Silver Wings is a student, professional organization dedicated to developing civilians' leadership skills and providing service to their community. Each chapter consists of college (undergraduate through graduate) students at different universities who volunteer together to help at various non-profit organizations within their community, increase professional skills through interactions with other organizations and workshops, and benefit from giving back to the community by being able to travel across the country gaining valuable leadership skills and experience in a professional/business environment. Unlike some other organizations, Silver Wings is a self-governed organization that is run by students from the chapter level all the way up to the national level. With minor supervision, Silver Wings works jointly with the Arnold Air Society (AAS) nationwide to promote leadership skills, military awareness, and professional development.
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Objectives
Mission: "Silver Wings (SW) is a national, co-ed, professional organization dedicated to creating proactive, knowledgeable, and effective civic leaders through community service and education about national defense."
Silver Wings has three tenets to help them with their mission: personal development, professional development, and civic awareness. For personal development, chapters offer projects and activities that build character through serving their community. Many chapters are involved on their campus and in their community by volunteering their time and talent to soup kitchens, nursing homes, children's museums, cleaning up parks, working on Habitat for Humanity homes and more. These activities help members develop a sense of purpose and responsibility to their community. For professional development, the national organization allows members to have leadership opportunities where they can develop their professional skills such as public speaking, written/oral communications, presenting to audiences, and planning and organizing successful projects. For civic awareness, members of Silver Wings are informed about aerospace power and its role in the United States national defense through interactions with AAS members and military personnel. Informed, members are encouraged to engage and actively promote aerospace issues in the community through educational programs, activities and voter awareness projects. Through these three tenets, Silver Wings is professional, educational, service-oriented, social and civilian.
History of Silver Wings
Silver Wings, originally known as Angel Flight, was founded at the University of Omaha as a local auxiliary organization in 1951 and formed as a national organization in 1952. Starting out as an all-female organization, Angel Flight was more of a national idea with various names. While these organizations across the country had different names, they were all focused on helping out their local AFROTC unit. In April 1957, representatives from 16 different groups came together at the 8th National Conclave of Arnold Air Society to join their purposes under a National Coordination Headquarters. From that point on, Silver Wings became an organization on a national, regional, and local level.
As members of Angel Flight continue to make their organization more professional, service-oriented, and an image to support members for the AFROTC unit closest to their campus, all their hard work paid off in the 1980s when the Executive Board of Directors approved for local Angel Flight chapters to use the name "Silver Wings" as recognition for their growing diversity in membership.
In 1995, the General Assembly of the yearly national conclave voted to amend Angel Flight's Constitution to officially change their name to "Angel Flight-Silver Wings." Local chapters were allowed to use the name "Angel Flight," "Silver Wings," or "Angel Flight-Silver Wings."
In hopes to increase recruitment, Angel Flight-Silver Wings went through a massive restructuring of their organization in 1996 by changing their mission and goals away from being a military-support oriented organization to further diversify their organization. Their change became official in 1998 when the National Conclave voted to officially change the name of their organization to "Silver Wings," functioning as a civilian organization focused on community service, leadership, and professional development.
Even with all the major leaps of accomplishments that Silver Wings has made in the past, some people still see Silver Wings today as second to the Arnold Air Society. This problem is recognized within all levels of both organizations and staff members of Silver Wings and AAS are working desperately to redefine the image of Silver Wings as an equal and sister organization to the Arnold Air Society.
Entry Requirements
Each prospective member for Silver Wings must be an undergraduate or graduate student and within the local chapter. In addition, in order to become an active member of Silver Wings, all prospective members must complete the following things:
Classes of Membership
There are five different types of membership that a member can fall into.
Organization
The National Headquarters provides direction and focus for the entire organization. The nation is broken up into Regions, 11 geographical areas for maximum communication and manageable administration. Region Officers serve the chapters that lie within their region and provide important communication between chapters to national officers and vice versa.
National Headquarters is chosen each year by the National Conclave, which takes place once a year in the Spring, typically Easter weekend. The National Headquarters consists of these positions: National President, National Vice President, National Development Officer, National Public Affairs Officer, National Secretary, and National Treasurer. Extended National Staff include the National Business Chair (NBC) and National Parliamentarian, as well as the National Chief of Protocol (NCOP) and National Webmaster which are jointly sponsored by Silver Wings and the Arnold Air Society.
On the Region level, the two main leadership positions are the Region President and the Region Vice President. The Region President may choose to appoint additional officers as deemed necessary. Some suggested officer positions include: Region Treasurer, Region Development Officer, Region Secretary, Region Activities Officer. Extended Region Staff may also be selected based on each Region's bylaws and may include some or all of the following: Region Public Affairs Officer, Area/Region Chief of Protocol (ARCOP), Region Parliamentarian, Area/Region Conclave(ARCON) Co-Commander.
On the Chapter level, the main leadership positions include the President, Vice President, Development Officer, Activities Officer, Secretary, and Treasurer. The local chapter may choose to add additional positions as they think fit in order for them to complete their mission. Suggested additional officers include Public Affairs Office, Liaison Officer, and AAS-SW Chapter/Squadron Chief of Protocol (CSCOP).
Every year during the Spring (usually on Easter weekend), Silver Wings (SW) and Arnold Air Society (AAS) jointly hold the National Conclave where all members of SW and AAS are invited to discuss matters within the organizations. During this event, business meetings are conducted and local chapters and regions vote on various resolutions and amendments to their manuals. Each year during the National Conclave, both organizations vote on a Joint National Project (JNP), a project that has national appeal, a specific need, and is flexible enough so that different projects can be conducted to accomplish the JNP. Currently, the JNP for SW and AAS is "Reaching Out" a project centered around improving and aiding the lives of those with mental and physical disabilities. The SW Separate National Project (SNP) is "Education about National Defense," a stress on explaining the importance of the National Defense of the United States, specifically promoting Air Power.