The National Planning Meeting is held each year in late December. Section chiefs, National Order of the Arrow Committee members and key support staff gather to review the previous year and plan the coming year’s program of emphasis.
As their first order of business, the section chiefs elect a national chief, a national vice chief and four region chiefs.
To be eligible to hold national office as national chief, national vice chief or region chief, a section chief must be younger than 21 during the entire term of office. No person who has ever held one of these national offices can ever again be eligible to hold any national OA office. These officers serve until their successors are elected at the next planning meeting. Immediately after their election, the national chief and vice chief organize subcommittees and direct the program planning for the year’s national program of emphasis.
Concurrently, the National Committee of the Order of the Arrow meets to hold an in-person committee meeting.