Close Window

The Bi-Monthly Newsletter of the
Hampton Roads Chapter 
Military Officers Association of America
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
Email/Website:
hrmoaa@cox.net
www.hrcmoaa.org

Address:
HRCMOAA
P.O. Box 4612
Virginia Beach, VA
23454-0612

VOL 37-NO 1
ONE POWERFUL VOICE
JANUARY 2013

In This Issue
January Luncheon
February Luncheon
President's Message
HRCMOAA Officer Directory
Legislative Update
From The Editor
NROTC / AROTC
HRCMOAA ROTC Scholarship Fund
ID Card Notification Program
Veterans Day Celebrations
Toys For Tots
Virginia Wounded Warrior
Chapter Schedule
October Luncheon
Cell Phones for Soldiers Award
November Luncheon
HRCMOAA New Members
Join Our Chapter
In Memoriam
The Tribute
In honor of those who have sacrificed
to keep our country free.
Arlington National Cemetary
Courtesy of the Arlington National Cemetery Website Images 

25 January 2013 Luncheon
The luncheon will be held in the Westin Hotel at the Town Center located in Virginia Beach. Captain John Andrews, USN-Ret. will be a guest speaker.  CAPT Andrews is the Special Assistant of the Norfolk City Manager for Veteran Services and Military Affairs.  The captain was a top aide to Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the four-star leader of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command, prior to joining the city.  His new job is unique to South Hampton Roads. No other city has a staffer solely dedicated to military affairs.

22 February 2013 Luncheon
The luncheon will be held at Atlantic Shores Community in Virginia Beach.  Our scheduled guest speaker is CDR Rene A. Campos, USN-Ret.  Rene is MOAA’s Deputy Director, Health Care Issues, Wounded Warrior/Seamless Transition Issues,  Government Relations Department; and co-advisor Health Care Committee.   Her last assignment was at the Pentagon as the associate director, Office of Family Policy in the office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Military Personnel and Family Policy.
US Air Force
US Army
US Navy
US Marine Corps
US Coast Guard
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. 
President’s Message

Fellow Officers and Spouses:

It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as your president the last two years. I have been most ably aided by some of the finest people it has ever been my pleasure with whom to serve. Past Presidents Rip Dellaripa, Norm Crews, and Ray Hart have given me guidance from their expertise and their long service to this chapter; 

The Chapters most capable and very active secretary, Loren Heckelman. Loren still is in the work force with a full time job which includes travel but still takes the time to do mail pick ups, write letters and come to our board meeting on his days off. 

Jim Edge is your treasure who also works but finds time to take care of our finances and keeps an eye on your money, which our Community Affairs, officer, Dave Wade wisely uses in his efforts to make a positive impact for our Chapter on our community. In particular, aided by "Breeze" Barea, they help coordinate the WWII and now Korean veterans bus trips to D.C. to view the memorial that honor them. Dave also works with the home that provides shelter to homeless veterans, the college and high school AROTC/NROTC units sponsoring drill team meets and graduation and commissioning recognition of new/future officers. I need to also recognize Jim Smith and his efforts on behalf of the Wounded Warrior program and his design and purchase of welcome home and departing banners for the Independent Deploying Personal. 

Clif Furedy quietly goes about his businesses as our Information System/Webmaster. He along with John Vermillion, our Newsletter/Publicity officer in their jobs gain our chapter many accolades and awards given by the National Headquarters. Every year for the past several they have collected first place awards for their particular endeavors beating out all other chapters from every state in the Union. 

Our trio of people responsible for our luncheons and speakers, Jo Carter, our auxiliary chair, First Vice President Aaron Zielinski, and Bert Ortiz, Second Vice President, as demonstrated by our last luncheon, have provided us with a wide range of informative speakers. The November affair really raised the bar as far as an informative and entertaining event. 

Jack Colgan and now Larry King (Live) have worked very diligently to try to increase our membership as well as keeping track of members as they move or forget to renew their membership. 

Jim Jones represents our Chapter with the Virginia Council of Chapters, (VCOC). Jim along with Jack Hilgers our Legislative Affairs Rep. briefs and lobbies for MOAA initiatives with our state and national representatives. Jack spends a great deal of time in Richmond starting in January during the Legislative Session.  Dale Hendren rounds out your Board of Directors and Committee Chairs. They have done exceptional work on your behalf.

To all of you, you are all my heroes. We have lived and served in extraordinary times . The many changes in our society had to be reconciled in our military and, you, the officers had to make it happen while continuing to be combat ready and in many cases being in the mist of combat. WELL DONE!!!

The holiday season is fast approaching. May you and yours enjoy all the joys and blessing this season can bring and may 2013 be a prosperous and happy year. 

God bless.

Holly

HRCMOAA Directory

Officers

Directors

Committees

President
CAPT Paul Hollandsworth
USN Ret
496-9248
hollynav@aol.com
1st Vice President
LCDR Aaron Zielinski
628-8938
zielinski_aaron@cox.net
2nd Vice President
CDR Bert Ortiz
USN Ret
482-1995
bertortiz@cox.net
Recording Secretary
CAPT Loren Heckelman
USN Ret
963-7979
loren.heckelman@cox.net
Treasurer
COL James G. Edge
USA Ret.
417-6394
jedge13@cox.net
MAJ Norm Crews
USA Ret.
363-1094
ncrews1@cox.net
LtCol James M. Dellaripa Sr.
USAF Ret.
640-0947
jdellaripa@aol.com
CAPT Mike "Breeze" Barea
USN Ret. 
213-6939
michael.barea@gmail.com
CAPT John G. Colgan
USN Ret 
496-9524
john.colgan@verizon.net
Mrs Jo Carter
Auxiliary Member
462-4744
jo.carter@navy.mil
COL David C. Wade III
USA Ret
549-2123
dcwade@cox.net
LCDR Dale Hendren
USN Ret
463-0557
edhbeach1@verizon.net
Programs
CDR Bert Ortiz
USN Ret
Cell: 560-3671
bertortiz@cox.net
VCOC Representative
CAPT Jim Jones
USN Ret.
777-5972
jimvjones@yahoo.com
Legislative Affairs
Col Jack W. Hilgers
USMC Ret.
481-4164
jackhilgers@earthlink.net
Personal Affairs
MAJ Norm Crews
USA Ret.
363-1094
ncrews1@cox.net
Membership
Col Lawrence M. King
USMC Ret
468-5459
lkingcap@aol.com
Publicity
CDR John E. Vermillion
USN Ret.
382-9843
vermillj@cox.net
Community Affairs
COL David C. Wade III
USA Ret
549-2123
dcwade@cox.net
Information Systems
Maj Clifton G. Furedy
USAF Ret.
490-5792
thrcmoaa@cox.net
Webmaster
Maj Clifton G. Furedy
USAF Ret.
490-5792
thrcmoaa@cox.net
Editor
CDR John E. Vermillion
USN Ret.
382-9843
vermillj@cox.net
(TOPS) Liaison
CAPT Loren Heckelman
USN Ret
963-7979
loren.heckelman@cox.net
Active Duty
Military Liaison
COLTed Cisowski, USMC-Ret
443-6347
cisowskita@hotmail.com
MOAA Legislative Update (Weekly Issue)

How Will the Election Results Affect the Military Community?

Every passing presidential election seems to be more and more polarizing, and adherents of whichever party loses tend to bemoan an alleged national decline.  But the fact is that the military community is much more affected by the issues than by whoever wins the White House.  In the current situation, the country, the Pentagon, and military members and families of all ages face some of the most daunting economic conditions in generations.  No matter who is president, the next few years are likely to see increasing calls for force reductions, pay raise caps, retirement changes, TRICARE fee hikes, and more. 

Even presidents who initially pledged to support/rebuild the military after periods of budget shortfalls ended up proposing new cutbacks by the end of their terms.  And virtually every Administration of either party has proposed whacking pay raises, health care and more at one point or another.  Almost all of the big legislative gains of the past dozen years, from restoring full pay comparability to winning TRICARE For Life, concurrent receipt, SBP improvements, and the GI Bill, have been won despite strident objections of the Administration in charge at the time – whether Republican or Democrat. 

And no matter what rosy campaign promises were made by anybody, the solutions to the country's current fiscal problems are going to involve significant sacrifices for every segment of Americans, including the military.  With a still-sharply-divided Congress, where the Republicans control one chamber and the Democrats control the other, no president can ram programs through without significant support from the other party.  It's that system of checks and balances that (hopefully) helps avoid the worst possible outcomes – and lets the politicians blame "the system" for the failure of any proposals that aren't good enough to win at least a modicum of consensus.


Will Lame Ducks Waddle or Fly?

Before all the new congressional faces take office as a result of the election turnover, the lame duck Congress has a full plate of major issues to address in the post-election session that started Nov. 13.  What's on their plate? The most important things include:

  • Avoiding across-the-board spending cuts (sequestration) that would cut more than $54 billion from defense accounts in 2013
  • Acting to extend some or all of the tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year
  • Passing a defense authorization bill for our wartime military (and hopefully fending off big TRICARE pharmacy copay hikes)
  • Stopping a 27% cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors now scheduled for Jan 1.
Taking on all these issues is an enormous task. But some legislators will want to get out of town after doing that minimum essential task, so it's quite possible that they'll simply punt some of these problems to the next Congress to fix.  Many legislators believe lame duck sessions are worthless. Defeated legislators have to vacate their offices by the first week in December, so they won't even have a place to work after two weeks. And the election winners usually want to defer any substantive action until the following year when they'll be driving the train.  There’s hope that the defense authorization bill will be addressed by the Senate next week, but amendments and debate on the bill may be limited.  What can you do to urge Congress to take action in the lame duck session? You can start by visiting MOAA's legislative alerts page and sending your legislators MOAA-suggested messages. 
From the Editor
In December the chapter had gold bars and free electronic memberships presented to those being commissioned in the military services from local ROTC programs. 
On 7 December they were presented to five commissioned in the Army from Norfolk State University AROTC and on 15 December they were presented to five commissioned in the Marine Corps and fourteen commissioned in the Navy from the NROTC Unit Hampton Roads.
NROTC/AROTC
The Toys for Tots luncheon also is an opportunity to recognize the NROTC and AROTC units from our local colleges.  ODU AROTC CO, LTC Brian Kerns, USA and XO MAJ Jenn Cope, USA, plus ODU NROTC XO CDR Joey Mones, USN were guests at the luncheon. 

Shown below are, l-r MIDN Viton Garbesi ODU, MIDN Tevon Davis ODU and LtCol David Bohn, USMC,  CO of HMM 774. 

HRCMOAA ROTC Scholarship Fund
HRCMOAA is 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.  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
$0
$2,500
$5000
 
PLATINUM $500 and above
Ruth Dodson, AUX USN -Ret.

GOLD $250 to $499
CAPT Michael Barea, USN-Ret. 
Maj Clif Furedy, USAF-Ret. and Mrs Furedy

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.
COL Jack Hilgers, USMC –Ret.
Ms Theodora Rink, AUX.
CAPT Jim Jones, USM-Ret.
CDR Pat Grillo, USN-Ret. 

Bronze Under $100
LT Stephen Hackney, USN-Ret.
CDR Frederick Johnson, USN-Ret.
CAPT Ronald Ball, USN-Ret.
CAPT Michael Nickelsburg, USN-Ret. 

Military ID Card Notification Program
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.

 
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.
 
CLICK HERE FOR
Military ID Card Notification
Program Form
Veterans Day Celebrations
Our Chapter celebrated Veterans Day in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.  Shown below placing a wreath at the Chesapeake Veterans Memorial near City Hall are Chapter members CAPT Frank Driscoll, USN-Ret., CDR Matt Krakower, USN-Ret. and CDR Bert Ortiz, USN-Ret 2nd VP. 
The Chapter also participated in the Parade and Luncheon held at Virginia Beach which is sponsored by the Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organization.  The Co-Sponsor this year was the Marine Corp League.  Two active duty marines joined the Chapter for lunch, they are below l-r 1st Sgt John Preston, Maj Fred Galvin with Col Jack Hilgers, USMC-Ret. 
Next is CAPT Jim Jones, USN-Ret. and LtCol Jim Dellaripa USAF Ret. 
 Next is Jo Carter, Aux Rep. and Sandy and Jack Wood
The Veterans Day Proclamation was read by The Honorable William D. Sessoms, Jr., Mayor of Virginia Beach.  Remarks were given by Councilman William R. DeSteph.  Our Luncheon guest speaker was Co-Marshal SgtMaj William S. McCoy, USMC-Ret.  The Grand Marshal was Earl “Wally” Timmons, a Past President of the HRCVO who is recovering from cancer.  There were over 80 organizations participating in the parade this year. 
Toys for Tots 
The 16 November Luncheon with LtGen Paxton, USMC was also our USMC Toys for Tots program.  The Marine representatives were above l-r, LCorp Christopher Umber, SSgt Daniel Easterhoff and LtCol David Bohn.  Shown with the Marines was Col Bud Statzer, USMC-Ret., a chapter member. 

Shown below is SSgt Easterhoff with the member donated toys for tots.  All members were encouraged to donate a toy or give a check to the USMC program. 

Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
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

Chapter Schedule

For the most current and up-to-date schedule of chapter events, 
click on Calendar of Events

 
25 January Luncheon (Westin Hotel) Town Center
CAPT John Andrews, USN-Ret., Special Assistant to the Norfolk City Manager for Veteran Services and Military Affairs. 
22 February Luncheon (Atlantic Shores)
National MOAA speaker CDR Rene  A. Campos, USN-Ret. Deputy Director, Health Care, Wounded Warrior covering Seamless Transition Issues. 
22 March Luncheon (Westin Hotel) Town Center
Major General Daniel E. Long Jr., Adjutant General Virginia National Guard. 
 
VCOC Schedule
13 January VCOC Meeting (Va. War Memorial)
The meeting will start at 1300 and end at 1700.  This meeting will highlight the “Storming of the Hill” at the General Assembly on the next day. 
14 January Storming of the Hill 
This is a big day at the General Assembly for engaging with your local legislators and discussing the JLC’s list of priorities for the Military, Dependents and Veterans.  Contact our VCOC representative CAPT Jim Jones, USN-Ret. at 777-5972 or 427-0395 for transportation details. 
19 October Luncheon 
HRCMOAA  President CAPT Holly Hollandsworth, USN-Ret., presents the Jefferson Cup to  CAPT David Culler, USN, Commanding Officer Naval Station Norfolk.  Captain David A. Culler, Jr., a second generation Naval Aviator, was born in High Point, NC. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in December 1987 with a BA degree in Political Science. Commissioned in 1988, he earned his Naval Flight Officer wings of gold in 1989. 

CAPT Culler covered the mission and vision for Naval Station Norfolk.  The Naval Station  supports the operational readiness of the US Atlantic Fleet, providing facilities and services to enable mission accomplishment. “We are committed to safety, security, and continuous improvement in quality of life and quality of service for our Sailors and families.” 

Cellphones for Soldiers 
The HRCMOAA recently received a Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding support for the Cellphones for Soldiers program in the year 2011– 2012.  CDR Bert Ortiz is shown presenting Cell Phones for Soldiers Award to COL Jim Edge, USA-Ret. who was the chapter coordinator. 
16 November Luncheon 
President CAPT Holly Hollandsworth, USN-Ret., presents the Jefferson Cup to Lt General Paxton, Jr. USMC , Commander, US Marine Forces Command, Commanding General Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, Commander, US Marine Corps Bases Atlantic and Commander US Marine Fores Europe.   The General discussed the Expeditionary Forces involvement in Afghanistan including the Army, Marine Corp, Navy, Air Force and the Joint Forces.    He covered the many difficulties in training the Afghan forces to replace the existing joint forces now in place. 
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

To protect member privacy,
New Members, Renewals and Directory Changes
are only available through the Members Access page.
Click Here for Member Access


Directory Changes and Email Corrections should be sent to
HRCMOAA
P.O. Box 4612
Virginia Beach, VA  23454-0612
Attention Clif Furedy
You may call Clif at 490-5792 after 1830 or email thrcmoaa@cox.net
Click Here for Membership Information
and Renewal Form
IN MEMORIAM


 

COL P. Lee Starkey, USA-Ret.

 

All information contained in this web site is the exclusive property of Hampton Roads Chapter MOAA (HRCMOAA) © 2013
04276