Ralph Forehand (1932-2022) was a long time IPMS-USA member (member #1592) and he formed many lifelong friendships during his many years with IPMS.

As a former high school dropout, he enrolled in the Air Force and served as a flight line mechanic at Laughlin Airforce Base during the Korean War. During his service, he worked to attain his GED and then after serving he first attained an Associate Radio Engineer degree, and eventually a BS in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech. He strongly believed in the benefits of a higher education.

As you probably know, IPMS/USA is a volunteer based organization. All of our Executive Board members, Regional Coordinators, Webmasters, and Convention Chairs and teams are volunteers. We often hear from members that they want to be more involved in the Society and help improve it. This is your chance to be a part of the future of IPMS/USA and make it better for everyone!

The 2024 IPMS National Convention Team has been working tirelessly to bring what we hope will be the biggest spectacle in IPMS National Convention history! This mission brief provides you with all the information we have available at the time of this writing. It is our sincere hope that you will join us in Madison this summer!

As you probably have read, Dave Lockhart has resigned from the role of President as of October 31, 2023.  In accordance with the duties of the First Vice President, I accepted the role of President until the end of the next term.

To replace me in my previous position I nominated John Noack to once again take on the responsibilities of the First Vice President.  He accepted and the Eboard approved his appointment. 

Effective Oct 31st, I will be resigning as president of IPMS/USA.  While this has been a difficult decision for me, I have though on this for a while and feel it would be best for myself and IPMS/USA.  While I have thoroughly enjoyed most of the past two years.  There have been situations out of my control and others where I should have displayed more control.  Perhaps my leadership skills are not what is needed now.

My days of tilting at windmills are over and I’m looking forward to getting back to the joy of building models.