In late 1981 or early 1982, Rose Foster  (Norman) asked Pamela Williams (Hand) , Natalie Labrecque, and David Ciummo to investigate establishing a Chapter of NCMA in the Fort Huachuca/Sierra Vista area.  The three met several times and enlisted the support of a number of folks to generate enthusiasm for the new chapter.

None of us really knew that such an organization existed - except Rose Norman.  She had become acquainted with NCMA through previous job assignments with the U.S. Government as a DoD civilian in procurement.

 Twenty-five individuals involved in contracting with Fort Huachuca from both the Government and Contractor community signed on as Charter Members.  The necessary paperwork and the charter member applications were forwarded to NCMA's national headquarters.  Dues were only $45.00 a year!

 NCMA national headquarters granted the Chapter charter on 13 October 1982.  Although I don't think we knew it until late 1982 or early 1983.

 The Charter Members were:  Jean Armstrong, Mary Avey, Jo Ann Beijar, Wesley Brashers, David Ciummo, Michael Dean, Michael Feeney, Rose Foster, Paul Fowler, Shirley Greenwood, Patricia Gutierrez, Robert Hand, Natalie Labrecque, Ernesto Martinez, Billy Merrell, Peter Michaud, Mike Mike, Sr., Leonard Mistretta, Virginia Nelson, Dorothy Plunkett, Wilma Ratliff, Larrilyn Raymond, Penny Schreiner, Rosemary Smith, Barbara Sparkman, Gecola Thorndike, Harold Vangilder, Art Wiles, and Pamela Williams.

 Following NCMA's instructions the nucleus of the Charter members asked Wesley Brashers to serve as a temporary and forming President to guide us through the first organizational meeting of the new chapter and until the normal election cycle came about in the spring.

 The formal organizational meeting was held on 1 February 1983.  Harold Vangilder was elected President Pro Tem.

 In April 1983 the first "unnamed" newsletter was published to announce a membership drive and to educate potential members of the importance of NCMA.

 In June 1983 the second newsletter was published announcing the first evening meeting of Coronado Chapter with a guest speaker and contained the first election ballot.  The officers elected that month were:  Harold Vangilder, President;  Robert Hand, Vice President;  Secretary, Barbara Sparkman; Treasurer, Mike Dean; and Chapter Director, Rose Foster (Norman).  Committee chairs included:  Pamela Williams (Hand), Publicity; Dottie Plunkett, Hospitality; Marcia Jones, Programs; Wilma Ratliff, Historian; and Bill Crouch, Education.

 In September of 1983, Pamela Williams (Hand) was still compiling and publishing a rough form of a Flyer/Newsletter.  It was decided that we should have a permanent monthly newsletter.  Suggestions from the membership were solicited as to the name of the publication.  Pat Gutierrez (Korona), a charter member, suggested "The Conquistador" to fit the Chapter name "Coronado".  It was the editor's choice so it remains "The Conquistador".  The newsletter was published on an IBM Selectric typewriter and given variation using a number of the old golf ball type elements in different sizes and type styles.  The master copy often weighed several pounds from the amount of white out fluid required for corrections and updates.  If we'd only known about word processing.

 By October 1983, our first birthday, the Chapter had more than doubled in size from it's original 25 members.  In a 30-day period between mid November and mid December of 1984, during our first big membership drive, we garnered another 26 members during the competition period and several more that drifted in on the wave of excitement shortly thereafter.  We were riding high with a membership of approximately 80 chapter members.

Education has always been a high priority for NCMA and Coronado Chapter was no exception.  We held our first "Get Smart Training" sessions in the first year of operation and continued with "Get Smart" educational modules throughout our early years.  As we gained experience and the changes in contracting became more extensive, Coronado Chapter added special seminars as the need arose.  Our first was in November 1984 on the new "FAR".  Later, Coronado Chapter became a NES site and has continued to host NES training seminars annually.  In recent years the Coronado Chapter has instituted CPCM and CACM tutoring, to prepare folks aspiring to one of those titles for their examinations.