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The Bi-Monthly Newsletter
of the
Hampton Roads Chapter
Military Officers Association
of America
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A MOAA Five
Star Level of Excellence Chapter Since 2004
A Winner Web
Site For 2011, a Runner Up, Printed Newsletter 2010, and Winner E Newsletter
2011.
Serving Chesapeake,
Norfolk, and Virginia Beach since 1959
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VOL 36-NO 5
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ONE POWERFUL VOICE
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SEPTEMBER 2012
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The Tribute
In honor of those who have
sacrificed
to keep our country free.
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Courtesy
of the Arlington National Cemetery Website Images
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28
September Luncheon
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| The guest speaker will be the Honorable
Terrie L. Suit, Virginia’s first Secretary of Veterans Affairs and
Homeland Security. The Department of Veterans Services, including
the Virginia War Memorial, reports through this secretariat along with
the Virginia Military Advisory Council, The Virginia Commission on Military
and National Security Facilities, and all Base Realignment and Closure
(BRAC) preparation or response initiatives of the Governor’s. Suit works
with federal, state, and local officials, as well as the private sector,
to develop a seamless, coordinated all hazard homeland security and preparedness
strategy and implementation plan. She serves as Virginia's Homeland Security
Advisor, serves as the direct liaison between the Governor and Virginia’s
first responders on matters of preparedness, prevention, response and recovery
and serves as the State’s point of contact to the federal Department of
Homeland Security. Suit chairs the Secure Commonwealth Panel. Suit served
nearly a decade representing the citizens of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake
as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates prior to her service with
the Governor. During her time in office she chaired both the General Laws
Committee and the Virginia Housing Commission. She also served on the Commerce
and Labor, Counties Cities and Towns, Education, Privileges and Elections,
and the Agriculture Committees. The luncheon will be at the Aberdeen
Steak House on North Hampton Blvd. |
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| Visit our website at www.hrcmoaa.org,
read the Electronic Newsletter, access MOAA national, Service Departments,
Health and Benefit locations, U. S. Senators and Representatives
and many others. If you do not have the Members Only “Password” please
contact any of our Officers. |
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President’s Message
Fellow Officers and Spouses:
Summer is fading into autumn and with the
heat we've had, I'm not sorry to see it go.
Having said that, I hope everyone has had
an enjoyable time and seen all the kids and grand kids. The joint brunch
with the Portsmouth chapter went well I'm told since Shirley and I had
a summer bug and missed it.
Our MOAA chapter gets back into full swing
after our summer hiatus on the 21 of September. This addition of the "TRIBUTE"
has all the details. Please make plans to attend and enjoy the comradery
with your fellow officers.
At this time in the United States we have
approximately an equal number of retirees as we do active duty/reserves.
Together we make up about 2% of the population. We, the retirees, however,
are growing older, i.e., 44% over 65. A few years back, I saw quotes that
say 1,000 World War II vets die each day. Well, we're running out of veterans.
With the diminished number, our ability to influence congress will also
diminish. Additionally the number of congressional people (congressmen/women
and staffers) that have served is becoming smaller each election. That
means we must become more organized and active.
MOAA has been very successful to date and
the country is riding a tide of good feeling for the military. However,
with the proposed budget cuts and congressmens favorite pork project facing
cuts, we can expect to see cut backs in all military spending and that
will include those benefits promised us. It is already happening.
So please be vocal to our senators and
representative. RECRUIT new members. A stronger, larger MOAA is a
great way to make government stand behind their promises to us.
HRCMOAA won our ninth straight Five Star
award for outstanding chapter for the year 2011. Additionally Clif Furedy
won first place for our web sight and John Vermillion won first place in
the electronic news letter catergory. To the HRCMOAA board of directors
and committee chairmen who made this award possible, my heart felt thanks
and congratulations. We in this chapter are truly blessed to have such
a group of dedicated members who work on our behalf and in all that is
done on the behalf of the military in this community. WELL DONE!!!!
God bless.
Holly |
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HRCMOAA Directory
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Officers
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Directors
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Committees
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| MOAA Legislative Update
(Weekly Issue) |
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| People Programs Protected? We Only
Wish
In August, acting Office of Management
and Budget director Jeffrey Zients and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton
Carter were grilled over sequestration before the House Armed Services
Committee. Zients announced that the military personnel account would
be spared from the $50-$57 billion in automatic defense spending cuts that
will be imposed in January under current sequestration law.
But that’s not exactly as good as it sounds.
As far as we know at this point, it means
pay and allowance accounts wouldn’t be cut, and that no additional force
cuts would be imposed beyond the ones already planned for FY2013.
One of the big fears raised by sequestration was that it might force another
100,000 troops to be cut loose.
MOAA supports exempting personnel, but
under the law, doing that also forces bigger (e.g., 10-12%) across-the-board
cuts in other Pentagon accounts, including operations and maintenance,
procurement, and wartime contingency operations. And there are lots
of programs in those other areas that directly affect currently serving
and retired military people.
Testifying before the House Armed Services
Committee this week, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reminded legislators
that health care funding for the nearly 10 million military personnel,
retirees and their dependents comes under operations and maintenance and
will be subject to sequestration.
Exactly how that cut would be implemented
is uncertain. It would certainly mean slowing of equipment and supplies
purchases, perhaps reducing the number of covered medications, and perhaps
reducing payments to health care providers, to name a few possibilities.
MOAA still finds it inconsistent and inappropriate
that VA health care programs are exempted from the sequester, but military
health care programs aren’t. Five months remain for Congress to reverse
the automatic, across-the-board cuts.
At the hearing, Zients asserted his confidence
that lawmakers would come up with a more sensible package of spending cuts
and revenue increases to avoid the automatic and “highly destructive” cuts
that sequestration would require. MOAA hopes so too, but we’re asking
our members to help that process along by visiting their legislators and
using MOAA-provided tools to urge their legislators to action. |
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| New Law on Military Funerals
Last week Congress passed and the President
signed new legislation to improve protections afforded for military funerals.
The new law makes it illegal to cause a disruption in the vicinity of a
military funeral from two hours before the ceremony until two hours after
its conclusion. It also increases the buffer distance between any
protesters and a military funeral from 300 to 500 feet.
Congress agreed on these increases in protection
after more sweeping funeral protection legislation was struck down by the
Supreme Court as a violation of the first amendment. MOAA applauds
enactment of these steps to better protect military funerals from reprehensible
disruption by outside activists. |
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| From the Editor |
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| Shift Colors, the Newsletter
for Navy Retirees, may no longer be available in print. It can be
accessed on line at, www.shiftcolors.navy.mil
. You may also sign up for e-mail delivery of Shift Colors.
Send an e-mail to MILL_ShiftColors@navy.mil
and include your full name, e-mail address, (please write it out) your
rank or salutation (Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.), indicate Active Duty or Retired,
a veteran, or surviving spouse. If you have problems, call the Navy
Personnel Command Customer Service Center at 1-866-827-5672. |
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| Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
Your chapter has provided a fourth gracious
donation to the Virginia Veterans Services Fund in the amount of $700.00
for the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program. |
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| Your Shrinking COLA
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dipped another
0.2% in July.
As of now, inflation is only up 1.0% for
the year. The 2013 COLA will be based on the CPI average from July through
September.
With two months to go in the 2013 COLA
count, will the CPI continue its recent slide, or bounce up like it did
last year? Check those trends on MOAA's Website.
www.moaa.org |
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HRCMOAA ROTC Scholarship Fund
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| HRCMOAA is a committed to funding
the MOAA scholarship fund at $25,000 in 5 years. That translates into $5,000
per year. The contributions come primarily from membership donations.
Below is a sample check. |
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Members who already donate to the national
MOAA Scholarship may continue to do so. You just need to note on the check
that it is for the Hampton Roads Chapter ROTC Scholarship Fund. MOAA will
continue to send receipts to the donors.
Members may submit to the chapter treasurer,
Col. Jim Edge, by mail (628 Secotan, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-7107) or
in person at lunches. The checks will be consolidated and submitted
to MOAA who will send receipts to the donors. |
Tracking Chart
Hampton Roads Chapter ROTC
Scholarship Fund
Goal for 2012: $5,000.00
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PLATINUM $500 and above
GOLD $250 to $499
SILVER $100 to $249
CDR Bert Ortiz, USN-Ret.
LtCol Jim Dellaripa, USAF-Ret.
CAPT Jack Colgan, USN-Ret.
CAPT Holly Hollandsworth, USN-Ret.
COL Jim Edge, USA-Ret.
COL David Wade, USA-Ret.
CAPT Bill Lehr, USCG-Ret.
Aaron Zielinski
CDR John Vermillion, USN-Ret.
Bronze Under $100
LT Stephen Hackney, USN-Ret.
CDR Frederick Johnson, USN-Ret.
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Military ID Card Notification Program
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| This program is designed to help Chapter
members and their dependent’s to renew their ID cards in a timely
fashion. Once you and your dependents are enrolled, you will
be notified of your impending ID card expiration date in sufficient time
for renewal prior to the expiration date.
Note: Over age 75 members, who
are eligible uniform family members and survivors of deceased personnel
are now eligible for Permanent Identification Cards. Apply within
90 days of expiration of current ID card. |
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| To enroll in this voluntary program, fill
in the form at the link below for each dependent and Send by Email or Print
and Mail to: Military ID Card Notification Program, HRCMOAA, P.O. Box 4612,
Virginia Beach, VA 23454-0612. |
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JLC Approved & Prioritized
Recommended Legislative Objectives
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| Provide for the electronic return
of absentee ballot voted by overseas voters.
Provide for the electronic return
of absentee ballot voted by overseas voters.
Sales and Use Tax Exemption for
Veterans Services Organization.
Tax credit for employing veterans
to fill new jobs.
Refine law on In-State Tuition Eligibility
for Veterans to remove the element of “intent” to establish domicile in
Virginia after graduation.
To ensure that the surviving spouses
and dependents attending a Virginia public college or university as part
of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program have
the financial resources necessary to pursue their education. |
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Summer Commissioning Ceremony, NSU AROTC
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| On 10 August 2012 COL Jim Smith,
USA-Ret. and a member of the Hampton Roads Chapter, MOAA, presented a set
of gold bars to the four graduates of NSU who were about to be commissioned
as Second Lieutenants in the United States Army. Shown above is Brittany
M. Hamlin, Medical Service Corps, with a BS Interdisciplinary Studies.
Below, in order are Brandon J. Henderson, Quartermaster, with a BS Interdisciplinary
Studies; Alex C. Hobbs, Field Artillery, with a BS Interdisciplinary Studies;
and Dwight Tennyson Jr., Infantry, with a BS Business Management.
In a ceremony following, family members pinned the shoulder boards on each
with their new ranks.
The chapter also arranged, for each, a
free e-membership in the Military Officers Association of America at the
national level. |
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Transition Officer Placement System
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| The HRCMOAA (TOPS) Liaison is Captain
Loren V. Heckelman, U. S. Navy (Ret.). Loren can be reached at email
address; Loren.Heckelman@cox.net.
Check out our Networking and Jobs page on the chapter website at www.hrcmoaa.org.
Click on the “Networking and Jobs” link on the left hand side of the home
page.
In addition, if you would like to be added
to an email distribution list for job opportunities, contact Loren at his
email address above. |
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Active Duty Military Liaison
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 My
name is Major Theodore (Ted) Cisowski and I am the Active Duty Military
Liaison for the Hampton Roads Chapter MOAA. I have served on active
duty in the U.S. Marines for over 18 years. My assignments have included
command and staff duty in both the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions.
I am currently assigned to U.S. Marine Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
As the Chapter’s Active Duty Military Liaison,
I am charged with maintaining ties between the Chapter and those still
on active duty, the Reserves and National Guard. To that end I plan
on spreading the word of the benefits available through membership in MOAA.
I plan to highlight the important work the Hampton Roads Chapter and National
organization are doing to support veterans and their families. |
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New TRICARE Autism Policy
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| In last week's update, we reported on
a federal judge's ruling that TRICARE's limitation of autism therapy to
children of active-duty personnel is "arbitrary and capricious."
The Court ordered TRICARE to cover Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy as a covered benefit for all TRICARE beneficiaries,
not just those on active duty. We hadn't expected any action pending a
likely appeal of the ruling.
But on August 12, DoD issued a policy change
expanding the coverage to comply with the judge's ruling. However, the
document specified, "This is an interim benefit in effect until litigation
is complete."
Under the interim benefit, TRICARE will
cover ABA services for all eligible beneficiaries, including retirees and
their dependent family members diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). The policy change is retroactive to March 5, 2010, the date the
class action lawsuit was filed. For services received overseas, the
effective date is retroactive to March 5, 2008.
The maximum covered payment is $125 per
hour for services provided by an authorized provider, though it may be
less in some circumstances.
The issuance of the new interim policy
statement can only be a good thing from beneficiaries' standpoint. |
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Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
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| The Virginia Veterans Services Foundation
is available to receive contributions to support the Program.
I am enclosing/pledging my most generous
contribution in the amount of:
__ $1,000 __ $500
__ $250 __ $100 ? __$50 __ Other $_________
Please make checks payable to:
Virginia Veterans Services Foundation
For: VWWP
900 East Main Street, Ground Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Your contribution is tax exempt under Internal
Revenue Service Section 170 (c) and Code of Virginia Section 2.2.2719.
Please provide the following;
Name(s) ______________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________
Phone _______________________
Email_______________________________________
HRCMOAA Member
Yes ___ No ___
You may also donate on line by visiting
the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation at;
www.vvsf.org |
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Chapter Schedule
For the most current and up-to-date schedule
of chapter events,
click on Calendar
of Events
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| October 19, 2012 luncheon is still
planned for the Westin Town Center. We are planning to have the USS Abraham
Lincoln Battle Group CO to attend as our speaker. |
November 16, 2012 Luncheon
We have invited Lieutenant General John
M. Paxton, Jr., Commander, United States Marine Corps Forces Command to
be our guest speaker. Our November luncheon is normally dedicated
to the USMC as we support the USMC Reserves Toys for Tots program and NROTC
programs in the Hampton Roads area. The Princess Anne Country Club
will be our venue. |
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| Virginia Council of Chapters Schedule |
10 October 2012 - VCOC MEETING - 4TH
QTR
Will be held at the Virginia War Memorial
in Richmond. |
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| Contact Jim Jones, 777-5872 for
details and transportation. |
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22 June Luncheon
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HRCMOAA President CAPT Holly Hollandsworth,
USN-Ret. presents the Jefferson Cup to CAPT Bud Schneeweis, USCG-Ret.
Bud is the MOAA Director of Benefits Information and Financial Education.
He spoke to the membership at the Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake.
Bud talked to us about what MOAA does for the active duty and retired
military. MOAA has 10 registered lobbyist on the Staff in DC.
They advocate on capital Hill for all of the Military. Their advocacy
includes testifying before congress, plan and conduct issue campaigns,
focus on defense personnel issues, publish family publications, such as
a Survivor Guide for family members, etc.
New members in attendance were; COL
Mike Harris, USA-Ret., and CAPT Carl Stein, USN-Ret. They
are shown in the photo below. Carl’s wife Mary was also in
attendance but not shown in photo. |
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IN MEMORIAM
LCDR Ralph A. Wright, USN - Ret.
CAPT John MacGregor, USN - Ret.
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