For Military Members and Government Employees

This information is intended to aid Department of Defense (DoD) decision-makers and ethics officials in making determinations concerning federal civilian employee and military member authorization to attend the 2025 Military Officers Association of America’s (MOAA) TotalForce+ (TF+) conference. Individuals interested in attending should consult their servicing ethics official and supervisory chain for controlling guidance and decisions.

The information in the last section of this document responds directly to the DoD Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) Event Attendance & Speaking Requests Guidance (Rev. 2/2025) and its Free Attendance & Speaking Questionnaire found in Part B, Section II. Attendees, ethics officials, and supervisors will find these responses useful in assessing:

WIDELY ATTENDED GATHERING (WAG) APPLICABILITY

DoD SOCO’s Event Attendance & Speaking Requests Guidance (Rev. 2/2025), Section I, Part B, Section I, contains an Event Attendance & Speaking, Screening Questionnaire. The stated purpose of the screening questionnaire is to allow invitees to “determine whether to submit an opinion request” to their ethics official.

Part B of the Screening Questionnaire found in Section I of the Guidance, states that if the event is free and open to all DoD civilian and military personnel, as opposed to by-invitation only, “[t]he offer of free attendance is not considered a gift and a legal opinion (a WAG determination) is not required.” (Emphasis supplied.) See also, 5 C.F.R. § 2536.203(b)(4) explicitly excluding free attendance to such large classes from the definition of a gift. Items offered to large, undifferentiated classes of people are not given because of a person’s official position. They are not “gifts” for purposes of the ethics rules.

Rather than require each individual attendee to obtain a determination that a WAG opinion is not required, to save staff time, MOAA is processing a request for agency determinations that personnel do not need to obtain a WAG opinion. Because MOAA’s position is not controlling, we recommend you consult your servicing ethics official or supervisor for official guidance.

CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE & TRAVEL APPROVAL

For DoD personnel, attendance at non-DoD hosted conferences must follow the DoD Conference Guidance, Version 4.0 (CGv4), providing that “attendance is appropriately related to the performance of the employee’s/military member’s official duties and that the expense of attendance is justified on that basis.” (CGv4, Section 6, p. 9). Further, a recently issued OUSD(P&R) memorandum limits civilian travel to mission-critical categories as determined by OSD Principal Staff Assistants and DoD Component heads. Invitees must obtain their supervisor’s approval to attend. In support of attendance, MOAA provides the following:

The 2025 TotalForce+ conference, hosted by MOAA, is a mission-aligned, professional development opportunity focused on talent management, leadership development, quality-of-life issues, and national defense priorities.

MOAA’s invitation extends to all military members, DoD and VA civilian personnel, and their spouses. Given the nature of the event, with its strong focus on whole-of-department and interdepartmental solutions across DoD and the VA, including relevant policies and top policymakers, leading industry partners, academia, and members of Congress, MOAA expects the vast majority of federal attendees will live and work in the National Capital Region (NCR). Government attendees are expected to include policy leads and staff with official duties or organizational mission requirements in the areas of manpower, personnel, readiness, reserve affairs, health care and medical force support, recruiting, resilience, quality of life, leadership development, veterans’ benefits and entitlements, transition assistance, veterans’ experience, and related matters. These are the “people issues” DoD and the VA must solve to attract new recruits, retain existing personnel, and care for past members who have already served. To field the most capable, ready, and lethal military in an all-volunteer force, the United States must give its prospective, current, and former warfighters reasons to join, stay, and recommend service to others.

Policy oversight and decision-making in these areas align with departmentwide functions typically housed in headquarters offices, not field or installation commands. Accordingly, MOAA does not anticipate significant TDY expenses for DoD or VA personnel, as many attendees will be local and participation will be aligned with normal duty responsibilities. Importantly, the conference is free to currently serving DoD and VA military members and civilian employees. There are no registration fees, social events are free, and modest items of food and beverages will be provided throughout the day.

The nature of the event (strategic policy and problem-solving), its intended audience (senior policymakers and decision-makers), and its location (in the NCR) suggest the real possibility that DoD’s total costs will not exceed $100,000. However, MOAA does not determine or influence who from DoD attends, and because this is an inaugural event, there is no prior-year data to use for comparisons. To avoid having to rush through a package later, if DoD costs exceed $100,000, MOAA is processing a Tier 2 approval request with the respective agencies.

Conference approval authorities must also find that in-person attendance is beneficial and cost-effective and that virtual alternatives are not effective. (GCv4, Section 6, pp 6-7.) Due to the size of the event and the nature and number of personal engagements and exchanges of ideas, MOAA cannot effectively carry out TotalForce+ virtually and is not offering a remote option.

Again, personnel interested in attending TotalForce+ should consult their servicing ethics official or supervisor for official guidance.

SPEAKER REQUEST APPROVALS

MOAA is inviting DoD and VA officials and subject matter experts (in addition to many from elsewhere in the federal and state governments, across private sector industry, and academia) to speak and participate in panel discussions in their official capacities at TotalForce+. In both their official capacities as a speaker and as a member of the offered class, attendance, modest items of food and refreshments, meal vouchers, social events that are part of the conference, and parking are free. In other words, regardless of whether a DoD or VA civilian employee or military member is invited as an attendee or a speaker, these items are excluded as a gift under 5 C.F.R. § 2635(b)(4) — no gift is involved. Speakers may need to consult their supervisory chain to ensure speaking is authorized and contact their public affairs and security offices for review and release of content.

Individuals with any questions about attending TotalForce+ should consult their supervisor or servicing ethics officials for further guidance.

TOTALFORCE+ (TF+) EVENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES

1. Name of invitee(s): MOAA invites all military members and DoD and VA civilian employees and their spouses to attend the TotalForce+ conference free of charge. Invitations are not by name only.
2. Name of the event: TotalForce+
3. Host(s) or organizer(s) of the event:
   The sole host of the event is the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), a tax-exempt, Virginia nonprofit, 501(c)(19) veterans service organization.
   MOAA’s POCs for the event are Leslie Janaros (lesliej@moaa.org) and Kristen Stotz (kristens@moaa.org). The event website is: www.totalforceplus.moaa.org.
4. Dates and Speaking:
   The dates of the event are Oct. 28-29, 2025. MOAA will invite individuals from DoD and the VA to speak and/or participate in panel discussions in their official capacities, unless they request otherwise. Speakers may attend their speaking day and nonspeaking day free of charge, like all other DoD or VA personnel.
   MOAA does not expect more than 20% of speakers to be from either DoD or the VA. The total number of government personnel will not comprise more than 50% of speakers. MOAA is not offering to pay for travel expenses.
5. Location: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Oxon Hill, Md.
6. Nature and purpose of the event:
   The 2025 TotalForce+ conference, hosted by MOAA, is a mission-aligned, professional development opportunity focused on talent management, leadership development, quality of life, and national defense priorities. Finding solutions to perpetual problems in these four critical areas is necessary to recruit, retain, develop, and field the lethality we need in an all-volunteer force.
   MOAA’s invitation extends to all DoD military members, civilian personnel, and their spouses. Given the nature of the event, with its strong focus on whole-of-department and interdepartmental solutions across DoD and the VA, including relevant policies, top policymakers, leading industry partners, academia, and members of Congress, MOAA expects the vast majority of federal attendees to live and work in the National Capital Region (NCR). Government attendees are expected to include policy leads and staff with official duties or organizational mission requirements in the areas of manpower, personnel, readiness, reserve affairs, health care and medical force support, recruiting, resilience, quality of life, leadership development, benefits and entitlements, transition assistance, veterans experience, etc. Policy oversight and decision-making for these areas align with departmentwide functions typically housed in headquarters offices, not field or installation commands.
7. Approximate total number of attendees: MOAA hopes to attract a total of 5,000 attendees over the course of the two-day event.
8. Attendee information:
   Attendees are not limited to MOAA’s clients/customers/employees or others. Anyone who is interested in the event may attend, including those from the federal executive branch, DoD and the VA, non-DoD and non-VA participants, state and local government officials, academia, numerous industry representatives (approximately 100 different companies and organizations), members of the legislative branch and their staff members, and others seeking solutions to problems facing the Total Force.
   
9. Entities paying the cost for federal civilians, military members, and spouses to attend: MOAA is paying all costs of attendance.
10. Entities designating DoD or VA invitees: Only MOAA is making determinations on who to invite to the event.
11. Unsolicited offer to bring a guest: All DoD and VA attendees are invited to bring their spouses. This offer was unsolicited, and other spouses are expected to attend.
12. Pending matters: MOAA does not have any matters pending before DoD or the VA.
13. Value of free attendance:
    TF+ is open to anyone to attend. It is not a by-invitation-only event. Military members, all DoD and VA civilians, and their spouses are invited to attend free of charge. For individuals not in these categories, MOAA is charging $750 per person to attend the event to help defray expenses.
14. Other unsolicited gifts:
    MOAA intends to offer free parking for DoD and VA personnel and their spouses. Also, MOAA is offering free lunch coupons (value is less than $20) to the first 60% of registrants, whether they are affiliated with DoD/VA or not.
    Currently serving military members and government employees and their spouses may also attend social, networking, and development sessions, including an evening Roast & Toast and morning Brunch & Learn for free with prior registration.
    [NOTE: Because these items are available to all government-affiliated attendees, they are not given because of anyone’s official position and therefore may not constitute a gift. Consult with your servicing ethics offical for further guidance.]
15. Registered lobbyist status:
    MOAA is a registered lobbyist. This was pertinent in the past because a separate ethics pledge required by the president in prior administrations prohibited any gift to a political appointee. President Donald Trump has issued no such pledge. Thus, even if the offer of free attendance was considered a gift, it should not be prohibited.
16. Media organization status:
    MOAA is not a media organization. Although it publishes the Military Officer magazine that includes articles and topics relevant to current and former members of the uniformed services, the magazine is not disseminated to the general public and therefore does not meet the definition of such an entity in 2 U.S.C. § 1602(11).
17. Fundraising event status:
    TF+ is not a fundraising event. MOAA hopes to recover some of its costs through sponsorships, booth sales, and other means of revenue generation, but TF+ is not being conducted as a fundraising event.
18. Recurring event status:
    2025 is the inaugural event for TF+. If it is successful and participants find it valuable, then MOAA intends to conduct them in the future.
19. Original invitation: Include as an attachment or link to registration here.
20. Comments: Please consult your chain of command, ethics office, or designated conference approval authority for agency-specific guidance on attending.