The Retired Officers Association (TROA), predecessor of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), was founded in Los Angeles, California on 23 February 1929. The first leaders of the organization hoped that by joining together they could provide assistance and advice to other military officers from all branches of the uniformed services. With the commencement of WWII, TROA moved to Washington, DC and by 1944 had a membership of 2,600. TROA became MOAA on 1 January 2003, signaling its change in focus from retirement issues to the full spectrum of military life, active and retired.

Several times during the summer of 1964 a small group of retired officers in the Baltimore area met at the home of BG Thomas B. Catron to discuss the possibility of organizing a local chapter of The Retired Officers Association. On 1 January 1965 the Chapter was granted a charter as the Maryland Retired Officers Association or MROA.

On 14 March 1966 the Chapter was incorporated under the laws of Maryland as the Greater Baltimore Chapter, Maryland Retired Officers Association, Inc. Membership was to be “men or women who are or have been commissioned officers and warrant officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Public Health Services, and of the reserve and other components of these services, as defined by TROA.” The purpose of the Maryland ROA, as outlined in 1968, was “To inculcate and stimulate love of our country and the flag; To defend the honor and supremacy of our National Government and the Constitution of the United States; To advocate military forces adequate to the defense of Our Country; To foster fraternal relations between all branches of the various services from which our members are drawn; To cooperate fully with the various active services in the dissemination of information to the Public; To oppose any influence whatsoever calculated to weaken national Security; To aid active and retired personnel of the various services from which our members are drawn, their dependents and survivors, in every proper and legitimate way.”

In the Chapter’s Newsletter in December 1974 a description was given of its activities and interests. With some organizational name changes, this could be used as the Chapter’s statement of purpose and description of activities today, fifty years later. While the membership has ebbed and flowed, the core values of the organization and its people, what it and they are about, has remained essentially the same. Military people interested in, and working to take care of, military people.

More detail is available in this summary. A list of past presidents is also available.