H. Franklin, President

FBI Birmingham CAAA