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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 Printed Newsletter
2014, Electronic Newsletter 2014, and Runner Up Website for 2014
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Serving Chesapeake,
Norfolk, and Virginia Beach since 1959
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VOL 39-NO 3
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ONE POWERFUL VOICE
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MAY 2015
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THE TRIBUTE
In honor of those who have
sacrificed
to keep our country free.
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CORRECTION
Luncheon 29 May 2015
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The date
on the printed newsletter is an error.
The correct date
of the May Luncheon is
Friday, 29 May
2015.
Join us at the Atlantic Shores Community,
Magnolia Room. The event commences at 1100 hours with lunch at 1200
hours.
Our guest speaker will be Delegate Chris
Stolle, Virginia House of Delegates 83rd District Representative (parts
of Virginia Beach and Norfolk). Del. Stolle is a retired Naval Officer,
who started his career in the Submarine force where he qualified as a Naval
Nuclear Engineer and later entered the Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences where he earned his doctorate of Medicine. He is an
OB/GYN and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Riverside Regional Medical
Center. We will present him with the MOAA VCOC Commonwealth Legislator
of the Year award. |
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| Visit our website at www.hrcmoaa.org,
read the Electronic Newsletter, access Virginia Council of Chapters, 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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Luncheon 26 June
2015
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 Our
speaker is John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge Norfolk Field
Office. Mr. Adams entered on duty as a special agent with the FBI in 1997.
Upon graduating from the FBI Academy, he was assigned to the Washington
Field Office, where he enjoyed a career investigating cases related to
espionage, drug trafficking, violent crime, and terrorism. He has extensive
experience investigating terrorist bombings overseas, to include the bombing
of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, (Cont. Page 4)
(Cont. from Page 1) Nairobi, Kenya; USS Cole in Aden, Yemen;
and three residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, he led the crime scene investigation
and evidence recovery at the Pentagon.
In December 2014, Mr. Adams was appointed
by Director James Comey to serve as the special agent in charge of the
FBI’s Norfolk Field Office. |
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| President’s Message
 Fellow
Officers and Spouses:
As you may have noticed, the Newsletter
Editor position has been transitioned to Aaron Zielinski.
Aaron was our former 1st and 2nd Vice President and we are extremely fortunate
that he has volunteered to take over from John Vermillion.
John has certainly set the standard as a perennial MOAA Marvin G. Harris
award winner for both printed and electronic newsletter and I think Aaron
will continue our run. John will continue to serve our chapter in
various roles as he is able and we look forward to his continued advice
and council. Thank you John!
The Chapter has had a very busy first quarter
and I thank all those that continue to represent us at various events.
We were involved in the MOAA Spouse’s and Chapter Leaders symposiums. We
participated in various legislative forums at both the state and national
level. Our Community Affairs committee has been very busy preparing
for graduation of our cadets and midshipmen, coordinating gold bar presentations
and leadership awards. Recently, members of our chapter also participated
in honoring our WWII and Korean War Veterans at the Honor Flight send off.
We have also made donations to both the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
and Vetshouse, Inc. Our Programs committee has events planned for
the rest of the year including just confirming ADM John Harvey’s,
Virginia's Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, availability
to speak at our October luncheon. We also look forward to seeing
you at Memorial Day activities in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
The Chapter is always represented there at the wreath laying ceremonies.
I am very pleased to announce two major
Chapter sponsorship agreements. The first is through MOAA/USAA affinity
event sponsorship program which grants chapters $300 for use to provide
support benefitting various community service projects and programs.
Our grant will be used to help sponsor Cadets and Midshipman at our November
membership luncheon. We will also make a donation on behalf of the Chapter
to the Toys for Tots program. Our other sponsorship agreement is
with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce (HRCC), another non-profit organization.
This no-cost and mutually beneficial agreement allows us to advertise military
related events to our constituencies. HRCC will also allow us to
have sponsorship and a recruiting table at their events. HRCC membership
announcements typically go out to over 14,000 email contacts in our region.
MOAA is rebranding its logo. The
change was made to reflect inclusiveness and attraction to today’s potential
members. Transition to the new logo will be gradual and you will
begin to see it in the Military Officer magazine and other correspondence.
We will also gradually transition to the new logo.
We hope to see you at one of our events
soon. Again, I am continually reminded that I serve you and this
Chapter and as always, I am open to your comments, suggestions and ideas.
Please feel free to contact me any time.
Yours in Service,
Bert Ortiz |
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| Community Affairs Update |
| Spring is the busiest time of the year
of your chapter’s Community Affairs. We have lots of awesome opportunities
to help in the community. Please reach out to a board member to find
out how you can help! |
Honor Flight, 4/18:
The Departure Ceremony for the Honor Flight
for World War II and Korean War Veterans was conducted in the early morning
of Saturday, 18 April. Old Dominion University Army ROTC, Hampton
Roads NROTC Unit, Princess Anne High School NJROTC, and Landstown
High School NJROTC units participated. SFC Thigpen of the
ODU ROTC unit led 45 cadets in honoring the 20 veterans making the trip.
It was a caring and emotional event as we honored the patriotic men and
women who have served before us. Pictured below (left) from left
to right are HRCMOAA members COL James Edge USA (Ret), Col Jack
Hilgers USMC (Ret), LCDR Daryl Holland USN (Ret) and COL
Dave Wade USA (Ret) who along with a host of the veteran’s family members,
parents of the Cadets and many others participated in this tribute. |
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MOAA Leadership Medals:
The medals are presented to those ROTC
and JROTC cadets being recognized for academic and leadership achievements
and who exhibit the potential for military leadership. The MOAA Medals
were presented to deserving cadets as selected by their respective staff
instructors at the Norfolk State University (NSU) AROTC unit and the Hampton
Roads NROTC Unit. Our chapter presenters were Jim Smith and Mike
Barea respectively. Jim Edge presented at the ODU unit
on 22 April. Pictured below (right) is COL Jim Edge, USA (Ret) presenting
the MOAA ROTC Medal to Cadet Brenton Hill for having demonstrated
exceptional potential for military leadership as a member of the Reserve
Officer’s Training Corps during the ODU President’s Review and Award Ceremony.
It was a superb performance by the Monarch Battalion Cadre and Cadets.
Welcoming remarks by Professor of Military Science, LTC Mark D. Rea
praised the ROTC Cadets for their hard work and many accomplishments.
Remarks by ODU President, John R. Broderick were, as always, appropriate
to the occasion and reflected his continued and sincere support of the
ROTC Program. |
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| Presentations to selected cadets at our
affiliated NJROTC high school programs will occur in May. There will
be six different ceremonies for the ten high schools. The Norfolk schools
are combined into one ceremony. Jim Daniels is coordinating
this effort. If you have interest in participating, please contact
Jim at (757) 375-3973 or jakaoc@aol.com. |
Gold Bars and MOAA e-membership:
The chapter presents gold bars to those
being commissioned from our three affiliated ROTC units. For those
who apply, an electronic membership in MOAA is provided free for one year.
Jim
Edge, Jim Smith and Mike Barea will present or arrange
to have presented the gold bars and letters acknowledging membership on
8 May. |
VetsHouse, Inc.:
VetsHouse is a non-profit that provides
a transition program in a disciplined environment for homeless veterans
which includes housing and assistance with job searching. The chapter
has supported VetsHouse for several years. A check in the amount
of $250 was sent in lieu of a presentation this year. |
Virginia Wounded Warrior Program (VWWP):
We continue our long-standing support
of the VWWP. We presented a $1,000 check to the regional director, Carol
Berg at the chapter 17 April luncheon. |
Hampton Roads Chapter ROTC Scholarship
Fund:
Our chapter scholarship fund supports
qualified ROTC cadets in need with financial support in the form of low
interest loans and grants. This is an important effort. The fund
continues to grow and we remain on target to reach our annual goal of $5,000
by 31 December and our overall goal of $25,000 by the end of 2016.
| As of 4/20/2015 |
Total Goal:
$25,000
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Total Collected:
$17,547
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Total %: 70% |
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Annual Goal:
$5,000
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Annual Collected:
$2,547
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Annual % 51% |
Donations are tax deductible. It should
be noted at bottom left on the check that it is for the Hampton Roads Chapter
ROTC Scholarship Fund. Checks can be given to Steve Hackney, Treasurer,
or to Dave Wade, Chair, Community Affairs, at luncheons. The checks are
consolidated and submitted to MOAA who send receipts to the donors. Members
may also donate directly to the national MOAA Scholarship fund. MOAA continues
to send receipts to the donors. Unless asked not to, donors are recognized
in the chapter newsletter. |
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| From the Editor |
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| For those who I have not had the opportunity
to meet, my name is Aaron Zielinski. I have huge shoes to
fill in taking the helm as your new editor. The son of a retired
Chief Petty Officer, I served 11 years as a naval officer before separating
as a LCDR to begin a family and pursue my business career. I have
an incredible wife and son and I enjoy playing softball, backpacking, white
water rafting, and attending Old Dominion basketball and football games.
I am the Associate Engagement Manager at Capital One in Chesapeake where
my role is to make our site the most awesome place to work in Virginia!
In mid-April, MOAA announced the winners
of the 2014 COL Marvin J. Harris Communications Awards. As in past
years, your Hampton Roads Chapter won 1st place for “The Tribute” newsletter
and eNewsletter. The chapter’s website was awarded 2nd place. Retiring
editor, CDR John Vermillion, USN (Ret) is responsible for winning
every year since the awards program started in 2003. His talents
for writing, organization, early implementation of advanced editing software,
and negotiations with the printer to add color to the front and back pages,
make the chapter’s newsletters visually exciting that stand out in competition.
Many chapters use John’s techniques.
Please join me in many thanks to John!
I will work hard to continue the standard of excellence that John set for
us. |
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HRCMOAA ROTC Scholarship
Fund
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| HRCMOAA is committed to funding
the MOAA scholarship fund at $25,000 in 5 years. That translates into $5,000
per year.
Please consider contributing this year!
Members may submit checks, made out to
the MOAA Scholarship Fund, to the chapter treasurer, LT Stephen Hackney,
USN (Ret) at 1736 Rally Dr. Virginia Beach, VA 23454-1233 or in person
at our luncheons. The checks are consolidated and submitted
to MOAA who sends receipts to the donors.
Note on your check that it is for the Hampton
Roads Chapter ROTC Scholarship Fund. MOAA will continue to send receipts. |
Hampton Roads Chapter ROTC
Scholarship Fund
2016 Goal: $25,000.00
Collected : $17,547.00
Need:
$ 7,453.00
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2014
Contributions
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PLATINUM
- $500 and above
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CAPT Williams, USN
COL Jim and Sylvia Smith
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GOLD - $250
to $499
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Clif Furedy
Bud Statzer
Helen P. Lowther
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SILVER -
$100 to $249
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Jack Hilgers
John Vermillion
Jim Edge
Dave Wade
Jim Daniels
Daryl Holland
Jim Dellaripa
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Bronze Under
$100
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CAPT William Lehr, USCG
CAPT Doug Williams, USN
Rita Statzer
Theodora Rink
Karin Barrett
Holly Hollandsworth
Carl Thoren
Steve Hackney
David Yacavone
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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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HRCMOAA Officers
and Board Members (2015)
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| From the left CDR Bert Ortiz, President;
CAPT
Holly Hollandsworth, BD member; CAPT Jim Jones, BD member; CAPT
Jim Daniels, Secretary; LT Steve Hackney, Treasurer;
CAPT
Loren Heckleman, 1st VP; LCDR Jeff Barrett, 2nd VP;
COL Dave
Wade, BD member; COL Larry King “Live”, BD member. |
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Future Events
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Memorial Day:
On 25 May, chapter representatives will
participate in wreath laying ceremonies at the Virginia Beach Veterans
Memorial at the Convention Center and in Chesapeake at City Hall. Anyone
interested in participation, please contact any board member. |
PAC/VIP/HRC MOAA Mid-Summer Brunch
Mixer:
Join members of the Portsmouth and Virginia
Peninsula MOAA chapters for some good food and conversation. It will
be held at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center on Sunday,
July 12th, starting at 1100.
The hotel is located at 2800 Shore Drive
in Virginia Beach (http://www.virginiabeachresort.com/).
Plenty of parking is available on-site
at the hotel but members need to be advised where the Tradewinds restaurant
is located so they can park closer instead of hiking through the hotel.
There is an elevator at the rear of the indoor parking garage (Bayside)
that will take you directly to the front entrance of the Tradewinds.
You can also park at the outdoor lot by taking the left ramp (up) facing
the hotel.
You can preview the extensive brunch menu
online at http://tradewindsrestaurant.com/sunday-brunch.html.
Cost of the brunch is $27.00 each plus
tax and gratuity, which will be billed individually by the hotel staff.
They will have the piano player as they did last year.
RSVP to Bert Ortiz by 30 June. (757)
560-3671 or bertortiz@cox.net |
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CAREER CORNER
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| Once you transition from active duty,
we want you to stay in our community and chapter. Please consider
joining Norfolk NAVNET, a group of active and retired military officers
and senior enlisted members seeking to network with others and those who
are in a period of transition. Here is a list of local military career
fairs and networking opportunities: |
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May 14, 2015
11:00am to 3:00pm
Recruit Military Career Fair
Virginia Beach, Sandler Ctr for the Performing
Arts |
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May 20, 2015
9:00am to 12:30pm
Corporate Gray Military Career Fair
Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Convention
Center |
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Oct 14, 2015
9:00am to 12:30pm
Corporate Gray Military Career Fair
Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Convention
Center |
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November 12, 2015
11:00am to 3:00pm
DAV Recruit Military All Veterans Career
Fair
Norfolk, Nauticus - Half Moone Cruise
& Celeb Ctr |
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Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
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| The Virginia Veterans Services Foundation
is taking 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 and Mail
contributions to:
Virginia Wounded Warrior Program
c/o Veterans Services Foundation
900 East Main Street, 6th Floor, West
Wing
Richmond, VA 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 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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| VCOC Schedule |
| 21 May, 1100, Congressional Luncheon,
Capitol Hill Club, Wash DC
Join us on May 21st as Eighteen Virginia
chapters and the State Council representing over 4000 active and retired
military officers in Virginia hold our 30th Annual Congressional Appreciation
Luncheon in the Capitol Hill Club in Washington D.C. Besides exchanging
information on items of current interest, the primary purpose of this event
is to honor the thirteen members of the Virginia Congressional delegation
for their efforts and continued loyal support of the U.S. Military Community
and the Armed Forces: active duty-reserves-National Guard- retirees-veterans-
surviving spouses-family members |
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| 8 July, 1000, Quarterly Meeting,
Virginia War Memorial |
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| For more information and/or to join in
this effort, contact COL Jim Smith, Chapter VCOC Representative at (757)
425-5934. |
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20 February Luncheon
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| CDR Bert Ortiz, USN (Ret), Chapter
President, presents the Jefferson Cup to Vice Admiral Matthew L. Nathan,
37th Surgeon General of the Navy and Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery. |
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20 March Luncheon
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| Guest speaker William F. Slingerland,
Force Master Chief, United States Navy (Ret), Navy Mutual Aid Association
Military Benefits Programs, spoke to our members about Veterans’ and Survivors’
Benefits. |
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17 April Luncheon
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| Dr. Ed Karotkin, CHKD Neonatologist,
Professor of Pediatrics at EVMS, and past chairman of Physicians for Peace
(below left) receives the Jefferson Cup from CDR Bert Ortiz, USN
(Ret), Chapter President. Treasurer Steve Hackney presenting
a $1,000 check on behalf of HRCMOAA to Carol Bert, Region Five Director
of the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program (below). The event took place
at the Virginia Beach Hotel Resort and Conference Center. |
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Snap Those Photos
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| As you attend our events, please take
out your cameras and cell phones. We’d love for you to snap photos
documenting your experience and send them our way. Please e-mail
them to the editor, Aaron Zielinski, at zielinski_aaron@cox.net.
We love original content and will look to publish them when possible. |
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IN MEMORIAM
Randolph Maury Browne, III
Mrs. Marion K. Chegin
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