You are all invited to join the
COMSAT ALUMNI & RETIREES ASSOCIATION  
(COMARA)

An association open to former Comsat Employees and Surviving Spouses and organized for the purposes of:

1. Maintaining social and business contacts with colleagues, by maintaining a web site and other communication channels including a bulletin board and an online newsletter.
2. Monitoring the status of benefits and providing contact points for the administration of benefits - providing a common forum to monitor the degree to which successor organizations will honor the promises made to many of us in the form of continuing employees benefits, and taking appropriate actions if necessary to preserve those benefits.
3. Preserving the Comsat Legacy by attempting to ensure that materials and artifacts are not lost.

ALONG with several thousand others, you served with one of the most extraordinary and unique ventures of the space age and helped develop satellite communications. Many of you are receiving or will in the future receive - pensions, medical coverage or other benefits. Comsat as we knew it has disappeared with pieces scattered in a variety of directions or dissolved. There will be no focal point for information on benefits status or former employees. A few of us as Founding Board of Directors have undertaken the task of establishing an alumni and retirees association to achieve the above purposes and we hope you will join us. In due course, we plan to arrange for an elected Board. Note: Elected Fall 2003

HOW TO JOIN:

1. Please go complete the online Membership Registration form by clicking the link (Register for membership!) on the left of this page. If you cannot register online, please contact us by email or telephone, or old-fashion mail, (click link "Contact Us") - and we will send you a paper registration form.
2. In 2002, we set the first year dues at $25.00 to pay for the costs of establishing and maintaining the website and mailing lists and to defray other costs such as printing and mailing. This amount was reduced in subsequent years. The current dues are now $10. Please mail a check made out to COMARA for $10.00 to Post Office Box 34594, Bethesda Maryland, 20827 (please include a copy your Membership form if you have not filed electronically). Please ensure that your check indicates your name and telephone number.
3. We are seeking all former Comsat employees as members, including surviving spouses, who receive Medical Coverage, Pensions, or other benefits. Please refer any colleagues you know to our website to fill out a Membership form. Contact us by any of the means shown above, although we would prefer email.