Gentlemen, in our November meeting (the last regular meeting of the year) we will have elections for our 2015 Camp Officers, those being Commander, 1st Lt. Commander and Camp Adjutant. All other positions will be appointed by the Camp Commander for 2015, most likely in consultation with the other elected camp officers.

At our upcoming October meeting we would like to accept and record nominations for our three elected officers.

Please give this careful consideration as these gentlemen will be the leaders that will take us forward into the coming year.
For those who may not be familiar with the terminology, below is a brief description of the duties of various camp officers:

Commander

The Commander has a unique responsibility to lead, encourage, assist, guide, maintain esprit de corps, and above all, to work to achieve harmony within the camp. While an SCV camp is a democratically run organization, the camp Commander does have the overall responsibility for the camp he has been elected to serve. The Commander presides at all meetings or otherwise designates his subordinate officers to do so. He is nominated for office by a nominating committee, or from the floor. He will appoint all non-elected officers and all necessary committees and will perform such other duties as are usually incident to the office. He will also fill all vacated offices occurring during during his administration until the next election of officers, with the advice and consent of the camp executive council.

Lieutenant Commander

His authority is second only to the Commander. He presides in the absence of the Commander. Upon the resignation or death of the Commander, the Lieutenant Commander automatically becomes Commander for the un-expired term. He usually chairs the Programs Committee, and sets the agenda for camp meetings. He represents the Commander at all memorial services when the Commander is not present. The Lieutenant Commander is also a member of the camp executive council.

Adjutant

The Adjutant may serve more than one term and a good one should be encouraged to continue in his post. The duties and responsibilities of Adjutant include those duties performed in many organizations by secretary, treasurer and registrar. In many camps a treasurer, a secretary, a genealogist or several other positions may assist the adjutant. His position is the
most critical for the camp’s continued growth and administrative responsibilities. An individual who procrastinates should not be considered for this office. This office and its complexities require an entire section of its own. Details are therefore contained in Section 7 for the adjutant’s position within the camp.

Second Lieutenant Commander

The Second Lieutenant Commander is not a required position (and currently not an elected position in our Camp Constitution), but is a position developing the future leadership of the camp and possible future camp commander. He serves at the direction of the commander and usually chairs the membership committee. He is authorized to represent the camp whenever the above officers cannot be present. However, he does not have the authority to speak for the commander or the camp unless given that authority by the commander. Some very large camps may even choose to have a Third and Fourth Lieutenant Commander to ease the burden of the above officers.

With only a small word change here or there, this is taken from the Camp Handbook, found on the National SCV web site. It should be understood that these and all officers should be ready and willing to train their replacements.