On December 27, 2015, the Section chiefs, section advisers, national OA committee members, key volunteers, and members of the BSA’s national OA professional staff gathered in Westlake, Texas for the Annual National Planning Meeting.  The program of emphasis during the four-day meeting was NEXT: A New Century, which focuses on the Order’s next century of service.  The elements of NEXT include such local level topics as brotherhood, membership, program, and innovation.

As is tradition, the section chiefs met to select the Order’s new national officers with Hunter Jones of Wa-Hi-Nasa Lodge from the Middle Tennessee Council being elected National Chief, and Tyler Inberg of Wauna La-Mon’tay Lodge from the Cascade Pacific Council being elected National Vice Chief.  In addition, Logan Greene of Nischa Chuppecat Lodge was elected Central Region Chief, Jeff Sedlacek of Wahissa Lodge was elected Southern Region Chief, Chris Boyle of Buckskin Lodge was elected Northeast Region Chief, and Joe Garcia of Wipala Wiki Lodge was elected Western Region Chief.

Other topics of discussion throughout the planning meeting included the OA’s four-day Prism sessions during the summer of 2016 at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve; changes to the Journey To Excellence program; the official dedication of the Summit Circle Ceremony Grounds; and the continued promotion and recruitment of Operation Arrow for the 2017 National Scout Jamboree.