IN THE BEGINNING, when the WWR was founded, a very small group of mostly-motorcycle-riding patriots got together and decided that there was a need for a troop-support organization. The Warriors' Watch Riders was born, in Philadelphia (not far from Independence Hall.) It was decided that we would take the BEST of what other organizations had done, and that we would LEARN FROM the WORST of what other organizations had done. We would build on what works and leave behind what doesn't. There were four important decisions made in the beginning that were sharply different from what other groups were doing:

1. The first and I believe most important decision that we made was that we would NOT incorporate, and we would NOT ask anyone for money. There are no "donate" buttons on the WWR website, and we do not accept donations. Every now and then, when we decide we want something, we may "pass the hat" among OURSELVES, but we do not take money from the public. We pay our own way. We do what we do on our own time and at our own expense.

2. The second important decision that was made was based on the same concept as State's Rights. State chapters (whether or not a "chapter" actually follows state boundaries" would act with autonomy in the day-to-day operation and decision-making of that WWR chapter. IF YOU SHARE OUR VISION, IF YOU AGREE TO ABIDE BY OUR MISSION STATEMENT, we will provide the support for your chapter's activity under the WWR name (trademarked.) We will help get you started, we will facilitate your communications structure, provide email newsletters, forum support such as misison planning and state and national discussions and friendship-building, a public website for bringing honor to those warriors for whom we provide our services, and public relations and promotion. (We believe strongly that PR and Publicity are integral to our misison - the more people know about us, the more the word spreads, the more warriors we can service - bearing in mind that the ultimate goal (vision) is that EVERY warrior should receive the welcome and honor he or she deserves.) We will collect membership-join requests and filter them to the proper state/chapter so that you can continue to grow. We will provide a central place for mission requests and expedite those requests by filtering them directly to the proper chapter for execution. We will also provide products with which you can display your WWR affiliation. We purchase certain items in bulk, and resell them to you. In this way you can get a retail-priced product while we assume the risk of bulk-purchasing. (No profit is made by anyone in the WWR. I try to price the items to cover the cost of the items, giveaways, packaging, postage, PayPal fees, and so on. In some cases home-made items include enough to pay the person making them. In other cases the items don't pass through our hands at all, we simply approve ("or license") certain vendors who agree to provide a quality product to you on a one-order-at-a-time basis for a fair price.  Again, the WWR ITSELF DOES NOT BENEFIT FROM ANY PRODUCT SALES. THE WWR HAS NO MONEY OF ITS OWN.

3. The third important decision that was different was that we tried to SPREAD THE "OWNERSHIP" of the WWR as much as possible by spreading responsibility and leadership opportunities among ALL members who WANT it (not everyone does, and that is fine too.) We did the following:

    a. We created the concept of rotating Ride Captain duties. As each mission came up (and there were and are a LOT of them), the State Coordinator would choose a Ride Captain from among those members who want to take a turn. That person is then fully responsible for all aspects of running a successful mission - initial contacts, recon, planning, LEO contacts, and followup.

    b. To assist the assigned Ride Captain in planning, "SPOCs" were appointed. An SPOC is a "Single Point of Contact," and there is one for Law Enforcement, one for Media contacts, and so on. This is to aid the RC but also to keep the confusion of duplication of efforts down, and so that we (or each chapter) has one person who will become known to the various agencies, which results in greater cooperation than if many different people were calling.

    c. Next, we created a six-member Advisory Council. The purpose of this was to spread the decision-making process among several people instead of having one or two people "dictate." IT WAS HOPED THAT VERY FEW ACTUAL "POLICY" DECISIONS WOULD BE REQUIRED, but it was done with the practical realization that things WOULD come up that needed to be answered. THIS WAS AN HONEST ATTEMPT AT DECENTRALIZATION OF AUTHORITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MEMBERS. If you disagree with the concept, think it could be done better, or just think it isn't working, BLAME NO ONE BUT ME, LUTZ. IT WAS MY IDEA, IT WAS MY DECISION. IF YOU NEED TO GO AFTER SOMEONE ABOUT IT, GO AFTER ME. If you approach me reasonably I will respond reasonably.

    d. As the WWR began to grow and spread (much more quickly than we had anticipated), State Coordinators were recruited and appointed for each "State" (chapter.) The State Coordinators have full authority to appoint any assistants they deem fit to appoint - Assistant SCs (ASCs), SPOCs, and so on. Then we appointed, in addition to State Coordinators, Regional Coordinators and one National Coordinator. The National Coordinator works with the Regionals, and both he and the Regionals work with NEW chapter leaders, men and women who step up and ask to start new chapters in their geographical areas. Another responsibility of the National Coordinator is to work, not only with individuals, but with other organizations to bring them under the WWR "umbrella," so to speak, in the formation of a nationwide "coalition" of patriotic troop-support organizations, all working together toward our common Vision.

    e. Finally, a couple of axillary appointments were made for responsibilities that don't fall under these other categories. A Membership Director was appointed - a hard-working guy who manages the membership database and recruiting. Then, the all-important board moderators. There are three moderators, and the serve two functions - monitoring the forums for nasty things, and posting Missions in the Confirmed, Pending and Sanctioned Events forums. The SC, or someone he/she designates, is fully responsible for deciding what constitutes a mission. Once the SC calls a mission, he sends it to the moderator for posting. Once an RC is appointed, the RC takes over the mission thread. Changes to the original post are sent to the moderator, who then edits the post with the updated information. The moderators work hard - often this information is very time-sensitive.

4. Finally, the fourth decision that was made was to keep the "moderating" to a bare minimum on this forum. ONE rule was created - that you may not publicly attack another WWR member using this forum. If you post with RESPECT, you can't go wrong. There are, as said above, three moderators for this forum. In addition, each state that comes on board has it's own discussion forum, and the State Coordinator (and/or anyone he/she appoints) is the moderator for that forum. The forums are for mission planning and for building friendships and sharing experiences, and for winding down after a mission, sharing stories, photos, and well wishes and condolences. They are NOT for bitching and moaning. That is NOT to say that you don't have the right to point out problems or ask questions. But before post - ask yourself if what you are writing might be misinterpreted or is disrespectful of ANYONE. Rule of thumb: If in doubt, DON'T POST. Bad feelings can rarely be completely undone. Bottom line: post with respect and you will not have a problem. There is one exeption to this: the MISISON PLANNING BOARD, which includes the Confirmed, Pending, Sanctioned Events, Thank-You's, and About WWR forums, are visible to the public and will be more heavily moderated than other forums. If you post a naughty word, it will be deleted. Also, the mission planning forums serve TWO purposes: planning AND for the pride and enjoyment of the Warrior family. They WILL read this forum. DON'T drift from the topic, and when posting include your good wishes. Don't post to say you are NOT coming to a mission, UNLESS you add a wish for the family to read.

CONCLUSIONS

As members of the WWR, you need to know that all of the above was done with the best intentions. If over time something CLEARLY does not "work," we will change it. So far, however, we've been doing fairly well, I believe. The structure that was put into place is not even a year old yet, and considering that, we've don extraordinatry things - all of us, our combined efforts. NOT EVERY PERSON WILL AGREE WITH EVERY MOVE WE MAKE. I can't help that - WE ARE HUMAN. All I can do is to continue to operate the WWR with HONOR, WITH INTEGRITY, AND WITH DIGNITY. If we all keep those three qualities in mind as we go about our troop support activities, we can't lose.

This is what the WWR is all about.