The ROA (d/b/a Reserve Organization of America) is a professional association of commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, former officers, enlisted and spouses of the uniformed services of the United States, primarily with the Reserve and National Guard.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (April 2013) This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2013)

Quick Facts Formation, Type ...

ROA (d/b/a Reserve Organization of America)

ROA logo
Formation	1922; Chartered by Congress in 1950
Type	501(c)(19), veterans' organization
Tax ID no.	53-0132450
Headquarters	One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, DC
Membership	~63,000
Website	www.roa.org

Close

Founded in 1922 and under congressional charter since 1950, Reserve Officers Association of the United States (ROA), now doing business as the Reserve Organization of America, advocates for adequate funding of equipment and training requirements, recruiting and retention incentives, and employment rights for all members of the Reserve. It also advises and educates the Congress, the president, and the American people on national security.

The ROA was founded on October 2, 1922, when several hundred officers, many of them combat veterans of World War I, first gathered with General of the Armies John J. "Black Jack" Pershing at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., to formally establish a new organization.

Between the World Wars, the right of the Reservist to appear before Congress in support of appropriations and matters affecting the national defense was established.^{[citation needed]} Also during this time, Reserve programs, which were to prove invaluable in the mobilization period of 1941 and 1942, became established on the foundations laid by the citizen-soldiers who had served in World War I.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, the Association became inactive "for the duration" as its members went off to war. ROA was reactivated in 1946, and in 1948, Reserve Officers of the Naval Services (RONS) merged with ROA. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard entered at about the same time. When law created a separate Department of the Air Force, for the first time the nation had, in ROA, a Reserve association embracing all the Services.

Public Law 595 of the 81st Congress, second session, was "An Act to Incorporate the Reserve Officers Association of the United States." This act established the objective of ROA: "...support and promote the development and execution of a military policy for the United States that will provide adequate National Security." President Harry S. Truman, one of the early members of ROA, signed the charter on June 30, 1950.^[1]

• ROA membership is open to all federally commissioned officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, enlisted and their spouses, from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps, plus the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• ROA holds a congressional charter, and is established in public law as a corporation to support and promote military policies that will provide adequate national security.
• ROA members are major participants in the Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR), Interallied Confederation of Reserve Medical Officers (CIOMR), and Pan American Union of Reserve Officers of the Armed Forces (UPORFA), international organizations that hold annual events in Europe and South America. All national Reserve officer organizations of NATO have joined CIOR since its founding in 1948.^[2]

ROA's legislative priorities, largely shaped by the requirements of the War on Terrorism^{[citation needed]}, are:

• Reset the whole force to include fully funding equipment and training for the National Guard and Reserves.
• Provide adequate resources and authorities to support the current recruiting and retention requirements of the Reserves and National Guard.
• Support warriors, families, and survivors.
• Assure that the Reserve and National Guard continue in a key national defense role, both at home and abroad.

ROA is organized into 55 departments, one in each of the 50 states, plus departments in Latin America, the District of Columbia, Europe, the Far East, and Puerto Rico. Each department is further divided into regional chapters. There are more than 300 chapters worldwide.

ROA is led by elected national officers, and ROA's business activities are conducted by a national staff in Washington, DC.

• Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service
• Military Officers Association of America