AMSRB-NATO Club
Valley of Washington, D.C.
Über uns
The American Military Scottish Rite Bodies – North Atlantic Treaty Organization Club, generally abbreviated as AMSRB-NATO Club, is a club organization which gathers and selects Master Masons who historically are active or retired from the American armed forces with the NATO military alliance to join the Scottish Rite. Today, the club accepts US Passport holders who are Master Masons in good standing and are members of a regular lodge under the jursidiction of a Grand Lodge within the United States or a non-US Passport holder who is a member in good standing of a blue lodge beholden to the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia.
In 2013, the Orient of the District of Columbia welcomed the integration of the Brethren of AMSRB into the Valley of Washington. This group is primarily composed of active and retired U.S. military personnel, and has its origin in the Letters Temporary issued by Sovereign Grand Commander Henry C. Clausen, 33° in May 1968 to a group of enthusiastic Scottish Rite Brethren stationed in the UK and at the European NATO bases. Although originally attached to the Orient of California for administrative purposes, this group flourished and on 23 October 1969, was issued a Permanent Charter. In 1985, the AMSRB, ceased to be a Valley of that Orient, and was fully constituted as the Orient of NATO, with Ill. Robert “Woody” Woodward, 33° as Deputy of the Supreme Council.
With the passage of time the number of American Forces in Europe have drawn down significantly and in 2012, the Orient was directed that it was to be reconstituted as the AMSRB NATO Club, and became a part of the Valley of Washington, Orient of the District of Columbia.
We elect officers, hold regular meetings, participate in honoring outstanding JROTC students at the American high schools in England, Germany, and Italy.
The AMSRB-NATO Club Emblem or Seal
The American Military Scottish Rite Bodies – North Atlantic Treaty Organization Club, generally abbreviated as AMSRB-NATO Club, is a club organization which gathers and selects Master Masons who are active or retired from the American armed forces with the NATO military alliance to join the Scottish Rite. The emblem of the AMSRB-NATO Club, devised in 2020, consists of several elements which may be described thusly:
A blue field charged with a classic white compass rose which also appears as a four-pointed star with the points pointing in the four cardinal directions. The compass rose or star is itself charged with a Scottish Rite eagle, using the official eagle emblem currently authorized by the Southern Jurisdiction, USA.
The field is blue because blue represents the Atlantic Ocean and is the official color of the NATO military alliance. Blue also alludes to the Craft and Blue Lodge Masonry specifically from whose ranks all Scottish Rite Masons are drawn.
The blue field is encircled by a series of rings. The single white ring which edges the blue field alludes to the First Degree and the innocent neophyte who is first initiated as an Entered Apprentice Mason. The white ring is also an emblem of NATO and symbolizes the unity of its member states.
There are two cable-tow ropes which allude to the Second Degree of the Fellowcraft Mason; one of which appears just outside the white ring and the other forms the outermost ring.
Finally, there appear three rings of chain which allude to the Third Degree and the Master Mason. Each chain represents a specific group of members within the Club and each link represents the individual members. The outermost chain represents the members currently on active duty. The middle chain represents the members who have retired from their military service. The innermost chain represents the members who came this way before and have since passed on to the Celestial Lodge.
The compass rose or four-pointed star has been a part of the official emblem of NATO since 1953. As a NATO emblem it symbolizes the direction towards the path to peace which is the goal of all member states.
The double-headed eagle which is superimposed upon the NATO compass rose is the official authorized version of Scottish Rite of Freemasonry’s Southern Jurisdiction, USA, to which the Club is beholden. The name of Club (AMSRB NATO Club) appears spanning the upper left and upper right quadrants of the blue field. Spanning the lower quadrants are the words: “Scottish Rite – Orient of DC” which indicates the Club’s attachment to the Scottish Rite’s Orient of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC.