Candidate for Second Vice President

Tom Allen

COSSA Contributions To Date

I headed up the COSSA Practical Shooters for some nine years holding 4 to 5 matches each month.  These were USPSA, IDPA, 3 Gun, Speed Steel and occasionally 2 Gun. We brought in highly qualified trainers from the military, law enforcement and the competition arenas.  We built the weather shelters in Bays 2 through 6.  I attended COSSA Board meetings as the CPS representative for those years.  Served as COSSA Secretary for two years and working with others developed our first Policy Manual which has had numerous revisions as needs changed.   

Future Vision For COSSA

External – Our primary external interface will be with the BLM. Secondarily, we will interface with Law Enforcement at various levels, church security teams, school clubs and Certified Trainers. We must maintain continued compliance with all rules and regulations as well as timely responses to any inquiries. Thus far COSSA has performed well with external interfaces.

Internal – I feel the original Charter for COSSA is still valid. My understanding of it is that our purpose is to provide a safe place to learn, practice and compete for groups and individuals at a reasonable cost with availability commensurate with the needs of those members and organizations. We are open to the public and are a not-for-profit organization. Of special interest are the Kids Program and Lady Hawkes. So far we have met those goals. Our challenge in the future will be to provide an organizational structure, policies and procedures that are supportive of our Charter and which accommodate our growth. We must continue with all aspects of security at the range with range hosts and passive monitoring as well. I feel we should ensure transparency for all Disciplines, especially in the area of finance. The Disciplines must comply with COSSA policies and the Board must ensure that the informational needs of the Disciplines are satisfied. The transparency must be both vertical and horizontal.