Contents

Article 9 August 23, 2008: AWSDA Afghan Fund: Fraud By Any Other Name
Article 8: August 19, 2008: Where does AWSDA go from here?
Article 7 August 12, 2008: AWSDA: Direction and Decision
Article 6 August 5, 2008: AWSDA Conference 2008 - Smoke and Mirrors in South Carolina
Article 5 July 31, 2008: AWSDA Scandal Causes Sponsors, Vendors, Presenters and Contributors to Join Exodus.
Article 4 July 26, 2008: AWSDA Corruption Concerns Causing Board Bail Outs
Article 3 July 16, 2008: AWSDA Cover-Ups Haunting New Leadership As Its Annual Seminar Approaches
Article 2 July 7, 2008:AWSDA Members must separate the spin for the lies from the truth, before they can save AWSDA
Article 1 June 27, 2008: Why the “new” AWSDA has declared war on Modern Warrior, Inc.

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AWSDA Afghan Fund:
Fraud By Any Other Name

By: Phil Messina

Well, you can color it any way you wish, but what the AWSDA Board actually admitted to at their annual meeting was fraud.

If Vice Chair Susan Baldwin thinks that what she calls an "independent investigation" is actually "independent," then she has either been inhaling too much lead dust down at the range or the only thing she has ever actually investigated is how to inflate her own resume.

An Executive Board Member being appointed by other Executive Board Members to investigate Executive Board Members defies every definition of “independent.” Plus from what this author has been told by those who attended the only general membership meeting he’s ever heard of where members weren’t allowed to put motions up for vote, her so-called investigation was not just incomplete, but just about as valid as her Instructor “Certification” Course which, to put it mildly can only be described as “not worth the paper it's written on.”

The plain fact is that there was a fund or there was a fraud and in this case, there was a fraud, perpetrated by AWSDA'S Treasurer, Carol Montoya and then covered up by AWSDA'S Chair, Sheila Haddad, who unfortunately also benefited from Ms. Montoya's fraudulent behavior.

When the board states that "no formal vote was taken," what they actually mean was that the Board majority at the time did not get to vote, did not get to argue against money that could have been used for AWSDA members who were crime victims, being used instead for two individuals to take a personal, resume building trip. The Board also did not vote on who would actually represent AWSDA on the trip if it were approved, so Carol and Sheila simply chose themselves.

Donors were told they were contributing to a tax deductable fund, when in fact they weren't. In one case, a substantial donor and crime victim, who contributed literally thousands of dollars, was told she was contributing to a fund sanctioned by Modern Warrior, when in fact that wasn't true.

To make things even worse, instead of just admitting this back in November of 2007, when this author started making inquiries, efforts were made to cover this up, even at the risk of destroying AWSDA itself. A typical miscreant pattern of stall, cover up, discredit the inquirers and then when cornered, resign and leave the mess in the hands of others, now has brought AWSDA into a quandary they will likely not recover from.

Any new Board that takes over this organization will inherit this mess and be forced to either continue the cover up, try to get Sheila and Carol to return the ill gotten funds to either the contributors or to AWSDA for a "legal" purpose or to file either criminal or civil charges against them for fraud or breaches of fiduciary duties. And all this needs to be done while trying to pull off a successful 2009 Seminar, which will be necessary for AWSDA to continue to exist financially.

AWSDA seems to have already once again moved its headquarters to guess where; Carol Montoya's house! This was noted in an e-mail from AWSDA HQ (a.k.a. shaddad@awsda.org) dated 8/17/08, so you can be sure that anyone who wishes to run for the Board and is willing to hold her accountable will somehow be filtered out of the process, because protecting her own butt is likely to be more important to Ms. Montoya than protecting AWSDA as an organization.

This author fears that the current AWSDA leadership has burned too many essential bridges for even the best intentioned new Board members to rebuild in time to save this once worthy and selfless organization.

The point has been reached where all the spin in the world won't replace what AWSDA needs to do to save itself from imploding. Now, only the TRUTH and complete accountability for those that have placed their own self interest ahead of the AWSDA's survival can salvage what is left of AWSDA.

In summary, re-arranging the deck furniture on the Titanic and looking for volunteers to play on the band on the upper deck may change the music, but will not likely stop this ship from sinking. Only manning the pumps, dumping the excess weight overboard and sealing the holes will give AWSDA any chance of staying afloat long enough to get to shore and make permanent repairs.

In the meantime, Modern Warrior and other past AWSDA contributors and sponsors will wait on dry land to see if this ship will ever be seaworthy again.

Where Does AWSDA Go From Here?

By: Alex McMahon

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This article is solely the opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of Phil Messina or Modern Warrior

I have been a member of AWSDA for a number of years now and I find it to be a really good Self Defence organisation. It has great instructors among the members, and I find it truly disgraceful that the AWSDA Board essentially expelled Mr. Phil Messina, who was the Board appointed Strategy & Tactics Director for a number of years and who gave AWSDA the Rape Prevention Instructor Certification Course that it taught at its annual Conferences up through last year.

The aim of this was to teach to AWSDA members and victims of crime this court defensible course. Who knows how many women have used it to save themselves from rapists and criminals to date?!

Phil was expelled from AWSDA because of accusations made by the then AWSDA Treasurer, who accused Phil of criminal damage (BUT THE ONLY “EVIDENCE” SEEN
BY THE JUDGE FOR THIS WAS THROWN OUT OF COURT) so WHY was Phil NOT allowed to attend this year’s conference in Greenville, South Carolina? WHY was he NOT allowed to face his accusers face to face?

That would have been the proper way for the Board to deal with this matter, but no, the Board decided to deal with the accusations against Phil improperly, inappropriately and unprofessionally.

I did not attend the Conference this year due to Personal Matters – and also because of the way Phil was being treated.

Before the Conference, a few members called me and asked me what was going on with AWSDA. There were rumours going around that the Conference was going to be cancelled due to lack of members attending and other various rumours about the way the Board was acting and Board members leaving.

I attempted to find out what was going on by contacting Sheila Haddad, who was Executive Chair, but got no response from her.

I asked for proof of the charges against Phil and for Sheila to substantiate whether or not the various rumours were true or not – and once again, no response. So I then tried to contact the various Board members who had resigned from the Board. Only 2 came back to me, the others ignored my requests for information.

I then got back in touch with the 2 Board members who responded to my request for information and asked them could they please tell me why they resigned from the Board. It was very enlightening, to say the least. I then e-mailed Sheila Haddad again with pertinent questions and also copied Carol Montoya in on the e-mail.

Well, surprise – once again no response.

A few days later, Carol Montoya replied back and said she understood why I was asking the questions, but could not give me answers at the moment. All would be answered at the Conference.

So at this year’s Conference, the Whole Board resigned en masse, citing the reason they “could not do this anymore.” Do what? Be a Board member and answer questions and requests from members? Is it that hard a job? I believe only 2 members put their hands up to replace the Board members who resigned en masse.

So What Is Now Going To Happen? Is AWSDA going under, the same way ASLET went or are its members going to fight to save it? AWSDA is too good an organisation to be dissolved.

On a personal note, I have sent an e-mail to the Board to inform them that I would like to be a Board member and also sent a registered letter to AWSDA Headquarters in New Jersey expressing same.

Respectfully submitted,
Alex McMahon (Awsda Regional Representative Director)

AWSDA: Direction and Decision

Printable Word Document

By: Lisa Abbott

This article is solely the opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of Modern Warrior.

Rape is a women’s biggest fear and the Rape Prevention Instructor Certification Course that was given at the AWSDA seminar yearly through 2007 gave us tools to defend and teach women how to defend and fight back - as is our absolute right.

This board took that away. Board members Sheila Haddad, Susan Baldwin and Jen Haas all voted NOT to give that course because of accusations from Carol Montoya, an officer of the Board, about then Defensive Tactics Strategist Phil Messina. While the Bylaws clearly state the procedure for such accusations, the Bylaws were not followed!

It was this ignoring of written procedure and unprofessional method in which all this was handled by the board chair that resulted in the resignation of 6 out of 9 board members over a period of a few months.

There was already an “independent investigation” performed by Ilsa vonLeden because of the way this Board had dealt with the matter at the beginning. She took it upon herself to find the truthful answers to ignored or redirected inquiries.

The Board states sloppy record keeping. These are THEIR records - not the records of previous Boards.

The Board states Modern Warrior monopoly. Kerry Copeland was not a Modern Warrior student and she was a phenomenal Executive Chair. Neither were several past board members direct Modern Warrior affiliates.

The situation AWSDA is in is NOT Modern Warrior produced. It is the result of fraudulence and blame casting, using Modern Warrior and Phil as scapegoats for indiscretions of this Board and one of its officers.

As AWSDA members, where do we go from here? We weren’t allowed to hear it, but you can read about it.

Do YOU have it in you to step outside of the closed General Membership Meeting and seek the other side’s view and position? It’s as easy as clicking your mouse.

AWSDA Conference 2008 - Smoke and Mirrors in South Carolina

By: Danette Adamovich

Printable Word Document

This article is solely the opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of Phil Messina or Modern Warrior.

Well, this Conference of the Association for Women’s Self Defense Advancement (formerly known as the American Women’s Self Defense Association) was like no other I’ve attended.

Membership Meeting Highlights
They “conveniently” could find no evidence of the Lifetime Membership Phil Messina was awarded 11 years ago and therefore, did not let him be present for the verbal BASHING he and Modern Warrior were to receive.

Outright lies, half truths and spin (and then more spin) were mostly what made up the speech regarding what AWSDA has had to “deal with” lately, in part regarding Phil aiming to uncover the truth of the actions of its Board.

In between all of this, a totally biased report from Board member Susan Baldwin on the “independent investigation” she conducted into the Afghan Fund was given. (More on this in future articles. It’s just too much garbage to list here really – green shirts, blue shirts…huh?)

When I tried (three times, at least) to put forth a motion to have Phil Messina attend the meeting, I was initially told that only Board Members are allowed to put forth motions.

The AWSDA motto is purported to be “YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO DEFEND YOURSELF.” Oh, really?

Even the Seminar Coordinator suggested a member vote at one point as to whether or not Phil should be allowed to participate in the meeting – and she was shot down by the Board quicker than a plane in a no-fly zone over the White House.

So the Board was allowed to blow smoke for about an hour and Phil was not given the opportunity to respond.

Violent crime victim Carrie was told by the Executive Director, Sheila Haddad to “Shut up.” This was in response to her noting the disgusting e-mails Carol Montoya wrote to her in trying to strike fear in her heart of one of the people she trusts implicitly.

The Board resigned en masse. Well, hooray.

That was definitely one of the highlights for me. Taking out the trash will help clear the air. They said they would start the dissolution process if no one stepped up to save the rapidly sinking ship that is AWSDA.

One Board member and one officer cried their crocodile tears, giving the appearance of being sad that they were leaving the Board, but my feeling was that they were so overcome with embarrassment, they just couldn’t hold it in anymore. One just didn’t say anything about it, choosing instead to hide in silence. Sound familiar to anyone?

Perhaps it was relief from releasing the tension of the dam of corruption that Phil Messina has been trying so dedicatedly to chip away at since November 2007 finally giving way.

So the AWSDA Membership Meeting took on the flavor of a cross between an Enron Board member press conference and a town hall meeting in 1939 Germany.

They shot down anyone that was saying something they didn’t want the members to hear.

One Board member and one officer were once awarded black belts from one of the most prestigious martial arts schools in the world, but it seems they are just pieces of cloth once again.

When I asked Phil Messina about how he felt about all that had transpired and if he regretted his actions, he stated that ensuring his absence from the Membership Meeting when the Board knew they were about to attack him and his business in earnest was a lot like tying someone’s hands behind their back before you assault them. The problem with that strategy is that if you don’t FINISH HIM OFF before his hands get free…he can type a bunch of AWSDA Updates over the next 14 months or so, letting members know all the things he wasn’t afforded the opportunity to say in a just a short while.

Oh, wait am I not supposed to use the term “finishing off???”

So the smoke is clearing and the mirrors are covered and what Phil said in the article that was posted just prior to leaving for this Conference was true – the Afghan Fund never legally existed and I quote, the Board is going to “resign their positions in feigned disgust and true disgrace.”

Again, I pose this question to the reader: The AWSDA motto is purported to be “YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO DEFEND YOURSELF.” Oh, really?

AWSDA Scandal Causes Sponsors, Vendors, Presenters and Contributors to Join Exodus

by Phil Messina

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In a few hours, this author will heading for South Carolina, to say goodbye to old friends made over the past 18 years at what will likely be AWSDA's last seminar. I still remember preparing for the first seminar, filled with thoughts of how this new, selfless and honorable organization, made up of ordinary people, with extraordinary goals would one day change the world. Now I leave with the unsettling feeling, backed by strong evidence, and even stronger instincts, based on years of experience battling both criminal predators and scavengers that a fraudulent felony was committed on my watch as an AWSDA Officer and advisor and that the subsequent cover-up of this act may ultimately lead to the destruction of an organization I have supported and loved for so long.

This ongoing controversy started out as simple questions posed to AWSDA Chair, Sheila Haddad and AWSDA Treasurer, Carol Montoya during the November, 2007 Conference.

The questions were in regard to information given to this author by a past member and violent crime victim, who suggested that she was basically conned into donating thousands of dollars into a "fund" which she was led to believe was endorsed by both Modern Warrior and AWSDA and was being used instead for the personal pursuits of Carol Montoya and Sheila Haddad.

After interviewing several AWSDA members and reviewing articles and blog entries by both Haddad and Montoya, which blatantly contradicted each other and only raised more questions about the alleged "fund", this author requested meeting minutes, which would clarify exactly when this fund was created and for what purpose it was created. I was told I would receive this information after the conference, but learned later that instead within 24 hours a plan was put in place to try to separate both myself and Modern Warrior from AWSDA, so that I would not be able to pursue my investigation, which was my right and duty as AWSDA'S Strategy and Tactics Director and as an officer of the corporation.

Below is evidence of the first step that was taken to try to undermine my inquiries by the time this upcoming conference took place. Anyone with a nose for what stinks will smell what the plan was, so I will leave it to reader to decide if this "timing" is just coincidental. The name of the sender has deleted by Author.

The reader must question why this request was made a full five weeks BEFORE the first alleged criminal incident (Criminal Mischief) this author stands accused of occurred (December 17,2007). The trial for this incident is scheduled for August 11, 2008.

The goal has never been to win a conviction, but rather to merely keep the Temporary Order of Protection active until after the conference and pursue a "guilty until proven innocent" strategy as an excuse to keep this author and thereby these inquiries away from the AWSDA Membership.

*************************************************

SIMPSON THACHER & BARTLETT LLP
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL
November 9, 2007
TO: Sheila Haddad, Executive Director American Women’s Self Defense Association
FROM:
RE: Order of Protection
CC:

You have asked us to explain the process by which an individual may obtain an “order of protection” under New York law. This memorandum is a general overview and should not be substituted for the advice of competent legal counsel in connection with any specific proceeding. Whether an order of protection ultimately may be obtained depends on the particular facts and circumstances of each case. While this memorandum addresses only New York law, the mechanisms to obtain an order of protection in other jurisdictions in the United States are generally similar. Note also that, under federal law, an order of protection issued in one state must be recognized by other states. For your reference, a sample petition for an order of protection in connection with a family court proceeding is attached hereto as Exhibit A. A form of affidavit supporting such an order is attached hereto as Exhibit B. A form of temporary order of protection as is attached hereto as Exhibit C. In addition, a recent article addressing the practical limits on the effectiveness of an order of protection is attached hereto as Exhibit D. (End of Cover Sheet)

***************************************

By March of 2008, it was clear to this author that a scheme was underway to discredit this author and that attempts were being made to discourage the violent crime victim who had been exploited and conned into giving Carol and Sheila money under "false" pretenses for their personal use from following up with her complaints, to point where these attempts had become abusive in nature. In this author's opinion there was enough suspicion of felonious, unethical and abusive behavior to warrant a written warning to the board that I would pursue my inquiries, despite any attempts to prevent me from attending the conference.

The following message was sent to the AWSDA Board on March 24, 2008:

Messages Begin:
________________________________________________________________________ From: Phil Messina [Phil@ModernWarrior.com]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:19 PM
To: Susan Baldwin; Carol Montoya; Deanna Enis; Jennifer Haas; Jon Eckert; Judy Eckert; Leni De Goeyse; Martin Smith; Sheila Haddad; spytfyr148@hotmail.com
Subject: Still awaiting some documentation

Importance: High
Dear AWSDA Board,

In case anyone has forgotten, several weeks ago, I asked for a detailed accounting and documentation of how much AWSDA money was spent on the Afghanistan trip, the meeting minutes in which the expenses and trip were approved (if AWSDA money was used) and full documentation of where every cent of Carrie's donation of $3,000 went.

If anyone who thinks that vacating my position from the board or turning down my proposal to teach (I expect that's next) or any other thing that Sheila or Carol can think of to try to separate me from AWSDA is going to stop me from asking or prevent me from bringing this to the membership's attention (if it is not addressed) they obviously do not know me very well.

Even if I were tempted to drop this issue at some point, Carol's cruel and emotionally abusive treatment of Carrie just to serve her own agenda would have definitely changed my mind.

The fact that this cruel and inexcusable exploitation of a violent crime victim in an extremely vulnerable state did not succeed is ONLY because Carrie was stronger and smarter than Carol thought she was.

Otherwise it could have caused tragic or irreversible harm.

When Carol gave Blithe (another crime victim) false information about the cost of sharing a room, just so she wouldn't have to share HER room in the Presidential Suite, without even bringing the issue up to the board, it was both selfish and irresponsible; but her treatment of Carrie is way beyond that; it is despicable by any human standards and the membership deserves to know what kind of leaders they have at the helm of this once worthy and selfless organization.

Also, I want to make you all aware that Carrie is blind copied on this e-mail. Blind in order to keep her complete e-mail address private (only part of it is shown in the chain below). She has given me her permission to share them with you all.

Consider this my first formal complaint to the board, along with a request that Carol's deliberately false and misleading statements regarding me to other board members (which are still coming to my attention) be investigated by a "Peer Review Board" as per AWSDA's Bylaws.

**********************************

Please see the following chain of e-mails, which were initiated AFTER I asked this board to explain how Carrie's donation was spent:


Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 18:24:12 -0600
From: usswimmer
To: capi19
Subject: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Ok Women,
I had a dream about you and you have been on my mind all day and the feeling is like a knot of negetive energy. What is going on with you???????
Usually when I feel someone else's feelings it's something big.
Why do I feel this way? I know there is a reason for it. I just need to fiqure out the meaning behind it!
When I tap into it I get an image of you wound up in a giant ball of really "Dark Gook."
I have learned that the visual image of "Dark gook" usually represents some sort of negetive energy. So what is going on?
Why are you allowing yourself to be in this ball?
All day I have been trying to send you posisitive energy and yet, as it gets later and later that ball seems to be getting bigger and bigger!
You have my ears and my heart.
So again what is up.
me

-----Original Message-----
From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 7:17 AM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Hi carrie,
We have such a connection. I dreampt about you last night. I was very worried. Are you OK?
Yes I have stress but it is between me and Phil and as promised we will not discuss.
love ya,
carol

From: usswimmer
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 8:37 AM
To: carol montoya
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Ok, what was your dream about???

From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 9:07 AM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Don't want to say but you were in danger and I could not reach you.
C

Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 09:10:29 -0600
From: usswimmer
To: capi19
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Tell me aways PLEASE

From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 10:50 AM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"

Someone was hurting you and you were on top of a building and everytime I got close to you there were all these obstacles in the way. No matter how much I struggled I couldn't get to you. Then the guy killed you...but you know that dreams never come true...right?

From: usswimmer
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 11:30 AM
To: carol montoya
Subject: RE: E-MAIL ME BACK ..WHY THE "DARK GOOK?"
It depends if it were an actual dream or a vision. I believe we get both and considering that there is a stupid lawyer guy snooping around in my business I'm not surprised that you had that dream. No I do not believe that some guy will kill me in the near future!
Yet, that is not the case and if i were to be attacked be asurred that i would fight back with everything that I've learned from AWSDA and with every bit of strength and determination that my Uncle has in him. If I were to die I would die fighting like a true warrior. I can quantee that the one who tries to hurt me (if this were ever the case) will end up either dead or he will be hurt very very very badly. This I know! and therefore I LATELY I NEVER DROP MY GUARD!!!!!!!
iF YOU NOT a student at MW anymore why let not things that happened in the past with my uncle go. why hold unto them, give yourself a break and get ride of the "Dark Gook!"
Can you do that???????

Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 12:03:06 -0600
From: usswimmer
To: capi19
Subject: Question re:your dream

Carol, what is your take on why you drempt that? I believe that dreams are a bi-product of what is stored in our brains plasticity?
From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 4:44 PM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: Question re:your dream

I know where it came from and I'd rather not say.

From: usswimmer
Sent: Mar 5, 2008 5:43 PM
To: carol montoya
Subject: RE: Question re:your dream

Thats NOT right tell me as my friend! Otherwise I'll drive myself nuts trying to figure it out and my brain is enough on it's own. Still a mystery to me (LOL)


From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 6, 2008 7:25 AM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: Question re:your dream

I love ya Carrie ...if you want the truth it was Phil attacking you in my dream.


From: usswimmer
Sent: Mar 6, 2008 12:21 PM
To: carol montoya
Subject: RE: Question re:your dream

Your WAY OUT OF LINE.... My UNCLE WOULD NEVER DO THAT NOR WOULD HE DO THAT TO ANYONE THAT WAS NOT A BAD PERSON!!!!!
TRUST Me that's something that just ins't possible and something that hurts my heart that you would even give yourself the power to disturbed by such a NON - realistic dream!!!!

From: carol montoya
Sent: Mar 6, 2008 2:34 PM
To: usswimmer
Subject: RE: Question re:your dream

I told you you didn't want to hear it.


Messages end:

**********************************

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the intent of these messages was and when Carrie made an official complaint to three AWSDA Board Members at the ILEETA Conference in April 2008, all she got was a call from Sheila Haddad trying to talk her out of following up with her complaint.
Well Carrie will be at the Conference, because she refuses to be re-victimized and this author will be there to back her up, because that's what I promised her and if I don't who will?. I fully expect to be asked to leave and it wouldn't even surprise me if an attempt is made to have this author arrested, because what AWSDA fears the most is to have the AWSDA Membership looking me and Carrie in the eye, seeking the truth.
Soon all the false, fabricated and staged evidence against this author will begin to fall like a house of cards and both Sheila Haddad and Carol Montoya will then have to concentrate on fixing the battered state they have left AWSDA in, or resign their positions in feigned disgust and true disgrace.

"It is those weaker than ourselves that give us the opportunity to become true champions. For in the end, immortality lies within the shadows we leave behind."

Phil Messina "QUAERE-VERUM" (Seek the Truth).'

Article 4

Printable Word Document Version

The content of the following article is the opinion of the author as an individual member and former officer of the Association for Women’s Self Defense Advancement (AWSDA) formerly known as the American Women’s Self Defense Association

AWSDA Corruption Concerns
Causing Board Bail Outs
By: Phil Messina

Sometimes establishing motive is the first step to conducting an investigation into complaints of any kind.

In the summer of 2007, AWSDA Treasurer Carol Montoya and AWSDA Chair Sheila Haddad took a trip to Afghanistan with what appears to be money raised under conflicting stories and in large part with money solicited from a violent crime victim under false pretenses. This Author started asking questions about the raising and use of this money at the AWSDA Conference in November of 2007 and only days later, efforts to try to forestall an independent investigation of the raising and use of this money began.

By January 2008, this author was convinced enough that at least the AWSDA Treasurer, Carol Montoya had acted in an unethical and possibly unlawful manner and reluctantly sent her the following e-mail which was followed almost immediately by a concerted effort to prevent this author from attending this upcoming conference.

Unbeknownst to this author at the time, soon after these "behind the scenes" efforts began, AWSDA Board Member Ilsa vonLeden, the most experienced investigator on the AWSDA Board decided to conduct an independent investigation into the accusations being made by Ms. Montoya which, in part, led to her resignation from the AWSDA Board and her kind and morally courageous decision to allow this author to post it as the foundation of this installment of AWSDA Updates.

Further evidence of this will be presented in future articles.

Article 3

Printable Word Document Version

The content of the following article is the opinion of the author as an individual member and former officer of the Association for Women’s Self Defense Advancement (AWSDA) formerly known as the American Women’s Self Defense Association

AWSDA Cover-Ups Haunting New Leadership As Its Annual Seminar Approaches

By: Phil Messina

AWSDA’s refusal to investigate complaints against its Treasurer, respond to inquiries or provide documents which would allow others to investigate said complaints is causing a landslide effect of suspicion and bad feelings, even among even its most avid former supporters.

The only bright spot there is, is that these articles have apparently touched a nerve because the author has recently been told that AWSDA now has obtained insurance, although it is not clear what the insurance is for or who it covers.

Last year, this author was approached by a violent crime victim (herein referred to as Carrie) who was once a loyal member and huge financial supporter of AWSDA. Carrie informed this author that she relinquished her membership because AWSDA Treasurer Carol Montoya had deceived her. Carrie had given Ms. Montoya thousands of dollars in donated funds, which had been collected through swim meets exclusively to benefit AWSDA members and those in need of scholarships, but the donated funds were instead used by Ms. Montoya toward a private and personal trip to Afghanistan. This author thought that clearing up the matter would be simple.

Well, he was wrong.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to obtain documentation, specifically Meeting Minutes, which would verify that the “Afghanistan Fund” was an AWSDA created fund prior to the trip being taken using other people’s money, this author agreed to act as Carrie’s advocate in her attempts to have this issue investigated impartially by the AWSDA Board.

Unfortunately, all attempts to get cooperation from the Board Chair failed. As the author found out at a later date, the Board Chair, Sheila Haddad, had accompanied Board Treasurer Carol Montoya on this trip.
What initially aroused the author’s curiosity was reading the first sentence of an article written by Sheila Haddad entitled “Reflections on our Recent Trip to Kabul, Afghanistan” posted on the AWSDA website:
“When I am invited by my friend and fellow AWSDA member, Carol Montoya, to go to Kabul, Afghanistan with her to train women in self-defense, I am honored and readily accept.”

(See the full article here: http://awsda.org/articles/ )
This author could not help but wonder why the Treasurer of AWSDA would be inviting the Chair of AWSDA on a trip to Afghanistan that was allegedly funded by donations intended to benefit members of AWSDA. It should be the Board deciding who or who would go on this trip if it were in fact "board sanctioned".

The author became more determined to champion Carrie's attempts to avoid further victimization by the AWSDA Board and to have her previously ignored inquires regarding the misappropriation of her hard earned donations answered."

The author was shown a series of e-mails from Ms. Montoya to Carrie that left NO DOUBT in his mind that Ms. Montoya, with full knowledge of Carrie’s psychological state (including brain damage caused by a violent physical attack) and with full knowledge that Carrie was being protected by a government agency (and had listed this author’s home as a place of refuge with that agency), made a blatant attempt to instill fear and paranoia within her solely to discourage her from following up on her complaints with the assistance of this author. Ms. Montoya did this without regard to the possibility of a psychological setback or even suicide as a result of her reckless and irresponsible actions.

Carrie has given the author permission to make these despicable e-mails available at the 2008 AWSDA Conference.

To further compound the damage, after Carrie made personal pleas directly to several Board members, face to face, to follow up on these issues, she received a call from Board Chair Sheila Haddad, who also attempted to dissuade her from pursuing the complaints.

Very recently, this author was threatened with litigation by AWSDA’s legal counsel in an attempt to coerce him into removing these articles.

This is not the first time he has been asked to keep quiet when aiming to expose cover ups by those who intend to hurt the very same people they claim to be protecting.

Before posting this installment, this author had offered to remove the articles already posted and forgo further installments until at least after the upcoming conference under the following conditions:

The AWSDA Board guarantees in writing that they will convene an impartial investigating committee, which will NOT include any member who may benefit by not having this author teaching in the same time spot as they are at an AWSDA Conference by the time of the 2008 AWSDA Conference to hear initial evidence from the witnesses that will be in attendance (at the conference) in order to initiate an investigation on the following complaints by the author on behalf of the violent crime victim, Carrie (who will be in attendance), as mentioned above that:

AWSDA Treasurer Carol Montoya breached her fiduciary duties to AWSDA by misusing and redirecting donated funds intended to benefit AWSDA in order to finance a personal trip to Afghanistan.

It is further alleged that Ms. Montoya, in an effort to dissuade the primary witness from making an official complaint to the AWSDA Board, took advantage Carrie's status as a government protected violent crime victim by means of psychological abuse and intimidation.

It is further alleged that AWSDA Board Chair Sheila Haddad directly benefited from the aforementioned actions of Ms. Montoya and in exchange has breached her own fiduciary duties by attempting to get the crime victim/witness to drop her complaint against Ms. Montoya and by stifling and blocking all attempts to gain evidence for or conduct a fair and impartial investigation into Ms. Montoya's conduct.

Author's note:

The complaints contained within this article are against two individuals, not AWSDA, its board or its membership, who being victimized by these actions as well, as resources that should be helping the membership are instead being used to fund a "cover up".

In over 40 years dedicated to protecting victims and potential victims and training others to do so, this author has been accused of many things, but among those accusations there has never been one that claimed he would turn his back on any innocent victim in need of his help, no matter the odds.

It is the author’s sincere hope that this series of articles will NOT dissuade AWSDA members from attending the AWSDA Conference, but rather will encourage more members to attend so that they may learn something just as important as self defense techniques:

That is…the truth and the AWSDA leadership is going to make every effort and make every lame excuse they can to try to keep this author from being at this conference, giving moral support to a violent crime victim, who has been re-victimized by the very people who are supposed to be helping her and has made up her mind that she will never be victimized again and will not sit still and let others be victimized because she did not speak up (her words, not mine).

"When you ask an honest man an honest question, you get an honest answer. When you ask a dishonest man an honest question, you get a letter from his attorney."
Phil Messina

Author's note: The author can be reached at Modern Warrior and will answer any questions asked of him between now and the AWSDA Conference. For those members I have not been able to reach, AWSDA will soon be doing that for me.

Article 2

Printable Word Document Version

AWSDA Members must separate the spin for the lies from the truth, before they can save AWSDA.

By Phil Messina

Several months ago, AWSDA Members were told that board member Ilsa vonLeden resigned from the board for "personal reasons".

Ms. vonLeden was appalled by this and gave this author permission to post her e-mail to AWSDA Board Chair, Sheila Haddad after AWSDA's "spin" message was sent out to the membership. Please note that two other board members have resigned from board since this letter was sent. More evidence will follow, as well as more article updates:

Sheila Haddad:
I am writing in response to your response to my official resignation from the AWSDA Board of Directors to clarify some points in your response which are not correct.
You state your “counsel” advised you it was improper and a beach of my fiduciary duties as a director to forward AWSDA board communications to Phil Messina. You stated that although you recognize I believed he was an AWSDA board member, I should have verified he was in fact an AWSDA board member. The correct facts (which you clearly did not share with your counsel) are the following:

1) I did not know Phil Messina was an AWSDA board member until YOU and the other long-time board members told me Phil Messina was the AWSDSA Strategy and Tactics Advisor – a non-voting board position. Now “counsel” has informed you this means he holds an officer level position. The information about Phil’s status and position was circulated to the other AWSDA board members and officers and was not challenged or corrected by any other AWSDA board member or officer. You – as the AWSDA chairperson – should certainly know who is an AWSDA board member or officer – as in any professionally run organization – and should not need your counsel to inform you. My reliance on information provided by the other AWSDA board members / officers for my ‘belief” Phil Messina was on the AWSDA board would certainly constitute “verifying” that fact.

2) Phil Messina is listed prominently with the other AWSDA board members in the current issue of the Fisted Rose. Since according to you Phil Messina has not been on the AWSDA board since November 2007 - when according to you he would have had to seek re-election - you had more than ample time to remove him from the list before publication 5 months later if - in fact - he was not on the AWSDA board.

Your statement that in his position as Strategy and Tactics Advisor – an officer level position only - Phil Messina should not have been receiving AWSDA board communications – is also incorrect. The AWSDA board agreed - shortly after I became a board member and we began communicating by email – that officers should be included in our discussions unless they were flagged as confidential AWSDA board communications only. In fact that is why Carol Montoya – AWSDA treasurer - an officer position only - was receiving our AWSDA board communications (and somehow she managed to also receive our confidential AWSDA board communications also) - and why she was able to communicate her vicious and untrue allegations about Phil Messina to the AWSDA board. Yet inexplicably Phil Messina was not afforded the same opportunity to communicate with the AWSDA board members and defend himself from Carol Montoya’s allegations.

The real facts behind Phil Messina’s alleged lapse in status as an AWSDA board member are that the AWSDA board voted – after I resigned protesting his treatment - to retroactively remove Phil Messina from his positions as an AWSDA board member and Strategy and Tactics Advisor because he allegedly failed to run for re-election that year. Since he was removed retroactively – and not until March 2008 - he WAS an AWSDA board member when I forwarded AWSDA board communications to him – which I did only after being informed by the AWSDA board he was a board member. I did not act improperly nor did I breach fiduciary duties as an AWSDA board member by forwarding board communications to Phil Messina.

It should also be noted that if Phil Messina was voted not to be an AWSDA board member because he allegedly failed to run for re-election at the time of the 2007 AWSDA conference – having stepped up to fill a position vacated previously that year – you and Carol Montoya also failed to run for re-election to your positions at that time – nor did you or Carol Montoya let anyone who would have been eligible to vote for you or Carol Montoya know such an election should have taken place. If Phil Messina is therefore found not to be an AWSDA board member / officer for that reason, then you and Carol Montoya should also be found not to be officers unless duly re-elected in accordance with the rules of this organization – nor should you have access to AWSDA’s corporate counsel.

You stated Phil Messina never attended any meetings of the AWSDA board during his time as a board member despite receiving all notices, agendas, and minutes of these meetings. When did you stop notifying Phil Messina of AWSDA board meetings? How many meetings took place during this time? How many meetings did each other AWSDA board member attend? When I took office the AWSDA board discussed at some length the general problems of attendance at AWSDA board meetings due to geographical distances, time differences, and other problems related to a board made up of an international membership and resolved this by allowing most AWSDA board business to be conducted via email communications. And if Phil Messina really did not participate in any way while on the AWSDA board – why were you so worried about his being on the board and in such a hurry to get rid of him if not simply because you supported Carol Montoya’s personal vendetta against Phil Messina? You did not have other prospective board members or officers ready and willing to fill his spot.

Your statement that Phil Messina had not been a part of AWSDA for approximately 13 months is absurd - since he not only attended and participated at the events at the November 2007 AWSDA conference but also taught the RPIC at the November 2007 AWSDA conference.

Your assertion that I said - and the AWSDA board disagreed – that Phil Messina would have provided “a fresh perspective” on the RPIC is incorrect. That statement referred to Susan Baldwin and Martin Smith who were appointed to work on the revision of the RPIC, not Phil Messina. You are also incorrect in stating my criticism is misplaced because I never proposed Phil Messina should be involved. At the time the AWSDA board discussed revising the RPIC I was unaware Phil Messina was the AWSDA Strategy and Tactics Advisor - an officer - or an AWSDA board member, and I was unaware if he wanted to be involved in revising the RPIC. However, as soon as Phil sent an email to the AWSDA board advising us he was going to be teaching another RPIC at Modern Warrior (and whenever he taught this course at Modern Warrior he always insisted that anyone taking the course become a member of AWSDA), I realized he was still interested in being involved in the RPIC and I immediately told the AWSDA board Phil Messina should be notified that AWSDA was revising the course. When the AWSDA board dragged it’s feet on this issue – I insisted – and finally received permission to notify Phil Messina. It was around this time I found out his board / officer status from the AWSDA board. I brought up to the AWSDA board that there seemed to be hostile responses to any mention of Phil Messina, and I wanted to know why. I also wanted to know why the person who was an instrumental part of developing this course and was continuing to teach it - in addition to he or someone from Modern Warrior teaching it at AWSDA all other years – should not have the opportunity to be involved in the revision since it was now clear he wanted to be involved in it. But my inquiries were only answered with a vicious attack on Phil Messina by Carol Montoya.

You are incorrect in your assertion that the AWSDA board will not address disputes between Carol Montoya and Phil Messina. By allowing Carol Montoya - an AWSDA officer who along with the other AWSDA officers was given the courtesy of receiving AWSDA board communications (as Phil Messina should have been) – to carry on a personal attack on Phil Messina by emailing it to all board members - without you as the AWSDA chairperson stepping in and telling her that this was an inappropriate forum for airing her personal dislike for Phil Messina - is improper for an AWSDA chairperson and shows favoritism. If Carol Montoya wanted to make a formal complaint against Phil Messina that is her right – and it could have been investigated objectively and properly. Allowing Carol Montoya to use the privilege of receiving AWSDA board communications as a venue to vent her personal dislike of Phil Messina to AWSDA board members and officers during the course of AWSDA board business prejudices the AWSDA board and makes an objective review of facts less likely if there is any subsequent investigation. What appalled me was that no one else on the AWSDA board - and you in particular as the AWSDA chairperson - spoke up and attempted to halt this unjust, improper behavior.

You asked for examples of Carol Montoya’s wrongdoing in her capacity as AWSDA treasurer.

1) Any board of any organization being informed of financial impropriety by their treasurer in any other organization to which he /she belonged or was employed / associated should investigate the allegations – and Carol Montoya has been accused of financial misappropriations of funds at Modern Warrior. At the very least the AWSDA board should investigate if there is any factual basis for these allegations. If there is, the AWSDA board should consider whether they are exercising fiduciary responsibility or reasonable prudence to allow someone who has been found to have mishandled funds at another organization to remain in the Treasurer position for this organization

2) Carrie (the last name has been removed by author, because the witness is in a Federal Program to protect her) – a former long-time AWSDA member who resigned as a result of this incident - notified me that Carol Montoya misappropriated her $3000 donation to AWSDA. She has also made a complaint to AWSDA. She stated she made her donation with the stipulation it must be used for a specific purpose only. If the AWSDA board / treasurer did not want to use the money for that purpose or could not use it for that purpose for some reason, they are obligated by law to return that money to the person who donated it or ask permission to use it for a different purpose. She stated that Carol Montoya did not return the money to her nor did she ask her permission to use it for a different purpose. She stated Carol Montoya used the money to pay for her trip to Afghanistan – which she stated she would not have approved of it if asked.

During our informal AWSDA board discussions, you and Carol brought up the issue of AWSDA using donations any way the AWSDA board wanted - even if it was stipulated they were only to be used for specific purposes was brought up – as though it was OK. Once again, I was appalled that anyone involved in making decisions about AWSDA could think this is OK – and I immediately shot that idea down.

3) Two other AWSDA members attending the conference on scholarship were denied rooms in the hospitality suite by Carl Montoya. One member – Blythe Winery – a violent crime victim - made a complaint to AWSDA. The other member stated she did not want to make a formal complaint but did want the facts known so what happened to her would not happen to another member. While Carol Montoya (and you) had rooms to yourselves in the suite - ostensibly because of commitments to assist with the conference – which was protested unsuccessfully by one of the other people staying in the suite due to the fact that the scholarship members should have been accommodated first - these scholarship members had to struggle to find other accommodations – including staying on cot with two strangers (members of Modern Warrior) who were kind enough to allow one of the scholarship members to share their room. These rooms in the hospitality are intended for crime victims / scholarship recipients – not only for financial reasons but because crime victims / scholarship recipients are often at an AWSDA conference for the first time, do not know anyone else, and can more fully participate by being in the suite. It is acceptable for people who commit to help out with the conference to use these rooms IF there are rooms left over after the crime victims /scholarship recipients have been accommodated – and assisting members should be willing to double up in their rooms if necessary to accommodate the crime victims / scholarship recipients.

When I resigned I did so on good terms with the other AWSDA board members and officers. Since I resigned two other directors have resigned as well for similar reasons, and one other director resigned in the middle of the vicious and untrue emails from Carol Montoya about Phil Messina. AWSDA has now lost 4 out of 9 directors in a very short time period. Your action in answering my letter of resignation as you did causes me to believe there is a “cover-up” going on within the remaining AWSDA board and officers with the intent to protect Carol Montoya at all costs. Additional evidence of this cover-up is your recent statement to the membership that I resigned for “personal reasons”. You knew there was nothing personal about my reasons for resigning – I clearly stated it was due to the lack of professionalism and integrity in the running of this organization. This cover-up by the AWSDA board is distressing news indeed, for AWSDA and all its members. AWSDA needs to admit it’s mistakes and move forward, even if it means censuring someone you like and defending someone you may personally dislike. In my capacity as the head of a well-run employee organization I have been put in the position you were in several times and have put professional conduct above my personal relationships with people in my organization. The membership of AWSDA deserves that - and I am sure they, like me, would prefer to know the truth – that there were problems to overcome but the AWSDA board and officers are working hard to correct them – rather than that the AWSDA board and officers care more about their own entrenched positions and friendships than the ultimate well-being of AWSDA and it’s members.

Ilsa vonLeden
Former AWSDA board member

Deputy Ilsa vonLeden
Yolo County Sheriff's Dept.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. "
- Ben Franklin

Article 1:

Printable Word Document Version

The content of the following article is the opinion of the author as an individual member and former officer of the Association for Women’s Self Defense Advancement (AWSDA) formerly known as the American Women’s Self Defense Association

Modern Warrior, Inc. has been, and remains, a loyal supporter

of the AWSDA membership, although not its current leadership's practices

Why the “new” AWSDA has declared war on Modern Warrior, Inc.

By: Phil Messina

For nearly 20 years, AWSDA and Modern Warrior have worked hand in hand to provide self defense training to women.

That recently changed when AWSDA declared war on Modern Warrior. It all started when AWSDA decided to take sides in this author's upcoming divorce, but really has more to do with the new AWSDA leadership's fear of having this author looking over their shoulder, as they embrace self-serving, unethical and even abusive practices. AWSDA's actual goal is to separate from Modern Warrior, so that AWSDA members will not hear the truth from a loyal sponsor, who is most responsible for AWSDA’s very existence.

Modern Warrior is, and always will be, an organization whose reputation for saving lives is only matched by it’s reputation for telling the truth, even when people don't want to hear the truth, placing it’s principles ahead of it’s profits when it comes to serving and helping those in need and standing by it’s warrior values when confronted by adversity.

The time has come for members of AWSDA to be told exactly what has been going on with what once was a great organization not just dedicated to, but devoted to, the right of every woman to defend themselves. AWSDA needs to remain steadfast in its mission to help women develop those skills, so they will never be victimized and/or to help them overcome being victimized so that it will never happen again. AWSDA has, sadly, somehow strayed from that path.

Over the past 18 months, some of the leaders of AWSDA have decided that it is more important to get involved in personal divorces and international politics than it is to actually abide by the organization's charter, bylaws and original mission to teach women how to defend themselves in a violent encounter.

Here is just a small example of the self serving practices of the “new” AWSDA:

A violent crime victim, in financial distress, who specifically asked the AWSDA Treasurer, Carol Montoya, for a free or discounted room because she couldn't otherwise afford to attend the last seminar was turned down flat. This was due to the fact that the Treasurer herself, as well as the AWSDA Chair (Sheila Haddad) and her daughter were staying in the only two free rooms available. Apparently, they didn't want to share them with a violent crime victim. Of course, the rest of the Board was made to pay for their rooms and weren't even informed of this request until the seminar was in progress. This terrible injustice just scratches the surface of what future articles will reveal.

The organization was once completely unselfish in its goals and even passed resolutions ensuring that female crime victims and scholarship recipients would receive the benefits of free rooming. As well, it ensured that Board members and officers would not indulge in benefiting themselves, rather than those in need of these benefits (resolutions which they now claim have mysteriously "gone missing.")

Throughout most of its history, AWSDA, as stated earlier (formerly known as the AMERICAN Women's Self Defense Association), held firmly to American principles and ideals, as it not only trained women from the United States, Canada, Mexico and abroad, but also helped established instructors become better instructors when it came to teaching women how to defend themselves against violent attackers. The membership came first, not the Board elitists.

Well, that was then and this is now and this once worthy organization has in the past year and a half transformed itself, through an inept and corrupted leadership into a self-serving, unethical and according to some, an abusive entity in it's own right.

Under the leadership of Sheila Haddad and Carol Montoya (who have literally taken over the organization by not allowing the new Board members to vote for new officer positions at the previous seminar – as per AWSDA's bylaws):

1) More Board members have resigned their positions under the Haddad/ Montoya “dictatorship” than in ALL of AWSDA's previous 15 years.
2) AWSDA's last seminar was a financial disaster.
3) This upcoming seminar almost didn't happen at all and is sure to be a financial loser as well.
4) AWSDA has no insurance for it classes or liability insurance for the organization itself.
5) What once was one of the most litigation proof instructor programs in the country has been replaced by a politically correct "workshop" that offers no certification protection and has no recognized Expert Witnesses to back it up, even it did offer certification (which it may offer after the board reads the advance copy of this article).
6) During AWSDA's so called "transition," it has lost most of its Corporate Sponsors and is having a great deal of trouble even giving vendor booths away, much less getting reputable vendors to pay for them.
7) Instead of sending members requested documents, they send lawyer's letters and feeble excuses for not making them available.
8) Complaints by members and even crime victims are either ignored or the person making the complaint is attacked as a "trouble maker."

Now, violent crime victims are being denied free rooms, because those rooms are going to the AWSDA Chair, her family and the AWSDA Treasurer instead. In short, the organization, now known as the Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement under a new Chair and with the support of a Treasurer, who has been accused of misusing funds and using her position to collect funds for personal endeavors, under the fraudulent guise of conducting AWSDA sanctioned fund raising, has gone from protecting it's members and others from predators to becoming the predators themselves.

In fact, a second violent crime victim has openly accused the AWSDA Treasurer of misusing thousands of dollars she collected in donations through swim meets over several years. She also has complained directly to at least five AWSDA Board Members, three of whom have since resigned their positions. This victim also claims that Ms. Montoya psychologically abused her in order to gain her trust and discouraged her from following up her complaint. That’s truly one of the most disturbing parts. She also states that she got a call from the AWSDA Chair (Sheila Haddad) who also tried to discourage her from complaining about Ms. Montoya's conduct and that her complaint has been ignored since that phone call.

The following series of articles will give examples and provide facts that will astonish members, former members and non members as to how this organization has been literally "taken over" in violation of not only it's own bylaws, but basic American non-profit corporate values and in some cases, simple human decency to those in crises. This author will bring both documentation and corroborating witnesses to the upcoming AWSDA Seminar to verify what is written in the upcoming articles, so one can expect the new AWSDA dictatorship to try everything it can to prevent this author from attending.

Hopefully, these articles will awaken the AWSDA membership and cause them to ask the questions they need to ask and demand the answers they need to have in order to save this former light of hope for women in a violent world from destroying itself. The likelihood of this happening through greed, corruption, self-serving goals and the arrogance of a few leaders who are intent on driving out anyone who wants to see the organization go back to its former unselfish American values and glorious former mission is growing by leaps and bounds by the day. Part of its mission is to put itself out of business, but most assuredly, the original creators of the organization did not intend for it to happen like this.

At the very least, it is hoped that this article and others to follow will "embarrass" the new AWSDA to hand out crime victim scholarships to American crime victims, rather than use membership money to involve itself in international politics, something so far removed from its charter, that it is likely to endanger its non profit status.

The author urges members of AWSDA to speak to the five former Board members who have prematurely quit their positions over the past year and a half and ask them to tell you "honestly" their reasons for leaving. Or contact the author directly for a copy of the letter of resignation from one of those former board members, who has courageously given this author permission to share her reasons for quitting the Board. Or you can just wait for future installments of these articles, because truthfully, there is just too much unethical conduct going on in AWSDA right now to cover in just one article.

So hang on to your britches, because although you may not be entirely surprised by what is about to be revealed, it is likely you will be shocked, dismayed and truly disgusted by it. Expect cover-ups and "spin" in response to these articles and just keep asking and keep asking and keep asking questions until you get an answer you are satisfied with.

Far too many worthy non-profit organizations have fallen by following the same self-serving, ego driven path that AWSDA seems to have embraced under its current leadership and unless the members themselves start to ask the right questions and the those questions are replied to with honest answers, rather than lawyer's letters, this once great organization will not see its twentieth year come to pass.

AWSDA is no longer protecting potential victims. It is now creating them and only its membership can bring it back to its original path.

A few years back, this author offered the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (ASLET) Board a four point plan that would have avoided the organization's dissolution. They rejected that plan and less than two years later, they were bankrupt. I now offer the AWSDA Board a two point plan to avoid the organization's demise: forgo the "Me First" self-serving policies of the current Chair and Treasurer and go back to AWSDA's traditional values of placing the membership's interests ahead of your own.

Future articles will contain documentation and evidence to support the author's complaints or can be provided by contacting the author directly at Modern Warrior, Inc. in Lindenhurst, New York at 631-226-8383.

"The surest route to corruption is through the arrogance of power."

Phil Messina

Author's note: A courtesy copy was sent to the AWSDA Board five days prior to posting, with an offer to remove ANY statements by which the AWSDA Board could produce evidence to the contrary.