USMCCCA Board finalizes slate for 2022-2023
Nominations Chair Chris Whiting announced the slate of candidates for the 2022-2023 Association Board of Directors.
All officers are running unopposed for another one year term. President Frank Wiley and Vice President Jeremy Vought both wish to serve a second term. Wiley is a Vietnam Veteran and Vought is an active duty Master Gunnery Sergeant. Long time Treasurer Annita Best has agreed to serve again and Chris Whiting will again serve as Secretary. Best is a retired Colonel and Whiting is a retired Gunnery Sergeant.
The Association Board has five Directors who are elected for two year terms, three are elected in even years and two are elected in odd years, according to the Association Bylaws.
The three 2022-2023 candidates are Ken Melton, Ronna Weyland and Clinton Firstbrook. Melton is a former Marine who already served a year replacing former Director Paul Mancuso. Weyland is a retired Gunnery Sergeant and life member. Firstbrook is an active duty Master Sergeant, currently serving at Quantico. All are unopposed.
The USMCCCA membership will be asked to affirm the slate at the Annual Business Meeting, to be held August 26, during the Symposium.
Members may view candidate biographies posted on www.USMCCCA.org.
Frank Wiley – Candidate for President
Presidential Candidate Frank Wiley is running for a second term as Association President while also serving as Association Chaplain.
Wiley enlisted in April 1967 and was working in Press Information at Camp Pendleton when he volunteered for Vietnam in early 1968. Arriving in Vietnam in April 1968, he was assigned to 1st MarDiv I.S.O. as a Combat Correspondent. He spent most of his time with 3rd Battalion/ 26th Marines in Northern I-Corps, and was sent to Khe Sahn for three weeks to cover the Marine pullout. Returning stateside, he served at 12th .Marine Corps District Headquarters in San Francisco, where he was discharged.
Wiley is retired and worked in the Real Estate Development and Sales Fields.
“I am humbled and flattered that I have been asked to run for a second term. Mawk Arnold was my Skipper in Vietnam and my mentor in our Association, and I know he would be happy that one of his ‘Snuffies’ is serving,” Wiley said. “ I am excited that we are resuming our Symposium/Conference this year in Orlando and that Past Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace has accepted my invitation to be our Keynote Speaker at our Friday Evening Awards Banquet.”
Jeremy Vought – Candidate for Vice President
MGySgt. Jeremy Vought is running unopposed for Vice President of the Association.
A Coudersport, PA native, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001. Trained in both print journalism and broadcasting, Vought has been assigned as a combat correspondent, editor, videographer, broadcaster, video producer and community relations. As a staff NCO, he served in many command level positions, such as MarinesTV as a broadcast operations chief, Senior Enlisted Advisor and Marine Corps Liaison at DVIDS, and the III MEF PAO Future Operations section. Notably his last assignment at HQMC Communication Directorate was the Force Development and Requirements Branch Chief supporting the merge and modernization of the newly created COMMSTRAT Occupational Field. During this time, he was also the liaison between the USMCCCA and CD. He currently serves as the SNCOIC of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South COMMSTRAT in New Orleans, LA.
In addition to these assignments, Vought deployed with the 1st Force Service Support Group to Kuwait and Iraq in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 to provide leadership, technical expertise, and broadcast television production at the joint-service unit of AFN Afghanistan as the Operations Chief. Lastly, he deployed and led a team of joint COMCAM and PA personnel during humanitarian assistance disaster relief operations in Nepal after devastating earthquakes in 2015.
He is married to Toni Vought also of Coudersport, PA. They have two children, Alyssa and Joshua.
Vought is a 2007 honor graduate of the Syracuse University Military Motion Media course. He was selected as Marine Corps Broadcast Journalist of the Year in both 2005 and 2010
Annita Best— Candidate for Treasurer
Annita Best is running for another term as USMCCCA Treasurer. She attended a small liberal arts college in Missouri and joined the USMC in 1986 serving as an aviation supply officer at MCAS New River and protocol officer at 2d MAW, Cherry Point, NC. While in the Marine Corps she also received her MBA through Boston University.
Upon departing active duty, she lateral-moved into Public Affairs in the USMCR, working in Public Affairs until retiring as a Colonel in 2017. Highlights of her career include the GW Bush Camp Lejeune visit, numerous air shows, the Red Bull Global Rally Cross, and Marine Weeks Boston and St. Louis and several Marine Corps Marathons.
In 2021, she started a full-time position as a district staff member for North Carolina Third Congressional District Congressman Greg Murphy in Onslow County, where she especially appreciates the opportunity to help veterans with VA issues.
Chris Whiting — Candidate for Secretary
Chris Whiting is has served as the USMCCCA Secretary since 1998. She retired from her career in USMC Public Affairs in 1999 as a gunnery sergeant.
A life member for many years, she first joined the USMCCCA when she won her first Distinguished Performance Award in 1981.
She hopes to use her experience as a USMCCCA officer to continue assisting the new members of the board.
Clinton Firstbrook — Candidate for Director
MSgt Clinton Firstbrook is running unopposed for a two year term as a Director for the USMCCCA. He is currently serving as the Senior Enlisted Advisor/SNCOIC at MCB Quantico Office of Communication.
Enlisting in 2001, Firstbrook has worked in various fields and specialties from broadcasting, public affairs, marketing, and photojournalism to community relations, strategic messaging, and crisis communication.
In 2004, he volunteered to deploy to Iraq and worked for the Scimitar Newspaper, based in Baghdad. During this deployment, Firstbrook spent several weeks documenting the warfighting efforts in the city of Fallujah during Operation Al Fajr, also known as Phantom Fury.
After returning from his Iraq deployment, Firstbrook acted as an editor and content manager for Marines Magazine and www.marines.mil.
In 2006, he spent a few months working as the personal photographer to the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Firstbrook attended the Military Photojournalism Program at Syracuse University, completing the course as the 2008 MPJ Honor Graduate. He returned to his broadcast roots in 2009 after volunteering to deploy to Afghanistan, where he set up a permanent AFN detachment at Kandahar Airfield.
He holds a BS degree in Communications and an MS degree in Management from UMUC.
Firstbrook recently reached out to the USMCCCA to provide a speaker to inform his Marines about the Association.
Ken Melton — Candidate for Board of Directors
Ken Melton is running unopposed for a two year term as Director for the USMCCCA. He has nearly 20 years of experience in communications, stemming from his tenure in the Marine Corps as an international multimedia journalist, editor, media relations specialist,
marketing and PR specialist, and press chief. After leaving the Corps, he worked for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service as their internal communications specialist, photographer, and assistant speechwriter. He also served on special assignment as the communication specialist for USDA Farmer’s Market, Science and Technology, IT, and Livestock and Poultry Programs.
He currently is a communications strategist for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s Air and Missile Defense Sector. In this role, he is the trusted communications consultant to the executive and senior leadership teams. In addition to this, he writes articles, develops communication plans and manages communication for all Sector events.
He holds a BA in Communications Studies from UM-Global Campus and Masters in Public Relations from Georgetown University.
Ronna Weyland – Candidate for Director
Ronna Weyland is running unopposed for a two year term as Director for the USMCCCA. She is currently the Senior Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division at the agency’s worldwide headquarters at Quantico, Virginia. A retired Gunnery Sergeant, Weyland came to her current position from Army Kansas City Recruiting Battalion where she served as the Social Media Manager
Enlisting in 1997, her first duty station was MCB Quantico, where she began OJT as a combat photographer assigned to TAVSC. However, due to realignment in FY 98 Weyland was sent to DINFOS, Ft. Meade, Md., to become a combat correspondent.
During her career, Weyland served as an editor, press chief, MPA and PA chief and 9th MCD PAO.
She deployed for one year as an IA to II MEF Fwd in Camp Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005 in support OIF. While deployed she served as the Press Chief/DVIDS Chief for all production and created/edited the Eagle and the Crescent newsletter.
Weyland served as acting Branch Head of Marine Corps News for five months while at HQMC. She deployed to MEB-CE Bahrain after two years as the senior enlisted advisor for the Defense Media Activity Marine Corps.
Weyland is a 2008 graduate of the Advanced Military Photojournalism Course at Syracuse University. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration.