Chapter Meetings
Chapter 78 holds monthly meetings, generally on the third Saturday of the month at the Courtyard by Marriott, 5865 Katella Ave, Room A, Cypress, CA 90630. Often the meetings feature speakers, speaking on a wide range of topics of interest to our membership.
Photo: At the August 2024 meeting, Chapter 78’s Dick Thompson, at left, shakes hands with fellow member John Stryker “Tilt” Meyer. Dick was the guest speaker for the meeting. He spoke about his experience as a member of the MACV-SOG. As he told his amazing stories, he tied in lessons learned from those situations to insights about making decisions while under high stress. He presented the best practices of ARSENEL, which is a program he developed to help individuals, teams, and organizations manage stress,which leads to more effective decision-making. Learn more about this at https://www. hpsys.com/ARSENAL.htm. He also spoke about his 60+ Pushup/Day to raise veteran suicide awareness. He used this personal challenge to increase awareness of and use of the National Suicide Crisis Line number for veterans having suicidal ideation (dial 988 and then select “1” if you are a veteran). To learn more about Dick, visit his website, www.hpsys.com.
Day at the Range
Once or twice a year Chapter 78 holds “Day at the Range” events in lieu of their monthly meetings. The events often include a shooting instructor to help members refresh and refine their skills.
Photo: Artimis Defense Institute instructor Ivan declares Dennis DeRosia the “King of the Hill” Shoot Out winner.
SFA Annual Convention
This SFA convention is held every year, with a different chapter as the sponsor. The SFA convention provides a great opportunity to meet up, or reunite, with SFA members from all over the nation.
2021—Chapter 78 and Chapter 51 co-hosted the annual SFA Convention which was held in Las Vegas, NV. Click here to find links to featured videos event speakers.
2022—heralding the 70th Anniversary of Special Forces, SFA Chapter 4-24 hosted the convention in their home town of Colorado Springs, CO, just a few miles up the road from 10th SFG “Home of The Originals.” Click here for a playlist of event speakers.
2023—”High-Speed Low Drag,” hosted by SFA Indiana Chapter 500 in Indianapolis, this event coincided with the Indy 500. In addition to a wide range of speakers at the event, attendees were able to attend Carb Day at the Indy 500 and had free admission to attend the race on the following day.
2024—also known as the “Global Gathering of Green Berets,” was hosted by SFA Hawaii Chapter VIII. This event was held in October 2024 on Carnival Cruise Line Paradise. A five-day cruise, the event was packed with fun and excellent speakers. The convention just occurred, so check back for links to videos and event photos.
Photo: Today’s and yesterday’s medics mixed at SFACon 2021 after the SF Medic forum presented by Chapter 78’s Dennis DeRosia.
Green Beret Shooters Cup
In the years including 2011-2013, Chapter 78 held the SFA Chapter 78 Shooters Cup. The event raised money and and also awareness for The Green Beret Foundation, which assists health and welfare programs that aid Special Forces warriors. The 5-team action pistol shoot was designed to test the competitor’s skill with a hand gun, their situational awareness, physical stamina, target selection and how they work together as a team. Shooters were challenged to keep their heads in the fight under inconvenient and challenging situations. Teams duked it out to claim bragging rights as the the winning team — with the best shooters and strong teamwork.
View videos for each year’s event at the SFA Chapter 78 YouTube Channel in the SFA78 Shooters Cup playlist.
Photo: Ramon Rodriguez, and GBSC winning LAPD Team, LA Lawmen Blue, and Terry Cagnolatti team coordinator.
Military Technical Consulting
In May 2010, Velvet Andrews Smith contacted then-Chapter President Lonny Holmes for technical advise for her short film Ripple Effect, a fictional story about an SF ODA conducting a MEDCAP in a remote village of Southern Afghanistan.
Along with Lonny, Chapter 78 members Steve Cowan, Terry Cagnolatti and Brad Welker helped her refine the details of her script — everything from technical specifics, team dynamics, props, and even costumes. They also were on site during shooting to provide advice, and sometimes served as extras when the production need more people in a scene wearing SF uniforms.
Ripple Effect premiered in 2011. View a trailer for the film and read Velvet Andrews Smith’s article about her experience in the July 2011 Sentinel.
