Chapter Leadership Training: A Transformative Experience

As aviators and members of EAA, each of us has a host of opportunities to change the lives of youths and adults by introducing them to aviation and experiences they would otherwise have never seen or known. For them it can be life-changing.

Believe it or not, EAA offers an opportunity for each of us that can also be transformative for us and for our members: Chapter Leadership Training. Yes, really!

Our chapters, whether hundreds of members or only a few, are all likely to be similar in that every member wants to be involved, but only a few actually are. It usually is not so much a lack of motivation, but a need for a place to be needed and the tools, knowledge, and validation to get involved. How many of your members — or even you — think that EAA is only a huge, distant organization that comes up with rules, hosts a big event, and makes a great magazine? I suspect many, and it is likely that few of your members have any idea of the enormous repertoire of tools, activities, suggestions, products, and personal support available directly for them and for the chapter.

Chapter leadership training can fundamentally change that balance and enable members to become driving forces within your chapter. Although every current chapter leader should attend, I would suggest the moniker is wrong. It really should be “FUTURE” Chapter Leadership Training.

I first attended the Chapter Leadership Academy in Oshkosh several years ago in a snow-covered winter wonderland as I became a chapter officer. I had no idea what to expect.

In a word, it was fantastic. And I think if you ask anyone who has attended, you will get the same response.

The Chapter Leadership Academy in Oshkosh is well worth the journey. Attendees from around the world gather at the gorgeous EAA Air Academy Lodge (which gives you first-hand experience to share with future attendees), and evenings are spent around the fireplace with oodles of other chapter leaders and future leaders swapping stories and experiences. During the day, the EAA Chapters team shares an amazing repertoire of programs, ideas, resources, guidance, and lessons learned that even experienced leaders learn from. Honestly, I had NO idea there were so many resources available for our chapter and how much EAA and the staff has invested in developing tools specifically for us… and almost all totally FREE. Just like the Chapter Leadership Training.

But the single most important lesson I learned was that the EAA Chapters team is not some huge administrative office. Our Chapters team is a small group of truly dedicated folks 100-percent committed to giving you and your chapter the tools and experience to grow. The EAA staff are ordinary EAA members themselves, builders, aviators and leaders in their own chapters who answer the emails, the phones, and have the answers to those hard questions. I was and remain impressed by how personal the support from EAA is for chapters. Chapter Leadership Training offers the opportunity to meet the team one-on-one, associate faces with names, and to find EAA HQ staff and leaders from all over who have a vast depth of experience. It is kind of like Cheers — “where everybody knows your name.”

Regional Chapter Leadership Boot Camps are a compressed, one-day experience presented by some of the EAA Chapters team and hosted by a local chapter. The material is mostly the same but without the evenings around the fireplace and as much one-on-one time with the staff. They are absolutely a must-attend for those leaders who cannot make it up to Oshkosh, or want an update or refresher on the materials.

For me, indeed, Chapter Leadership Training was life-changing. My EAA chapter is an excellent chapter, but with what I learned and the very personal support and encouragement from the EAA team, we got even better. I found myself motivated to tap into those resources and to do even more. My chapter and my role in the chapter and in EAA became a big part of what I do and who I am, largely as a result of that snowy weekend in Oshkosh. And, as our chapter has sent more members to the Academy and regional Boot Camps, I have watched those who went invariably find themselves growing in leadership roles for the chapter as well.

This year there will be two Academies: January 24-25, 2026, and April 11-12, 2026, in Oshkosh.

There will also be six regional Chapter Leadership Boot Camps. They are pretty much everywhere, so you have no excuse. They will be:

Saturday, January 31, 2026, at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) — Orlando, FL — Hosted by EAA Chapter 74

Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Whiteman Airport (KWHP) — Pacoima, CA (Los Angeles) — Hosted by EAA Chapter 40

Saturday, February 21, 2026, at Lebanon Municipal Airport (M54) — Lebanon, TN — Hosted by EAA Chapter 863

Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Arlington Municipal Airport (KGKY) — Arlington, TX — Hosted by EAA Chapter 34

Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Minute Man Air Field (6B6) — Stow, MA (Boston) — Hosted by EAA Chapter 196

Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Independence State Airport (7S5) — Independence, OR — Hosted by EAA Chapter 292

There is also an option for online training for new officers and leaders that just cannot make it to a live session. But of course, it does not offer the chance to cross-talk and meet folks.

So, I am writing this to encourage you and your chapter to make the time, set aside resources if needed, and ensure your current leaders and your FUTURE leaders attend Chapter Leadership Training, either in Oshkosh or at one of the regional boot camps. I can assure you that for some, EAA and specifically your chapter will become their passion.

For them, and for those they touch through your chapter… it can, indeed, be life-changing.