RAO BULLETIN 15 November 2016
PDF Edition
THIS BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES
Pg Article Subject . * DOD * .
04 == Trump's Military ------(What to Expect) 06 == Military Recruiting [06] ------(Standards May Be Relaxed) 07 == Toxic Exposure | Colorado Springs Area [02] ------(False Alarm) 07 == BRAC [52] ------(Non-BRAC Closure Alternatives) 08 == Toxic Exposure | Colorado Springs Area [02] ------(False Alarm) 09 == POW/MIA [78] ------(Vietnam POW/MIA Recovery Status) 11 == POW/MIA Recoveries ------(Reported 1 thru 15 NOV 2016 | Nine)
. * VA * .
15 == VA Claim Filing [08] ------(How to Do It) 17 == VA Disability & SSDI [01] ------(Eligibility for Both) 18 == VA Partnerships ------(9 New Ones Announced)
1 19 == VA Registries [06] ------(Airborne Hazards & Open Burn Pit) 20 == VA SSA Dual Disability Eligibility ------(Record Sharing) 20 == myVA Initiative [02] ---- (Report Shows Measurable Improvements) 21 == VA Prescription Policy [07] ------(10-Day Goal Met 99% of Time) 22 == VE-HEROeS ------(VA Vietnam Era Vet Study) 22 == VA Recommendation Policy ------(Inadequate Monitoring) 23 == VA Care Usage ------(Post-9/11 Vet Percentages Up) 24 == VA Overpayments ------(WWII Vet Irene Miller) 25 == VA Home Loan [43] ------(Guaranty Program) 26 == VA Psychiatric Care | Inpatient --- (Admission Screening Shortfalls) 27 == VA DAISY Award ------(Honoring Extraordinary Nurses) 28 == VA Fraud, Waste & Abuse ------(Reported 1 thru 15 NOV 2016) 30 == VAMC Wilkes-Barre PA ------(Expanded Services for Women Vets) 31 == VA Health Care Management [01] ------(Help Is On The Way)
. * Vets * .
32 == GI Bill [214] ------(DOE Final Student Borrower Regs) 33 == Vet Legal Assistance [01] ------(Nevada @Ease Program) 33 == Veterans in Congress [07] ------(Changes For 2017) 35 == Veterans Day by the Numbers ------(As of 1 Jan 2016) 36 == History of Veterans Day ------(1919 to 2016) 38 == Vet vs. Non-Vet Health ----- (Veterans Report Better Overall Health) 38 == Vietnam Lapel Pin ------(National Initiative) 39 == Vet Burial Plans ------(Pre-Planning Is A Must) 40 == Vet Best vs. Worst Cities to Live ------(2016 Rankings) 40 == SW Florida Vietnam Wall ----- (Half Scale Dedicated in Punta Gorda) 41 == Vet Toxic Exposure | Ft. McClellan [04] ------(First COA Reversal) 42 == VVMF Wall of Faces [01] ------(Finish The Wall) 44 == Korean War Vets ------(McEachin & Okamoto) 45 == Enlistment Bonus Payback [02] ---- (Guard Can't find 4,000 Soldiers) 46 == Enlistment Bonus Payback [03] - (ISSA Demands DoD Return Pmts) 47 == Enlistment Bonus Payback [04] --- (Estimates Outside CA Retracted) 48 == Vet Jobs [202] ------(Longevity | 50% After One Year) 48 == Obit: Akee~Dan ------(14 OCT 2016) 49 == Retiree Appreciation Days ------(As of 15 NOV 2016) 50 == Vet Hiring Fairs ------(16 NOV thru 15 DEC 2016) 52 == Vet State Benefits & Discounts ------(Iowa NOV 2016)
* Vet Legislation * .
53 == OSS Congressional Gold Medal Act------(H.R.3929) 53 == House Vet Bill Progress ------(15 NOV 2016) 54 == Senate Vet Bill Progress ------(15 NOV 2016)
. * MILITARY * .
54 == Navy Submarine Work Day ------(New 8 on, 12 Off Impact)
2 55 == Navy Obesity Problem ------(How they Plan to Fix It) 55 == Military Sexual Assault [01] ------(Special Victim Counsel Program) 56 == Special Ops ------((More Resources Or Fewer Missions Needed) 57 == SCRA [06] ----- (New Support Pilot Program Enhances Enforcement) 58 == Carl Gustaf Recoilless Rifle ------(M3E1 "Super" Bazooka) 59 == USS Zumwalt [08] ------(LRLAP Shells Could Run $800k+ Each) 60 == KA-BAR ------(1219C2 aka '1217 USMC Fighting Utility Knife') 61 == Military Combat Training ------(Warrior Night) 62 == Military Ranks Quiz 2 ------(Do You Know?) 63 == Military Ranks Quiz 2 ------(Did you Answer Correctly)
. * MILITARY HISTORY * .
64 == Black Max Award ------(Naval Aviators - Vietnam Era) 66 == WW2 Vets 120 ------(Herschel “Woody” Williams) 68 == Military Legends -- (Go For Broke | WW2 442nd RCT Nisei Troops) 71 == Midway Atoll ------(History Preservation vs. Wildlife Protection) 73 == Fat Man Search ------(May Have Been Found after 66 Years) 73 == America's Response Monument ------(Special Forces | Rededicated) 74 == Military History ------(WW2 Philippines | Minoru Wada's Moment) 76 == Military History Anniversaries ------(16 thru 30 NOV) 76 == Medal of Honor Citations ------(Edson, Merritt A | WWII)
. * HEALTH CARE * .
79 == Bile Duct Cancer - (Cholangiocarcinoma Linked to Vietnam Service) 81 == TRICARE Child Care [02] ------(Hospice Care Coverage) 82 == TRICARE Auditory Care [01] ------(Hearing Aid Implants) 83 == TRICARE Enrollment [01] ------(Insurance Marketplace Options) 83 == PTSD [222] ------(Army Stellate Ganglion Block Study) 84 == TRICARE Podcast 373 - (Warrior Care MO | Smokeout | Eye Health) 85 == TRICARE Podcast 374 - (Skin Protection | Health Literacy | Bullying) 87 == Health Care Reform [65] ------(Open Enrollment 2017 Is Here)
. * FINANCES * .
88 == Medicare Supplemental Plans ------(Selection ABC's) 89 == Insurance Terminology ------(Key Definitions) 90 == Social Security Fund Depletion [13] -- (Could You Survive 21% Cut) 91 == Service Plans ------(Are They Worth It?) 92 == Online Surveys ------(Win A Prize or Earn Gift Cards) 93 == Veteran Scams [02] ------(Top Five) 94 == Mortgage Refinancing Scam 2 ------(How It works) 95 == Tax Burden for Minnesota Retired Vets ------(As of NOV 2016)
. * GENERAL INTEREST * .
3 97 == Notes of Interest ------(1 thru 15 NOV 2016) 98 == Fact Checking ------(Tech Tactics | Tools & Tips) 99 == Got Your Six [01] -- (Recommended Veteran Related Entertainment) 100 == Tomb of the Unknowns [10] ------(Documentary | The Unknowns) 101 == Dumb Smart Device ------(Umbrella) 101 == Trump Election ------(Russia's Reaction) 102 == Trump Election [01] ------(What Troops Can Expect) 104 == Trump Election [02] ------(7 Ways It Could Impact your Wallet) 105 == U.S. Philippine Bases [12] ---- (RP Defense Equipment Acquisitions) 106 == Lies ------(10 Ways to Spot Them) 108 == Have You Heard? ------(Cow, Ant & an Old Fart || Nun at Hooters)
Note: 1. The page number on which an article can be found is provided to the left of each article’s title 2. Numbers contained within brackets [ ] indicate the number of articles written on the subject. To obtain previous articles send a request to [email protected].
. * ATTACHMENTS * .
Attachment - Iowa Vet State Benefits & Discounts NOV 2016 Attachment - Military History Anniversaries 16 thru 30 NOV
* DoD *
Trump's Military ► What to Expect
A Washington outsider who pledged to rebuild what he's called a weak and ineffective military soon will serve as the new commander in chief. In his acceptance speech Trump called on Americans to come together after the divisive campaign season. The New York businessman also pledged to put more Americans to work by rebuilding infrastructure and promised to “finally take care of our great veterans.” Throughout his campaign, Trump said he'd boost the size of the military, including people, ships, and aircraft - though details about how he'd carry out those plans were never specified. He recently released a 10-point plan for VA reform, and he'll face tough decisions about the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who will serve as his defense secretary, and how he'll lead the armed forces through ongoing personnel and budget cuts. Trump will be joined in office by Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the father of a Marine officer who's training to become a pilot. Here's what troops can expect from their new commander in chief.
People and pay
4 After repeatedly arguing that President Barack Obama's administration had undercut the military, Trump laid out plans in September to: Increase the number of active-duty soldiers to 540,000, up nearly 100,000 troops from the Army's current drawdown plans. Boost the number of Marine Corps battalions to 36 in order to deal with major contingencies. That would add about a dozen battalions to the force Build a Navy that has 350 surface ships and submarines, about a 28-percent bump from today's fleet. Build an Air Force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft.
With another round of across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration, threatening to wreak havoc on the 2018 defense budget, the military currently doesn't have the funds to carry out those plans. Trump said in his plan that he would “ask Congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild our military.” Thomas Donnelly, a defense and security policy analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said defense spending could increase in the years to come since the White House and both chambers of Congress will soon be controlled by Republicans. Whether it actually happens will largely depend on how congressional Democrats respond, he said, since they could try to block any effort by Trump to boost spending. Benjamin Friedman, a research fellow in defense and homeland security studies at the CATO Institute, said if spending doesn't increase that overseas contingency funds will be something to watch because the services have used those dollars to offset some cuts they've faced.
When it comes to servicemembers' pay and benefits, Friedman said it's difficult to know what might change since Trump hasn't made his plans for the military clear. All politicians tend to say they're great advocates for military pay and benefits, he said, but it's not yet clear where Trump will come down on expenses like TRICARE fees, pay raises, housing, and commissary benefits. Donnelly said Trump might be more likely than Clinton to override the Pentagon's recent plans to overhaul military pay and benefits. “I think Hillary might've had the political instincts … to push that noodle forward,” he said. “I think it's more likely that Trump will say, 'We can't cut back on the benefits that our brave guys in uniform deserve.' ”
Overseas operations The fight against ISIS could get even more complicated after the Iraqis retake Mosul, and Trump said that on his first day in office he'd give general officers 30 days to present a plan to defeat the terror group. That followed comments he'd made about knowing “more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” Trump has blasted the Obama administration's handling of the fight on the terror group. Trump argued that the Iraqis were giving ISIS fighters too much notice about their offensive plans, but Trump offered few details on what else he'd do differently, Friedman said. “Trump continued throughout the campaign to say that he can't make his plan public on what he was going to do about it,” he said. “Other than generally saying he's going to be aggressive, it's hard to know what Trump was planning.”
The president-elect might even be anxious to get troops out of the region, Donnelly said, and take a more standoffish approach toward Middle East conflicts. That could allow him to focus on domestic issues like the economy. That approach could apply to other parts of the world, too. Trump made waves when he suggested in recent months that he wouldn't defend certain alliances if he felt partner nations weren't holding up their end of the bargain. Friedman said it's likely “more bluster than reality,” but added that Trump doesn't seem as emotionally committed to the NATO alliance or other allies as most Washington politicians.
Reforming the VA During his campaign, Trump released a 10-part plan to reform the VA in which he said he'd support veterans' physical and mental health care through modernization and better accountability. “No more long drives, no more waiting backlogs, no more excessive red tape,” the plan states. “Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.” Trump wants to appoint a new VA secretary whose “sole purpose will be to serve veterans.” He said he will remove and discipline federal employees who've violated the public's trust and will ask
5 Congress to pass legislation that will allow the VA secretary to “terminate any employee who has jeopardized the health, safety, or well-being of a veteran.” Trump's White House will also have a 24-hour hotline, according to the plan, that will be “answered by a real person” that veterans can call if they have complaints about their VA care. He plans to increase the number of mental health care professionals and will allow veterans to seek care outside the VA system. “Under a Trump administration, no veteran will die waiting for service,” the plan states.
Leadership style When it comes to getting buy-in from the military community, Trump could face an easier time of that than Clinton might have. Polls conducted by Military Times and Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families routinely showed that Trump maintained the edge when it came to the military vote. Clinton proved less popular with troops, the polls showed, although servicemembers weren't overly confident about either candidate's ability to serve as commander in chief. Trump's comments about Sen. John McCain's capture during Vietnam, Gold Star families, and knowing more about ISIS than military leaders didn't sit well with everyone, but Donnelly said the president-elect has proven he's skilled at redefining “what he meant on pretty much anything.” “He's perfectly capable now of saying, 'These guys are my generals. I like these guys and working for me, they're going to be great,' ” he said, even if he previously spoke ill of them.
Regardless, Friedman said it's not necessary for Trump - or any commander in chief - to have the military's complete support since troops carry out the president's will regardless of political beliefs. As long as Trump tones down some of his campaign rhetoric, Friedman said it's likely Trump will have the support of his military. “If he behaves like a president and seems considered and reasoned, and maybe even reduces the amount of wars that we're fighting, it might go a long way to win military support,” he said.
[Source: MOAA | Gina Harkins | November 9, 2016 ++]
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Military Recruiting Update 06 ► Standards May Be Relaxed
The Pentagon has long implied that the numbers of qualified recruits for military service has been getting smaller. On 1 NOV, SecDef Ash Carter during a speech announcing new recruiting initiatives at City College of New York said, "Geographically, our military's recruiting pool is shrinking, with more and more of our people coming from fewer and fewer states," the Pentagon chief lamented, noting 40 percent of recruits hail from just six states and only about 1 percent of Americans have served in the military. He has launched a sweeping review of the military's recruiting standards, saying current rules for screening new entrants may be “overly restrictive” and preventing America's most talented young people from joining the ranks.
Among the benchmarks that will get new scrutiny: fitness standards, marijuana use, tattoo regulations and the military’s longtime reluctance to allow single parents to start military careers. Carter’s 1 NOV announcement marked the latest round of his “Force of the Future” personnel reforms, which are driven by his concerns that the military today is ill-equipped to recruit and retain the top talent needed for future missions. “We’re going to review and update these standards as appropriate,” Carter said in a speech to reserve officer training corps cadets at the City College of New York. “Now, some of these things we’ll never be able to compromise on. And we will always have to maintain high standards. But at the same time, these benchmarks must be kept relevant for both today’s force and tomorrow’s, meaning we have to ensure they’re not unnecessarily restrictive."
Carter also announced a $140 million advertising campaign to improve the military’s brand among young people throughout all regions of the country, and an effort to improve the ROTC program that trains about 40 percent of incoming military officers. This review was informed by several active-duty military recruiters, Carter said, noting that many are worried today’s force is turning away people with critical skills because they fail to meet specific
6 individual requirements. It also recognizes that today’s military mission has changed, relying less on traditional infantry operations and more on technical skills needed for jobs like cyber warfare and intelligence analysis.
The Defense Department will also launch a “speakers’ bureau” to better coordinate the appearances and messages of top officials, and retired generals and admirals. “In doing so, we’re going to reach out and talk to the American people wherever they are — which as you know isn’t just on TV anymore, but increasingly in many different places online. And we won’t just speak to potential recruits — we’re going to speak to everyone, including parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, guidance counselors, and more,” Carter said. Carter also outlined plans to revamp the ROTC program. He wants to: Offer scholarships and stipends to incentivize academic and athletic performance. Develop ways to give ROTC graduates credit for taking academically rigorous coursework in a way that would impact their future military job assignments. Increase the opportunity for graduate school scholarships.
His latest announcement comes as top military officials are bracing for a downturn in the recruiting market nationwide. [Source: Military Times | Andrew Tilghman | November 1, 2016 ++]
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BRAC Update 52 ► Non-BRAC Closure Alternatives
For several years, the Pentagon has been blocked by Congress in its request to begin another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). Now, facing an expected wave of modernization bills in the next decade, a top DoD official has suggested the building needs to look for alternative ways to shut down excess infrastructure. Jamie Morin, the head of the Pentagon’s office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), told Defense News that he believes the department needs to look at all the options on the table and try to work with Congress to dump excess infrastructure, even if it means going outside the BRAC procedure.
“It’s not clear to me that BRAC is the only model to follow. Maybe we need to think about redefining what a process might be for getting to recognition that some installations need to close,” Morin said in a 22 OCT interview. “I am not writing a legislative proposal at this point, but I think if Congress can’t see its way through to BRAC, what was constituted in the Nineties and reprising one of the 1990’s rounds, then we need to find another alternative that does work for them.” There were BRAC rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995, but the one that still echoes today is the 2005 round. While the Pentagon says it is now enjoying the benefits of that effort, the 2005 effort was seen as excessively costly and left members of Congress, already sensitive to political ramifications of bases leaving various states, with a built-in aversion to further efforts.
Bob Hale, who served as Pentagon comptroller from 2009 to 2014, says that the five rounds of BRAC held since 1990 have resulted in savings of $12 billion dollars every year. “Based on my experience, I believe that BRAC represents the single largest program efficiency that DoD has been able to implement,” Hale said in an October email. “Congress should keep this history in mind as it considers whether to authorize another BRAC round.” Those comments have been echoed by top Pentagon officials, including Morin, who contend that BRAC is necessary, especially with a much-ballyhooed “bow-wave” of modernization programs coming in the early 2020s. As an example, the CAPE head noted that when he was an official with the Air Force, the service estimated it took 800-900 airmen just to keep a base open, even before you put any equipment there. But the political realities of BRAC – where some members of Congress will lose the economic hub of a military base in their district – mean that few on the Hill are in any rush to move forward with a new proposal.
Another round of BRAC is legally prohibited and, failing a surprise revision of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House and Senate, it will be blocked next year as well. The House- and Senate- passed spending bills would do likewise. “It does strike me that the department has been asking for BRAC authority
7 now for four years, five years,” Morin said. “So at some point, we either have to figure out a new way to convince people that the request as it stands is the right answer for the nation, or figure out another way to come at the problem.”
So how could a non-BRAC closure work? The Pentagon has some base closure capabilities that the Secretary can trigger, although Morin noted Congress can pass laws prohibiting those actions if it wishes – essentially, the situation that led to the creation of the BRAC process in the first place. “As with any distribution issue in democracy, you have winners and losers. Often, the losers feel the things more intensely than the winners. One of the virtues of the BRAC process is people don’t know who is a winner and a loser in advance. There is uncertainty,” Morin noted. “So that offers opportunity for people to plan to put their best foot forward and make a strong case for the advantages of their installation.”
One former Pentagon official warned that while the DoD could close buildings using the traditional environmental impact statement process, it is an “extremely painful” way of doing business because the department then has to turn to Congress to fund replacement facilities. “That's why the BRAC worked so well—you basically got the money for closure and the money for the new bases at the same time,” the official said. “Going around a BRAC is much harder than a BRAC, because you don't have all the statutory authorities for the streamlined process or the funding.” Instead, the official suggested the Pentagon will just start creating hollow bases – cutting O&M funds and slashing missions – to the point where communities will start to vocalize a desire for a BRAC rather than deal with half-open bases.
Another potential alternative has emerged from the Hill, although interest in the plan is small at this point. Seven House Democrats introduced legislation in June, known as the Military Infrastructure Consolidation Efficiency Act, that would have allowed the military to close excess bases outside of a BRAC. The bill, from Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) would require DoD to project force structure over the next 20 years and the facilities needed to support it; the Comptroller General would provide a similar report. The language would authorize a process for DoD to develop recommendations for consolidating, closing, and realigning military infrastructure. Those recommendations would be reviewed by an independent commission whose members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. If the president agrees with the independent commission’s final recommendations, Congress would then have the final word with an up-or-down vote.
Smith, the top Democratic voice on defense issues in the House, has criticized lawmakers for skirting hard, fiscally responsible decisions to limit Pentagon spending, which would include a round of the politically unpopular BRAC process. “The Defense Department needs flexibility to get rid of unneeded infrastructure in an efficient and transparent manner," Smith said in a statement to Defense News. "It’s difficult for Congress to rise above parochial concerns, but I’m hopeful they’ll understand the need to do so in light of the immense budget pressures on our military. The Department should continue to work with Congress to explain the need for reducing excess infrastructure and authorize a process that addresses concerns from the previous BRAC round.” [Source Defense News | Aaron Mehta & Joe Gould | November 7, 2016 ++]
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Toxic Exposure | Colorado Springs Area Update 02 ► False Alarm
The military said 2 NOV an Air Force Base in Colorado did not discharge thousands of gallons of water contaminated with toxic chemicals into the wastewater treatment system of Colorado Springs, as it originally feared. Some water tainted with the chemicals — which are used in firefighting foam — did disappear at Peterson Air Force Base, but it was likely due to evaporation during hot weather, Col. Douglas Schiess said. The Air Force launched a criminal investigation after firefighters reported on 12 OCT that 150,000 gallons of water used in firefighting exercises apparently drained from a storage tank into the city sewer system. But investigators determined that 20,000 gallons of water was unaccounted for, not 150,000, and that "evaporation was determined to be the likely
8 culprit," rather than a discharge, Schiess said. The evaporation apparently occurred from an open pit where the water is pumped for firefighting exercises.
A puddle of water sits in a retaining pond below firefighting training area at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Schiess said the firefighters overestimated how much wastewater was in the tank and that, along with miscommunications, led commanders to believe that 150,000 gallons had drained into Colorado Springs' sewers. City officials had said there was no threat to drinking water because it flows through a separate system. The water evaporated over a few weeks from an open pit surrounding a dummy aircraft that firefighters use for training. The water is moved back and forth between the tank and the pit, officials said. Schiess said the chemicals would have remained in the pit rather than evaporating with the waters. The chemicals are called perfluorinated compounds or PFCs. They have been linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, along with other illnesses. Firefighting foam containing PFCs has been used at military installations nationwide. PFCs have also been used in non-stick cookware coatings and other applications.
The Air Force announced in August it would switch to some another type of foam believed to be safer. Peterson Air Force Base fire trucks have already switched over to the alternate foam, Schiess said. It will take about 14 months for the Air Force to replace the old type of foam in all of its fire trucks, said Air Force Deputy Assistant Scretary Mark Correll, who appeared with Schiess at a news conference Wednesday. The Air Force is also replacing the foam used in fire-suppression systems in hangars and other buildings, Correll said. He didn't know how long that would take.
The Air Force is also investigating whether Peterson is the source of PFC contamination found in well water in two other nearby communities, the town of Fountain and an unincorporated community called Security-Widefield. Crews are drilling test wells to help determine whether the PFCs seeped from Peterson into underground water that feeds wells. [Source: The Associated Press | Dan Elliott | November 2, 2016 ++]
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POW/MIA Update 78 ► Vietnam POW/MIA Recovery Status
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR: The number of US personnel missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War is still 1,618, unchanged since June 9th. The total accounted for since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 is 965. Another 63 US personnel, recovered by the US and identified before the end of the war, bring the total of US personnel accounted for from the Vietnam War to 1,028. Of the 1,618 still missing (POW/MIA) and unaccounted-for (KIA/BNR), 90% were lost in Vietnam or in areas of Cambodia and Laos under Vietnam’s wartime
9 control: Vietnam-1,261 (VN-463, VS-798); Laos-301; Cambodia-49; PRC territorial waters-7. These country- specific numbers can and do fluctuate when investigations result in changes to loss locations.
DPAA DIRECTOR SELECTION PROCESS: A qualified individual to serve in this crucial position has yet to be announced by DoD leaders. The selecting official, Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Brian McKeon, apparently doesn’t share our sense of urgency to replace retired Army LTG Mike Linnington who abruptly resigned nearly five months ago. Hopefully this means that Undersecretary McKeon is carefully considering recommendations provided by the National League of POW/MIA, Special Operations Association (SOA), Special Forces Association (SFA) and others asked to provide input. There is as yet no indication that serious qualifications, such as experience, character, commitment and dedication to the mission, are given high priority consideration, nor crucial factors such as having earned the trust and respect of affected families, veterans and foreign officials whose willingness to authorize necessary cooperation is critical to success.
JOINT FIELD OPERATIONS: Joint Field Activities (JFAs) are now ongoing at a significant level in Vietnam and Laos, despite concerns over operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR), without a Congressionally authorized budget, and roughly $20 million below the amount required for full implementation of DPAA’s Operational Plan for this fiscal year. Worse yet, DPAA cannot commit second-quarter funds needed for support contracts unless approved separately by the DoD Comptroller’s office. Despite these negative realities, DPAA recently concluded an end-of-fiscal-year JFA in Vietnam, wrapping up 45 days during which approximately 100 US personnel, comprised of 5-Recovery Teams (RTs), 2 Vietnamese RTs, and 1 Research Investigation Team (RIT), worked simultaneously. Additionally, there were also about 100 deployed on WWII accounting operations in Papua New Guinea, France, Germany, Kwajalein (just concluded) and Hawaii, mostly recovery teams for roughly 6-7 weeks each. In addition, through public-private partnerships with DPAA – both paid and volunteer – History Flight is continuing recoveries of USMC personnel lost during WWII in Tarawa, and university-based archeologists are engaged in the Philippines and France. In January, JFAs will resume in Cambodia.
DPAA OPERATIONAL BUDGET REQUIREMENTS UNCERTAIN: It is increasingly unclear whether DPAA will have the funds required to “increase the pace and scope of operations,” as has repeatedly been requested by Vietnam and has been proceeding fairly well since DPAA became fully operational in January of this year. Now, with the lack of a Congressionally-approved DoD budget for FY17, all in DoD, including DPAA, are proceeding on a Continuing Resolution. In brief, that means the first quarter funds are approved, though at the less than required budget of approximately $112 million for the full year. A plus-up of $20 million is urgently needed. Your help is urgently needed! Write to your elected officials to request approval of increased FY 17 DPAA funding from $112 to $132 million.
Also, request exemption of DPAA funding from any reductions. Just as veterans care funding is rightfully protected by exempting department of veterans affairs (DVA) budgets from across-the-board and/or sequestration reductions, funding to support the fullest possible accounting for America's unreturned veterans, our missing men, and their families deserve equal protection under the law. [Source: The National League of POW/MIA Families | November 4, 2016 ++]
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10 POW/MIA Recoveries ► Reported 1 thru 15 NOV 2016 | Nine
"Keeping the Promise", "Fulfill their Trust" and "No one left behind" are several of many mottos that refer to the efforts of the Department of Defense to recover those who became missing while serving our nation. The number of Americans who remain missing from conflicts in this century are: World War II (73,515) Korean War (7,841), Cold War (126), Vietnam War (1,627), 1991 Gulf War (5), and Libya (1). Over 600 Defense Department men and women -- both military and civilian -- work in organizations around the world as part of DoD's personnel recovery and personnel accounting communities. They are all dedicated to the single mission of finding and bringing our missing personnel home. For a listing of all personnel accounted for since 2007 refer to http://www.dpaa.mil/ and click on ‘Our Missing’. If you wish to provide information about an American missing in action from any conflict or have an inquiry about MIAs, contact: == Mail: Public Affairs Office, 2300 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-2300, Attn: External Affairs == Call: Phone: (703) 699-1420 == Message: Fill out form on http://www.dpaa.mil/Contact/ContactUs.aspx
Family members seeking more information about missing loved ones may also call the following Service Casualty Offices: U.S. Air Force (800) 531-5501, U.S. Army (800) 892-2490, U.S. Marine Corps (800) 847-1597, U.S. Navy (800) 443-9298, or U.S. Department of State (202) 647-5470. The remains of the following MIA/POW’s have been recovered, identified, and scheduled for burial since the publication of the last RAO Bulletin:
Vietnam
None
Korea
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced the identification of remains and burial updates of seven U.S. servicemen who had been previously listed as missing in action from Korea. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:
-- Army Pfc. William V. Giovanniello, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., will be buried Nov. 10 in Port Jervis, N.Y. Giovanniello was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, when his unit was forced into a fighting withdrawal from Chorwon, South Korea. He was declared missing in action on April 25, 1951. Read more at: http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/995006/soldier-killed-in-korean- war-accounted-for-giovanniello .
Giovanniello
11 -- Army Cpl. Wayne Minard, 19, of Furley, Kan., will be buried Nov. 12 in nearby Wichita. Minard was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, fighting a delaying action south to Kunu-ri, North Korea. He would be reported missing in action on Nov. 26, 1950. Read more at: http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/996115/soldier-missing-from-korean-war-accounted-for- minard .
Minard
-- Army Pfc. Daniel Hunt is scheduled to be interred on Dec. 2 in Phoenix. Hunt was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, in the vicinity of Hill 1030, conducting operations in an area referred to as Heartbreak Ridge. He would be reported killed in action, body not recovered on Sept. 28, 1951. Read more at:http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/997596/soldier-missing-from-korean- war-identified-hunt/.
-- Army Sgt. James E. Martin, 19, of Anacoco, Louisiana, will be buried Nov. 17 in his hometown. In late November, 1950, Martin was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. By Dec. 2, the U.S. Army evacuated approximately 1,500 wounded service members; the remaining soldiers had been either captured or killed in enemy territory. Following the withdrawal, fighting continued. Because Martin could not be accounted for by his unit at the end of the battle, he was reported missing in action as of Dec. 3, 1950. Martin’s name did not appear on any prisoner of war lists and no repatriated Americans were able to provide any information concerning Martin as a prisoner of war. Due to the prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953. Although the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service hoped to recover American remains that remained north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone after the war, administrative details between the United Nations Command and North Korea complicated recovery efforts. An agreement was made and in September and October 1954, in what was known as Operation Glory, remains were returned. However, Martin’s remains were not included and he was declared non-recoverable. During the 25th Joint Recovery Operation in 2001, recovery teams conducted operations on the eastern bank of the Chosin Reservoir, Changjin County, North Korea, based on information provided by two Korean witnesses. The site was approximately one kilometer from the 31st RCT’s defensive perimeter. During the excavation, the recovery team recovered possible human remains of at least seven individuals. To identify Martin’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial and anthropological evidence, including dental and chest radiograph comparison, as well as DNA analysis, including mitochondrial DNA, which matched two sisters.
Martin
12 -- Army Cpl. Donald E. Matney, 18, of Seymour, Missouri, will be buried Nov. 19 in his hometown. On July 20, 1950, Matney was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division when his unit attempted to delay enemy from capturing a town near Taejon, South Korea. Enemy infantry and armor units were able to force the division out of the town and block withdrawal routes. Matney was reported missing in action following the attacks. In March 1951, unidentified remains were recovered by a local resident in Taejon and designated X-739. They were moved to the United Nations Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, where identification was attempted. Due to a lack of substantiating evidence, the remains were not able to be identified and interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. In May 2016, the remains were disinterred from the cemetery and sent to the laboratory for identification. To identify Matney’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, chest radiograph comparison and anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.
Matney
-- Army Pfc. Lavern C. Ullmer, 23, of Dayton, Ohio, will be buried Nov. 11 in his hometown. In late November 1950, Ullmer was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, fighting units of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in North Korea, in a delaying action south from the Ch’ongch’on River to Kunu-ri. Within days, more than half of the regiment was lost due to attacks from the CPFV. The unit was ordered to withdraw, and when Ullmer could not be accounted for, he was declared missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950. Ullmer’s name did not appear on any POW list provided by the CPVF or the North Korean People’s Army, however two repatriated American prisoners of war reported that Ullmer died at Hofong Camp, part of Pukchin-Tarigol Camp Cluster, on Jan. 21, 1951. Based on this information, a military review board amended Ullmer’s status to deceased in 1951. In April and May of 2005, a Joint Recovery Team conducted the 37th Joint Field Activity in Unsan County, South Pyongan Province, North Korea. On April 19, the team visited a site reported by a local witness to contain American remains. To identify Ullmer’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched a sister and nephew, as well as anthropological analysis, which matched his records and circumstantial evidence.
Ullmer -- Army Pfc. William W. Cowan, 19, of White House, Tennessee, will be buried Nov. 19 in Fredonia, Ohio. On February 12, 1951, Cowan was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, when he was reported missing in action. The unit was attacking a road block set up by opposing forces near Hoengsong, South Korea, when he was declared missing. While the American Graves Registration Service attempted to account for losses suffered by this unit, a search in the area yielded no results for Cowan. A repatriated prisoner of war reported that Cowan died at prisoner of war Camp 1, Changsong, North Korea, in May 1951. Based on this information, as well as details provided in a propaganda broadcast by the Chinese Communist Forces, the U.S. Army declared Cowan deceased. On Sept. 7, 1954, a set of remains reportedly recovered from the prisoner of war cemetery at Camps 1 and 3, Chang Song, North Korea, were sent to the Central Identification Unit for attempted identification. The set of remains designated X-14230 were declared unidentifiable and transferred to the
13 National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. On June 13, 2016, the remains designated as X-14230 were exhumed and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. To identify Cowan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, chest radiograph comparison and anthropological analyses, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
Cowan
World War II
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced the identification of remains and burial updates two U.S. servicemen who had been previously listed as missing in action from World War II. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:
- Marine Pfc. Nicholas J. Cancilla, 18, will be buried Nov. 7 in his hometown of Altoona, Pa. Cancilla was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Cancilla died on the first day of battle, Nov. 20, 1943. Read more at: http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/990641/marine- missing-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-cancilla/.
Cancilla
-- Marine Pfc. Ben H. Gore, 20, will be buried Nov. 14 in his hometown of Hopkinsville, Ky. Gore was assigned to Special Weapons Group, 2nd Defense Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Over several days of intense fighting, approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded in securing the island; the enemy force of 4,700 was virtually annihilated. Gore died of his wounds on Nov. 25, 1943. Read more at:http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/997584/marine-missing-from-world-war-ii-accounted- for-gore/.
Gore
[Source: http://www.dpaa.mil | November 15, 2016 ++]
14 * VA *
VA Claim Filing Update 08 ► How to Do It
The author of this article is a public affairs officer for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), who wanted to learn more about the VA compensation claim process. So, hw went to school and recently completed training as a rater so that he could share with you the information and tips and tricks and suggestions he learned while working with those who rate claims for VBA.
There are two ways to file a VA compensation claim: print the 526EZ and mail/fax it, or submit it electronically through VA and DoD’s eBenefits web portal. Most Veterans opt for the former, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. But unless you are just leaving the military, with well-documented and easily accessible service treatment records, this isn’t the best approach.
Intent to file The Intent to File (http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-0966-ARE.pdf) form is required, but here’s why it’s a good thing: It immediately establishes your effective date for pay purposes. Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to complete online in eBenefits. At https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/about/feature?feature=disability- compensation you can submit your Intent to File online in eBenefits. VA knows that it may take you some time to gather all the evidence you need to support your fully developed claim (FDC), such as your service treatment records, private treatment records and DBQs, and written witness/buddy/commander/spouse/lay statements. The Intent to File for a VA compensation claim lets VA know that you are planning to file a claim, and it locks in your “backpay” date. You then have one year to complete your claim application.
What info does VA need from you? To receive VA disability compensation, you must meet three criteria: an event in service that caused or aggravated a disability or illness; a current diagnosis of a medical disability or illness; and a medical opinion connecting the two (the latter as a result/because of the former). Event in service is something that happened in service that caused or aggravated your current disability. For example, you fractured an ankle in service and now have arthritis in that ankle. Or, you served in Vietnam, were exposed to Agent Orange, and now have a disease that is considered presumptive for Agent Orange exposure; A current VA or private doctor’s diagnosis showing that you have a medical condition related to the service event; and A doctor’s opinion that the event in service and current diagnosis are connected. This is called the nexus. Unless the connection is obvious through your medical records, this opinion, or nexus, will usually come from your VA-scheduled Compensation & Pension (C&P) exam.
Without all three of these items, a VA compensation claim can’t be granted. It’s like a three legged stool – without any one of these legs, the stool will fall over. If you provide evidence of the first two items but not the third, VA will schedule you for a C&P exam to determine a doctor’s opinion for the third. Be aware that just because a
15 doctor’s opinion is requested on service connection that that doesn’t mean a doctor will agree that your current condition is related to your service.
Write a statement in support of your claim When filing your VA compensation claim, include a VA Form 21-4138. This is called the Statement in Support of Claim. It’s important to write a separate paragraph for each disability you are claiming. It’s equally important to explain how the event in service (be specific) affects your current disability or symptoms related to your injury or illness. Provide every piece of evidence from the event that you can think of, such as personnel records, award narratives, pictures, medical records, unit profiles, prescriptions, etc. If you don’t think this event is in your service personnel or medical records, find someone you served with to fill out a form to provide their witness statement to the event. While a witness statement alone usually is not enough to grant a claim, it can be combined with other evidence to strengthen a claim for service connection. Your statement is considered evidence, just like your military or treatment records, and the rater will use it to make the decision. It also tells the rating team where to look in your records, and the timeframe for information to validate your claim.
Include medical records VA can access treatment records from other VA and military medical facilities, but don’t assume that “VA has everything it needs.” Remember above: VA and military records are just one leg of the three-legged stool. If you have your service medical records, include them as evidence. It also helps VA if you include where it was that you’ve been treated for your medical conditions on your application (name of treatment facility). You should also highlight the pages and passages that refer to your medical conditions, such as lab results and diagnoses, which may eliminate weeks or even months of processing time. Providing all of this information with your claim, will help the rating team process your claim more quickly. If you don’t have your service records, VA will request them from your military branch archives, but this can take several weeks or more. If you don’t have them and would prefer to request them yourself, refer to https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel to contact the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) yourself.
Compensation and Pension: Your C&P exam Even if you submit all of your medical records, you may still be asked to go to a C&P exam. This is not a typical doctor’s exam. You won’t be diagnosed or treated, and in some cases, the doctor may just review your records— including any statements in your file—and ask you a few questions. While this may seem unusual for an exam, the doctor is actually filling in a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ), which the rater will use to determine if your claim can be granted, and at what percentage.
So, in the exam, be honest and specific with your answers. For example, if the doctor asks about an injury, instead of saying “I hurt my back in the service,” you should say “I was getting something off of a shelf in the warehouse and fell off a ladder. There is an accident report. My back has given me problems ever since.” This allows the doctor to connect an incident in service to the current disability, and the DBQ the doctor submits will contain an opinion that your disability is either more- or less-likely than not connected to your service. That’s the third leg of the stool.
What if you need help? If all of this sounds like Greek to you, then you should either follow VA's helpful tutorials on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrrh23QvVVYjNLjTmx8rMUUkrt-yZXry7 that walk you through the VA compensation claim application process, or enlist the help (FREE) of a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) to assist you at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/vso-search
Then what? Once you or your VSO has submitted your VA compensation claim, you can check on its current status in eBenefits (hover over “Manage,” then click on “View or update your Compensation and Pension (C&P) claim”). On the status page, you can view more detailed information by clicking on the claim date. It’s important to note that, once you have submitted your fully-developed claim online, or by mail/fax, you are telling VA that you have no
16 further evidence or information to submit. Submitting un-requested evidence or information after it has been submitted will cause a delay in processing.
Did you know? By providing a more complete picture of your situation to the rating team when you file your VA compensation claim application, you not only make it easier for the raters to find your information and process your claim, but you also increase your chances of having your claim granted. Although it will take a little more effort on your part, it can pay off with faster VA processing, and will increase your chances of a successful claim the first time. Remember, the rating team—most of whom are Veterans just like you—is on your side, but you can help them by including everything they need to approve your claim.
[Source: VAntage Point | Donna Stratford | October 31, 2016 ++]
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VA Disability & SSDI Update 01 ► Eligibility for Both
If you are already receiving disability benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA) you may also be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) from the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI is administered by the SSA to provide monthly benefits for disabled workers. To receive SSDI, you must have worked enough to earn sufficient credits and to have paid in adequate taxes to the SSA. In general, that means you must have worked the equivalent of five years full-time out of the last 10 years, but that can vary depending on age. While VA disability is only available to military veterans who suffer from a service-related disability, SSDI is available to any worker who suffers from any disability that meets the requirements of the medical guide to be deemed a full disability per the SSA guidelines. So, if you have a service-related disability and other medical conditions, you can combine those together to gain approval for SSDI. Unlike VA disability, to get SSDI you must be fully disabled as there are no partial disability benefits.
The Differences To receive SSDI you can combine chronic health conditions, injuries, and military-related conditions to prove your disability to receive benefits. While the VA will give a disability rating, such as 10%, the SSA will not. You must show that you are completely disabled and unable to work to earn a substantial gainful income. For SSDI benefits, you must be unable to work for at least a year or have a condition that is expected to result in your death. With VA disability, you can receive benefits based on the severity or the disability rating that you receive.
While you can apply for VA disability because of a service-related disability at any time, you need to be aware that you need to apply for SSDI as quickly as possible. Because it is based on credits earned from working, waiting too long to apply can result in your loss of benefits. You can apply for VA disability and SSDI at the same time. Both claims are processed using a different approach through different government agencies, so be aware that different information will need to be supplied for each claim.
Expedited Claims If you are a veteran who has been approved for VA disability with a 100% P&T disability rating, or if you were wounded in the line of duty after October 2001, you can have your SSDI claim expedited in effort to get faster approval for monthly SSDI benefits. The additional monthly benefits from SSDI can significantly impact your financial situation and help you with your regular living costs. By supplementing your VA disability with SSDI, you can have a major impact on your family’s finances.
How to Apply for SSDI
17 If you are ready to apply for SSDI, you have numerous options available to you. You can either go online to the SSA website at www.ssa.gov to start the process, call the SSA’s toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213, or visit your local SSA office to start your claim in person.
To learn more, visit the Disability Benefits Help Outreach Team's website at www.disabilitybenefitscenter.org or contact them at [email protected]. [Source: Veteran News | Donnie La Curan | November 10, 2016 ++]
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VA Partnerships ► 9 New Ones Announced
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on 10 NOV announced nine new strategic partnerships that will provide additional health care and support services for Veterans and their families. These new formal relationships are the latest in a series of strategic partnerships developed to bring the private and public sectors together with VA to enhance the Veteran experience.“Strategic partnerships allow us to expand the reach of services available for Veterans and their families,” said Secretary Robert A. McDonald. “Since we’ve named strategic partnerships as one of our five MyVA strategies, I’m happy to report we’ve established partnerships at unprecedented rate to tackle a myriad of different Veteran needs.” The following partnerships were announced:
Cardinal Health. Through their “Operation: Support our Heroes project,” Cardinal Health has pledged to donate 2,000 care packages (consisting of toiletries and other personal hygiene items), as well as other consumer health products to VA facilities for distribution to homeless Veterans. The program is being piloted at 9 VA facilities across the country, including several in the Midwest, parts of the Southwest, and California.
Downs Designs Dreams. Downs Designs Dreams works to design and develop clothing specifically designed for individuals with disabilities. VA has partnered with Downs Designs Dreams to put these tailored designs in the hands of Veterans with disabilities. To date, Downs Designs Dreams has already donated 166 pairs of jeans to Veterans through this partnership, representing an investment of $8,610.
The Dream Foundation. The Dream Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling final dreams and wishes for individuals at the end of life. Through this partnership, VA social work staff will coordinate referrals to support dream fulfillment for Veterans experiencing life-limited illnesses.
First Quality Enterprises. First Quality Enterprises is an American manufacturer of absorbent hygiene (adult incontinence, feminine care, and baby care), tissue (bath and towel), and industrial (non-woven fabrics, print and packaging materials, thermoformed plastics) products, serving institutional and retail markets throughout the world. First Quality is teaming up with the VA to donate baby products to pregnant women Veterans through VA’s maternity care coordinators.
Hair Cuttery. In partnership with VA, Hair Cuttery is sponsoring their annual “Share-A-Haircut” program. For every adult haircut purchased in any Hair Cuttery salon on Veterans Day, Nov 11th, Hair Cuttery will donate 2 free haircut certificates for VA patients who may otherwise be unable to get this type of professional service. All Hair Cuttery locations are participating and will honor the certificates through January 25, 2017.
The Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare. The Jonas Center is dedicated to improving Veterans health by developing outstanding nursing researchers, educators and clinical leaders. This partnership builds and supports a network of current and former VA Jonas Nursing Scholars to focus on Veteran-specific healthcare needs.
NCR Corporation. This year’s Veteran’s Day parade features NCR’s self-service kiosks in New York, N.Y. and Los Angeles, Calif. developed by NCR especially for Veterans. It provides a point-of-service for all veterans (rural, homeless, economically disadvantaged, and medically disabled) and their spouses and dependents, via NCR’s world-class self-service technology.
18 Project Hero. Project Hero is national nonprofit that saves lives by providing hope, recovery, and resilience for Veterans focusing on physical and psychological rehabilitation programs. Through this partnership, VA Mental Health and Recreation Therapy resources will be made available to Veterans participating in Project Hero’s “Ride 2 Recovery” research programs.
United Through Reading (UTR). UTR unites families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. They offer an opportunity for military service members and Veterans to video record a book for children or grandchildren who are located elsewhere. The child receives a copy of the book with the video to read along. The first Veteran site to participate is Honolulu, Hawaii, and they have readings leading up to Veterans Day.
This latest round of partnerships reflects the growing number of success VA has achieved over the last eighteen months. By nurturing and maturing these relationships, VA is able to help focus the Nation’s powerful support and goodwill for Veterans and their families. In the last 18 months, VA’s partnerships and collaborations have brought in more than $300 million in investments and in-kind services to support America’s veterans. “Our Veterans have honorably – and voluntarily - served our Nation. Now it’s our turn to provide them a quality of life that matches that service” said Matthew S. Collier, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships. “The VA will never be able to achieve that on our own, but we can bring together good partners who want to fill in the gaps.” [Source: VA News Rlease | November 10, 2016 ++]
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VA Registries Update 06 ► Airborne Hazards & Open Burn Pit
VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry allows eligible Veterans and Servicemembers to document their exposures and report health concerns through an online questionnaire. Eligible Veterans and Servicemembers include those who served in: Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Djibouti, Africa on or after September 11, 2001 Operations Desert Shield or Desert Storm Southwest Asia theater of operations on or after August 2, 1990
Important points about the Airborne Hazards & Open Burn Pit registry: No cost to participate Not a disability compensation questionnaire or required for other VA benefits Enrollment in VA’s health care system not necessary Based on Veterans’/Servicemembers’ recollection of service, not on their military records Veterans’/Servicemembers’ family members are not eligible to participate
To document your exposures and health concerns, obtain a free health evaluation by a VA or DoD provider, and stay informed of VA’s research go to https://veteran.mobilehealth.va.gov/AHBurnPitRegistry. The registry is your opportunity to help answer the question of what burn pit exposure could mean for your health and that of fellow Veterans in the future. You can print and use your completed questionnaire to discuss concerns with your provider. VA providers can also access an online copy of your questionnaire.
In total, 93,457 Veterans and Servicemembers completed and submitted this registry questionnaire between April 25, 2014 and November 6, 2016. Veterans may have been exposed to a range of chemical, physical, and environmental hazards during military service. For information on these go to www.VA.gov/environAgents. [Source: http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/registry.asp | November 2016 ++]
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19
VA SSA Dual Disability Eligibility ► Record Sharing
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) launched a new Health IT initiative that enables VA to share medical records electronically with social security disability processors. This secure process will save time and money resulting in better service for Veterans and dependents who apply for social security disability benefits. The SSA requests nearly 15 million medical records from health care organizations yearly to make medical decisions on about three million disability claims. For decades, SSA obtained medical records through a manual process. This new national initiative puts in place an automated process to obtain Veterans’ medical records entirely electronically.
“VA’s partnership with Social Security will ultimately improve the quality of life for Veterans and their dependents by enabling Veterans to share their health information within a safe and secure health-related consumer application,” said Dr. David Shulkin, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. The joint venture is expected to significantly speed up social security disability decisions, utilizing VA’s VLER Health Exchange under the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) Program. The VLER Health Exchange gives VA and participating community providers the ability to retrieve Veterans’ health information from each other for the purpose of treatment. Currently, VLER Health Exchange shares health data with over 79 community health care partners, representing 775 Hospitals, 427 Federally Qualified Health Centers, 142 Nursing Homes, 8441 Pharmacies and over 11,969 Clinics. The SSA now has access for the purpose of processing benefits for Veterans and their dependents.
“This SSA-VA partnership is another example of VA’s leadership in interoperability efforts among federal partners,” said VA Secretary, Robert McDonald. “Increasing federal partnerships to improve operation and resource coordination across agencies is among VA’s 12 Breakthrough Priorities for 2016.” VA has partnership agreements with Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Treasury (DOT) among many others. To learn more about VA health care visit: www.va.gov/health. [Source: VA News Release | November 9, 2016 ++]
***************************** myVA Initiative Update 02 ► Report Shows Measurable Improvements
On 9 NOV the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released a major update on the MyVA transformation, Secretary McDonald’s effort to transform VA into the top customer service agency in the federal government. This third edition of the program’s semi-annual report shows progress serving veterans with more services, in better time. “Guided by Veterans’ needs, we’ve left old, unresponsive ways of doing business behind,” writes Secretary Robert McDonald. “We’ve changed leadership. We’ve added staff. We’ve adjusted policies. We’re eliminating bureaucracy and unproductive work. We’re encouraging innovative approaches to serving Veterans, and we’re sharing best practices across the Department. In short, we’re making VA the high-performing organization that it can be, and that my fellow Veterans, expect and deserve.” Key results in the report include:
Veteran trust of VA is on the rise. In June 2016, nearly 60% of veterans said they trust VA to fulfill our country’s commitment to Veterans – a 47% improvement from six months before. We are completing more appointments, faster. In FY 2016, VA completed nearly 58 million appointments – 1.2 million more than in FY 2015 and 3.2 million more than FY 2014. More of them are provided by a network of more than 350,000 community providers – a 45% increase in the number of providers since last year. Processing of disability claims is faster and more accurate, too. The average wait time to complete a claim has dropped by 65%, to 123 days. We completed nearly 1.3 million claims in FY 2016, and reduced pending claims by almost 90%.
20 Urgent care is available when a Veteran needs it, and for non-urgent appointments, wait times are down. By September 2016, the average wait time for a completed appointment was down to less than 5 days for primary care, less than 7 days for specialty care, and less than 3 days for mental health care. Veteran homelessness has been cut in half; it’s down 47% since 2010 nationwide, thanks in part to VA’s work with nearly 4,000 public and private agencies. Collaborations increasing. In the last 18 months, VA has facilitated dozens more collaborations, bringing in more than $300 million in investments and in-kind services to support America’s veterans. Quality is improving. 82% of VA facilities improved quality overall since the fourth quarter of FY 2015.
The report details the changes and innovations, large and small, which produced these results. It also lays out a path forward for the agency – including an important role for Congress before the end of 2016. To read the full report go to http://www.va.gov/myva/docs/MyVA-3-0-v9-digital-11816.pdf. [Source: VA News Release | November 9, 2016 ++]
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VA Prescription Policy Update 07 ► 10-Day Goal Met 99% of Time
More than 99 percent of veterans using an outpatient mail pharmacy program received their prescription packages within Veterans Affairs' 10-day timeliness goal, according to a report on the program. The program functions as a virtual extension of VA medical facility pharmacies by delivering prescription medications and supplies directly by mail to veteran patients. There are seven locations across the country that support processing and delivering pharmaceuticals to patients. The goal is to deliver medications and supplies to the patient within 10 calendar days of the request.
In September 2015, the VA's Office of Inspector General, the agency's watchdog arm, received a congressional request to conduct a review of the prescription processing and timeliness of delivery for the outpatient pharmacy program. The inquiry asked the Inspector General to test controls designed to ensure that pharmaceuticals are secure and safely processed; determine whether prescription orders are processed for delivery within the established time frames, and investigate whether prescription tracking information is accessible and reliable to veterans. The program is a big part of the VA's pharmacy operations. The VA reported spending nearly $6.1 billion on pharmaceuticals in fiscal year 2015 and delivered prescribed medication and supplies to nearly 5 million veterans. The outpatient system represented approximately $2.8 billion of that and the system processes approximately 80 percent of the VA outpatient prescriptions.
The Inspector General report, released in early November, gave generally glowing marks to the outpatient mail pharmacy program. The report found the VA had automated controls and pharmacists in place to help ensure pharmaceuticals were secure and safely processed. It also found that physical security was maintained at the facility and in restricted areas. During site visits to the seven locations, inspectors tried to gain access to restricted areas but were effectively denied. The report also found that controls were in place to ensure that pharmaceuticals were dispensed safely before delivery to the veteran. A quality control system rejected bottles of medications when an incorrect weight was detected or when the bar code did not scan correctly. When an order was incorrectly scanned or incomplete, the system stopped production until action was taken, the report said.
Responding to the report, the VA pointed out that the system has maintained the highest customer satisfaction score in the mail order industry for the past six years based on customer satisfaction surveys completed by J.D. Power. How the VA dispenses its pharmaceuticals has become a controversial issue. Last year, a Senate committee's report into overprescription of powerful painkilling drugs at a Tomah, Wis., VA hospital slammed the Inspector General for discounting key evidence, narrowing its inquiry and failing to make its report on the matter public. The office's failure to publish results of an investigation into the Tomah facility, which found that two providers there
21 had been prescribing alarming levels of narcotics, "compromised veteran care," the Senate committee report found. [Source: Minnesota StarTribune | Mark Brunswick | November 7, 2016 ++]
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VE-HEROeS ► VA Vietnam Era Vet Study
The Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE-HEROeS) is a nationwide study that will assess the current health and well-being of Vietnam Veterans, Blue Water Navy Veterans, and Veterans who served elsewhere during the Vietnam Era (1961–1975). This study will also compare the health of these Veterans to similarly aged U.S. residents who never served in the military. Researchers will look closely at neurologic conditions and hepatitis C infection as a part of this study. VE-HEROeS will begin in the fall of 2016.
This study includes a questionnaire for everyone and medical records review for a smaller group of participants. The VE-HEROeS questionnaire includes the following topics: Military service: service experience, combat experience, chemical and other exposures, re-entry into civilian life, or no military service General health: neurologic conditions, infections, presumptive conditions, cancer, hypertension, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression Aging: memory, reasoning, and limitations Lifestyle: tobacco use, health care use, living arrangements, and health experiences of descendants
VA is invited approximately 43,000 Vietnam and Vietnam Era Veterans, and approximately 11,000 members of the general population to participate in VE-HEROeS. Volunteers for the study were not sought. If you have been selected you will represent many people and have a vital role to play. Your answers will be: Kept strictly confidential Combined with other participants Used to improve Veterans’ health and well being
[Source: VFW Action Corps Weekly | November 4, 2016 ++]
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VA Recommendation Policy ► Inadequate Monitoring | Non-Implementation
Since the scandal over the coverup of long patient wait times broke two years ago, Department of Veterans Affairs officials have touted a reorganization dubbed “MyVA” as the road to excellence. Earlier this year, a department news release called the 2014 changes “the most significant culture and process change at VA in decades, with the primary goals of putting Veterans first and becoming the top customer service organization in government.” But for those changes to work, VA needs to evaluate and implement them. That’s a problem. The Veterans Health Administration, the section that runs VA’s health system, “does not have a process that ensures recommended organizational structure changes are evaluated,” according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
22 The GAO found cases in which VHA’s responses to recommendations “were incomplete, not documented, or not timely.” The lagging effort conflicts with federal standards requiring agencies to fix problems on “a timely basis.” This comes as no surprise to House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL), who has led a dogged congressional probe into the department. “This report documents an approach that has become commonplace at VA, in which the department announces initiatives with great fanfare and expends tremendous amounts of time and resources to achieve them, while failing in implementation due to a complete lack of oversight and accountability,” he complained in an email to The Washington Post. He accused VA Secretary Bob McDonald of pursuing the MyVA organizational restructuring “with no intent of evaluating its outcomes and impact on agency performance.” He called that “baffling.”
In its response to the GAO, VA said the department is working to reorganize “for success, guided by ideas and initiatives from Veterans, employees, and all of our stakeholders.” Caring for about 7 million veterans in 168 hospitals and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, VHA runs the nation’s largest health-care system and has a $51 billion budget. Although veterans have complained about long waits for service, they also have praised the care once they get it. But how much better would that be if VHA followed recommendations for improvement?
The GAO cited an unnamed senior official on a governance task force who said that Undersecretary of Health David Shulkin “did not approve 13 of the 21 recommendations, so they would not be implemented.” Furthermore, his decisions were not documented because “they were communicated verbally.” Shulkin told the GAO that “his immediate priorities were to focus on improving access to care and hiring officials for vacant senior-level positions, and as a result he did not want to make significant changes to VHA’s organizational structure,” according to the report. A VA statement to the Federal Insider elaborated: “all facilities will be able to provide same day access for primary care and mental health by the end of 2016.” The experience of the governance task force was an example of VHA devoting “significant time and effort” to restructuring proposals, the GAO said, but the health agency then “either did not act or acted slowly to implement recommendations.”
VHA did agree to implement the GAO’s recommendations, although the report provides reason for skepticism. Among its recommendations, the GAO said VHA should develop a process for recommendations to be evaluated for implementation. VHA agreed with the GAO. Will VHA now develop a process to evaluate GAO recommendations about evaluating other recommendations before any recommendations are implemented? Something needs to be done sooner rather than later.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), the acting ranking Democrat on VA committee, said he was glad the agency accepted the GAO’s suggestions. “Structural deficiencies are a root cause of inconsistency across the VHA,” he said. “For meaningful and needed improvements to take place, the VHA’s organizational structure must be capable of implementing and evaluating efforts to transform and modernize its operations.” But that’s difficult when VHA provides limited monitoring of those efforts and “little implementation guidance,” according to the report. Without adequate monitoring, the GAO added, “VHA cannot be certain that the changes being made are effectively addressing deficiencies; nor can it ensure lessons learned can be applied to future organizational structure changes.” [Source: Washington Post | Joe Davidson | November 3, 2016 ++]
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VA Care Usage ► Post-9/11 Vet Percentages Up
The percentage of disabled post-9/11 vets with health insurance through the Veterans Affairs Department has increased 11 percent over the last few years, despite the department’s well-publicized management problems and the 2014 patient wait-times scandal, according to a new survey. Seventy-one percent of injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said they had VA health care coverage in 2016, compared to 66 percent in 2015, and 59 percent in 2014, the latest survey from the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) found. Of those respondents, or “alumni” as the WPP calls them, 68 percent used VA health care as their primary health care provider. The percentage of alumni with two
23 or more types of health care insurance is also growing, jumping from 45 percent in 2015 to 48 percent in 2016. The 2014 Veterans’ Access, Choice, and Accountability Act expanded health insurance options for many vets, allowing them to use private health care providers in cases where VA could not meet their needs.
The 2016 WPP survey, the seventh such analysis the organization has conducted on post- 9/11 disabled vets, includes information on the population’s demographics, military experiences, physical and mental well-being, as well as education and employment data. More than 31,000 vets participated in the 2016 survey, which was sent to more than 79,000 WPP alumni, making it “one of the largest annual collections of data about this generation of wounded veterans,” the organization said in a statement. The 2016 response rate was 40 percent, up slightly from a 39 percent response rate in 2015. “This survey helps us determine the needs of post-9/11 wounded warriors,” said Mike Linnington, WPP chief executive officer. “It also helps inform where we can work with other veterans service organizations and the Department of Veterans Affairs to help provide services to warriors in the communities where they live.” WPP took some heat earlier this year for lavish spending on conferences and meetings, and the board fired two top executives in March.
According to the survey, the percentage of WPP alumni receiving VA disability benefits also has continued to increase, from 72 percent in 2014 to 85 percent in 2016; those receiving a disability rating of 80 percent or higher from the VA also has risen from 43 percent in 2014 to 54 percent in 2016. Over the same time period, the percentage of WPP alumni reporting that they had a VA claim pending or on appeal fell from 10 percent in 2014 to 5 percent in 2016. The most common injuries and health problems respondents reported were: post-traumatic stress disorder (77 percent); sleep issues (76 percent); back, neck or shoulder problems (72 percent); and depression (70 percent).
In more good news for the VA, 69 percent of 2016 WPP survey respondents said VA medical centers were their top resource for addressing their mental health care needs, compared to 52 percent who said talking to another vet and 50 percent who cited prescription medication. Still, disabled vets who participated in the survey reported difficulties accessing physical and mental health care through the VA and outside providers. Thirty-five percent of respondents reported mental health care access problems, with the most common reason cited being “personal schedules that conflicted with the hours of operation of VA health care.” The fourth most commonly-cited reason was “difficulty in scheduling appointments” (32 percent). For those seeking physical health care, 40 percent of those with VA and other types of health care said they’d experienced problems scheduling appointments, the top reason in that category, while 45 percent of those respondents with VA as their primary health care provider cited difficulties with scheduling appointments.
Thirty-seven percent of those using VA as their primary health provider cited a lack of availability in VA specialty clinics (compared to 31 percent of all respondents), while 37 percent of respondents using VA as their primary health care said the department’s requirements made it difficult to get referrals for necessary specialty treatment for physical problems, compared to 31 percent for all respondents with those issues. Veterans and veteran advocates have criticized VA for its inefficiencies and mismanagement over the years, but consistently give high marks to the department’s health care and health care providers. [Source: GovExec.com Newsletter | Kellie Lunney | November 3, 2016 ++]
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VA Overpayments ► WWII Vet Irene Miller
A 95-year-old World War II veteran who owed the VA thousands of dollars after it overpaid her for years will not be expected to repay the money, officials told FoxNews.com 1 NOV. For more than two decades, Irene Miller -- a Navy storekeeper during World War II -- received pension and disability checks from the Department of Veterans Affairs for her service. But those payments stopped last month because the VA overpaid the Nevada woman, according to Miller, who said she now faces eviction from her home because she cannot afford her bills. "There
24 were sending me $1,788 a month for years," Miller told FoxNews.com. "Now they're saying they overpaid me," said Miller, a great-grandmother whose late husband served in the Air Force during World II. "I don't think I'll ever see another pension check again."
Miller, who lives alone in her Las Vegas home with her dog, said she relies on the checks to pay her rent. Without them, she faces eviction. After several inquiries made by FoxNews.com, the VA said Tuesday that Miller will face no debt with the department. The VA did not clarify how much Miller owed or how, exactly, the mistake occurred. "Due to privacy issues, VA cannot discuss the veteran’s case. However, we are glad this issue came to our attention as it provided an opportunity to serve our veterans in need," the VA said in a statement. "As a result, this particular issue has been resolved and will have no negative financial impact on the veteran," it said. Miller said that for the past 12 years, the VA was paying her a small amount of $22 a month from her late husband’s federal benefits. "When my husband died, they gave his pension to me and it wasn't very much," she said. "I really didn't pay attention." Miller said that the VA stopped sending her checks altogether last month when it caught the mistake during an audit. She told FoxNews.com she owes the VA $26,000, though that sum could not be confirmed with the VA.
Steve Sanson, president of Veterans In Politics International (http://veteransinpolitics.org) , said his group plans to hold a fundraiser for Miller so that she can continue to pay her monthly rent and utility bills. "It is absolutely terrifying on how we treat our military veterans in this country," Sanson told FoxNews.com. "Here we have a 95- year-old disabled wheelchair-bound Navy veteran whom our government has stopped paying." Additionally, a crowd-funding website has been created to help Miller pay her bills at https://www.youcaring.com/mikeedwards- 682235?fb_action_ids=10210807517528149&fb_action_types=youcaringcom%3Ashare. [Source: FoxNews.com | Cristina Corbin | November 01, 2016 ++]
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VA Home Loan Update 43 ► Guaranty Program
Since 1944, VA has backed over 22 million home loans for Veterans and their families. The program provides a guaranty for mortgage loans made by private lenders to eligible Veterans. The guaranty backing effectively eliminates the need for a down payment, helping Veterans afford homeownership. No other major no-down mortgage program exists in the market today, and typically around 90% of VA loans are obtained with no down payment. As of September 30, we reached the milestone of over 700,000 home loans guaranteed for the fiscal year 2016. That 700,000+ figure is the most home loans guaranteed in one fiscal year in the history of the program.
25 VA continues to modernize the program, reducing time spent in the loan approval process while also improving the accuracy of benefit delivery, Veteran outreach and communication. These improvements have allowed VA to maximize opportunities to promote the attractiveness of the program to lenders, builders, real estate agents and most importantly to our active duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and surviving spouses.
The VA Home Loan program benefit is not a one-time benefit-- it’s reusable. VA loans can be obtained for up to the full appraised value of the home (100% loan-to-value). In addition, there is the potential for these loans to include up to $6,000 towards improvements for energy efficiency, AND the loan funding fee can be rolled right into the loan balance. VA waives that funding fee for Veterans who receive VA compensation benefits, those who are service-connected disabled, but serving on active-duty, or those drawing retirement pay. Some surviving spouses are also exempt from the funding fee.
The VBA is proud to say that their VA Home Loan program can also help Veterans who are current homeowners. Many borrowers are now looking to take advantage of historically low interest rates to refinance their homes. Just 5 years ago, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6%; today that same rate is around 3.5%. Veterans can reuse their VA benefit to streamline refinance an existing VA loan, often with no money out of pocket. On these streamline refinance loans, VA requires no appraisal and no credit underwriting, which can be of great assistance to Veterans who may have suffered a minor credit setback, or whose home values may have declined during these past few years. Last year, a streamline refinance decreased the average Veteran’s interest rate 1.4%, and saved $202 a month in mortgage payments. Cumulatively, our Veteran borrowers saved over $300M last year!
For Veterans with FHA or conventional loans, VA can also assist with the ‘regular’ refinance program. Since VA does not charge borrowers upfront or monthly mortgage insurance premiums, refinancing from an FHA loan into a VA loan can save Veteran borrowers a significant amount of money. VA encourages Veterans to seek the advice of a financial professional to determine what mortgage decisions are in their best interest, but wanted you to know that the VA Home Loan program stands ever-ready to serve them, providing the opportunity to purchase or refinance a home.
In addition, VA stands ready to assist Veterans who have already obtained a VA home loan. If you already have a VA loan and are facing financial difficulty, please call to speak to VA loan representatives at 877-827-3702. In FY16, of all loans that defaulted, 84% were saved from foreclosure. Also: Veterans may obtain a Certificate of Eligibility for their Home Loan Guaranty benefit online through eBenefits or through their lender: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage. Learn more about Interest Rate Reduction Refinance (IRRRL) streamline refinance loans (on VA’s website here: http://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/irrrl.asp). VA information specific to the Home Loan Guaranty Funding Fees can be obtained at the website http://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/purchaseco_loan_fee.asp Information on the VA Home Loan Guaranty, directly from the Department of Veterans Affairs, is available at eBenefits. Key program facts can be found here: http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/
[Source: Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity | Curtis L. Coy | November 1, 2016 ++]
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VA Psychiatric Care | Inpatient ► Admissions Screening Shortfalls
November 1, 2016—For veterans and others entering inpatient psychiatric care, an admissions screening can be key to identifying the most appropriate treatment. But a new study by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that hospitals run by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) are failing to ask patients important questions about their trauma history, substance use, violence risk, and strengths (such as optimism and
26 stable employment) 39% of the time, on average. By comparison, the study found that for-profit and nonprofit hospitals conduct such screenings nearly all of the time. The researchers also found that the VA is falling short on other quality measures. For example, they found the VA failed to provide appropriate justification for discharging patients on multiple antipsychotics 61% of the time, and created a continuing care plan for patients upon discharge just about half of the time. The study was published online October 17, 2016 in Psychiatric Services.
“These results are very troubling,” said lead author Morgan Shields, SM ’16. “They further substantiate the need for VA hospitals to receive greater regulation and financial resources.” Shields, now a doctoral student at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, conducted the research while a student at Harvard Chan School. She and co-author Meredith Rosenthal, professor of health economics and policy, looked at how well VA, for-profit, and nonprofit hospitals perform on seven quality measures for inpatient psychiatric care known as the Hospital-Based Inpatient Psychiatric Services (HBIPS) measure set. HBIPS was established by the Joint Commission—the organization that accredits health care facilities in the United States—and incorporated into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ payment program.
According to Shields, even when HBIPS is followed by hospitals, it does not go far enough toward providing data that researchers and policymakers need to improve the mental health care system. “All facilities have to do is check yes that they have followed a protocol,” she said. “There is no mechanism measuring what they do with the information, or how it affects patients’ experiences with their care.” In an editorial published online 19 OCT in Health Affairs, Shields and colleagues called for the establishment of a national surveillance system that would focus less on processes in inpatient psychiatric facilities, and more on patients’ experiences. It would track physical and emotional harms to patients, in addition to their satisfaction with their care.
They also proposed that this system be incorporated into plans for a new Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, part of a mental health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives over the summer. Even if the bill never passes the Senate, where it’s likely to remain stalled until after the presidential election, Shields sees her work as adding key evidence to the conversation around mental health care reform—especially relevant at a time when some researchers and policymakers are proposing a return to more extended inpatient stays at psychiatric facilities. “Before we expand use of these facilities, it is important to understand the quality of care they are providing,” Shields said. [Source: Harvard Chan School News | Amy Roeder | November 1, 2016 ++]
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VA DAISY Award ► Honoring Extraordinary Nurses
The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33, from complications of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP). During his eight week hospital stay, his family was impressed by the care and compassion his nurses provided, not only to him but to everyone in the family. They created the DAISY Award in his memory to recognize those nurses who make a big difference in the lives of so many people. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking The Immune System. In creating the Award, there were three elements the foundation wanted to ensure their recognition program included: A partnership with healthcare organizations to provide on-going recognition of the clinical skill and especially the compassion nurses provide to patients and families all year long. Flexibility so that The DAISY Award may be tailored to each hospital’s unique culture and values. A turn-key program with The DAISY Foundation providing most everything facilities need to implement The DAISY Award.
There are over 2,300 healthcare facilities in all 50 states and 14 other countries, committed to honoring nurses with The DAISY Award. The strategic impact of the program on nurses and their organizations is deep, affecting nurses' job satisfaction, retention, teamwork, pride, organizational culture, healthy work environment, and more.
27 DAISY Award recipients are nominated by their, peers, physicians, patients and families, and other staff and administrators to receive: A certificate held in a handsome portfolio, proclaiming the recipient an "Extraordinary Nurse." A DAISY Award pin (We’ve learned that nurses love to wear pins on their I.D. badges!). A unique, hand-carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, entitled "A Healer's Touch."
A Spotlight page on the Association's website, featuring a photo and telling the story of why this nurse was honored.]
Additionally, all the nurses and staff in the awardee's unit are treated to Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls at every presentation. The reason? Once, Patrick ate his father’s Cinnabon roll when he was in the hospital without an appetite for food. He then requested one for the next day - and enough for all the nurses in the unit. The message to every nurse present: whenever you smell a cinnamon aroma, stop for a minute and think of how special you are because you are a nurse. You may take for granted the things you do for your patients, but they surely do not. Each DAISY Award facility also receives a large celebratory banner that is hung in the recipient's unit for a month, generating very positive conversation about the special role nurses play in patient care. The presentation generally takes place in the nurse’s unit, often as a surprise to the Honoree.
DAISY Award honorees demonstrate the VA’s I CARE principles. They also demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and compassionate care. They are recognized as role models in the VA's nursing community. Patients, families, visitors, nurses, physicians, and other employees may nominate any extraordinary Nurse they feel is deserving of this award. Something to think about the next time you need to visit your VA Healthcare Facility. [Source: https://www.daisyfoundation.org | November 8, 2016 ++]
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VA Fraud, Waste & Abuse ► Reported 1 thru 15 NOV 2016
Boston, MA — The vice president of a construction company had two veterans with disabilities pose as the company’s owners, in name only, as he ran it. As a result, from 2005 to 2010, Legion Construction received $113 million in government contracts. They ended up getting caught, and vice president David Gorski was indicted for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. That was in 2012. But somehow, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continued to pay the company $5 million after Gorski’s indictment. After he was later convicted, sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and fined $1 million, the government still shelled out an additional $163,000, WBZ reported. How did this happen? The VA said in a statement that companies under a pending investigation can still
28 collect money according to their contracts, unless the head of the agency says so. As far as how Legion kept getting money after Gorski was actually convicted, Thomas McGrath, who is in charge of the VA’s verification of veteran-owned businesses, chalked it up to a lack of resources. “[W]e do our best to check and follow-up when we can with site visits but we only have so much capabilities to run that stuff down,” McGrath said. Ultimately, however, he couldn’t explain how Gorski got away with it for as long as he did. [Source: Law Newz | Ronn Blitzer | October 31, 2016 ++]
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Independence, MO — More than 50 veterans thought they were being examined by a real, licensed doctor. Instead, they unknowingly saw an imposter. One man at the center of the federal investigation is charged with theft of government property for defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many veterans came to the Industrial Medical Center off 40 Highway for disability exams. The company has since moved to a new location further down the highway. The only licensed and trained doctor that could perform VA examinations left IMC in July of 2013. Federal investigators say the exams didn’t stop. “It is just a shame,” said Lee Norman, the chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Hospital. “That just shouldn’t happen.” Once the licensed doctor left the company, federal prosecutors say James Lindsey and another suspect performed the exams without the required license or training. Norman says without a license, the assessments shouldn’t be valid. “It’s clearly activity that erodes the trust that the public has for professionals who are licensed to do the work they do,” Norman said.
According to federal charges filed on 24 OCT, the second suspect used the former licensed doctor’s username, password and medical license number to submit 209 examinations for 53 veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs paid the company more than $39,000 for the false exams. A hotline call to the VA’s Office of Inspector General revealed the alleged fraud. Investigators say Lindsey suspected the disability exams might have been improper but turned a blind eye to keep the company’s VA contract. The VA had to re-adjudicate the exams which forced some veterans to be reexamined.v“It is so unfortunate to have them go through this again,” Norman said. “There is nothing easy about that. even the logistics of getting in to be evaluated are a lot to ask.” Federal investigators are asking the court to force Lindsey to forfeit money or property to pay back the more than $39,000 made from the exams. [Source: KPLR St. Louis | Emily Rittman & Nick Sloan, KCTV | November 1, 2016 ++]
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San Francisco VAMC — A UCSF surgeon who worked at the university-affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco was arrested and jailed on suspicion of 99 felony crimes in connection with prescribing opioid narcotics, according to university officials and jail records. Christopher Owens, 49, a former associate professor of surgery, was arrested 3 NOV, the university said, after being placed on “investigatory leave” in June and on unpaid leave in September. UCSF terminated Owens’ physician privileges last week and fired him from the faculty. On 4 NOV, Owens was in jail in San Francisco after being booked on suspicion of charges including the illegal sale or transfer of narcotics. His bail was set at $1.98 million. Details of the specific accusations against him were not immediately available.
In a statement, UCSF said its police force had been working with the San Francisco district attorney’s office in connection with the investigation. City prosecutors have not filed formal charges. “UCSF takes this incident very seriously,” a statement from university officials said, “and urges its entire clinical staff, including physicians, nurses and other care providers, to be alert for signs of opioid misuse by any member of the clinical team and to report any such suspicions confidentially.” Owens’ profile on the university website said he is a 1998 graduate of Indiana University’s school of medicine and listed nine research grants and 70 published studies under his name. Another site listed him as a specialist in vascular surgery, aneurysms, deep vein thrombosis and diseases of the carotid artery. A surge of U.S. drug overdoses in recent years has been described by federal health officials as an epidemic, with more fatalities reported in 2014 than any other year on record. Opioids, including pain pills and heroin, killed more than 28,000 people in 2014, nearly quadrupling the death toll five years earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Source: San Antonio Express-News | Steve Rubenstein | November 4, 2016 ++]
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VAMC Wilkes-Barre PA ► Expanded Services for Women Vets
The new space created for the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center’s Women’s Veterans Clinic was dedicated Wednesday, providing more services in a larger and safer environment. According to Patricia Conroy, program manager, the new space is dedicated to providing specialized services for female veterans. Conroy said the Wilkes- Barre VA Medical Center currently serves 3,089 unique women veterans, across its 19-county coverage area, with services also available through Wilkes-Barre’s community-based outpatient clinics. “Our new space provides more privacy and better security for our women veterans,” Conroy said prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
William Klaips, executive assistant to the director, said the new space was created through an in-house project — the facility funded it and VA employees did the work. Klaips said approximately 30 employees worked on the renovations —80 percent of those employees were veterans. Val Boytin, nurse executive, said the VA “truly recognizes” the needs of women veterans. “Some 10 percent of all living veterans are women, and the number is constantly growing,” Boytin said. With more than 1,300 employees, and facilities in Wilkes-Barre as well as Bradford, Lycoming, Columbia, Wayne, Monroe, Lehigh and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania, the Wilkes- Barre VA Medical Center operates 166 inpatient beds and conducted 403,352 outpatient visits last year.
Conroy said women who have served in the Armed Forces are eligible for a variety of benefits. The VAMC’s women’s health program targets programs and facilities to meet the unique needs of female veterans, she said, such as: Primary Care Women’s health screen/PAP exams and mammograms Sexually transmitted diseases Pregnancy/infertility Osteoporosis screening and treatment Contraception Substance abuse counseling Adjustment counseling Psychological issues: depression/adjustment Family life issues: domestic violence/financial issues.
Conroy said general care includes health evaluation and counseling, disease prevention, nutrition counseling, weight control, smoking cessation, and substance abuse counseling and treatment as well as gender-specific primary care, such as cervical cancer screens (PAP smears), breast cancer screens (mammograms), birth control, pre- conception counseling, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and menopausal support (hormone replacement therapy). She said mental healthcare includes evaluation and assistance for issues such as depression, mood and anxiety disorders; intimate partner and domestic violence; sexual trauma; elder abuse or neglect; parenting and anger management; marital, caregiver, or family-related stress; and post-deployment adjustment or post-traumatic stress disorder. Conroy said the women’s center will also provide specialty care that includes: Management and screening of chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, glandular disorders, osteoporosis, and Fibromyalgia as well as sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Reproductive health care includes maternity care, infertility evaluation and limited treatment; sexual problems, tubal ligation, urinary incontinence and others.
30 Rehabilitation, home-bound and long-term care, including VA referrals given to those in need of rehabilitation therapies such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, exercise therapy, recreational therapy, and vocational therapy. Home-bound and long-term care services are available as well, limited to those meeting specific requirements.
. [Source: Times Leader | Bill O'Boyle | November 2, 2016 ++]
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VA Health Care Management Update 01 ► Help Is On The Way
Vice President-elect Mike Pence promised military veterans that he and Donald Trump will reform the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs health system, telling them 11 NOV that their medical care is part of the compensation for their service. Speaking during an outdoor Veterans Day ceremony at the Indiana National Guard's Camp Atterbury south of Indianapolis, the governor did not address his new role leading Trump's transition team and his only mention of the president-elect was to reassure his audience he and Trump are committed to improving the VA's delivery of health benefits. Pence did not take questions and reporters were kept at a distance.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., Friday, Nov. 11, 2016.
"Help is on the way," he told veterans, their families, active soldiers and others as brisk winds caused the flags behind to wave. It was a message that retired hospital administrator and Navy veteran Joseph Durbin of Henry County, Kentucky, came to hear. "When you see people with the arms and legs missing, the amount of suicides every day ... we need to do something for our veterans," said Durbin, 64. Unofficial or secret lists have been used at VA facilities across the country to hide lengthy delays in care for veterans. It led Congress to fund the Veterans Choice program, which allows veterans to seek private care at the government's expense if they have waited 30 days or longer.
Pence also spoke of the "non-physical" scars of many veterans. He said his father returned home from combat in Korea a changed man with medals that were not displayed but hidden away in a drawer. The governor, who is also the father of a Marine officer, praised the work of Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana in getting legislation passed to improve the mental health care of veterans and members of the military."We owe a debt we can never fully repay," Pence told the veterans. [Source: Associated Press | Ken Kusmer | November 11, 2016 ++]
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* Vets *
GI Bill Update 214 ► DOE Final Student Borrower Regs
In late OCT the U.S. Department of Education announced final regulations to protect student borrowers against misleading and predatory practices by postsecondary institutions and to clarify a process for loan forgiveness in cases of institutional misconduct.
The Department began the negotiated rulemaking process after it received an unprecedented influx of borrower defense claims following the closure of Corinthian Colleges. The then-current regulation, promulgated in 1995, provided little detail on how borrowers could submit claims, and how the Department would adjudicate those claims. The final regulations include key provisions from the proposed regulations that will protect the rights of borrowers and hold institutions accountable by: Giving borrowers access to consistent, clear, fair, and transparent processes to file claims; Empowering the Secretary to provide debt relief to borrowers without requiring individual applications in instances of widespread misrepresentations; Protecting taxpayers by ensuring that financially troubled institutions provide the government with protection against the risks they create and that institutions whose actions lead to discharges of Federal student loans are held responsible; Helping students make more informed decisions by requiring proprietary schools with poor loan repayment outcomes to include a plain-language warning in their advertising and promotional materials; Ensuring affected borrowers have information about loan discharge when schools close and access to an automated process; and Banning schools from inducing students to sign pre-dispute arbitration agreements that waive their rights to go to court and bring class action lawsuits based on borrower defense claims.
The final regulations strengthen several provisions in response to public comment on the proposed regulations, including:
Early Implementation of Automatic Closed School Discharge: The final regulations provide for the automatic discharge of the loans of borrowers whose school closed on or after Nov. 1, 2013 and have not re-enrolled in another Title IV participating institution within three years. The Department intends to designate this provision for early implementation as soon as operationally possible before July 1, 2017, which will allow eligible Corinthian borrowers to benefit from this streamlined process sooner.
Taxable Income. Unfortunately, the discharge of student loans is still considered income for the purposes of the IRS. The enlisted association (TREA is still working to change this.
Banning All Pre-dispute Arbitration Agreements: The final regulations strengthen the limitations on pre-dispute arbitration agreements that prevent students from taking institutions to court by permanently banning any pre- dispute arbitration agreements for all Direct Loan borrowers for disputes related to the educational services provided or the making of Direct Loans, regardless of whether such clauses are a condition of enrollment. These provisions
32 not only allow students to choose where to pursue claims against an institution after claims arise, but also prohibit institutions from banning class action lawsuits by students.
Determining Borrower Defense Loan Relief: The final regulations make clear that the Department will determine in a reasonable and practicable way the appropriate relief for a borrower defense claim, taking into account any educational benefit received.
The Department received over 10,000 comments on the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on 6 JUN 2016. All provisions of the regulations, with the exception of those the Department intends to designate for early implementation, will take effect on July 1, 2017. For a summary of the final regulations, refer to http://www2.ed.gov/documents/press-releases/borrower-defense-final-regulations.pdf. [Source: TREA Update | DOE Press Release |October 31, 2016 ++]
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Vet Legal Assistance Update 01 ► Nevada @Ease Program
A public-private partnership to help active duty military personnel, reservists, National Guard soldiers and veterans in Nevada access legal services helped more than 900 individual in its first year, the state Attorney General’s Office reported 10 NOV. The state Office of Military Legal Assistance’s @EASE program is the first of its kind in the nation led by a state attorney general with public and private participation to provide free legal services for qualified service members, veterans and their families. For more information about the program, visit www.nvagomla.nv.gov.
Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt last week received the 2016 Champion of Justice Award by the Las Vegas office of Nevada Legal Services for his work establishing the program. When the program launched in November 2015, Laxalt said many soldiers don’t qualify for traditional legal aid programs because they live just above the poverty line. A Judge Advocate General Corps officer can make calls and send letters on a service member’s behalf, but they can’t take the matter to a civilian court. That means even a seemingly minor legal squabble, such as a landlord dispute, can be a big deal. Veterans who have an honorable or general discharge from service can receive help through the program with wills and powers of attorney. The report released 10 NOV by Laxalt’s office included these facts about the state’s military population:
Nevada is home to an estimated 11,400 active duty military members, 7,620 reserve members, and over 228,000 veterans. The state’s active-duty service members represent all five branches of the military, but more than 90 percent are serving in the Air Force. Many work in one of the four active military bases in Nevada (Nellis and Creech Air Force bases in the south and the Hawthorne Army Depot Base and Naval Air Station Fallon Navy Base in the north).
[Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | Wesley Juhl | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Veterans in Congress Update 07 ► Changes For 2017
President-elect Donald Trump surprised pundits by winning the White House; Republicans defied expectations of some and managed to hold on to both the House and the Senate. The latest election results, combined with a number of legislator retirements, mean the military and veterans community will be losing some legislators who have been among the strongest supporters of military personnel issues in the past, including:
33 Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) retires after 34 years in office. Reid, a long-time champion of providing full concurrent receipt, will be missed. Finding a new Senate sponsor for concurrent receipt will be a key MOAA priority in 2017. MOAA's 2016 Marix Award winner, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV), who supported a range of pay and health care protections as chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, left the House to run for Reid's Senate seat - but lost that race. MOAA's 2015 Marix Award winner and Senate Armed Services Committee member Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who led the successful fight to repeal unfair cuts to military retiree benefits, lost her re-election bid to Maggie Hassan. Jeff Miller (R-FL), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) and champion of the successful charge to eliminate the SBP age-62 offset for military widows a decade ago, is retiring from Congress this year. After a congressional redistricting, Randy Forbes (R-VA), chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, lost in a primary election earlier this year. Corrine Brown (D-FL) also lost her primary and stepped down as ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC). HASC members Chris Gibson (D-NY), Gwen Graham (D-FL), John Kline (R-MN), and Richard Nugent (R-FL) are all retiring. John Fleming (R-LA) leaves the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) to become a senator.
These legislators will be missed, as well as the strong support of their staffs. MOAA thanks them for their dedicated service to the men and women in uniform and wishes them well in all of their future endeavors.
With Brown's departure as HVAC ranking member, Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN), a retired Army National Guard E-9, and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) are angling for the top Democratic spot on the committee. The number of veterans serving on Capitol Hill will continue its long decline when the 115th Congress convenes next year. In the House, the percentage of members who served in the uniformed services could slip to less than 17 percent - the lowest level since before World War II. As few as 73 veterans will head to Washington in January. The final number won't be known until mid-December, after Louisiana's run-off races take place for the 3rd and 4th districts. A total of 81 representatives - nearly 19 percent - had served in uniform at the start of the 114th Congress. The number in the Senate increases by one to 21 veterans. While the chamber loses a veteran with the departure of Mark Kirk (R-IL), it gains Tammy Duckworth (D- Ill.) and Todd Young (R- IN).
The representation of veterans in Congress has declined steadily since it peaked at 74 percent for the House (1969-70) and 78 percent for the Senate (1977-78). Some of the decline can be explained by an inevitable demographic shift. As fewer members of the overall population serve in uniform, so has the proportion of veterans serving in elected office. However, the number of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans serving in Congress continues to grow, with 26 heading to the Hill in 2017.
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That said, just because a legislator is a veteran doesn't necessarily mean they support veteran issues. In fact, some of MOAA's staunchest legislative supporters have been non-veterans, and some who have staunchly opposed our personnel and compensation efforts in the past have been veterans. What the declining veteran population does mean is we have a continuing challenge to educate legislators and their staffs on the unique conditions and exceptional sacrifices inherent in decades of uniformed service that defy comparison with a civilian career. To that end, MOAA works hard to maintain good working relationships with legislators and staff members on both sides of the aisle and with veterans and non- veterans alike. The real battles are usually fought over funding. Heightened concern over the budget will continue to make resisting disproportional defense cuts a significant challenge in future years, regardless of which party is in charge. [Source: MOAA Legislative Update | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Veterans Day by the Numbers ► As of 1 Jan 2016
It has been 97 years since the United States first celebrated Veterans Day. On Nov. 11, 1919, the holiday, which originated as Armistice Day, marked the first anniversary since the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 marking Armistice Day as an annual observance. Twelve years later, November 11 was officially a national holiday. But it wasn't until President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 that the name was changed to Veterans Day as a way to honor all people who had served in any U.S. war. The U.S. veteran population by the numbers, using 2015 data from the U.S. Census Bureau is:
18.8 million - The number of military veterans. Of those 18.8 million, 1.6 million are women.
9.3 million - The number of veterans age 65 or older. About 1.6 million are younger than 35.
930,000 - The number of living veterans who served in World War II. There are 1.8 million who served in the Korean War, 6.8 million who served in Vietnam and 5.6 million who served during the Gulf War (counted as 1990 to the present). About 4.3 million served only in peacetime.
11.6 Percent - The percentage of veterans who are black. About 6.4 percent are Hispanic, while 78.3 percent are white.
3 - The number of states with a million or more veterans: California, Texas, and Florida.
27.7 Percent - The percentage of veterans 25 and older with a bachelor's degree. Nearly 31 percent of non-veterans have one.
$32,446 - The annual median income of female veterans. Compare that number to $22,505 for female non-veterans. The annual media income for male veterans is higher at $38,978, also higher than the number for male non-veterans at $34,168.
35 7.2 million - The number of veterans 18 to 64 years old in the labor force. Of those, 6.8 million are employed.
11.5 million - The number of veterans who voted in the 2014 congressional election. That means 54 percent of the veteran population cast a ballot, compared with 41 percent of non-veterans.
3.9 million - The number of veterans with a service-connected disability rating.
405,235 - The number of all U.S. businesses that are majority owned by veterans. Veteran-owned firms comprised 7.5 percent of the nation's 5.4 million employer businesses.
[Source: ABC News | Elizabeth Mclaughlin | November 11, 2016 ++]
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History of Veterans Day ► 1919 to 2016
World War I - known at the time as "The Great War" - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars."
Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations..." The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m. The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words: Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
36 Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday-a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation's history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."
On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee. In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.
The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action
37 supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.
Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. [Source: VA Office of Public Affairs | http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp | November 11, 2016 ++]
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Vet vs. Non-Vet Health ► Veterans Report Better Overall Health
On Nov. 10, America's Health Rankings, in partnership with the United Health Foundation and MOAA, released the 2016 Health of Those Who Have Served Report. The timing was tied to Veterans Day. The report compares selected health measures of veterans with those of non-veteran civilians in the same age and demographic groups. The report focused on those who have served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces in Regular, National Guard, or Reserve status. The study reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world's largest annual population-based telephone survey system, which has been tracking behaviors in America since 1984. The sample included nearly half a million people, of whom nearly 60,000 self-identified as veterans. The analysis addressed 24 indicators of health behaviors, health outcomes, and utilization of key health care services. Key findings included:
People who have served report better overall health, but face higher rates of chronic health challenges Veterans are more likely to report being in very good or excellent health compared with civilians. However, men and women vets report higher rates of several chronic diseases and unhealthy behaviors compared with their civilian counterparts. For example, veterans have a 13% higher rate of cancer, 62% higher rate of coronary heart disease, and 67% higher rate of heart attacks. Veterans 18-39 years of age have lower rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, but they sleep less and smoke more than non-vets. Men and women vets are more active at all ages. Physical inactivity was 22% less prevalent among people who have served in the military compared with those who have not. Physical inactivity is 38% lower among 18-39 year old veterans than non-vets, and 21% lower among veterans over 80 years of age. Veterans are more likely to have health insurance coverage and use preventative services but are less likely to have a personal doctor or health care provider. Over 90% of veterans have health insurance, compared to 82.8% for non-vets. Those who served used more preventative services and reported fewer unmet health needs compared to non-vets.
“The health of those who have served is a high priority for policymakers, health officials, and community leaders,” said MOAA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins, USAF (Ret). “Insights from this report will help stimulate dialogue and action to better serve the unique health needs of uniformed servicemembers and veterans and their families.” [Source: MOAA Legislative Update | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Vietnam Lapel Pin ► National Initiative
On the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, a national initiative aims to make sure veterans from that era are never forgotten. The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, which was authorized by Congress in 2008, is conducting events and activities across the country this year to honor those who served in a deeply divisive
38 war that left a generation of warfighters without the proper recognition they deserved. One part of the initiative is to honor vets who served between Nov. 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975, with a commemorative Vietnam Veteran lapel pin.
Front Back
On 10 NOV, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey received one of those pins during a brief ceremony in the Military Times office outside Washington, D.C. McCaffrey, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, said the pin honoring his fellow veterans reinforces the importance of supporting America's men and women in uniform, regardless of politics. “You may have different political views, but you can honor the soldier who fought without necessarily endorsing the outcome of the conflict,” the four-star general told Army Times on Thursday. That’s happened over time, he said, and Vietnam was a turning point that led to almost overwhelming support for today's generation of service members. It’s also why the pin has tremendous significance. McCaffrey said Arlington National Cemetery is the traditional place to visit on Veterans Day, but there will be thousands convening at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. on Friday. “[The Vietnam War] changed the way people grieve over tragedies,” he said, adding that people leaving flowers and mementos at memorials started with the Vietnam wall.
McCaffrey, who retired in 1996 after 32 years of service, was the most highly decorated Army general serving at the time of his retirement. He earned two Distinguished Service Crosses, which are second only to the Medal of Honor, and two Silver Stars, the nation's third-highest award for valor. He also is a two-time Purple Heart recipient. McCaffrey served four combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, the Vietnamese Airborne Division, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division. McCaffrey also served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2001. For information on presenttion of the pin refer to http://www.vietnamwar50th.com/assets/1/7/Veteran_Lapel_Pin_Fact_Sheet.pdf [Source: MarineCorpsTimes | Charlsy Panzino | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Vet Burial Plans ► Pre-Planning Is A Must
No one likes to think about death, but if a veteran wants to be buried with military rights, or in a national cemetery, pre-planning is a must. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a website which includes information about national cemeteries, preparing in advance, donating burial flags and burial benefits for veterans buried in a private cemetery. To insure eligibility of burial in a VA cemetery, discharge papers are required. Family members should be made of aware of where these papers are kept. The discharge papers are also required for burial benefits in a private cemetery.
The VA has 131 national cemeteries and those eligible for the benefits are entitled to a gravesite at one of the national cemeteries, providing space is available. Opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate are provided at no cost to the family. Burial benefits are also available for spouses and dependents of the veteran in a national cemetery even if they predecease the veteran, acceding to the website http://www.cem.va.gov (click on Veteran Services, then on burial
39 benefits in the drop-down menu). Family members need to contact a funeral home to assist with making burial arrangements at a national cemetery. To schedule a burial, fax documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
Veterans are entitled to burial benefits when buried in a private cemetery including a government headstone or marker, a burial flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate at no cost to the family. Some veterans may also be eligible for burial allowances. For more information on eligibility call 1-800-827-1000. Arrangements for military burials in private cemeteries can also be arranged by calling the local VFW or American Legion Post. For the VFW go to http://www.vfw.org/find-a-post . For the American Legion go to http://www.members.legion.org/CGI- BIN/lansaweb?webapp=MYLEPOST+webrtn=wr_dsplcr+ml=LANSA:XHTML+part=TAL+lang=ENG [Source: The Saratoga Sun | Liz Wood | November 9, 2016 ++]
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Vet Best vs. Worst Cities to Live ► 2016 Rankings
In honor of our troops who fought bravely in the name of American freedom, WalletHub crunched the data to determine the most livable cities for service members with veteran status. Our analysts compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities based on 21 key indicators of veteran-friendliness. They range from “percentage of military skill-related jobs” to “availability of VA health facilities.” Go to https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for- veterans/8156/ to see the complete listing along with Best vs. Worst rankings in specific categories.
Four of the top 10 U.S. cities for veterans are in Texas, according to a new study released 7 NOV. The study, found that the Texas cities of Laredo, Plano, Austin and El Paso are all among the nation’s best for military veterans based on 21 factors like the availability of military-skills related jobs, veteran unemployment, economic health, overall veteran population and access to Department of Veteran Affairs administered healthcare. Among the other top 10 cities overall are Scottsdale, Arizona, which came in first, Irvine and San Diego, California, Colorado Springs, Colorado and Tampa and Orlando Florida. At the bottom of the list ranking at 100 through 97, respectively, are Detroit, Michigan, which ranked as worst for veterans, Newark, New Jersey, Cleveland, Ohio and Memphis, Tennessee.
The top cities ranked strongly for factors like economy, job availability for veterans and overall quality of life. “I think one of the key takeaways here is that jobs and economy really play into anyone’s retirement a career – but veterans even more so because they are often younger,” said Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub analyst. “They really do need to make sure the job opportunities in whatever cities they are settling down in are good for veterans.” The study analyzed data from a variety of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the VA to draw its conclusions. It examined and ranked the top 100 most populated cities nationwide. Gonzalez said the most important factor to examine for most veterans looking to relocate is economics and jobs. “Employment is so important – especially before you’re settling down in a city, that’s something that you really need to think about before,” she said. [Source: Military.com | Amy Bushatz | Nov 08, 2016 ++]
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SW Florida Vietnam Wall ► Half Scale Dedicated in Punta Gorda
A 50 percent scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated Saturday in Punta Gorda, Florida, following a weeklong tribute to all veterans that culminated in a “Walk of Honor” during which participants carried the names of the more than 58,000 military members listed on the memorial. The memorial is located in Laishley
40 Park, along the Peace River. Its designers adhered to the criteria set forth for the design of the original Memorial, located in Washington D.C., not far from the Lincoln Memorial. The granite replica contains the names of all killed or missing in the Vietnam War and harmonizes with its surroundings, fronted by a previously-existing pond with a fountain, illuminated at night, and a gazebo. Park benches are positioned in close proximity. Other Charlotte County veteran monuments are situated nearby.
Punta Gorda resident Stacy Jones, who says she “comes from a lengthy line of military members” and is married to a Marine, was among those who spearheaded the effort to construct the memorial. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard E. Carr, a former fighter pilot who flew 900 combat hours in Vietnam and now lives in Punta Gorda, became president of the committee overseeing the fundraising and construction. Charlotte County is home to a “plethora of veterans who retired here, including many Vietnam veterans," Jones said. "A group of us got together and decided why not build a memorial here, give our veterans a place to heal and also educate our community.” They formed The Vietnam Wall of Southwest Florida Inc., a Florida nonprofit corporation. Jones said the first fundraiser was in April 2014; since then, more than $625,000 has been collected.
The city of Punta Gorda donated the property as well as considerable engineering time and expertise in ensuring the memorial could withstand the rigors of not only the saltwater environment, but also hurricanes and other harsh weather. Organizers wanted engraved granite for the wall instead of the powder-coated aluminum used by traveling walls (and some permanent ones) to simulate the original. The aluminum was ruled out because of Punta Gorda’s saltwater-influenced atmosphere, Jones said. The Punta Gorda memorial features engraved granite slabs attached to a thick concrete retaining wall in the “V” configuration of the original memorial. Jones said she sees one of the ultimate outcomes of building the memorial is giving the 58,000-plus people listed on it “the respect they deserve.” Visitors will be able to do name rubbings along the memorial, similar to those done at the original.
Jennifer Huber, tourism public relations manager for the Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau, said she believes the wall will be an attraction to Punta Gorda, whether it's for tourists or people in Southwest Florida who are not able to travel to Washington, D.C. It's far from the first small-scale replica of the memorial; others can be found in Wildwood, New Jersey; Pensacola, Florida; Enid, Oklahoma; Winfield, Kansas (a wall that includes the names of the war's fallen service members from Kansas); Dinuba, California; and Naperville, Illinois. For more, see www.vietnamwallofsouthwestflorida.org. [Source: Military times | Ken Perrotte | November 7, 2016 ++]
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Vet Toxic Exposure | Ft. McClellan Update 04 ► First COA Reversal
Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD (CCK) won a case in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in which the Board had denied a veteran service connection for Parkinson’s disease due to herbicide exposure at Fort McClellan,
41 Alabama. Despite VA acknowledging that there was “facility-wide” use of herbicides at Fort McClellan, and that VA considers Parkinson's disease associated with herbicide exposure, it denied service connection stating the Veteran's exposure was "routine." The Court found the Board had no basis in law to deny benefits to a Veteran simply because the application of herbicides was "routine." The Court reversed the Board’s decision, meaning VA must award the Veteran service connection for Parkinson’s disease.
This is the first Court reversal of a Board decision for a Fort McClellan herbicide exposure case. This ruling has the potential to impact the outcomes of other Fort McClellan-Veteran herbicide exposure cases. Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD is a law firm known for its ability to handle complex disability, insurance, personal injury and wrongful death litigation, with a national reputation in the areas of veteran benefits, long term disability insurance, life insurance and ERISA litigation. To read the Court's decision refer Case NO. 15-1525 Publication at https://efiling.uscourts.cavc.gov/cmecf/servlet/TransportRoom?servlet=ShowDoc&dls_id=01204135504&caseId=8 5361&dktType=dktPublic. [Source: VVA Web Weekly | November 4, 2016 ++]
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VVMF Wall of Faces Update 01 ► Finish The Wall
In 1982, a black granite memorial with more than 58,000 of them stretched over 70 panels took its place among the landmarks of Washington, D.C., reminding all who visit that, as the inscription puts it, “Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans.” The message, and the design borne from criteria that specifically forbade political statements, was simple: These are the service members, the sons and daughters, the old and (mostly) young, who have given everything for the nation’s greater good. But every name, the saying goes, has a story. And while visitors to the wall may take away etchings or leave mementos, those stories won’t fit on blocks of stone.
In 2009, more than a quarter-century after the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and more than 35 years after the U.S. signed the Paris Peace Accords, the group behind the private donations that funded “The Wall” began a new project – one that would preserve the memories of the fallen in the digital realm, with room to tell their tales through images and the memories of those they left behind.
What began as “Faces Never Forgotten” has become the “Wall of Faces,” where the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation hopes to someday host an image and online landing page to correspond with every name on that granite wall. As of late October, the VVMF had posted nearly 49,000 images, with less than 10,000 to go before the collection reaches its goal. As part of Military Times’ monthlong celebration of veterans, we’re partnering with the VVMF in its quest to finish The Wall of Faces (#FinishtheWall). Think you might be able to help, or want to know more? Some answers to common questions, with information provided by VVMF Communications Director Heidi Zimmerman:
42 I have a photo to submit. How do I do it? The easiest way is through The Wall of Faces itself – go to www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces and find the name of the service member in question. Click on the “submit photo” button on the profile page and follow the directions. The online database is searchable by home of record, state, service branch and other criteria, so if you’re checking on gaps that need filled from your hometown or county, for example, you should be able to narrow the field in a few clicks.
The service member already has a photo. Should I submit a new one anyway? Yes. Many service members have multiple images associated with their profile pages that can help tell their stories. And it’s not just official military pictures, either – some have wedding or family photos and many, in a nod to the average age of the fallen, are represented by shots from high school yearbooks.
I have a non-digital photo to submit. Now what? The foundation will accept old snapshots, etc., but will not return them. Organizers suggest sending the highest- resolution copy you can procure – a glossy 8-by-10, if at all possible. Print and fill out a photo submission form (available at www.vvmf.org/how-to-submit) and mail the package to Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Attn: The Wall of Faces, 1235 South Clark Street, Suite 910, Arlington, VA 22202.
How else are photos sourced? The VVMF’s mobile Vietnam Wall replica, known as The Wall That Heals, travels the country; workers can scan in photos on site. The group also staffs Vietnam reunions where they can collect images, and some individuals have volunteered their time to pursue them either in person or via social media.
How are photos vetted? Volunteers staff the vetting process, and Zimmerman says it’s not always perfect. “Sometimes there is no family left to confirm we’ve got the right person,” she said in an email. “We’ve had instances where a family member comes forward and says, ‘Hey, that’s not my brother!’ We immediately go back and trace the steps to figure out what went wrong where.” Common names, ages and hometowns can create problems, she said, as can group or unit photos from in theater, where troops may have been misidentified decades earlier.
Where has response been the strongest? At least one image of each service member in The Wall of Faces with a home of record in these 17 states has been collected: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Does The Wall of Faces exist offline? Not yet. Plans for the Education Center at the Wall (http://www.vvmf.org/education-center) include The Wall of Faces as part of about 35,000 square feet of exhibitions. Other planned features will walk visitors through the history of the war, show how The Wall’s design came to fruition, and display some of the hundreds of thousands of objects left at the memorial by family members, battle buddies and others. The VVMF continues to seek donations for the center, with an expected price tag surpassing $100 million – none of that coming from public funding. The project held its ceremonial groundbreaking in 2012, though actual construction on a patch of land between The Wall and the Lincoln Memorial has yet to begin.
Where can I learn more? To see the Wall of Faces or to learn more about related programs or donation opportunities, visit www.vvmf.org .
How can I spread the word? Already sent in your image for the Wall of Faces, or have another message of support to share? Post it on social media and include the hashtag #FinishTheWall. Military Times will share some of these images with our Twitter and Facebook followers throughout November.
43
An artist’s conception of a Wall of Faces exhibit as part of the planned Education Center at the Wall.
[Source: Military Times | Kevin Lilley, November 1, 2016++]
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Korean War Vets ► McEachin & Okamoto
Korean War veteran James McEachin and Vietnam War veteran Vincent Okamoto said they felt a calling to join the military, deciding as children that they wanted to serve. Each enthusiastically enlisted in the Army during a time of war and had unique experiences because of their race. McEachin, who is African-American, was part of one of the first desegregated Army units and Okamoto is the most highly decorated Japanese-American to survive the Vietnam War. McEachin and Okamoto shared their experiences 5 NOV at a gathering of mostly military academy students at the annual American Veterans Center conference.
Army veterans Vincent Okamoto, left, and James McEachin take questions during a World War II forum during the 19th annual American Veterans Center Veterans Conference & Honors and National Youth Leadership Summit
Both men were set to receive awards from the center on Saturday night, McEachin for distinguished service in the Korean War and Okamoto for distinguished service in Vietnam. “In our society, some men are lionized for their
44 great wealth or their political power or their social position,” Okamoto said. “Some are renowned for their athletic ability. Others are accorded celebrity status as film stars and rock icons. Of all the titles in the world, the proudest of that is veteran. Because it refers to an individual who is willing to give up everything for America.”
Okamoto, 72, was born in a Japanese internment camp in Poston, Arizona. Though his family was unconstitutionally interned for more than three years and stripped of their home, business and belongings, his parents weren’t resentful, Okamoto said. “I’ve got no bitterness,” he said. He explained his family were warriors. Okamoto was the 10th child in the family and the youngest of seven brothers, all of whom joined the military. His two oldest brothers fought in World War II in the all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Another of
Okamoto’s brothers served as a Marine in the Korean War.
“When the Vietnam War started heating up in the mid-60s, I kind of thought that was my opportunity to prove myself, go off to war and come back and be able to stand with my brothers and drink beer with them as an equal,” Okamoto said. He recalled being treated as a “pariah” when he entered Vietnam, as most of the new guys were because they posed a threat to the others who “knew the ways of the jungle.” It hurt his standing that he was a second lieutenant and ordering younger men who had more experience in the war zone. After his first firefight, things got better, Okamoto said. He eventually developed friendships with the men in his company, mostly 18- to 20-year-olds, and created inexplicable bonds. “They knew what they did was not just thankless, but in some circles wrong,” he said. “They fought, and they risked their lives, and they bled because they didn’t want to let their buddies down. That is something I’ve never been able to see replicated in civilian life.”
Like Okamoto, McEachin, 86, was also inspired by a family member to enter military service. He described the day his brother-in-law came to his family’s home in New Jersey in 1946 wearing an Army uniform. “To me, it looked almost like it was from another world,” McEachin said. “I reached my 17th birthday, and the first thing I did was to find someone who could tell me how to join the Army.” McEachin said he was “particularly happy” with his company, part of the integrated 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment. After his service, McEachin went on to become a novelist and centered one of his books on the 24th Infantry Regiment – one of the all-black regiments created after the Civil War. He told the story Saturday of a firefight in which he was shot multiple times. Becoming emotional at times and having to pause, McEachin explained that he was rescued by a fellow soldier, who carried him to safety. All he could remember about the man was his blonde hair. He never learned the man’s name.
Just weeks ago, McEachin returned to Korea to revisit the area near the border between North and South Korea, where he served 65 years ago. “I didn’t realize I would be so frightened and all these memories would come back,” McEachin said. “It was a little bit too much for me to take.” Still, he said, he finds “something magical in being called a soldier.” McEachin has published several books and short stories and has worked as an actor and screenwriter. Okamoto went on to be a superior court judge for Los Angeles County. McEachin earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart, and Okamoto the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. [Source: Nikki Wentling | Stars And Stripes | November 5, 2016 ++]
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Enlistment Bonus Payback Update 02 ► Guard Can't find 4,000 Soldiers
The California National Guard can’t locate more than 4,000 of the 9,700 soldiers caught up in the military enlistment bonus scandal that has rocked one of the nation’s largest Guard organizations, according to its commander. In an internal memo obtained by The Los Angeles Times, Maj. Gen. David Baldwin said the California Guard needed help finding thousands of soldiers who received improper enlistment bonuses or other incentives at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars a decade ago. Baldwin also wrote that the vast majority of the 9,700 current and former California Guard soldiers who received improper payments did so “unknowingly” and enlisted “in good faith at a time of war.”
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His 27 OCT memo is one of the first unequivocal statements by a senior military official since the bonus scandal surfaced that most California Guard soldiers did not know they were getting money improperly. It suggests most may be eligible to have some or all of their debts forgiven under a Pentagon review. But the new Pentagon inquiry already appears mired in confusion. Despite Baldwin’s assertions, the Treasury Department tracked down some of the 4,000 soldiers long ago through tax returns and forced them to repay their bonuses, raising questions about whether the Pentagon will now return the money. The Pentagon’s efforts to recover the money have brought hardship to many soldiers and veterans, Baldwin said, “who signed up for incentives based on misinformation about their eligibility.”
The supposedly missing soldiers in Baldwin’s memo are likely to have retired, changed addresses, moved to Guard units in other states or transferred to the active-duty Army, officials said. The affected soldiers did not respond to letters sent by the California Guard to addresses on file for them, the officials said. Baldwin asked current and former California Guard members for help locating the soldiers. He directed them to the Soldier Incentives and Assistance Center, an office set up in Sacramento to help soldiers appeal to the Pentagon for waivers of some or all of the debts. With the center’s help, “hundreds of soldiers … have had their debts forgiven or have corrected their records,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, more than 4,000 Soldiers with errors in their incentive packets have not had the same opportunity.”
Now that Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered the Defense Department to stop seeking repayment of improperly doled out enlistment bonuses, the California Army National Guard is trying to get the word out to the soldiers who are still on the hook. Carter on 26 OCT ordered the Pentagon to suspend collecting millions in bonuses and streamline its process for appealing debts, but according to a letter from the California Guard's adjutant general, soldiers will still have to apply for relief to release their debts. Baldwin wrote Soldiers who have been hit with a collection letter should take this opportunity to file an appeal, via phone at 855-751-4087 or online at http://www.calguard.ca.gov/G1/Pages/Incentives-Task-Force.aspx. [Source: Los Angeles Times | David S. Cloud | October 31, 2016 ++]
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Enlistment Bonus Payback Update 03 ► ISSA Demands DoD Return Payments
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) urged the Pentagon on 1 NOV to return reenlistment bonuses to California National Guard veterans who were forced to repay them a decade later after an audit showed that many of them were issued erroneously. Issa sent a letter to the Pentagon demanding that it immediately reimburse veterans who accepted the bonuses in good faith and have paid back those bonuses. "The Guards' own inept actions and lack of oversight created this debacle. The government has instead forced many of our war-fighters to deplete their life savings, take on more debt by refinancing their homes, and ruined their credit," Issa said in a letter to Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Peter Levine. "You have a duty to make the victims whole without delay, which includes compensation for all applicable interest fees and penalties. As such, the Department of Defense must clear these debts and assist with all service member issues related to invalidate the debts," he wrote.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter the prior Wednesday ordered the Pentagon to suspend collection of the bonuses, after an audit showed that almost 10,000 California National Guard members were erroneously paid reenlistment bonuses about a decade ago. The move came after mounting pressure from Congress. The Los Angeles Times reported that many of the troops who accepted bonuses at no fault of their own were being aggressively pursued by debt collectors and threatened with wage garnishments, tax liens and interest charges. Carter also directed Levine to establish a new process to help troops who accepted the bonuses in good faith adjudicate their cases and seek reimbursement if they had already paid back the bonuses. "Though the Department of Defense agreed to suspend further collection efforts last week, the Department still has not put forth a plan for returning monies to soldiers who've already unfairly repaid them," the statement from Issa's office said.
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The National Guard Bureau, which oversees each state's National Guard, said it found cases in every state where bonuses were paid erroneously, but so far has not identified those states or exactly how many cases there are outside of California. "If this continues my congressional colleagues and I will act to compel and force you to honor your commitments, just as the soldiers honored theirs. I respectfully request a detailed, substantive, and realistic solution to be delivered promptly," Issa wrote. [Source: The Hill | Kristina Wong | November 1, 2016 ++]
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Enlistment Bonus Payback Update 04 ► Estimates Outside CA Retracted
The National Guard on 3 NOV retracted its estimate that about 20,000-30,000 soldiers outside of California had their re-enlistment and education bonuses flagged for review, a step that could have led to recoupment of money in some cases. The initial rough estimate was given to Stars and Stripes by a National Guard Bureau spokesman who was reviewing nationwide data on the wartime bonuses, which have come under scrutiny after thousands of California soldiers face repayment. The estimate was made using incomplete data from state National Guard bureaus and did not indicate how many cases actually led to recoupment efforts, only cases flagged for further review, Lt. Col. Wes Parmer, a National Guard Bureau spokesman, said in a telephone interview. But the service later challenged the estimate, saying it did not have statistics to back it up.
“There is nothing in the National Guard Bureau's review of the California bonus issue to support the estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 National Guard soldiers outside California have had their bonuses flagged for review and recoupment,” Col. Les Melnyk wrote in an email statement. The Pentagon said it has not fully completed a review of bonus cases ordered last week by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and does not yet have accurate numbers to provide. It told Stars and Stripes that the instances of fraud and reclamation of bonuses is likely “in the dozens.” However, a statistical survey by the National Guard in 2010 of about 9,000 bonuses given to soldiers outside California found about 11 percent warranted “additional review for possible contract termination or recoupment action" by the state National Guard bureaus, according to figures supplied by the service. Cases can be reviewed for a variety of reasons, including soldiers not fulfilling their agreement, lack of paperwork or fraud.
The National Guard handed out a total of about $600 million in bonuses and education benefits to 107,000 soldiers in states and territories as of 2010, according to Parmer. There are about 340,000 soldiers in the Army National Guard. It was unclear Thursday what the states did with those cases. The National Guard Bureau investigation “didn’t include tracking each state’s actions on recommendations. It’s a state-centric process,” Parmer wrote in an email. The National Guard discovered fraud in California bonuses in 2010 and has since started recollecting about 2,000 and has yet to process thousands more. It ordered state bureaus to conduct audits in 2010 and took the statistical sample of the total number of cases, Parmer told Stars and Stripes. Parmer and the Pentagon underscored they do not believe the widespread fraud found in California was a problem elsewhere. The “National Guard Bureau assessed at that time that there was no evidence of the systemic fraud found in California and determined that no further reviews were necessary,” Parmer wrote in an email.
After the 2010 audits, the Army National Guard made changes and created the Guard Incentives Management System that it said will reduce the likelihood of the fraudulent activity that occurred in California. The service has said a servicemember in California was at the root of many fraudulent bonus payments and was prosecuted. In California, thousands of National Guard members or veterans have been forced to repay bonuses. In about 1,100 of those cases, recipients were not entitled to the bonuses they received, according to the National Guard Bureau. Another 5,300 cases do not include proper paperwork or documentation and 3,200 have been flagged but not fully processed, the bureau said. So far, the National Guard had begun collection efforts in 2,000 cases, it said. [Source: Stars And Stripes | Travis J. Tritten | November 3, 2016++]
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Vet Jobs Update 202 ► Longevity | 50% After One Year
Nearly half of veterans leave their first civilian job within a year, but that may not be bad news, according to a new analysis by the Center for a New American Security. Researchers from the think tank’s Military, Veterans, and Society program found that turnover rate is comparable to civilians getting their first full-time job, and is usually the veterans’ choice. “Most of these veterans leave their jobs for positive reasons, such as a move for more money, more responsibility or a better location,” the report states. “A minority of veterans leave jobs for negative reasons, such as clashes with management or performance issues. However, there are no indications that veterans leave for negative reasons relating to their veteran status.”
The study refutes assumptions that the high turnover rate — almost half, according to previous surveys — is a result of veterans inability to integrate into civilian posts or pervasive discrimination against them. But researchers did find that underemployment remains a problem for servicemembers entering the civilian workforce, with 60 percent of veterans surveyed saying their experience and skills significantly outpace their job responsibilities. “Among all veterans, former enlisted personnel felt more undervalued and underutilized than former officers,” the report states. “(They) were more likely than officers to claim that their manager did not value their experience as a veteran … and (more) cited a “skill or experience mismatch” as a reason for leaving a job.” The report is based on three separate CNAS surveys of nearly 1,800 veterans, managers and recruiting professionals, and analysis of existing corporate data and related employment reports.
In a separate study, researchers with the business management firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) surveyed 1,000 veterans working in civilian jobs and found 82 percent think that their military experience gives them an advantage in the workplace, in areas like teamwork and work ethic. But that military experience also comes with disadvantages. Researchers said almost half said their service left them ill-prepared to negotiate pay increases or promotions. CNAS researchers said while their findings refute the idea of widespread problems of veterans entering the civilian workforce, they also show a small subset who do struggle with the transition, pointing to the need for continued education of hiring managers and supervisors in military culture. The full CNAS report is available online at the group’s website. The EY findings are also available at the firm’s web page http://www.ey.com. [Source: Military Times | Leo Shane | November 11, 2016 ++]
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Obit: Dan Akee ► 14 OCT 2016
For decades the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II were not allowed to speak about their time in service to the country until their existence was declassified in 1968. Sergeant Major Dan Akee, a World War II Veteran and Navajo Code Talker shared his story as part of the Veterans History Project. Dan knew he wanted to join the service as young kid. When World War II broke out, he became determined to serve his country and tribe. Due to health problems he was initially turned away twice, but eventually his perseverance paid off. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943. He recalls having to lie to his mom about his voluntary service and instead told her that he was drafted. When asked why he chose the Marines, he replied, “I liked their uniform. I heard they were brave and great fighters.” He laughingly noted, “I thought I was tough, but I was not.”
He was sent to Camp Pendleton for Infantry training followed by training in radio communication where he learned the Navajo Code. “It was tough.” Dan had to learn and memorize over 500 words in five months. He recalls the pressure being intense as he was told, “Make a mistake and you might cause somebody their life. Dan was then shipped to the Pacific, serving with the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. He was on the front line for all four of his tours: Marshall Islands, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. A particularly memorable experience for him was
48 when he was able to spread a Navajo coded message to the other units that Japan was planning a surprise banzai attack at Saipan. “The Japanese didn’t know that we knew. We were ready.”
But it was at the Battle of Iwo Jima that Dan endured his most devastating experience of the war. “I saw the dead and wounded everywhere. I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.” The nightmares would haunt him long after he returned from the war. He eventually took to drinking to cope but with the guidance of a doctor turned to religion. He later became a minister and has been sober ever since. In 2001, Dan, along with other Code Talkers, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He said of his time in service, “What I used to be as a Code Talker, it was for the love of the people.” Dan passed away on October 14, 2016. We honor his service. [Source: #VeteranOfTheDay | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Retiree Appreciation Days ► As of 15 NOV 2016
Retiree Appreciation Days (RADs) are designed with all veterans in mind. They're a great source of the latest information for retirees and Family members in your area. RADs vary from installation to installation, but, in general, they provide an opportunity to renew acquaintances, listen to guest speakers, renew ID Cards, get medical checkups, and various other services. Some RADs include special events such as dinners or golf tournaments. Due to budget constraints, some RADs may be cancelled or rescheduled. Also, scheduled appearances of DFAS representatives may not be possible. If you plan to travel long distances to attend a RAD, before traveling, you should call the sponsoring RSO to ensure the RAD will held as scheduled and, if applicable, whether or not DFAS reps will be available. The current updated schedule for 2016 is available at: == HTML: http://www.hostmtb.org/RADs_and_Other_Retiree-Veterans_Events.html == PDF: http://www.hostmtb.org/RADs_and_Other_Retiree-Veterans_Events.pdf == Word: http://www.hostmtb.org/RADs_and_Other_Retiree-Veterans_Events.doc
Note that this schedule has been expanded to include dates for retiree\veterans related events such as town hall meetings, resource fairs, stand downs, etc. To get more info about a particular event, mouseover or click on the event under Event Location. (NOTE: Attendance at some events may require military ID, VA enrollment or DD214. "@" indicates event requires registration\RSVP.)For more information call the phone numbers indicated on the schedule of the Retirement Services Officer (RSO) sponsoring the RAD.
To quickly locate events in your geographic area just click on the appropriate State\Territory\Country listed at the top of the schedule. They will look like this:
49 AK AL AR AS AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA GU HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA PR RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VI VT WA WI WV WY Belgium Germany Italy Japan Korea Netherlands Thailand
[Source: RAD List Manager | Milton Bell | November 15, 2016 ++]
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Vet Hiring Fairs ► 16 NOV thru 15 DEC 2016
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (USCC) Hiring Our Heroes program employment workshops are available in conjunction with hundreds of their hiring fairs. These workshops are designed to help veterans and military spouses and include resume writing, interview skills, and one-on-one mentoring. For details of each you should click on the city next to the date in the below list. To participate, sign up for the workshop in addition to registering (if indicated) for the hiring fairs which are shown below for the next month. For more information about the USCC Hiring Our Heroes Program, Military Spouse Program, Transition Assistance, GE Employment Workshops, Resume Engine, etc. visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s website at http://www.hiringourheroes.org/hiringourheroes/events . Vet Job Fairs being conducted in the next 30 days in date order include:
Huntsville, AL Huntsville Hiring Fair Details Register November 16 - 8:30 am to 1:30 pm
Linthicum Heights, MD TechExpo Top Secret Hiring Event, November 16 - 10 am to 3 pm BWI Marriott, security clearance required, www.techexpousa.com
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia All Veterans Job Fair, November 17 - 11 am to 3 pm Lincoln Financial Field, www.recruitmilitary.com December 4 & 5 Northeast Regional Hiring Conference, , register online, www.orioninternational.com December 8 &9 Mojo Career Fair www.militarymojo.org
Springfield, VA Military Friendly Job Fair, November 17 - 9 am to noon Waterford at Springfield, www.corporategray.com
Tacoma, WA Seattle/Tacoma Area Veteran Job Fair, November 17 - 11 am to 3 pm Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, www.recruitmilitary.com
Dallas, TX Dallas Area All Veterans Job Fair, November 17 - 11 am to 3 pm Globe Life Park, www.recruitmilitary.com November 21 BMI ConferenceHire, register online, www.bradley-morris.com
50
San Diego, CA November 21 BMI ConferenceHire, , register online, www.bradley-morris.com December 01 - 11 am to 3 pm San Diego All Veterans Job Fair, Scottish Rite Event Ctr, www.recruitmilitary.com December 04 & 05 Western Regional Hiring Conference, register online, www.orioninternational.com
Arlington, VA Military Officer Job Fair,. December 01 - 9 am to 12:30 pm Army Navy Country Club, www.corporategray.com
Allen, Texas Allen Hiring Fair, December 01 - 10:30 am to-1:30 pm Allen Event Center, www.hiringourheroes.org
Houston, TX Houston All Veterans Job Fair December 01 - 11 am to 3 pm Minute Maid Park, www.recruitmilitary.com December 04 &0 5 South Central Regional Hiring Conference, , register online, www.orioninternational.com
San Antonio, Texas Joint Base San Antonio Military Spouse Event December 01 & 02 - www.hiringourheroes.org
Cincinnati, OH Midwest Regional Hiring Conference December 04 & 05, register online, www.orionionternational.com
Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis Veteran Job Fair, December 08 - 11 am to 3 pm Lucas Oil Stadium, www.recruitmilitary.com
Chicago, IL Military Hiring Conference, December 08 & 09, register online, www.lucasgroup.com
Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas All Veterans Job Fair December 08 - 11 am to 3 pm Conference Center of Las Vegas, www.recruitmilitary.com
Portland, OR Northwest Regional Hiring Conference, December 11-12, register online, www.orioninternational.com
Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville All Veterans Job Fair, December 01 - 11 am to 3 pm EverBank Field, www.recruitmilitary.com December 13 - 10:30 am to 1:30 pm Jacksonville Hiring Fair, Adam W. Herbert University Center, www.hiringourheroes.org
Fredericksburg, VA JobZone Job Fair December 01 - 3 to 7 pm Fredericksburg Expo Center and Conference Center, www.jobzoneonline.com
Fort Gordon, GA Defense, IT, Cyber and Intel Career Fair December 01 - 10 am to 2 pm Gordon’s Conference and Catering Center, www.transitioncareers.com
Arlington, VA Military Officer Job Fair, December 01 - 9 am to 12:30 pm Army Navy Country Club, www.corporategray.com
Norfolk, VA December 05 - BMI ConferenceHire, register online, www.bradley-morris.com December 05 & 06 Military Hiring Conference, register online, www.lucasgroup.com
Raleigh, NC Southeast Regional Hiring Conference December 05 & 06, register online, www.orioninternational.com
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Lawton, OK Military Job Fair, December 06 - 10 am to 2 pm Hilton Garden Inn, www.civilianjobs.com
Fort Bliss, Texas Fort Bliss Military Spouse Event, December 06 & 07, Centennial Banquet Conference Center, www.hiringourheroes.org
Fort Hood, Texas December 07 - 10 am to 2 pm Military Job Fair, Phantom Warrior Center, www.civilianjobs.com December 07 & 08 Fort Hood Military Spouse Event, www.hiringourheroes.org
Fort Campbell, KY Military Job Fair December 07 - 9 am to 3 pm Cole Park Commons, www.civilianjobs.com
Orlando, FL Orlando Veteran Job Fair, December 08 - 11 am to 3 pm Heaven Event Center, www.recruitmilitary.com
Atlanta, GA December 08 & 09 Military Hiring Conference, register online, www.lucasgroup.com December 12 BMI ConferenceHire, register online, www.bradley-morris.com
Fort Knox, KY Military Job Fair, December 14 - 10 am to 2 pm Saber & Quill, www.civilianjobs.com
[Source: Military Times, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Assn, & https://events.recruitmilitary.com | November 2016 ++]
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Veteran State Benefits & Discounts ► Iowa 2016
The state of Iowa provides several benefits to veterans as indicated below. To obtain information on these plus discounts listed on the Military and Veterans Discount Center (MCVDC) website, refer to the attachment to this Bulletin titled, “Vet State Benefits & Discounts – IA for an overview of the below benefits. Benefits are available to veterans who are residents of the state. For a more detailed explanation of each of the following refer to http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-state-benefits/iowa-state-veterans-benefits.html and https://va.iowa.gov. Housing Financial Assistance Education Other State Veteran Benefits Discounts [Source: http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-state-benefits NOV 2016 ++]
* Vet Legislation *
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OSS Congressional Gold Medal Act ► H.R.3929
Sen. Bob Dole is urging the leadership of the House of Representatives to pass the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Congressional Gold Medal Act in the lame duck session of Congress. The OSS was the groundbreaking World War II predecessor to the CIA, the US Special Operations Command and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. It was founded by General William Donovan, a World War I Medal of Honor recipient who is the founding father of the US intelligence and special operations communities. The OSS drew its personnel from every branch of the military. Its Maritime Unit was the predecessor to the Navy SEALs. Its Jedburghs and Operational Groups were predecessors to US Army Special Forces. Elements of the Army Air Corps served as the air arm of the OSS and were predecessors to the Air Force Special Operations Command. The Marines who served in the OSS were forerunners to the Marine Corps Special Operations Command. The OSS recruited its operational swimmers from the US Coast Guard.
In an op-ed scheduled to appear in Military Times, Senator Dole – a World War II combat veteran – wrote the “OSS supported resistance movements around the globe. General Eisenhower said the intelligence it gathered before D-Day alone justified its creation. Its Morale Operations branch pioneered the use of psychological warfare. It led Operation Halyard, one of World War II’s most famed rescue missions. General Donovan said that OSS personnel, who went behind enemy lines on the most dangerous missions of World War II, performed ‘some of the bravest acts of the war.’ Their bravery deserves to be recognized.”
Senator Dole noted the “OSS Congressional Gold Medal Act was passed unanimously by the Senate earlier this year. The House bill has 320 cosponsors – nearly 75% of its members. The House has honored many other groups of World War II veterans with Congressional Gold Medals. Under new rules enacted for the 114th Congress, the House leadership must issue a waiver to allow passage of Congressional Gold Medal bills that honor groups of people. It granted a waiver to the only other Gold Medal bill passed by the House in this session of Congress, which honored civil rights marchers. There is no reason a waiver should not be granted for the OSS, too.” “Time is running out to pass this bill before Congress adjourns. If the gavel falls before the bill is passed, some of the greatest and least recognized heroes of World War II will never be honored for their service. This would be a travesty. When General Donovan died in 1959, President Eisenhower said he was the ‘last hero.’ It is time to honor the ‘last hero,’ and all the heroes of the OSS, with a Congressional Gold Medal.” [Source: Veteran News | Donnie La Curan | November 11, 2016 ++]
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House Vet Bill Progress ► 15 NOV 2016
Veteran Related Bills Recently Introduced in the House: None. House is currently adjourned. All outstanding bills will be archived at the end of this session leaving no business for the new Congress. For continued consideration their sponsors will have to introduce them as new legislation in the next Congress. A new Congress (115th) consisting of two sessions will meet at noon on January 3, 2017. It will last for two years, each of which will constitute one session. When Congress reconvenes the process will start all over again. Bills will be introduced and given a chronological number. Expect a flurry of activity in the first few weeks
Veteran Related Bills Recently Reported on by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) none
[Source: https://www.congress.gov | November 15, 2016 ++]
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Senate Vet Bill Progress ► 15 NOV 2016
Veteran Related Bills Recently Introduced in the Senate: None. Senate is currently adjourned. All outstanding bills will be archived at the end of this session leaving no business for the new Congress. For continued consideration their sponsors will have to introduce them as new legislation in the next Congress. A new Congress (115th) consisting of two sessions will meet at noon on January 3, 2017. It will last for two years, each of which will constitute one session. When Congress reconvenes the process will start all over again. Bills will be introduced and given a chronological number. Expect a flurry of activity in the first few weeks
[Source: https://www.congress.gov | November 15, 2016 ++]
* Military *
Navy Submarine Work Day ► New 8 on, 12 Off Impact
The 18-hour day is dead and gone in the submarine force, and junior officers who were on the front lines for the change say the change has been a revolution for morale and alertness throughout the force. The submarine force began transitioning in 2014 from an 18-hour day, where sailors stood watch six hours and had 12 hours off for other duties and sleep. Five junior officers speaking on a panel at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium all agreed that the change to eight-hour watches with 16 hours off had an immediate positive affect.
“It has had an extraordinary impact on a couple of areas,” said Lt. Travis Nicks, who was on a fast-attack boat when his ship switched to eight-on, 16-off watches. “Mission execution and alertness. I did one deployment with six hour watches and one deployment with eight-hour watches. And on the eight hour deployment, nobody fell asleep as the contact manager standing up. The officer of the deck wasn't leaning up against the scope with both eyes closed and being slapped by the junior officer of the deck to stay awake. “I know that sounds like whining to everyone in this room who went their whole career on six-hour watches but I wish you'd had the experience of eight-hour watches because it's life-changing,” Nicks said. The impact was also immediately apparent for crew morale, he added.
“The second part is it dramatically improves morale on the ship,” he said. “When guys are sleeping, I noticed immediately that guys are complaining less. They need fewer bathroom breaks. They're dipping less tobacco. Everything gets better with eight-hour watches.” Experts such as Nita Shattuck, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, have argued for years that even without sunlight the body works best on a 24-hour clock and that the 18-hour day led to chronic sleep deprivation among sailors which has led to accidents over the years. In
54 2013, the heads of the Surface Navy released a statement saying that their force should also make a priority out of sleep.
"The aviation community has long embraced the concept of crew rest as a foundation for safe operations," said Vice Adm. Tom Copeman, then head of Naval Surface Forces, and Rear Adm. David Thomas, then head of Naval Surface Force Atlantic. "It has a place in the surface force, as well." For Lt. Jessica Wilcox, who served on the ballistic missile sub Wyoming, the benefits of sticking to a 24-hour clock underwater were written on her sailors’ faces. “We implemented them on my last patrol and it was a godsend,” she said. “Mostly the way I saw it was in my [engineers] and the bags that they didn't have under their eyes anymore.” [Source: Navy Times | David B. Larter | October 28, 2016 ++]
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Navy Obesity Problem ► How they Plan to Fix It
Long work hours, fewer chances to fail the body fat assessment and the Navy's obesity problem means getting to the gym is more important than ever for sailors. Roughly one in every 13 troops is clinically overweight, defined by a body mass-index greater than 25, according to Defense Department data obtained by Military Times. The Navy is launching a new program to get those numbers down and keep sailors from being kicked out. Six locations around the world are trying out 24-hour gyms on base, which allow sailors to work out whenever best suits their schedule. They are Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington D.C.; Sasebo, Japan; Naples, Italy; Whidbey Island, Washington; the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia; and the Naval Support Facility in Dahlgren, Virginia.
The pilot is part of a larger push inside the Navy to expand shore services, including gym access and child care, to sailors strained by high operational tempo, said Juliet Beyler, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for military manpower and personnel. The gyms are unmanned during off-hours and set up with electronic access and cameras to make sure sailors are safe while working out, Beyler said. It’s too early in the program to have any real feedback on how things are going, she said. The program grew out of a program launched last year that expanded gym hours. The Navy kept the gyms open an extra four hours and the sailor response was overwhelmingly positive. Beyler said that the expanded child development center hours dovetailed with the expanded gym hours well because sailors use the extra time to work out.
Beyler, a retired Marine officer, said she felt the impact of limited gym hours when she was deployed to Iraq. “In my second time back to Iraq I was a battalion operations officer and the hours are just crazy,” she said. “And with fitness centers being open only about 12 hours a day I had a really hard time getting to work out. Because I’d come in to work at 4 and get off work at like 10.” Beyler said the current breakneck optempo for sailors and Marines is driving the changes. “Given the optempo, given the way our sailors and Marines work we need to make sure we give them the opportunity to work out whenever they can,” Beyler said. “Being the naval services and being forward deployed the way that we are, fitness has always been integral to what we do.” “I’ve always said that maintaining physical fitness is as important as maintaining our weapons systems.” [Source: Military Times | David B. Larter | November 11, 2016 ++]
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Military Sexual Assault Update 01 ► Special Victim Counsel Program
The U.S. Army has developed the Special Victim Counsel Program to protect the rights of sexual assault victims. Special victims' counsels are specially trained military attorneys, duty-bound to work for only the victim. The military now requires that victims reporting an assault be notified of their right to consult with a special victims'
55 counsel and of the availability of other legal assistance at the time they report a sexual assault. Also, no one in a victim's chain of command or the accused's chain of command may influence a special victims' counsel in providing legal support to a victim. Members who have been affected by sexual assault can access 24/7, confidential, anonymous support through the DOD Safe Helpline (https://www.safehelpline.org) by calling 877-995-5247. [Source: NAUS Weekly Update November 4, 2016 ++]
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Special Ops More Resources Or Fewer Missions Needed
The next commander in chief needs to give special operations forces more resources or fewer missions to avoid burning out the skilled specialists, defense officials warn in a new report by a security think tank. The report from CNA, a Virginia-based research and analysis organization, is based on anonymous interviews with six former special operations commanders, a former assistant Secretary of Defense, and “dozens of active duty special operations forces.”
Group officials said the goal is to provide guidance and recommendations for the next administration on how to manage the approximately 70,000 special operations personnel, who have seen a dramatic rise in funding and staffing in recent years, but also an even larger role in overseas fights. “SOF have shouldered a heavy burden in carrying out these missions, suffering a high number of casualties over the last eight years and maintaining a high operational tempo that has increasingly strained special operators and their families,” the report states. “The next president will inherit an increasingly complex security environment and a trendline of increased reliance on SOF.” To ease some of that burden, individuals interviewed by researchers suggested shifting some special operations forces roles to the other service specialists. “Teaching foreign militaries rudimentary skills such as shooting in straight lines at short distances may be more fitting a task for (general purpose forces) to handle,” the report states. “Another example is the provision of snipers … While some situations required the capabilities that SOF snipers have, there were other situations that (general purpose forces) snipers could have handled, if (officials) had sent more personnel through sniper school and developed a greater capacity in this area.”
Without those types of changes, commanders of special forces will need more personnel and equipment to handle the bigger workload, researchers say. That could include more transfers and “alternative career paths” to move highly-skilled troops or civilians into the SOF community. Individuals involved in the project said they hope that includes greater recruitment of minorities and women into special forces roles, but without lowering standards to qualify for those posts. The group also complained of “micromanaging” from Washington, D.C., and petitioned for a larger role in military leadership, to better voice their concerns and priorities. Ideally, that would include placing a special operations forces general officer on the National Security Council Staff as an advocate for the community.
56 The full report is available on the CNA website https://www.cna.org/CNA_files/PDF/DOP-2016-U-014394- Final.pdf. [Source: Military Times | Leo Shane III | November 1, 2016 ++]
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SCRA Update 06 ► New Support Pilot Program Enhances Enforcement
A new Justice Department pilot program is designed to shore up enforcement of laws that protect troops, veterans and their families against financial predators. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Enforcement Support Pilot Program will pay for assistant U.S. attorney and trial attorney positions to help litigate complaints related to financial and housing issues, as well as other concerns. The assistant U.S. district positions will be funded in districts with major military installations, and extra trial attorneys will staff DoJ’s Civil Rights Division. The assistant U.S. attorneys will coordinate with military attorneys and will bring claims, along with the Civil Rights Division, against those who target service members. The pilot program will provide this full-time support for SCRA enforcement through fiscal 2018.
The program also designates military judge advocates now serving as legal assistance attorneys to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys to help with litigation related to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, according to Wednesday's Justice Department news release. The Western District of Washington and the Eastern District of North Carolina are the first districts to add these resources. The SCRA provides a number of financial and housing protections and benefits for military members. For example, under the SCRA, service members can request that their financial institution reduce the interest rate to 6 percent on loans they took out before entering active duty. Justice officials have noted a number of recent cases where legal action stemmed from matters brought to their attention by a military attorney seeking help for a service member.
U.S. attorneys throughout the country will also be appointing “initiative liaisons” to work with local military and veteran communities. “The pilot program we are announcing today will enhance our ability to safeguard the economic and legal rights of our service members, our veterans and their families,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in the release. “In the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue working tirelessly to ensure that our laws protect those who protect us.” The pilot program adds “significant legal resources” designed to stop “unscrupulous financial predators,” Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Bill Baer said in the release. “Whether a service member has a financial or housing related issue, the Department of Justice will investigate complaints promptly and vigorously take enforcement action against wrongdoers.”
Justice officials also announced that their Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative, which began in December 2014, is now a permanent part of the Office of the Associate Attorney General. DoJ representatives involved in that initiative have been visiting installations and talking with military attorneys and service members to make sure troops are aware of their rights, and that the DoD legal community is aware of proper procedures. One common complaint, Baer said in an earlier interview, involves lenders repossessing goods from troops during overseas deployments without following regulations. [Source: Military Times | Karen Jowers | November 2, 2016 ++]
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Carl Gustaf Recoilless Rifle ► M3E1 "Super" Bazooka
In 1946, two Swedes named Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen designed the Carl Gustaf, which at the time appeared to be just another recoilless rifle like the famous bazooka. Many of these weapons fell out of use in the following decades as anti-tank missiles took over. But the Carl Gustaf stuck around — and for a different role than Abramson and Jentzen had planned in the 1940s. For one, it’s now just as much an anti-infantry weapon owing to its range, low cost and types of ammunition. Soldiers are fond of the 84-millimeter Carl Gustaf, and it’s easy to see
57 why. The weapon is quite practical for dismounted infantry — especially at long ranges — and creates a thrilling blast, so it’s fun to shoot. The U.S. Army had a handful in service with Special Operations units, and they proved so popular that the Army began distributing them widely. Not bad for a weapon with its first design dating back 70 years. Of course, a lot has changed in seven decades.
The Army is even testing a new version of the Carl Gustaf called the M4, known in the United States as the M3E1. To put it simply, it’s a really powerful rifle that vents pressure from the blast — which propels the round — from a port in the launcher’s rear. It would be absolutely unwise to stand behind a Carl Gustaf when one goes off. It’s not a rocket launcher, exactly. But the Carl Gustaf can fire rounds which have a tiny rocket to boost them farther. A wide variety of ammunition ranges from high explosives, anti-tank warheads, smoke and eviscerating flechette darts.
The war in Afghanistan had a lot to do with the Carl Gustaf seeing a revival in U.S. service. Militants harassed American troops from long ranges and from behind cover, making it hard to shoot back. A missile from an orbiting aircraft or a shoulder-fired Javelin launcher would reach far enough, at a cost of around $80,000 per missile. A single Carl Gustaf round costs — at most — around three percent as much, and carries an effective range of 1,000 meters if it’s a rocket-boosted round. So it’s no wonder why the Army loves it. Fundamentally, the launcher’s design hasn’t changed. Saab, the weapon’s Swedish developer, is pitching the M3E1 as a collection of evolutionary improvements optimized for urban warfare. It’s slightly smaller and weighs around 15 pounds, seven pounds lighter than the current M3. The M3’s weight is one thing soldiers don’t tend to like about it. And since modern soldiers wear a lot more headgear, Saab tweaked the design to be more ergonomic and adjustable. Awkward is not a feeling a soldier wants to have when firing a high-explosive round in an urban firefight.
The M3E1 also features an interface for “intelligent” sights, allowing soldiers to program air-bursting rounds to explode above a precise point. Remember that the Carl Gustaf’s selling point is that it’s cheap, simple and brutal on the battlefield. Eventually, it will wear out. So Saab added a device which records how many times the launcher has been fired. The problem with the current M3 is that U.S. Army requires its soldiers to mark in a notebook how many times they fire. This number must be exact. If there’s confusion over a specific M3’s firing history, the Army cuts that weapon’s service life in half. In any case, the Pentagon could start buying the M3E1 as soon as late 2017 once
58 the Army is done with testing and likes what it sees. If so, it could keep the Swedish recoilless rifles blasting away for decades to come. [Source: The National Interest | Robert Beckhusen | November 6, 2016 ++]
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USS Zumwalt Update 08 ► LRLAP Shells Could Run $800k+ Each
Barely two weeks after the US Navy commissioned its newest and most futuristic warship, armed with two huge guns that can hit targets 80 miles away, the service is moving to cancel the projectiles for the guns, citing excessive costs that run up to $800,000 per round or more. The Long Range Land-Attack Projectile (LRLAP) is a guided precision munition that is key to the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class’s mission as a land-attack destroyer, able to hit targets with such accuracy that, in the words of manufacturer Lockheed Martin, can “defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.”
The LRLAP is the only munition designed to be fired from the DDG 1000’s Advanced Gun System (AGS), a 155mm/62-caliber gun with an automated magazine and handling system. Each of the three Zumwalts will carry two of the guns – the largest weapons to be designed for and fitted on a warship since World War II. But the LRLAP’s unit price has jumped steadily as the numbers of Zumwalt-class destroyers were cut. From a total of 28 ships, to seven, and finally to three, the class shrank and costs did not. “We were going to buy thousands of these rounds,” said a Navy official familiar with the program. “But quantities of ships killed the affordable round.” Ironically, both the LRLAP and the AGS have had good reputations among the ten major technology development areas that make up the DDG 1000.
The Navy official noted there were no significant performance issues with the systems. “Not that I’ve ever heard. Everything seems to have been performing correctly. I never saw any test results that showed we had problems,” the official said. “We don’t have an issue with the gun, and no issue with that ship carrying the gun. We have an issue on the price point. “There is no blame on any individual,” the official added. “The round was working, the way forward was logical. It’s just that the cost with a three-ship buy became a very high cost.” Even at $800,000 a copy, the LRLAP’s price could go higher. “That’s probably low,” the Navy official said. “That’s what the acquisition community wanted to get it down to.” The official added that there was no sense the contractor was “overcharging or anything.” The decision to accept the LRLAP cancellation is part of the Program Objective Memorandum 2018 (POM18) effort, the Pentagon’s annual budget process. Although the Navy made a presentation to the Office of the Secretary of Defense on 2 NOV, the decision has yet to be signed off on.
For the record, the Navy would not comment directly on the effort to kill LRLAP. “The Navy continuously monitors the gun and ammunition industry capability and capacities,” Capt. Thurraya Kent, spokesperson for the service’s acquisition directorate, said 4 NOV in an e-mail. “To address evolving threats and mission requirements, the Navy is evaluating industry projectile solutions (including conventional and hyper-velocity projectiles) that can also meet the DDG 1000 deployment schedule and could potentially be used as an alternative to LRLAP for DDG 1000.” Officials at Lockheed Martin could not be reached in time to comment for this story.
While LRLAP may be cancelled, the Navy intends to find another munition for the gun system. “We are looking at multiple different rounds for that gun,” the Navy official said, adding that “three or four different rounds” have been looked at, including the Army’s Excalibur munition from Raytheon, and the Hyper Velocity Projectile (HVP), a project under development by the Office of Naval Research and BAE Systems. “There are multiple companies that have looked at alternatives to get the cost down and use that delivery system,” the Navy official said. But the likelihood is that there will be no LRLAP replacement before the Zumwalt enters operational service. While the ship was commissioned 15 OCT in Baltimore, Maryland, another 18 months of shipyard work lies ahead in San Diego to complete installation of the ship’s combat system. After that, the Navy will run an extensive series of Combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials (CSSQT) in 2018 to fully prove out the ship’s sensors and weapons.
59 Current plans call for the guns to be fired during CSSQT and, the Navy official said, “the intention is to shoot the guns.” The 2015 budget provided $113 million to buy 150 LRLAP rounds and associated items, and those rounds will be used for the tests. No funds for LRLAP acquisition were included in the 2016 or 2017 budgets. The latter included $51 million in 2018 for the program, but it’s not clear whether or not that money will be requested. While software changes will certainly be needed to incorporate other munitions into the AGS, adapting the handling system for a different round could be complex. The automated magazines, designed to hold 300 LRLAPs, are sized for that particular weapon and it’s unlikely another munition would have exactly the same dimensions. Other rounds under development for the 127mm guns arming all other US destroyers and cruisers could be adapted to the AGS, but would likely need a sabot arrangement to adapt the smaller shell to the 155mm weapon.
While the Navy is stressing that high costs are directly behind the decision to eliminate LRLAP, it is not clear if there are deeper issues at play. The AGS/LRLAP combination was originally developed to provide Marines with a “persistent, precision fire support” capability, able to strike targets far inland with a high degree of accuracy. But as the Zumwalt moved from shipyard to sea and to the fleet, the Navy has notably downplayed that attribute, and while the technical achievement of the cutting-edge DDG 1000 has been widely trumpeted this year, its ability to directly support Marines ashore has not. There was no requirement for the AGS to strike seagoing targets, and the system does not have the programming to do so. But the big guns could be adapted to target ships if necessary, the Navy official said. “We would have to do the software modifications to make that work.” [Source: Defense News | Christopher P. Cavas | November 6, 2016 ++]
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KA-BAR ► 1219C2 aka "1217 USMC Fighting Utility Knife"
Anytime American troops deploy, they’re sure to bring a few effects from home: A photo or two of loved ones, a hard drive of porn, enough cigarettes or dip to make their lungs and gums raw for a year, and of course, a knife. Often, one knife in particular: a KA-BAR. The KA-BAR has an almost cult-like following in the military. The company’s knives are steeped in legend, from stories of soldiers and Marines taking out enemies in brutal close- quarters combat, to urban myths about the steel being so strong that wooden shipping crates were sent with KA- BARs instead of crowbars during World War II.
Even the name “KA-BAR” has its roots in folklore. According to KA-BAR, there’s an urban legend that in the 1900s, the company, then called Union Cutlery, received a letter from a fur trapper detailing a harrowing encounter with a grizzly bear that he killed with his Union Cutlery hunting knife. The writing was so smudged, the only letters discernible in that passage were “K A Bar.” So, the KA-BAR trademark was born. Union Cutlery, and later KA- BAR, knives have seen action in every major U.S. conflict since the company was founded in 1897. At the time, most service members carried their personal effects into battle. So, when American troops shipped off to World War I, many of them left home with their Union Cutlery knives and razors. “That was where it started on the military side for KA-BAR, really where you could see it take shape,” Joseph Bradley, marketing manager and archivist at KA- BAR, told Task & Purpose in an interview.
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Already popular among veterans of World War I and outdoorsmen alike, in 1942, Union Cutlery was one of several companies contracted to create a new kind of knife. Marine Col. John M. Davis and Capt. Howard E. America worked with Union Cutlery to design a new blade for the military. “So, Captain America was partially responsible for the KA-BAR coming into existence for the U.S. military,” said Bradley. Officially titled the 1219C2, it’s commonly called the 1217 USMC Fighting Utility Knife and chances are, if someone says he’s used a KA-BAR, this is what he’s referring to.
Unlike the knives used in the trenches of World War I, this new blade was meant to be an all-purpose tool, said Bradley. Troops needed something durable that could do the job of a last-ditch weapon, as well as it could a can- opener or pry-bar. There were several companies making the blade, but what set the KA-BAR apart was its durability, said Bradley. That, and the fact that each one was stamped “KA-BAR.” Naturally, troops began calling any similar-looking knife a KA-BAR, and over time, the term became just another name for any combat knife. While knife’s quality made it a hit with troops, images of it on every hip and in every hand, made it an iconic symbol of American troops at war. [Source: Task & Purpose | Ames Clark | November 4, 2016 ++]
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Military Combat Training ► Warrior Night
U.S. marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division participate in a tug of war competition during warrior night at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 1, 2015. Warrior night is an annual event held to build camaraderie in the battalion.
[Source: DoD 2015 Photo Competition | Lance Cpl. Ryan P. Kierkegaard, USMC| April 27, 2016 ++]
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Military Ranks Quiz 2 ► Do You Know?
1. Which rank from the Continental Army is now obsolete?
Coronet | Ensign | Subaltern | All of these
2. Which admiral was honored with the special six-star rank of admiral of the Navy, the only person ever to receive this title?
Michelle J. Howard | Ulysses S. Grant | George Dewey
3. Who is the first woman to achieve the rank of admiral in the Navy?
Robin Braun | Michelle J. Howard | Jan Tighe | Nora Tyson
4. Who is the only U.S. president to serve as an enlisted man without going on to the officer corps?
James Buchanan | William McKinley | Theodore Roosevelt
5. What do Marines often pin in their cover or under a pocket?
Trident badge | Merit badge | Their next promotable rank
6. Senior NCOs are sometimes called what?
Woobies | Yardbirds | Zebras
7. Who was given the title of honorary Marine and discharged as a master sergeant?
Bob Hope | Bugs Bunny | Chuck Norris
8. What does it mean to "get your stripes"?
A pilot who has the need for speed A pulled-together appearance A promotion to NCO rank
9. Which rank is known as "chief"?
Chief petty officer (Coast Guard) Chief petty officer (Navy) Warrant officer (Army) All of these
10. True or false: Actor Jimmy Stewart achieved rank of brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve.
true | false
11. What's a full bird?
A colonel in the Army, Air Force or Marine Corps A lieutenant colonel in the Army, Air Force or Marine Corps A brigadier general in the Army, Air Force or Marine Corps
12. Rank insignia for the Coast Guard is basically the same as which military branch?
Army | Marine Corps | Navy
13. Who makes up the E-4 Mafia?
Privates | Specialists | Rangers
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14. What do infantrymen call any service member who's not an infantryman?
POG | RTB | RCPO
15. Who was the first retired Marine to receive an honorary promotion?
Bob Keeshan (aka Captain Kangaroo) | Gene Hackman | R. Lee Ermey
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Military Ranks Quiz 2 ► Did you Answer Correctly
1. Which rank from the Continental Army is now obsolete? The Continental Army had privates, sergeants, captains and generals, but coronet, ensign and subaltern are now obsolete titles. 2. Which admiral was honored with the special six-star rank of admiral of the Navy, the only person ever to receive this title? George Dewey served in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. 3. Who is the first woman to achieve the rank of admiral in the Navy? Michelle J. Howard, commissioned in 1982 as an officer in the Navy, became the first woman to become a four-star admiral in July 2014. 4. Who is the only U.S. president to serve as an enlisted man without going on to the officer corps? James Buchanan served in a unit of dragoons during the War of 1812. 5. What do Marines often pin in their cover or under a pocket? For motivation, some Marines pin their next promotable rank on their uniform in a hidden place. 6. Senior NCOs are sometimes called what? Because of the number of stripes on their rank insignia, senior NCOs are also known as "zebras". 7. Who was given the title of honorary Marine and discharged as a master sergeant? Bugs Bunny, who decided to become a Marine in the 1943 cartoon "Super-Rabbit," began as a private and retired as a master sergeant at the end of World War II. 8. What does it mean to "get your stripes"? Getting your stripes means you've been promoted to an NCO rank. 9. Which rank is known as "chief"? All Army warrant officers or petty officers in the Navy or Coast Guard may be addressed as "chief." none of these 10. True or false: Actor Jimmy Stewart achieved rank of brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. Hollywood leading man and Oscar winner James "Jimmy" Stewart was a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. 11. What's a full bird? A full bird is a colonel in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps. The insignia for colonel is an eagle. 12. Rank insignia for the Coast Guard is basically the same as which military branch? Coast Guard rank insignia are the same as those for the Navy. 13. Who makes up the E-4 Mafia? Active and reserve duty Army specialist is the most prevalent rank among enlisted soldiers, known jokingly as the "E-4 Mafia." (E-4 is their pay grade.) 14. What do infantrymen call any service member who's not an infantryman? Infantrymen may use the acronym POG (person other than grunt) to describe a noninfantryman. 15. Who was the first retired Marine to receive an honorary promotion?
63 R. Lee Ermey, a former Marine Corps drill instructor and Vietnam veteran, retired as a staff sergeant but was promoted to "gunny" (gunnery sergeant) after his role in "Full Metal Jacket."
* Military History *
Black Max Award ► Naval Aviators - Vietnam Era
You'd really have to had contact with Naval Aviators during the Vietnam era or in some other major wartime environment to fully appreciate what is documented below. The following exposé was written by a Navy F-8 Crusader pilot, who was ceremoniously presented with the coveted Black Max award on several occasions. The Crusader is a single engine fighter aircraft affectionately referred to as the "Flying Stove Pipe," which contributed immensely to the Navy carriers' war effort in Vietnam. The author, a retired attorney and former airline pilot, writes in rather sarcastic terms responding to an original posting by a Navy Submariner bewailing the closure of some renowned bars patronized by Naval officers and enlisted personnel during the Vietnam era and afterwards.
-o-o-O-o-o-
I suspect that the Air Force, Army (helicopter, etc.), Marine Corps (and Coast Guard?) pilots also have their stories to tell. First, my squadron, VF-194 (The Legendary Red Lightnings), tried to set an example for the rest of the Fleet. Since the statutes of limitation have expired, let me just give you the highlights of the Red Lightning (call sign "Red Flash") social structure:
Individual call signs: Hot Dog (me), Gator, Maggot, Buzzard, Porky, Taco, Brillo, Spanky, Sheepdog, Master (last name Bates), Burger, Crusher, Rat, and Devil. They may or may not be descriptive of their owners. Squadron awards: The Black Max. Given for social conduct above and beyond the call of indecency. Plaque awarded, and corresponding patch to be worn on flight jacket. Favorite shore-based hangouts: The East Inn Club (Olongapo, Philippines); Dragonboat Bar (Hong Kong Hilton); any bar in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong (HK); the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (Honolulu, HI); Ft. DeRussy (Waikiki); any disco in Kowloon, HK; Marine Corps Recruit Depot O'Club (San Diego, CA); Miramar O'Club (San Diego, CA); Chretin's Cantina (Yuma, AZ); Bully's (La Jolla, CA); and the infamous, original Cubi Pt. O'Club (Naval Station Subic Bay, Philippines). Personally, I always avoided such places, and spent my time in the Christian Science Reading Rooms.
Now, in spite of the squadron's rigid decorum when ashore, there were a few unfortunate incidents---which usually resulted in an award of the Black Max. Perhaps the Top Ten are:
1). Senior Lieutenant (Is there such a thing?) falls in love in Olongapo and insists on going home to meet the lovely's parents. Robbed after passing out, he wakes up with a rooster crowing on his chest and wallet stripped of ID and cash. Gains entry to Subic base by showing Marine guard his Playboy Club card.
64 2). Commanding Officer becomes infuriated when denied a Navy car to return to the ship (Where is Uber when you need them?) from O'Club. Steals base police vehicle, and after a high speed police chase, crashes vehicle through wall of O'Club. Transported to ship in paddy wagon. CO placed in hack by CAG.
3). Certain junior officers re-paint MCAS Yuma runway with huge red letters at night to read "VF-194" instead of "21 R". Also painted red lightning bolt on base water tower, then nearly destroyed BOQ with a fire extinguisher and fire hose fight. Squadron CO arrested and placed in hack. Squadron exiled from ever returning to Yuma by the base CO.
4). The Buzzard became hopelessly drunk at Miramar O'Club's bar, while retired officers and their wives were dancing in the adjoining ball room. Drops trousers, moons dance floor, and falls into dance floor, laughing, with pants around ankles. Placed in hack and almost court-martialed; saved by a sympathetic COMNAVAIRPAC ("What the hell--he's a Crusader pilot. He'll probably get killed anyway, so let him go on cruise.")
5). At Porky's going-away party (leaving active duty), he punches out both the current and former COs. When ordered to report the next day for Captain's Mast, he replies, "I'm a civilian." He became an airline pilot.
6). During a weekend in Tokyo at the Sanno R&R hotel, the LT in #1 above fell in love with a Swedish SAS flight attendant. After she left the bar and went to her room, she refused to answer his knocks on the door. He opened the window to his own room, and did a "human fly" walk on the pigeon ledge, working his way around to her room. He slipped into her room, and she emerged from the shower to throw him to the floor and beat him mercilessly. She apparently was a karate black belt. He begged, "Please stop, lady, I just want to leave!" Since she spoke Swedish, and no English, the beating continued. He was grounded for a month with two broken ribs.
7). The air wing commander (CAG) had a few too many nightcaps at the old Cubi O'Club, and accosted a burly Marine 1/LT grunt at the bar: "I'm Billy Phillips, I'm the world's greatest fighter pilot, and I can have your ass!" The Marine knocked him to the floor, unconscious. CAG left the next morning for Hong Kong in the COD, sporting a huge black eye. My Skipper's comment: "Charming."
8). In the hot living spaces of the old Navy carrier, USS Ticonderoga, beer supplies don't last long. (Yes, there was illegal alcohol aboard ship.) The Buzzard was tapped to fly into Cubi with a flak-damaged F-8, and then to return when repaired. His shopping list was several cases of Heineken's in cans, to be transported in the bird's spacious, but unpressurized ammo compartment. Unfortunately, he flew from Cubi to Yankee Station at too high an altitude, and the beer froze. Upon landing on the ship, the thawing beer exploded and he taxied to the bow with beer foam flowing down the side of the aircraft. When the Air Boss asked what that was, our Ops officers told him it was hydraulic fluid.
9). After a successful Alpha Strike into Hanoi, the pilots of both fighter squadrons gathered in our Skipper's stateroom for refreshments. One of the sister squadron's pilots (USNA '61), whose callsign was "Jaws," became overly imbibed and bit the Skipper on the shoulder in an act of brotherly love. Skipper was grounded for about two weeks and Flight Surgeon made him get rabies shots.
10). After a bad night in Olongapo, The Buzzard overslept in the Cubi BOQ and missed the ship's departure. Lacking any flight gear, he raced to the flight line clad in barong, chinos, and loafers. He talked the chief into giving him an aircraft ("which the ship wants on board"). When the ship turned into the wind offshore to receive the COD, The Buzzard zipped into the break and landed also, while the tower was confused. When he taxied past the tower, the Air Boss, now with one more F-8 than he had room for, noticed Buzzard had no flight gear on except an old helmet. Our Ops officer said it "was a custom Hong Kong flight suit."
As RADM Tarrant (Frederic March) said in "Bridges at Toko-Ri," "Where do we get such men?" In reply many years later, one Naval Aviator uttered ". . . in any bar!"
[Source: A Navy Captain retired, former Crusader pilot in Vietnam via Dickee Lee | October 20, 2016 ++]
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WW2 Vets 120 ► Herschel “Woody” Williams
Herschel “Woody” Williams does not remember most of the Battle of Iwo Jima. After he took out the first pillbox, he does not remember how he returned to his station five more times over a period of four hours to retrieve serviced flamethrowers and continued to take out pillbox after pillbox. For those actions, Williams would be awarded the Medal of Honor. “Much of that day is just absolutely blank. There are other things that are so vivid that I’ve never been able to get them out of there,” said Williams as he sat in a corner office at the VA central office in Washington, D.C. The window overlooked the White House and the Washington Monument, where 70 years earlier he stood on the South Lawn while President Harry Truman placed the Medal around his neck.
Williams grew up on a dairy farm in West Virginia. He tried to enlist in the Marine Corps when he was just 17, but his mother wouldn’t sign his consent form. One month after his 18th birthday, he found himself at a Marine recruiter’s office, only to be turned away for being two inches too short. One year later, the Marine Corps removed the height requirement and in May 1943, Williams successfully enlisted at 19 years old.
Like all Marines, Williams was trained first as a rifleman during his boot camp in San Diego, California. When he arrived overseas, he worked as a flamethrower demolition operator. He joined the 3rd Marine Division on Guadalcanal, and then fought in the campaign to take back Guam, which had been occupied by the Japanese. A year later, he was put on a troopship headed for Iwo Jima. He had no idea where he was going until he got on the ship, where he was told they would be a reserve division to the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, because they didn’t think they would need as many Marines to capture that tiny island.
Williams was assigned four Marines, two automatic riflemen and two regular riflemen, and their job was to protect him as he tried to get to a pillbox and take it out. I didn’t know it, because things were chaotic, but two of those Marines gave their life that day. They were there protecting me,” said Williams. His Medal of Honor citation reads, “on one occasion he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flame thrower through the air vent, kill the occupants and silence the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon.”
These events happened on the same day that the American flag was iconically raised at the top of Mount Suribachi. “I was about 1,000 yards or so from Mount Suribachi, and the first thing I noticed was some of the Marines around me were jumping up and down and yelling and saying something about a flag and firing the
66 weapons into the air. I had no idea what was going on until I saw the flag,” he said. “And of course I begun doing the same thing they were doing and we were celebrating,” he said. Although many of those day’s events were a blur, one vision is still all too vivid for William’s despite the number years that have past. The thing that sticks out most in my mind are the Marines that we had lost wrapped in ponchos, because we had no body bags back in those days, and just stacked like cordwood,” he said. “I’ve never forgotten that,” he said. Yet, Williams continued to fight through the remainder of the five-week-long battle, and was wounded on March 6, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.
The first time he had an idea that he would be awarded the Medal of Honor came when a clerk from West Virginia came to his tent and told him that he typed up a letter recommending him for a medal. The clerk didn’t know what the medal was, and neither did Williams’ first sergeant. All he was told was to put on his khakis because he was going to General Erskine’s tent. “I was absolutely scared to death. I didn’t know what I had done that got me in enough trouble that I had to go see the general,” said Williams. It was in the tent that the general told him that he would receive Medal of Honor. “I had never heard of it, I didn’t know what it was and I had no reason to even think about it,” he said.
Williams began his long journey back to Washington D.C., riding for the first time on an airplane from Guam to San Francisco. His plane ride back was a sobering one. “There were 47 or 48 former prisoners of war on that plane. They were probably the happiest group of people that I’ve ever seen, because they had been released after three or four years of Japanese prison camps, but they looked almost inhuman,” he said. “Their cheeks were hollow, their eyes were sunken in. Very skinny, very poor physically. There were 13 others who were also receiving the Medal of Honor the same day. “Nobody ever shared with me that citation. Nobody had ever said that this is what the Medal of Honor represents, or this is what is going to happen to you afterwards. Nothing like that.”
Most of the ceremony was a blur to him, but he did remember what President Truman said to him as he fastened the Medal around his neck. “He said to me, as he said in many ways, different ways to different people, that he would rather have this medal than to be president,” said Williams. While in Washington, he also had a meeting with the commandant of the Marine Corps, General A. A. Vandegrift, a Medal of Honor recipient who commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Williams stood at attention the whole time and never looked directly at the commandant, and doesn’t remember most of the conversation because he was so scared. “I’ve said, ‘I don’t know where I was more frightened—with the president or the commandant.’ I think with the commandant,” said Williams.
Despite the enormity of the situation, he clearly recalls two specific statements Vandegrift made to him that day: “That medal does not belong to you. It belongs to all those Marines who never got to come home,” and “Don’t ever do anything that would tarnish that medal.” “I remember those words. I’ve held on to them. So I’ve kept my medal shined from that day on,” Williams said. After the war, Williams returned to West Virginia and worked as an engineering company as a supply officer. He was only working there for a short time when we received a letter from the VA offering him a job as a contact representative for $2,980 a year. He had never heard of that much money in his life, compared to the $45 a month he earned in the Marine Corps, so he took the job.
Williams had never dreamed of what a great job this would be for him. He had never done anything administrative and spent a lot of time working with prisoners of war. “After I got involved and was able to, most days, do something to assist people that maybe would have never received that assistance, you’d always come home in the evening feeling good and anxious to get back to work the next morning because you knew that you were going to be able to do something that would help somebody,” he said. “That, I guess, was engrained in me. Something that really gave me great pleasure, and I’ve said it was the very best job anyone has ever had. And they paid me well to do it!” he said. For 33 years, from 1946 to 1976, he served as a contact representative with VA in field offices located in West Virginia and New Mexico.
Although he retired from his work at VA, Williams has never stopped serving Veterans. He formed his own foundation, the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation, dedicated to honoring family members of
67 fallen Servicemembers. To date, his foundation has worked to construct 10 memorials for Gold Star families in eight states. There are more than 20 other memorials currently in the works all of the country. His foundation is also campaigning to establish Medal of Honor Memorial Walls in VA Medical Centers around the country. There are already displays in West Virginia honoring the Medal of Honor recipients in their local community. We sometimes forget the sacrifices that have been made by families, by loved ones, by Veterans, just so we can wake up free every morning. And without them, without that commitment, that dedication and that sacrifice, we wouldn’t be America. We’d be something else,” said Williams. Go to https://youtu.be/o7xUtEYCYq8 to listen to Williams telling he story. [Source: Veteran News | Donnie La Curan November 11, 2016 ++]
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Military Legends ► Go For Broke | WW2 442nd RCT Nisei Troops
Immediately after Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and other American bases in the Pacific, the United States declared war on Japan. Several days later Nazi German and Italy declared war on the U.S., embroiling the world into World War II. The war heightened American prejudice against German Americans and Italian Americans but the racism directed against Japanese Americans was particularly vicious. The calculated response culminated in the forced removal and unconstitutional incarceration of 120,000 residents of Japanese ancestry, including the complete elimination of communities and individuals from the entire West Coast of the United States. This racism was precipitated by the attack on Pearl Harbor but it had deep antecedents in the nearly half-century of legal, social, and economic policies directed against Asians in general within the United States.
As the war progressed, however, more American units were needed to successfully fight the Axis powers. One such unit was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), organized on March 23, 1943, after more than a year during which Americans of Japanese descent were declared enemy aliens, 4-C, by the U.S. War Department. It had taken all that time plus several key events to convince the Roosevelt Administration that these men should be allowed to enter combat for their country. Eventually, the 442nd, bolstered by the combat-hardened 100th Infantry Battalion, initially made up almost entirely of Japanese Americans from Hawaii already in Italy fighting the Germans, became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare. The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 2.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations (five earned in one month).Twenty-one of its members were awarded Medals of Honor. Its motto was "Go for Broke".
68 The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is best known for rescuing the "the Lost Battalion" in the Vosges Mountains. The 442nd and the 141st Texas Regiment were both part of the 36th Division under the command of Maj. Gen. John Dahlquist. They were fighting in Eastern France, near the German border. The 442nd had just finished 10 brutal days of fighting to liberate the French towns of Bruyeres and Biffontaine. Finally, on October 23, 1944, the Nisei got clean, dry clothes, hot food and rest. Glorious rest. But not for long. Gen. Dahlquist had another trapped unit that needed rescuing. Dahlquist had ordered the 141st Texas Regiment to advance four miles beyond friendly forces. The Texans warned that they would get cut off, but they pushed on as ordered. Naturally, the Germans surrounded them. In fact, 6,000 fresh German troops moved into the area. Der Fuhrer's orders were to hold the area. No surrender. No retreat.
More than 200 Texans, known as the "Lost Battalion" were stranded on a ridge. They were low on food, water and ammo - just like the men in the 100th at Biffontaine. However, the Texans were not rescued by their own men in the 141st, or by other white soldiers in the 143rd Regiment. Dahlquist ordered the Nisei soldiers to save them. Once again, on October 25, after less than two days rest and already short of men, the Nisei trudged through the dark and the cold rain. The stranded Texans were about four miles from friendly forces. But, it was more like nine miles - because the hills were steep, the ravines and fields were littered with mines, and the few roads that crossed the terrain were narrow, sodden logging trails bristling with German roadblocks. By early afternoon on 27 OCT, the Nisei were moving toward the narrow ridge that held the besieged Texans.
On the right flank, the 100th chased the Germans across a gully toward the next hill. But it was a trap, and the Germans blasted the Nisei with an hour-long artillery barrage. The shelling wounded 20 Nisei, but the 100th held its ground. In the center, on the narrow ridge K Company hit a series of three heavily entrenched barriers. By evening, the 100th and 3rd Battalions had gained only a few hundred yards, but they had managed to take 70 German prisoners. That same night, 2nd Battalion Commander Lt. Co. James Hanley, led E and F Companies to circle behind the enemy troops around a nearby hill - Hill 617. Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion's G Company spread itself thin to simulate a battalion. At dawn, G Company attached frontally, while E and F Companies attacked Hill 617 and took 61 Germans prisoners.
By 29 OCT, the Lost Battalion's situation was desperate. Isolated for six days the Texans had beaten back five enemy assaults. Deaths and casualties mounted, yet they couldn't evacuate the bodies. They pooled their meager supplies of food and ammo and risked German sniper fire to get water. The Allies tried to send supplies. First they shot shells filled with chocolate, but the shelling caused casualties. A few days later the Allies dropped supplies by parachute, but most of the packages landed in German-occupied positions. The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion's accurate fire hit the Germans without harming the trapped Texans or the Nisei rescuers. Often the tall trees and steep slopes made it impossible to adjust artillery fire properly. The terrain made tank travel almost impossible, too. The American GIs had to fight with what they could carry; bazookas, grenades, BARs, machine guns, Tommy guns, pistols, and rifles and bayonets.
Also, by 29 OCT, the Nisei had fought for five days, but hadn't made much progress against the heavily entrenched Germans. 3rd Battalion's I and K companies were on a narrow, exposed ridge. With a steep drop on the left and right, the men had no choice but to go straight up the middle. I Company Private Barney Hajiro was pinned down on the ridge. He saw enemy machine guns kill eight and wounded 21 of his buddies. Then suddenly, a few men, including Hajiro decided to "Go for broke." He charged up the ridge, shooting his BAR and running 100 yards under fire. He single-handedly destroyed two machine gun nests and killed two enemy snipers. His brave actions spurred his comrades to rally and boldly attack. Hajiro was awarded a Medal of Honor. (Hajiro was awarded the DSC, but in June 2000 it was upgraded to MOH.)
The same day, 29 OCT, Private George Sakato of 2nd Battalion's E Company led a charge that rescued his pinned squad and destroyed a German stronghold. He earned a DSC, which was upgraded to Medal of Honor in June 2000. Finally, on 30 OCT, after six days of desperate combat, the 442nd broke through to the "Lost Battalion." The Nisei infantry in B, I, and K Companies were the first to arrive, but the entire 442nd had helped. Forward
69 observers from the 522nd fought along with the infantry. Members of the antitank units carried the wounded and braved enemy fire. Clerks, cooks and Nisei from the 232nd Combat Engineer Company joined in combat. Many were wounded or killed by mines, sniper fire, heavy artillery, and spraying shrapnel. More than 25 of K Company's wounded were treated by medic, Technician Fifth Grade James Okubo. Okubo was the only medic to earn a Medal of Honor (Silver Star upgrade), but many other medics braved enemy fire and saved countless lives.
The men of the Lost Battalion and their rescuers exchanged happy greetings, but it was a short celebration. After the successful rescue, after 16 days of almost non-stop combat - the worst the 100th/442nd had ever experience - after losing many of their buddies and officers they expected to be relieved. Instead, Gen. Dahlquist ordered the men to keep pushing and securing the forest for nine more days. On 7 NOV, near the village of La Houssiere, Private First Class Joe Nishimoto, an acting squad leader in G Company broke a three-day stalemate against German forces. He destroyed a machine gun nest and with his hand grenade, and killed the German crew of another nest with his Tommy gun. Nishimoto was later killed in action. He received a DSC, which was upgraded to Medal of Honor in June 2000, posthumously.
November 17 was when the 442nd was finally relieved. The dead and the wounded outnumbered the living. The 442nd ended up at less than half its usual strength. K Company, which started out with 186 men had 17 left. I Company started out with 185. At the end, there were only 8. During the six days the 442nd fought to rescue the Lost Battalion, 54 men were killed and many, many more were wounded and sent to hospitals. During the entire Vosges Campaign, 34 days of almost non-stop combat - liberating Bruyeres and Biffontaine, rescuing the 211 Texans, and nine more days of driving the Germans through the forest - the 442nd's total casualties were 216 men dead and more than 856 wounded.
When Division commander Dahlquist ordered the 442nd to assemble for a recognition ceremony, he scolded a 442nd Colonel. "You disobeyed my orders. I told you to have the whole regiment." The teary-eyed Colonel looked him in the eye and reportedly said, "General, this is the regiment, the rest are either dead or in the hospital." To the U.S. Army, the rescue of the Lost Battalion became one of the top 10 battles in its history. But to many, questions still remain. Why did the General order the 141st to advance nine miles beyond reasonable support, and without protection in the rear? Did Dahlquist use the Nisei more ruthlessly than the other American troops?
Gen. Dahlquist was so much disliked as a person that Lieutenant Colonel Singles, an officer of the 442nd, ran into Dahlquist a few years later and was not willing to shake his hand. "After returning the salute, General Dahlquist offered his right hand saying, "Let bygones be bygones. It's all water under the bridge, isn't it?" Lt. Col. Singles maintained his salute, ignoring the General's extended hand. Although he rendered proper military protocol by maintaining his salute, he could not forget what many considered the General's blatant waste of Japanese-American soldiers. At https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=CuLrxLJYmWM cab ne seen a video of the 442nd in action: [Source: Together We Served | September 2016 ++]
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Midway Atoll ► History Preservation vs. Wildlife Protection
The Battle of Midway was a major turning point in World War II's Pacific theater. The remote atoll where thousands died is now a delicate sanctuary for millions of seabirds, and a new battle is pitting preservation of its vaunted military history against the protection of its wildlife. Halfway between the United States and Asia, Midway's three islets are surrounded by vibrant coral reefs and are home to the biggest colony of Laysan albatrosses on Earth. The large, white and black seabirds pair off and mate for life, nesting and raising their young on Midway. President Barrack Obama recently traveled there to announce the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, now the world's biggest oceanic preserve. "I look forward to knowing that 20 years from now, 40 years from now, 100 years from now, this is a place where people can still come to and see what a place like this looks like when it's not overcrowded and destroyed by human populations," Obama said.
President Barack Obama pauses at the Battle of Midway Navy Memorial as he tours Midway Atoll on Sept. 1, 2016, in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The atoll is a place where many people have lived, and perished — almost 3,000 in the historic conflict with Japan. And the public hasn't been allowed to visit the refuge or the battle monuments for years. Midway, about 1,200 miles north of Honolulu, is now a mix of boarded-up buildings left over from the island's military heyday and freshly painted facilities still in use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 50 agency staff and volunteers live on the atoll at any given time, staying in renovated military housing. During its military prime, up to 5,000 people were stationed on Midway. A public visitation program in the late 1990s allowed 100 people per week, plus support staff, to stay on the island.
Today, only volunteers, researchers and journalists can request a permit to visit the remote atoll. Approval can take up to a year and isn't guaranteed. Exceptions are made, such as for the battle's upcoming 75th anniversary, when about 25 people will attend a ceremony. "Fish and Wildlife has every right and obligation to protect the wildlife, but they also have an obligation to protect the historic sites and the meaning of Midway," said James D'Angelo, founder of the International Midway Memorial Foundation. "It is precisely because of the men that lived and died that that memory should never be forgotten." Six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, American forces turned away the Japanese at Midway and went on the offensive. In all, 2,500 Japanese and 307 Americans were killed in the battle.
The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1988 when the atoll was still under Navy control. In 1996, management was transferred to the wildlife agency with a mandate to maintain and preserve not only the wildlife but the atoll's historical significance. Since 2000, the site has been designated as a National Memorial to the
71 Battle of Midway. The original seaplane hangar is rusted and has shrapnel pockmarks. Behind it, a huge pile of desks, bicycles and broken speedboat engines await removal. Midway sits amid a collection of man-made debris called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along Midway's paths are piles of feathers with rings of plastic in the middle — remnants of birds that died with the plastic in their guts. Each year the agency removes about 20 tons of plastic and debris that washes ashore. The critically endangered short-tailed albatross can be found only on Midway and one other small Pacific island. Endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles also frequent Midway's shores.
In 1996, the government reached an agreement with the Georgia-based Phoenix Midway Corp. to help operate the island's visitor program, with lodging, a restaurant, a dive shop and bowling alley, at no cost to taxpayers. But, in its six years of operation, the company had only one profitable month, according to a document submitted to Fish and Wildlife and provided to The Associated Press by the memorial foundation. In mid-2001, the company pulled out. After that, there was either no visitor program or a limited one. "It's financial suicide for anybody to think that they can go in unless they were given the carte blanche rights to run the island," said Bob Tracey, Phoenix Midway's former executive vice president.
In 2014, the Congressional Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing about Midway. "Objective observers can certainly question whether it was a mistake to transfer this sacred ground to an agency that is far better equipped to maintain birds than visitors," said the chairman, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA).. The Government Accountability Office concluded in 2016 that the wildlife agency maintained most historic properties but tore down seven others without the required public notice. But the GAO noted funding has been slashed from $4 million annually to less than $3 million, resulting in the end of public visitation in 2012. Officials say more than $1 million a year would be required to reestablish a visitation program, excluding startup costs.
Matthew Brown, Fish and Wildlife's superintendent for the marine national monument, said sustainable tourism is feasible despite the challenges. "It's a very logistically challenging place to do anything," he said. Its World War II-era structures weren't built to last, and some are coated in lead paint, Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Megan Nagel said, noting Laysan albatross ingest the paint chips, causing illness. Too many visitors could disturb the delicate ecosystem, Nagel said. Some contend a private company could easily profit from a Midway visitation program, but "evidence shows that is historical fiction," Guam Rep. Madeleine Bordallo said at the 2014 congressional hearing. "Preservation of historic resources is expensive. If we value it as a country, we should pay for it." [Source: The Associated Press | Caleb Jones & Josh Lderman | November 3, 2016 ++]
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72 Fat Man Search ► May Have Been Found after 66 Years
The Canadian military plans to dispatch a ship off the coast of British Columbia to investigate a diver's claim that he found a bomb lost in 1950 when a U.S. B-36 crashed en route from Alaska to Texas. Diver Sean Smyrichinsky told the Vancouver Sun that he spotted something unusual off Pitt Island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, describing the find to his friends as a "UFO." A couple of days later, Smyrichinsky recalled the story to some fisherman. “Nobody had ever seen it before or heard of it, [because] nobody ever dives there,” he said. “Then some old-timer said ‘Oh, you might have found that bomb.’” That bomb was a nuclear device that was dumped or exploded off the B.C. coast on Feb. 13, 1950, when an American B-36 bomber crashed while en route from Alaska to Texas. It was packed with lead — not plutonium — and TNT.
A Mark IV "Fat Man" bomb, an improved postwar mass-production version of the plutonium bomb design used during World War II.
The crew ditched the B-36 after ice built up on the plane's wings and three of its six engines caught fire. The bomber's mission included a simulated drop on San Francisco using a dummy version of the Mark IV bomb, which is similar to the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. They dumped the bomb before ditching because, packed with explosives, it still could've caused major damage on impact. Five members of the plane's crew died. Another 12 were rescued after parachuting onto Princess Royal Island. Later, Smyrichinsky found photos online that matched what he found about 50 feet under water.
If confirmed, Smyrichinsky may have uncovered the remains of the first known "broken arrow" — the code name given to accidents involving American nuclear weapons, according to the Guardian. Smyrichinsky sent details of his discovery in an email to the Canadian military, which plans to take a look within a few weeks. A military spokesperson told the Guardian that the device would pose little risk of nuclear detonation: “Nonetheless we do want to be sure and we do want to investigate it further,” he said. A team specialising in unexploded ordnance will determine what risk, if any, the object poses and whether it should be retrieved from its resting place or left as is, he added. [Source: Air Force Times | Stephen Weigand | November 8, 2016 ++]
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America's Response Monument ► Special Forces | Rededicated
America's Response Monument, unofficially known as the Horse Soldier Statue, the nation's first publicly accessible monument dedicated to U.S. Special Forces, was re-dedicated overlooking the National 9/11 Memorial area in Liberty Park in New York City on Sept. 13, 2016. The statue was commissioned by an anonymous group of Wall Street bankers who lost friends in the 9/11 attacks. The sculpture honors the servicemen and women of America's Special Operations response to 9/11, including those who fought in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom.
73 Embedded in the statue's base is a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. For more information on the monument, visit the Wikipedia website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Response_Monument. For more resources on U.S. Special Forces and operations, visit the Military.com Special Operations page. http://www.military.com/special-operations. [Source: Military.com | September 12, 2016 ++]
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Military History ► WW2 Philippines | Minoru Wada's Moment
Very little is known about the life and times of Minoru Wada except for a moment in time during August 1945; but what a remarkable moment that was. Minoru Wada was born in the United States and followed the Japanese- American Kibei custom of traveling to Japan for his education. He attended the University of Tokyo and then the Kyushu Military Academy. The Kibei practice was to return to America after their schooling but in Wada's case, the Pacific war broke out while he was in Japan and he was pressed into service in the Imperial Japanese Army. Wada became a junior officer in the Army's transportation section and by 1945 he was serving with the Japanese 100th Infantry Division on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, Lt. Gen. Jiro Harada commanding.
As the war progressed, Wada detested all the killing and he became very disillusioned with the nature of war. He never believed in the warring character exhibited by the "Old Guard" of the Japanese military. After seeing war up close, more than anything he wanted peace to return to the Japanese islands and to the Japanese people. As the Pacific war moved past the Philippines, past Iwo Jima, and was passing Okinawa, Wada's anti-war feelings began to fume as the fighting and dying on Mindanao seemed more and more pointless. Then, in the first week of August 1945, Wada was captured by American troops - defected, according to some sources - but in either case, he became a Prisoner of War.
74
Sgt. Charles T. Imai, right, interpreter, explains to the 1st Marine Air Wing fighter and bomber pilots the nature of the target as described by Minoru Wada. Maj. Mortimer H. Jordan, the air strike coordinator, stands on the left, checking the information which Wada has already given him.
Japanese Prisoners of War were routinely interrogated by Intelligence personnel but the interviewers found an unusually sympathetic subject in Minoru Wada. He shared his disillusioned feelings about the war and described his strong wish for the war to end. He said he would do anything, even sacrifice his own life, to stop the war and bring ultimate peace to the Japanese people. The Army Intelligence officers offered him the chance to help the Americans end the war on Mindanao but he initially refused the request, since bombing his own countrymen was something he was unwilling to do. Wada then reconsidered after going through a thought process that was eerily similar to what U.S. President Harry Truman had just gone through days before and it led Wada to the same place: perhaps it was better for a smaller number of people to be killed now than for vastly larger numbers to be killed later. For Truman, this led to his decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the hopes of avoiding greater losses in an invasion; for Wada, this led to his decision to help U.S. forces destroy Lt. Gen. Harada's well concealed headquarters complex in the hopes of avoiding greater losses from prolonged and pointless fighting.
As a transportation officer, Wada had an excellent knowledge of the island and its terrain. He also knew the key locations of the command structure of the Imperial Japanese forces. Wada pointed out the headquarters location on maps but the rugged terrain and dense jungle of Mindanao's Kibawe-Talomo Trail region meant that the only sure way for the Americans to find the complex would be for Wada to take them there. Thus the stage was set for one of the most unusual raids of the war.
In the waist of a Marine Mitchell bomber, Minoru Wada scans the mountains below, picking out landmarks that will aid him on leading other Marine bombers and fighters over the target. Maj. Jordan has moved forward into the nose of the bomber to take command immediately as the target is pin-pointed.
On August 9, 1945, the day the second atomic bomb of the war was dropped on Nagasaki, Marine Bombing Squadron VMB-611 flying PBJ-1D Mitchell bombers and Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-115 "Joe's Jokers" flying F4U Corsair fighters prepared for take-off from Moret Field in Zamboanga, Mindanao bound for Gen. Harada's headquarters. Wada helped brief the pilots and then the pilot of the lead plane had to add the names of three unusual passengers to his flight manifest: Army Ground Liaison Officer and Strike Coordinator Maj. Mortimer Jordan, interpreter Sgt. Charles Imai (Wada did not speak English), and Imperial Japanese Army 2st Lt. Minoru Wada. Still
75 dressed in his Japanese Army uniform, Wada sat in the radio-gunner's position and looked for familiar landmarks. Speaking through Sgt. Imai, he was able to direct the bombers right to his own headquarters complex. The strike group then dropped 22,000 pounds of bombs on the area plus a healthy dose of 5-inch rockets.
Wada also identified a number of additional critical targets, and the Marines pounded the target areas with napalm, fragmentation bombs, rockets and heavy machine gun fire. The raid was extremely successful and the headquarters network was thoroughly demolished. Major Jordan later told debriefing officers, "The Japanese officer put us zero on the target and we did the rest - maybe overdid it." The loss of the 100th Division's command and control establishment virtually ended the fighting on Mindanao overnight. Many aspects of this mission remained classified and the full details have still not been disclosed. For Wada, the raid brought him mixed feelings, but he did not regret his actions and firmly believed he helped save the lives of many for the sacrifice of a few. In the peace that followed, Wada was given a new identity and appearance and a place to live by the U.S. Government. He was then allowed to disappear into history. [Source: Together we Served | November 2016 ++]
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Military History Anniversaries ► 16 thru 30 NOV
Significant events in U.S. Military History over the next 15 days are listed in the attachment to this Bulletin titled, “Military History Anniversaries 16 thru 30 NOV”. [Source: This Day in History http://www.history.com/this- day-in-history | November 2016 ++]
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Medal of Honor Citations ► Edson, Merritt A | WWII
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in posthumously presenting the Medal of Honor to
Merritt Austin Edson
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, Parachute Bn Place and date: Guadalcanal, 13-14 September 1942 Entered service: Chester, Vermont on June 26, 1917 Born: Chester, Vermont on April 25, 1897
Citation
76 For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, with Parachute Battalion attached, during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands on the night of 1314 September 1942. After the airfield on Guadalcanal had been seized from the enemy on 8 August, Col. Edson, with a force of 800 men, was assigned to the occupation and defense of a ridge dominating the jungle on either side of the airport. Facing a formidable Japanese attack which, augmented by infiltration, had crashed through our front lines, he, by skillful handling of his troops, successfully withdrew his forward units to a reserve line with minimum casualties. When the enemy, in a subsequent series of violent assaults, engaged our force in desperate hand-to-hand combat with bayonets, rifles, pistols, grenades, and knives, Col. Edson, although continuously exposed to hostile fire throughout the night, personally directed defense of the reserve position against a fanatical foe of greatly superior numbers. By his astute leadership and gallant devotion to duty, he enabled his men, despite severe losses, to cling tenaciously to their position on the vital ridge, thereby retaining command not only of the Guadalcanal airfield, but also of the 1st Division's entire offensive installations in the surrounding area.
Major General Merritt Austin Edson, known as "Red Mike", was a general in the United States Marine Corps. Among the decorations he received were the Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses, the Silver Star, and two Legions of Merit. He is best known by Marines for the defense of Lunga Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II.
Edson was born in Rutland, Vermont but grew up in Chester, Vermont and after graduating from high school he attended the University of Vermont for two years. On June 27, 1916 he left college as a member of the First Vermont National Guard Regiment and was sent to Eagle Pass, Texas, for duty on the Mexican border. He returned to the University in September 1916, but joined the Marine Corps Reserve on June 26, the following year. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on October 9, 1917 and in September of the next year he sailed for France with the 11th Marines. This regiment saw no combat, but during the last six months of his European tour, he commanded Company D, 15th Separate Marine Battalion, which had been organized for the express purpose of assisting in the holding of a plebiscite in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Owing to the failure of the United States to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, this mission, however, was never carried out.
Following the end of World War I, he was assigned to several positions that would qualify him for the high commands he was to hold in later years. He was promoted to first lieutenant on June 4, 1920 and spent two years at Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, as the Adjutant-Registrar of the Marine Corps Institute, after which he was sent on a short tour in Louisiana guarding the mail. His interest in military aviation prompted him to apply for flight training at NAS Pensacola, Florida and he earned his gold wings as a Naval Aviator in 1922. Soon after, he was ordered to the Marine Air Station at Guam where he had his introduction to the semitropical islands of the Marianas with which his name was later to become so closely linked.
77 Upon returning to the United States in 1925, he first took an extensive course in advanced aviation tactics with the U.S. Army Air Service at Kelly Field, Texas, and then attended the Company Officers' Course at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. He graduated with the highest grades ever attained by any student up to that time. For physical reasons, however, he had to give up his flying status in 1927 and continue his career as a ground officer. He was then assigned to duty as Ordnance Officer at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Late in 1927, he was ordered to sea duty as Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment on the USS Denver (CL-16) and was promoted to captain on December 21, 1927. During service in Central American waters, his detachment was ashore in Nicaragua during the period February 1928 - 1929. In command of 160 hand picked and specially trained Marines, he fought twelve separate engagements with the Sandino-led bandits and denied them the use of the Poteca and Coco River valleys. Here, he received his first Navy Cross for actions in which "his exhibition of coolness, intrepidity, and dash so inspired his men that superior forces of bandits were driven from their prepared positions and severe losses inflicted upon them." From a grateful Nicaraguan government, he was also awarded the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit with Silver Star.
In September 1929, he returned to the United States and was assigned as tactics instructor to fledgling Marine lieutenants at The Basic School in Philadelphia. Upon detachment from that duty, he became Ordnance and War Plans Officer at the Philadelphia Depot of Supplies for the next four years. This ordnance duty was not new to him since he had been closely associated with the development of small arms marksmanship within the Marine Corps. In 1921, he had been a firing member of the winning Marine Corps Team at the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. In 1927, 1930, and 1931, he served with the rifle and pistol teams as assistant coach. During the regional matches of 1932 and 1933, he acted as team coach and captain, respectively. Upon the resumption of the National Matches in 1935, he was captain of the Marine Corps national rifle and pistol teams of 1935 and 1936, winning the national trophies in both years.
After short tours at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., he was enrolled in the Senior Officers' Course at the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia in 1936. He was promoted to major on February 9, 1936. Foreign duty as operations officer with the 4th Marines in Shanghai, China from 1937 to 1939, enabled him to observe closely Japanese military operations.
His second tour of duty at Marine Corps Headquarters began in May 1939 when, as Inspector of Target Practice, he was in a position to stress the importance of every Marine being highly skilled with his own individual arm. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1940. In June 1941, he was again transferred to Quantico, to command the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, which was redesignated the 1st Separate Battalion in January 1942. The training exercises which he conducted in the succeeding months with Navy high speed transports (APDs) led to the organization of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion in early 1942. This unit was the prototype of every Marine Raider battalion formed throughout the war. He was promoted to colonel on May 21, 1942.
In combat uniform (left) sitting on some stairs Lieutenant Colonel Edson (front row, second from left) poses for a group photo with other Marine officers on Tulagi shortly after the battle in August, 1942. Edson as a Brigadier General (right)
78 Colonel Edson's introduction to the Pacific theater of operations began with the overseas training of his raider command in American Samoa. On August 7, 1942, his raiders, together with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, landed on Tulagi, British Solomon Islands. Two days of severe fighting secured this strategic island in the Battle of Tulagi. After his battalion relocated to Guadalcanal they conducted raids on Savo Island and at Tasimboko, on Guadalcanal. He was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross for his successful conduct of the Tulagi operation.
After World War II Edson held several commands until retiring from the Marine Corps August 1, 1947. After retirement he had several jobs including the Director of the National Rifle Association.
On August 14, 1955 He died at age 58 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
[Source: http://www.history.army.mil/moh/wwII-a-f.html#EDSON | November 2016 ++]
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Bile Duct Cancer ► Cholangiocarcinoma Linked to Vietnam Service
Mike Baughman considered himself one of the lucky ones, returning from Vietnam without any major injuries or psychological scars. But after falling ill nearly a half-century later, he found out he did not escape the war after all. The 64-year-old is among hundreds of veterans who have been diagnosed with a rare bile duct cancer that may be linked to their time in the service and an unexpected source: parasites in raw or poorly cooked river fish. The worms infect an estimated 25 million people, mostly in Asia, but are less known in America. They can easily be wiped out with a few pills early on. Left untreated, a cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma can develop, often killing patients just a few months after symptoms appear.
The U.S. government acknowledges that liver flukes, endemic in the steamy jungles of Vietnam, are likely killing some former soldiers. Ralph Erickson, who heads post-deployment health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said about 700 cholangiocarcinoma patients have passed through the agency's medical system in the past 15 years. Less than half of those submitted claims for benefits, in part because they were unaware of a potential link to time in service. Of the claims submitted, 3 out of 4 have been rejected, according to data obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The VA requires veterans to show medical conditions are at least "as
79 likely as not" related to their time in service to receive financial help, but doctors note that often isn't easy with bile duct cancer caused by liver flukes.
The parasites typically go undetected, sometimes living for more than 25 years without making their hosts sick. The body reacts by trying to wall off the organisms. This causes inflammation and scarring and, over time, can lead to cancer. The first symptoms are often jaundice, itchy skin and rapid weight loss. By then, the disease is usually advanced. If American doctors better understood bile duct cancer and the potential risks to those who served in Vietnam, they could use ultrasounds to check veterans for inflammation, and then surgery might be possible for some of them, said Jeff Bethony, a liver fluke expert at George Washington University. "Early is key," he said, adding he regularly receives desperate letters from veterans' family members. "The VA should be testing for this." Once diagnosed, most men don't realize there may be a connection to their service in Vietnam. The few who figure it out often spend their final months fighting for recognition and benefits, leaving them feeling angry and abandoned, as many did when they first came home from the war. "Hard to believe," Baughman said in his living room, flipping through a photo album from his war days. "I dodged all those bullets, then get killed by a fish."
Baughman had just turned 19 when his draft number came up in late 1970. He was soon deployed to central Vietnam near Hue to do reconnaissance in the mountains. Although he was the youngest in his Army unit, he quickly became one of its most valuable members. "The Vietnamese like to shoot the first guy in line, and last guy," Baughman said. "And so that's what I trained to do: Be the first guy in." He would walk point clearing thick jungle with a machete and, thanks partly to growing up hunting in the hills of West Virginia, he proved gifted at noticing the smallest twig or leaf brushed out of place by the enemy. It was his job to spot booby traps and potential ambushes.
Often on long missions, sometimes forced to sleep outside with sheets of monsoon rain pelting down, his unit would run out of rations and go fishing for dinner near the border with Laos. "We would throw a grenade in the water, and then scoop them off the river floor," Baughman said. "We called it 'fish on a stick.'" The men would use a helmet and a tiny blue smokeless flame to cook the fish as best they could, but it never really got done. Years later, when he returned home, those makeshift meals became just another story he would tell about roughing it in Vietnam. He went on to earn a master's degree and became a successful engineer in Silicon Valley working for Atari, Apple and others. In October 2013, he was about to remarry and decided to get a long-overdue physical. He felt fine, but his blood work indicated there might be a problem with his liver. Further testing revealed he had bile duct cancer.
After researching the condition, Baughman discovered that worms ingested decades ago in that raw "fish on a stick" could be killing him. He turned to the VA for help, and his private physician wrote a letter highlighting the potential connection between the worms and the disease. He went to a VA doctor as well, who also acknowledged liver flukes were one of the main risk factors for the cancer but concluded there was "no evidence of infection" from Baughman's service time. He was twice denied benefits in 2015, and is waiting for the results of his latest appeal. Liver flukes are found mainly in parts of Southeast Asia, China and South Korea, where residents and tourists alike risk infection from specific types of freshwater fish such as tilapia and carp. In one location in Laos, researchers found liver flukes — which can survive pickling and fermentation — in about 60 percent of villagers, and in some parts of Vietnam, up to 40 percent were infected. Experts say it's hard to know how many people in the region may be dying from cholangiocarcinoma caused by the parasites because there are few cancer registries.
In northeastern Thailand, where many villagers have a taste for the sour fish dish pla som, new bile duct cancers affect about 84 in 100,000 people, the world's highest recorded rate. Little research has been conducted outside of Thailand, where mobile clinics routinely perform bile duct ultrasound screenings in hard-hit areas. Once cancer is detected, surgery is sometimes an option, depending on the tumor's location. Liver transplants typically aren't performed due to organ shortages and poor prognosis. In the United States, cholangiocarcinoma is extremely rare, with roughly 5,000 people diagnosed each year, including some Asian immigrants who ate infected fish in their native countries. Liver flukes aren't the only risk factor for the disease; others include hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis
80 and bile duct stones. But some physicians say for Vietnam veterans diagnosed decades after U.S.-backed Saigon fell to communist forces in 1975, the cancer is "as likely as not" tied to their service time. And by VA standards, that should be enough to receive benefits.
Asked if it was likely men were infected on the battlefield, Dr. Banchob Sripa, a leading expert on the disease at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, said "it is the only way to explain it." He said doctors in the U.S. and Australia, which also sent troops to the war, have contacted him for help in determining whether the parasites are to blame for veterans' cancer. More than 100 appeals for cholangiocarcinoma dating back to the early 1990s are on the VA's website. Though Erickson said there have been no significant case increases among veterans in recent years, data collected following an AP inquiry showed the number of benefit claims has increased sixfold since 2003. Claims hit a high of 60 last year, with nearly 80 percent denied. Decisions appear to be haphazard. Some are approved automatically. Others, presented with the same evidence, are denied. For instance, some rejections were based on the fact that parasites were not found in stool samples, but those tests were conducted years after the worms would have died. Other claims were dismissed because the veteran did not report his illness within a year of leaving Vietnam, yet symptoms typically don't appear until decades later.
VA officials say while they're sympathetic, it's up to the men to prove that liver flukes from Vietnam are killing them. They say because the cancer remains rare, it would be unrealistic and onerous to carry out regular screenings. "This is still a legal process that both the VA and the veteran have to go through, and we will look at each case and all the evidence that is presented to us and make a determination at that point," said Steve Westerfeld, a spokesman for the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration. "Certainly any veteran has an opportunity to appeal." Many do, sometimes two or three times before either getting approved or giving up. "It's discouraging to fight for something that you think should probably be available for people who actually went over and served," Mike Brown of Valencia, California, told the AP earlier this year after learning he had bile duct cancer. He died last month at age 68, just days after finding out the VA had approved his claim.
Often, it's the widows who are left fighting. "It's bad enough," said Anne Petitti, whose husband, Mario, died from the disease in 2010, just a few months after being diagnosed. "They shouldn't be put through the wringer or have to go through all the red tape." She eventually won her fight with the VA, and set up a Facebook page to help other veterans navigate the system while also cataloging new cases. How much veterans, or their families, are compensated depends on many factors, including to what degree the illness is affecting their ability to have productive lives. An unmarried veteran can get nearly $3,000 a month, but some spouses said they get about half that amount. For many, it's not about the money. It's about raising awareness, both among veterans and the VA, and receiving recognition for their service. "Most vets understand very quickly it's a terminal disease and that they don't have much time," Petitti said.
Baughman talks about his own future with caution, even though he's already beaten the odds: He was supposed to have died last November. The illness forced him to stop working, and his medical bills have skyrocketed from all the tests, radiation and chemotherapy. He's luckier than some because he has good insurance. He's not in touch with most of the guys from his old unit, but he worries about them too. Unlike today's troops, those who served in Vietnam were shunned when they came home. It's one more reason having this medical condition recognized by the VA matters so much to him. "It'd be nice to have me win my little battle," he said. "But ... I want the government to do it for everybody." [Source: Associated Press | Robin Mcdowell & Margie Mason | November 10, 2016 ++]
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TRICARE Child Care Update 02 ► Hospice Care Coverage
Medicare, the federal health insurance program for America's elderly, is causing real problems for military children. You might ask how that can be, but it's because TRICARE payments to medical providers are tied to Medicare's.
81 And Medicare's payments are mainly designed for older patients, not for kids. The result is TRICARE often doesn't pay for services unique to children. One particularly awful example is coverage of hospice care for children facing late stage terminal illness. Normally, when someone has a terminal illness and faces a short prognosis (e.g., less than six months), they can elect to begin hospice care. Hospice provides medical services, like pain and symptom control, and an option to be at home with caregiving assistance. But it also provides emotional support for the ill and their families, with counseling and support in preparing for death.
Under Medicare rules, electing hospice care requires giving up coverage for curative care. So TRICARE does, too. That means, when a military family has a child in hospice care and the child has a medical crisis, TRICARE won't cover readmission or treatment in hospital for curative care. In other words, the family must make the decision to let the child die, or bear the full cost of any medical treatment. But a child's body is not like an adult's body. Children are faster healers, and every part of their body is still growing, developing, and renewing, while adults are in a steady state of aging. The health variables are much higher for children, and their quality of life needs are different. Parents shouldn't have to forego all needed curative efforts in order to use hospice programs.
Nearly 10 years ago, a DoD-commissioned study concluded, “The requirements for these services severely restrict pediatric access and do not provide appropriate pediatric care.” But this egregious policy is still in place. It is unclear whether the Defense Health Agency (DHA) can fix this without legislation. When the policy was identified to DHA, it reached out to families facing this choice with additional options, but it remains unclear what additional services they are receiving and how such flexibility will be applied going forward. MOAA and the TRICARE for Kids Coalition are committed to making a change to this regulation - and a law change, if necessary - a top priority. [Source: MOAA Leg Up | Amy Bushatz | November 4, 2016 ++]
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TRICARE Auditory Care Update 01 ► Hearing Aid Implants
Certain hearing aid implants are now covered for all Tricare users under a policy update announced 8 NOV. Existing rules block hearing aid coverage for retirees, Tricare for Life and Tricare Reserve Select users. But the policy change reclassifies a certain type of implanted hearing aid -- Auditory Osseointegrated Implant (AOI) Devices -- as a "prosthetic," opening up coverage of the implant to all Tricare beneficiaries. The devices improve hearing through an implant inserted in the skull behind the ear, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. Combined with a microphone and hearing aid components, incoming sounds cause the implant to vibrate, which is then transmitted to the patient's inner ear via bone conduction.
The implants are used to treat conductive and mixed hearing loss or singled-sided deafness, according to the association. Cochlear implants, another implantable type of aid, are used to treat those with non-functioning cochlea or those who have bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implants are currently covered by Tricare for all types of beneficiaries. The change for AOI devices impacts all Tricare users, including Tricare for Life users. The decision to expand coverage was made as part of a routine policy review, a Tricare official said. While the changes are retroactively effective to June 30, 2016, Tricare's regional contractors won't be ready to answer questions or process claims for the implants until 7 DEC.
The new policy does create parameters for what kind of hearing loss qualifies for coverage. "AOI devices … are covered as a prosthetic device when necessary due to significant conditions resulting from trauma, congenital anomalies, or disease," it states. That means that retirees whose hearing loss can be blamed on other causes that are not trauma, disease or a birth defect don't qualify for coverage. Non-implantable devices, such as the BAHA Softband, which gives hearing help to children who are too young for the AOI implant, are still excluded from coverage, according to the policy. [Source: Military.com | Amy Bushatz | Nov 08, 2016 ++]
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TRICARE Enrollment Update 01 ► Insurance Marketplace Options
It’s the time of year when people can enroll in or change their health insurance plan. The open enrollment period for HealthCare.gov is November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 for 2017 coverage. How does this affect you? Most TRICARE beneficiaries don’t need to worry about open enrollment. However, for beneficiaries who are not eligible for TRICARE coverage, have lost or are losing coverage, or may qualify to purchase a TRICARE premium-based health plan (TYA, TRR, TRS or CHCBP) you can use this open enrollment period to see if there are other health coverage options that work best for you and your family. Go to www.HealthCare.gov to explore your coverage options outside of TRICARE. Specify that you don’t currently have coverage when using the portal to find out if you qualify for financial assistance and review coverage plans offered in your area without submitting an application.
To check out your options go to the ‘Individual and Families’ tab, and click ‘Get Coverage’. From there, click the ‘$ See Plans and Prices’ section near the middle of the web page. Follow the directions to enter your ZIP code, family size, and income, to get an estimate of available coverage and costs, including available plans, premiums, and cost shares. If you are under 30, you can get personalized health coverage options on HealthCare.gov here. After exploring the Health Insurance Marketplace options, you can use www.TRICARE.mil to compare TRICARE premium based coverage and costs to the marketplace plans. You can also compare TRICARE plans online with TRICARE's 'Compare Plans' tool. If you need additional help, call the HealthCare.gov toll free line (1-800-318- 2596 or TTY: 1-855-889-4324) or contact a local person or group in your area for assistance. Visit their ‘Contact Us’ page (https://www.healthcare.gov/contact-us) to enter a zip code to find contact information for individuals and organizations in your area.
If you are currently enrolled in a premium based TRICARE plan and decide to use a non-TRICARE option, you need to submit a disenrollment request to your TRICARE regional contractor. Be sure not to dis-enroll from your current TRICARE coverage until you confirm the start date of your new coverage so that there is no gap in coverage and you aren’t penalized for each month that you and the other individuals listed on your tax form do not have coverage. Once the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) records your disenrollment date, the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) responds to queries from the Federal Hub that you do not have minimum essential coverage (MEC) from the Department of Defense.
Beneficiaries losing TRICARE coverage due to separation or discharge, divorce, aging out, etc., may qualify to enroll for alternate coverage during a special enrollment period. They must apply for marketplace coverage within 60 days of losing their TRICARE coverage. You can find more information online at HealthCare.gov. Don’t forget that the Affordable Care Act requires most Americans, including TRICARE beneficiaries and DoD employees, have MEC. Most TRICARE plans meet this requirement, but if you want to explore health care options outside of TRICARE, make sure to visit HealthCare.gov during open enrollment. [Source: TRICARE Communications | November 9, 2016 ++]
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PTSD Update 222 ► Army Stellate Ganglion Block Study
A treatment involving the injection of a local anesthetic next to a bundle of nerves in the neck has eased post- traumatic stress symptoms in some patients in as little as 30 minutes with dramatic, lasting results. Now, the Pentagon is funding a study at three Army medical centers to determine if the technique — long used for the treatment of pain — is truly effective in treating PTSD. The results from the largest random, controlled trial using the stellate ganglion block could revolutionize the way PTSD — considered a mental illness — is viewed and treated, according to doctors familiar with the experimental procedure.
83 “It really is the tipping point,” Col. James Lynch, command surgeon for U.S. Special Operations Command Africa in Stuttgart, who has seen firsthand the promising effects of the shot, said about the current trial. “It has the potential to be a huge game changer for many, many affected people with PTSD,” whether from combat, sexual assault or other trauma, he said. “There’s really not been a great answer for this giant population.”
The U.S. government has spent millions treating PTSD and searching for effective therapies since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan thrust the disorder into the national spotlight. If proved to be effective, the block could provide relief to millions of servicemembers and veterans who suffer from combat-related PTSD. The stellate ganglion block is offered as treatment for PTSD at a handful of Army hospitals, including Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, but it has yet to gain wide acceptance as a therapy for the disorder because of the lack of clinical evidence proving the intervention works. The Pentagon study could change that. RTI International, a research institute in Raleigh, N.C., received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Defense Department to conduct the trial. Besides Landstuhl, Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, are participating.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that “for a significant portion of patients, relief is near immediate, and that’s very powerful,” said Kristine Rae Olmsted, a behavioral epidemiologist at RTI and co-investigator in the Pentagon- funded study. But the procedure isn’t proposed as a cure-all, even if it’s proved to be effective, she said. “We still want people to engage with behavioral health providers, to deal with the other psychosocial impacts of PTSD.” Enrollment for the study began about five months ago.
Researchers are hoping to get at least 240 active-duty military volunteers by the time the study concludes in November 2017, she said. But so far, recruitment of volunteers has been difficult, Rae Olmsted said. The study is open to active-duty servicemembers who have been diagnosed with PTSD or think they might have PTSD. In an effort to increase enrollment, the study was recently opened to servicemembers being treated for psychological or behavioral health issues, LRMC officials said. Volunteers can receive up to $115 for the time they spend participating in the study. [Source: Stars And Stripes | Jennifer H. Svan | November 6, 2016 ++]
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TRICARE Podcast 373 ► Warrior Care MO | Smokeout | Eye Health
Warrior Care Month -- November is designated as Warrior Care Month, a month dedicated to honoring the courage, resilience and accomplishments of wounded, ill, and injured service members, their families and their caregivers. This month, make time to learn about all the health care benefits, programs and resources available to our service members and their families. Active duty service members mainly receive their primary care at military hospitals and clinics. If stationed in a remote location, active duty service members may receive primary care with a civilian network provider. If you’re injured on active duty, there are additional programs and resources as well as special benefits like respite care for primary caregivers of injured service members. Learn more at www.TRICARE.mil/InjuredonAD .
National Guard and Reserve members who are on active duty for more than 30 days receive the same benefits as an active duty service member. While serving on active duty for 30 days or less for active duty training, an annual tour, individual duty training or drill and you’re injured or become severely ill in the line of duty, your unit must issue a Line of Duty determination to authorize health care coverage under TRICARE related specifically to that injury or illness. This includes travel time to and from your place of duty. Keep in mind, you will not show as TRICARE eligible for care in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, so it is important to coordinate line of duty care with your unit administrator. TRICARE offers many programs and benefits to our warriors and their families. For details and specific information about your TRICARE coverage, visit www.TRICARE.mil today.
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Great American Smokeout -- Hundreds of people across the country are preparing for the third Thursday in November, when they will make more time to breathe easy by quitting smoking or at least making a plan. This year’s Great American Smokeout will be on November 17th, 2016. This event challenges people to quit smoking for just 24 hours, in the hopes that they will make the decision to quit forever. www.Ucanquit2.org is a program specifically designed for military service members and their families to help them quit smoking. This program includes a text message support program, FAQs, videos and 24/7 live chat support. TRICARE also offers smoking cessation services such as Tobacco Cessation Medication. Learn more about the quit smoking benefit at www.TRICARE.mil/tobacco. And think of all you’ll gain when you quit: Confidence that you accomplished something incredibly tough “You had to be there!” moments you missed when you were stuck outside smoking, and Better health. You’re not alone in trying to quit. Think of all the people quitting with you on November 17th!
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. Children's Eye Health -- Did you know that “lazy eye” or amblyopia is the most common cause of vision problems in children? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “lazy eye” occurs when the brain favors using one eye over the other. About two to three percent of people have this condition and it’s the most common cause of permanent vision impairment for everyone except for the elderly. There are several causes of lazy eye including strabismus, which is when the eyes cross or turn out instead of focusing on the same place. If your eyes can’t focus on the same image or point at the same time, then you have less depth perception. Depth perception is the ability to know where an object is, based on where you see it. If left untreated, it can lead to permanent vision loss in one eye. Astigmatism is another common vision condition associated with amblyopia. Astigmatism causes blurred vision and happens when the cornea, or the clear front cover of the eye, is irregularly shaped.
One common treatment for lazy eye and cross-eyes is using an eye-patch on the dominant eye to encourage the brain to use the other eye. Another treatment is using eye drops that temporarily blur vision in the dominant eye. Your child’s doctor should check for these conditions during well-child visits. Learn more about TRICARE’s eye exam coverage at www.TRICARE.mil/eyeexams. -o-o-O-o-o-
The above is from the TRICARE Beneficiary Bulletin, an update on the latest news to help you make the best use of your TRICARE benefit. [Source: http://www.tricare.mil/podcast | November 4, 2016 ++]
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TRICARE Podcast 374 ► Skin Protection | Health Literacy | Bullying
Winter Skin Protection -- Though the weather is colder and the days are shorter, you still need to protect your skin. Continue to wear a sunscreen with SPF of 15 or higher every day and stay away from indoor tanning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every time you tan you increase your risk of skin cancer and make your skin age prematurely. It’s not just the sun that you have to worry about as temperatures drop. Frostbite, an injury to the body caused by freezing, is another concern. Frostbite causes a loss of feeling and color in affected areas. It can affect your nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers, or toes.
Be aware that if you have reduced blood circulation, or are not dressed properly for the weather, then you are at greater risk for frostbite. If your skin has any redness or pain, then get out of the cold immediately. If part of your skin become a white or grayish-yellow color, feels unusually firm or waxy, or is numb, then you may have frostbite.
85 Frostbite often comes with hypothermia, a more serious medical condition that requires emergency medical assistance. Signs of hypothermia include shivering, drowsiness, slurred speech and confusion. Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
If there’s frostbite but no sign of hypothermia, then seek medical care as soon as possible. If you can’t get to medical care immediately, go to a warm room, but don’t walk on frostbitten feet or toes. Immerse the affected area in warm water. Don’t rub the frost bitten area with snow or massage it. And never use heating pads, lamps, stoves, fireplace heat or radiators for warming as that can cause more damage. For more information about winter weather safety, visit www.cdc.gov/disasters/winter.
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Health Literacy -- This means how well you understand your basic health information and services available to you. According to Health.gov, nearly nine out of ten adults may lack the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease. First, have a copy of your health history, prior hospitalizations and a list of current and past medical problems. Think of your health as a story that needs to be told. In order to accurately know what’s going on, your doctor needs every chapter. They also need to know if you’re having new problems or never received relief from prior symptoms. Next, be sure to have a list of all your current medication including vitamins and herbal supplements, as well as the dosage. You should also make a list of the top three to five issues you want to discuss with your doctor. Having a list may help you stay on track and ensure you address the most pressing concerns first. Preparing a list also helps you feel more confident in talking to your doctor. Be direct, honest and as specific as possible when describing your symptoms or expressing your concerns. Finally, it’s important to know your health care benefit. Do you know what’s covered? What your copays or cost-shares are? Do you know where to find this information? Knowing details about your health care benefit helps when it’s time to make decisions about choosing a provider or specialist, getting important tests, and when planning preventive care.
For more information about your TRICARE health plan, visit www.TRICARE.mil/plans.
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Bullying Awareness -- Does your child have frequent headaches and stomachaches, especially on school days? It may not be a sign of physical illness. It might be a sign that your child is being bullied. Some other signs of bullying include trouble sleeping, lower grades and feelings of helplessness. Make sure your child feels comfortable talking to you about any troubles with other children. Sometimes when children are being bullied, they may feel hopeless or could even engage in dangerous self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming themselves, or becoming suicidal. If your child is having trouble with bullies, there are resources available to help. TRICARE recently reduced its outpatient co-payments on mental health to make it easier for you and your family to get the care you need. Some of the covered treatments include individual and family therapies. Learn more at www.TRICARE.mil/mentalhealthcare .
If your child, or anyone in your family, does have a mental health emergency, then remember to call 911 or take them to the nearest emergency room for care. You should check in with your child periodically to make sure that he or she is neither a bully nor being bullied. Contrary to popular belief, those who bully others don’t have to be physically bigger or stronger than those whom they are bullying. For more information and resources, check out www.stopbullying.gov.
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The above is from the TRICARE Beneficiary Bulletin, an update on the latest news to help you make the best use of your TRICARE benefit. [Source: http://www.tricare.mil/podcast | November 11, 2016 ++]
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Health Care Reform Update 65 ► Open Enrollment 2017 Is Here
I’s the time of year when people can enroll in or change their health insurance plan. The open enrollment period for HealthCare.gov is November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017 for 2017 coverage. How does this affect you? Most TRICARE beneficiaries don’t need to worry about open enrollment. However, for beneficiaries who are not eligible for TRICARE coverage, have lost or are losing coverage, or may qualify to purchase a TRICARE premium-based health plan (TYA, TRR, TRS or CHCBP) you can use this open enrollment period to see if there are other health coverage options that work best for you and your family.
Go to www.HealthCare.gov to explore your coverage options outside of TRICARE. Specify that you don’t currently have coverage when using the portal to find out if you qualify for financial assistance and review coverage plans offered in your area without submitting an application. On HealthCare.gov, go to the ‘Individual and Families’ tab, and click ‘Get Coverage’. From there, click the ‘$ See Plans and Prices’ section near the middle of the web page. Follow the directions to enter your ZIP code, family size, and income, to get an estimate of available coverage and costs, including available plans, premiums, and cost shares. If you are under 30, you can get personalized health coverage options on HealthCare.gov here.
After exploring the health insurance marketplace options, you can use www.TRICARE.mil to compare TRICARE premium based coverage and costs to the marketplace plans. You can also compare TRICARE plans online with their 'Compare Plans' tool at http://www.tricare.mil/Plans/ComparePlans . If you need additional help, call the HealthCare.gov toll free line (1-800-318-2596 or TTY: 1-855-889-4324) or contact a local person or group in your area for assistance. Visit their ‘Contact Us’ page (http://www.healthcare.gov/contact-us) to enter a zip code to find contact information for individuals and organizations in your area.
If you are currently enrolled in a premium based TRICARE plan and decide to use a non-TRICARE option, you need to submit a disenrollment request to your TRICARE regional contractor. Be sure not to dis-enroll from your current TRICARE coverage until you confirm the start date of your new coverage so that there is no gap in coverage and you aren’t penalized for each month that you and the other individuals listed on your tax form do not have coverage. Once the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) records your disenrollment date, the Defense Manpower Data Center responds to queries from the Federal Hub that you do not have minimum essential coverage (MEC) from the Department of Defense.
Beneficiaries losing TRICARE coverage due to separation or discharge, divorce, aging out, etc., may qualify to enroll for alternate coverage during a special enrollment period. They must apply for marketplace coverage within 60 days of losing their TRICARE coverage. You can find more information online at HealthCare.gov. Don’t forget that the Affordable Care Act requires most Americans, including TRICARE beneficiaries and DoD employees, have MEC. Most TRICARE plans meet this requirement, but if you want to explore health care options outside of TRICARE, make sure to visit HealthCare.gov during open enrollment. [Source: Health.mil | November 14, 2016 ++]
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Medicare Supplemental Plans ► Selection ABC's
Just like practically every other health insurance plan known to man, Medicare comes with deductibles and co-pays. And, while original Medicare generally offers good coverage, it also comes with some holes. For instance, I wouldn’t rely on it if you’re planning to go abroad — at risk of Montezuma’s revenge. Basic Medicare won’t cover care received during foreign travel. It also won’t pay for the first three pints of blood should you need a transfusion. And it may let you be billed for “excess charges” should your provider bill for more than what Medicare divines to be appropriate. You can fill these holes by purchasing a Medicare supplement plan, also known as a Medigap plan. Here are the ABCs (and D) of finding the right plan.
A: Analyze your options One of the best things about Medicare supplement plans is that they are all standard, and they can all be used anywhere a provider accepts Medicare payments. Currently, there are 10 plans on the market, and they are labeled with letters from A-N. Because the plans are standardized, Plan A from Company X is exactly the same as Plan A from Company Y. It makes it easy to shop. You simply need to compare prices and look for a company you trust. No need to pull out a spreadsheet and compare deductibles, networks and co-pays. Your biggest decision will be to pick the right plan. Medicare has a handy chart on its website http://www.medicare.gov/supplement-other- insurance/compare-medigap/compare-medigap.html that may help you out. In addition, here are a few points worth noting:
Plan A is the most basic plan and will pay for most of your coinsurance and copayments, minus any related to skilled nursing facility care. Plan F is considered the most comprehensive and will pay for all co-pays, deductibles, coinsurance, foreign travel and any excess charges that original Medicare will not cover. Plans K and L are the only plans with an out-of-pocket limit, which functions much like a deductible. All the other plans will begin paying benefits immediately. If you live in Massachusetts, Minnesota or Wisconsin, your options will be different because we apparently wouldn’t want to make this too easy, would we? Click on the Medicare link above and scroll to the bottom of the chart to find links to your respective states’ plans.
B: Buy a community-rated plan Once you know which plan you’d like, you can begin shopping around. Again, because the plans are standardized, price will likely be your main consideration. However, don’t automatically jump on the plan with the lowest price. It could be the one that will see rates rise most rapidly as the years pass. You see, Medicare supplement plans have premiums that are calculated in one of three ways. Community-rated Issue-age rated Attained-age rated
If you can, you want to buy a policy that is community-rated. These plans may cost a little more initially, but future premium increases should be modest, maybe 4-5 percent each year. That’s because community-rated plans don’t base premiums on your age and instead charge the same amount to everyone enrolled in the plan. Unfortunately, community-rated plans simply aren’t available in some areas. In that case, an issue-age plan is your next best bet. These plans have premiums based on your age when you initially purchase the policy. Attained-age policies should be your last choice. They adjust premiums every year to reflect your age. As a result, your premiums may start out low in your 60s and then skyrocket in the years to follow.
88 C: Call a broker Still feeling a bit confused? Then don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call an insurance broker for help. By law, brokers can’t tack on a commission to the price of a policy, which means you’ll pay the same premium regardless of whether you buy through an agent or direct from a company. A good agent can help you walk through the various plans and pinpoint which one best suits your lifestyle. However, look for an independent broker who works with a variety of companies rather than someone associated with a specific insurer. Known as “captive agents,” individuals working for one company can certainly be helpful and objective, but you’ll have more choices going through someone independent.
D: Don’t delay OK, this is the ABCs of Medicare supplement plans, but we’ll throw in a bonus “D” here as well. And that would be “D” for don’t delay in signing up. When you turn 65, you have an initial enrollment period of seven months that includes three months before your birthday, your birthday month and the three months that follow. If you’re enrolling in original Medicare (versus Medicare Advantage), this is when you want to get your Medicare supplement policy. During the initial enrollment period, you’re guaranteed coverage without any underwriting. In other words, the insurance company can’t look at whether you have any pre-existing conditions and then decide to deny you a plan or jack up your premiums. Once that initial period ends, you can still buy a Medicare supplement, but the door opens for insurers to start asking all sorts of questions about your health status. Then you could end up paying significantly more for your coverage, or you may be barred from buying certain plans.
This last point is why it’s so important to select the right plan upfront. You should be thinking about your Medicare supplement as a long-term investment and look for a plan that will serve you well today as well as 15-20 years from now. While you may have the option of canceling or switching plans down the road, it could be a costly decision. [Source: MoneyTalksNews | Maryalene Laponsie | October 29, 2016 ++]
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Insurance Terminology ► Key Definitions
Although the Affordable Care Act has made it possible for thousands more people to get health insurance, there’s one obstacle making it difficult for some who are shopping for plans — the terminology, which can be confusing. If you’re considering changing your health coverage during your employer’s open enrollment period or signing up for a plan through a state or federal exchange these key definitions may help you make a more informed decision.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — Also known as The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, the ACA is the health care reform law designed to make insurance more affordable. In addition to requiring that all Americans have insurance, it provides subsidies to those who can’t afford a plan and fines those who can afford insurance but choose not to buy it.
COBRA — This stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which requires employers to offer continued insurance coverage to employees who lose their jobs, regardless of the reason. The disadvantage is that it’s available only for a limited time, and it’s expensive because the former employer no longer covers the cost.
Premium — The amount you pay your insurance provider for health coverage. Rates vary based on age, location and other factors like tobacco use.
Deductible — The amount you have to pay for treatment during the year before your health plan begins covering some expenses. If you have a $500 deductible and require $1,000 in treatment during a calendar year, you’ll pay the first $500 out of pocket.
89 Copay — A fixed amount you pay for a covered service or prescription. This amount does not apply to your deductible but does count toward your maximum out-of-pocket expenses.
Coinsurance — The amount you owe for treatment after your deductible has been met. If your insurance pays for 80% of a $1,000 treatment, you’ll pay the remaining 20 percent.
Out-of-Pocket Maximum — Simply put, this is the most you’ll have to pay for covered expenses including deductibles, copays and coinsurance in a year before your insurance covers the rest of the costs. In 2016, ACA limited the maximum to $6,850 for individuals and $13,700 for families, excluding subsidies and premiums.
Provider Network — The selection of doctors, hospitals, facilities and health care services included and covered by your health plan. Most health plans either don’t cover out-of-network providers or pay less toward their services.
Affordable Insurance Exchange — An online insurance marketplace where consumers can purchase individual insurance.
Essential Health Benefits — A list of 10 types of care that every insurance plan must offer without dollar limits, including outpatient services, maternity care, preventive services and emergency care.
Preventive Services — Basic services that health plans are required to cover at no cost, even if you haven’t met your deductible. They include immunizations, screening tests, contraception and women’s wellness care.
Minimum Essential Coverage — The amount of coverage required for a plan to be considered a qualified health plan. By purchasing a qualified health plan, you may avoid tax penalties.
[Source: American Legion | USAA | November 9, 2016 ++]
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Social Security Fund Depletion Update 13 ► Could You Survive a 21% Cut
The2016 election has important implications for the future of your Social Security benefits. While voters have heard a great deal from the candidates for months, specifics of their plans for Social Security have in too many cases been difficult to learn. But doing nothing to strengthen Social Security’s financing, or boosting the adequacy of today’s retirees’ benefits is not an option for the new Congress and President. Earlier this year the Social Security Trustees estimated that if Congress does nothing to change Social Security’s financing, Social Security’s combined retirement and disability trust funds would become insolvent by 2034. When that occurs, benefits would be automatically cut by 21% as mandated by law.
Although the Trustees estimate that’s about 18 years away, Social Security’s financial pressures are worse than they look. Over the past six years, the program has been paying out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, igniting scathing battles over the debt, as lawmakers wrestle with the repayment of the $2.8 trillion owed to the Social Security Trust Fund. A year ago, with the November Social Security payments in doubt because the federal budget debt limit had been breached, a number of lawmakers took the nation’s Social Security payments “hostage. ” They demanded entitlement cuts in return for their votes to lift the debt limit. Last fall’s debt deal contained surprise Social Security provisions that restricted the ability of married couples to boost their Social Security income. Some 99% of older Americans that participated in TSCL’s 2016 Senior Survey are dead set against this kind of debt - deal tactic.
According to an analysis for the Senior citizens League (TSCL), a 21% Social Security cut would reduce today’s average monthly $1,300 Social Security benefit by $273. That’s about what you would pay for Medicare Part B, a supplement and a Part D plan — or what many individuals spend on their monthly groceries — or a used car payment. Lawmakers often insist that benefit cuts are necessary to strengthen Social Security, but those who say this aren’t looking at all the options. Today’s middle - and low-income workers pay Social Security on all of their
90 earnings. Yet the highest paid workers, like CEOs making millions and Members of Congress themselves, only pay Social Security on the first $118,500 in earnings. They pocket the other 6.2% of their salaries as a huge tax break — a tax break that, without changes, benefit cuts may subsidize in the future.
With an equitable tax system that requires all workers to pay Social Security taxes on all of their earnings, Social Security would not only be made solvent for another 50 years, but we could boost benefits by an average $70 per month, and pay a more accurate cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). [Source: TSCL | October 27, 2016 ++]
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Service Plans ► Are They Worth It?
We’ve all been there: You’re at the checkout buying anything from a cellphone to a dishwasher, and the salesperson launches into a new pitch. “Don’t you want an extended warranty/service plan to protect you from expensive repairs?” There’s a reason these pitches are so intense. These post-sale policies come with markups of 50 percent or more, typically a much higher profit margin than the retailer makes from the product itself. That profit margin alone should tell you something — namely, lots more money is being taken in by warranty companies than they’re paying out for repairs. That’s one reason to just say no: The odds aren’t in your favor. Other reasons:
You may be getting duplicate coverage. Most products come with a manufacturer’s warranty. You may be paying twice for the same coverage. Products don’t break during the warranty period. Everything’s going to break eventually, but according to reliable sources like Consumer Reports, it’s more often when the product is outside the time frame covered by the service plan. Repairs might be cheaper than the service plan. If fixing the problem is less than the cost of the service plan, even when you “win” by having the plan, you still lose. You might have coverage elsewhere. Pay for your purchase with some credit cards, and you’ll get a free, automatic extension of the manufacturer’s warranty. Did you check before you bought?
They don’t make ’em like they used to -- My parents bought a GE refrigerator in 1973. If memory serves, they kept that refrigerator for at least 25 years, and it needed few, if any, repairs. I bought a GE refrigerator 10 years ago. I’ve had a repairman out here twice because it stopped working entirely, and I’ve replaced the ice maker twice myself. Why the difference in quality? In a word, computers. Central air conditioners, washers, dryers and refrigerators are all examples of appliances that used to be all mechanical, but now contain circuit boards. Here’s the formula: Delicate electronics + moisture + heat = more frequent repairs. This isn’t just my theory. I interviewed an appliance and an air-conditioning repair guy, both with 25-plus years of experience, and both independently said the same thing: They really don’t make them like they used to. Both men cited cheap, Chinese manufacturing and electronic components as the primary reasons. Coincidentally, both said the products they respectively service, refrigerators and central air conditioners, used to last decades and now last about five years before needing repair.
To rub a little salt in the wound, the circuit boards used in these products virtually ensure it will take longer to get your A/C or fridge up and running. When things were mechanical, your service guy likely had the necessary parts on his truck. Now, since he can’t possibly carry around every potential circuit board, he has to order one, pick it up, then make another trip to install it. I did a story about all this a couple of years ago. See “Why Modern Appliances Don’t Last.”
So, should you spring for protection? -- Despite the fact that some of today’s products aren’t as good as yesterday’s, in most cases you still shouldn’t pay for extended protection for the reasons cited above. Like most things in life, however, it’s not black and white. Additional things to consider:
91 The product: Some products fail more often than others. Consumer Reports does an annual survey and offers repair rates reported by consumers on everything from appliances to electronics. The differences among brands and types can be dramatic. For example, according to CR, for top-freezer refrigerators with ice-makers (like my parents had), from 14% (Maytag) to 27% (GE) needed repair. With a side-by-side (which I have) from 32% (Frigidaire) to 40% (KitchenAid) needed repair. The more likely a product is to fail, the more valuable the extended service plan. However, a plan covering something more likely to break will probably cost more as well. So the best idea is to do this type of research before shopping, avoid products with higher failure rates, then skip the service contract.
Who’s using it and how: Giving a computer to a 5-year-old, or someone who acts like one, is much riskier than giving one to someone responsible. A computer that sits on your desk is less likely to need repairs than a tablet you take to the beach.
The cost: Don’t even think of buying an extended-service contract or warranty without researching prices beforehand. If you have the right credit card, you might get additional protection free. You might also find it cheaper from another retailer. And if you’re getting the hard-sell months after the purchase, like the reader who sent in this week’s question, be especially careful.
The details: You need to read the fine print to see what’s covered and what isn’t. Do you have to pay to send it off for repairs? Are you paying for coverage that overlaps with the manufacturer’s warranty? Does your homeowners coverage offer some of the same protections? Does the company have a spotty record when it comes to paying claims? What happens if the warranty company goes belly up?
In short, never impulsively buy this type of protection at the point of purchase, or thereafter. Understand what you’re buying before you buy it. [Source: MoneyTalksNews | Stacy Johnson | November 11, 2016 ++]
Note: I (EMO) bought a LG refrigerator on sale from Best Buy for $1500 and paid almost $400 for a 4 year service contract. In 3 years I had to make 7 service calls. Fortunately Best Buy had a policy that if they had to service it for more 3 times for the same problem they would give you your money back. However, I was out the money for the service policy. I then bought a replacement Samsung from them for $2300 and paid another $400 for its service contact. In 3 1/2 years I have had to make six service calls. On the one last week they said it would have cost $600 to repair without the contract ($200 just to come to the house). Both refrigerator problems were mother board related. I also paid $350 two years ago for a 3 year technical service contract with Best Buy for my Aspire | R7 computer that does not cover parts. So far it has had one part related failure (mother board) that would have cost $300 to replace. I did not replace it as it doesn't impact that much on how I use the computer. However, I find that I am calling them 3 to 5 times a month for other problems which they repair online. TOSS OF THE DICE!
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Online Surveys ► Win A Prize or Earn Gift Cards
Online survey sites ask your opinion about all kinds of things — from politics to products to personal preferences — in exchange for either a chance to win a prize or to accumulate points toward gift cards from retailers. Not all of these sites are created equal, however. Some don’t offer you much of a chance for a reward and ask for a whole lot of your time. So if you have some spare time and are looking to turn it into a few bucks, here are four you might want to check out:
PointClub -- PointClub is a survey site that is really upfront about how its rewards work, so you know exactly what you’re getting. Here’s the deal: You earn points for doing surveys, and you can exchange those points for gift cards. The amount you earn will depend on how close a fit you are for the survey. PointClub says that each of its points is worth $0.001 — so 1,000 points is $1.00. It also says the average survey “will earn you anywhere from 200 to more
92 than 2,000 points, and you can redeem those points for a wide variety of gift cards to your favorite stores, restaurants and entertainment.” You earn points just for signing up and entering your “pre-qualification” information — and the site is really clear about how many points you would earn for any survey you chose to complete. Click on https://www.pointclub.com/register to register for PointClub.
Nielsen Digital Voice -- If you’ve ever listened to news about TV ratings, you will have heard of Nielsen ratings. Well, this is the web equivalent of that. For those who participate in its surveys, Nielsen Digital Voice promises a chance to enter a $10,000 monthly sweepstakes draw and says that it has more than 400 winners every month in this draw. You will find that Digital Voice is easy to sign up for and asks relatively few qualifying questions. It is probably the easiest of the sites to use because it’s actually just getting your permission to see what you do online rather than get your opinion on what you see. Like its older TV equivalent, Nielsen wants to know what’s popular with you online — and provides software that will automatically keep track of that for you. What does it track? The company says its proprietary app “automatically collects information about computer and Internet activity from the computer(s) you use to participate.” The company provides a fairly comprehensive Q&A page, with links to its privacy policy — which you should definitely read before installing the app. Sign up for Nielsen Digital voice at https://digitalvoice.nielsen.com/us/en/home/join.html?afflt=ntrt13120006&afflt_uid=102826e54d40158c2e2496fb6 c12e9&afflt_uid_2=UHUTCXNY
Harris Poll -- Harris Poll Online (which is owned by Nielsen) is one of the country’s most well-established and venerable polling organizations — exploring opinion on everything from politics to marketing to careers. Some recent polls found that 3 in 5 adults would encourage their child to pursue a career as a video game designer or developer. As well, a Harris Poll found that 8 in 10 Americans say that appearance is at least somewhat important when shopping for fresh produce. If you want to get in on the fun, take a Harris Poll. Harris offers its survey takers entry in a sweepstakes — and reward points can be exchanged for prizes. Check out Harris Poll Online registration page for more info at http://www.moneytalksnews.com/179q
VIP Voice -- VIP Voice just wants your thoughts on the products and services that you use — and says that if you share those thoughts with the site you’ll be treated like a VIP (hence the name). The rewards listed include opportunities to win vacations, electronics, gift cards and other prizes. Click http://www.moneytalksnews.com/50vr at to see all of the VIP Voice rewards you can win.
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Since it’s not hard to get people to answer simple questions, most surveys don’t pay much. In addition, sometimes you’ll answer initial questions, then find you don’t qualify for that survey and won’t get paid. Example: A company wants to know the purchasing habits of females between the ages of 25 and 40 who’ve never owned a dog. In order to screen for that audience, the survey asks a random group of people for their gender, age and whether they’ve owned a dog. Only those who fit the desired audience get to keep going and get paid for their efforts. In short, the experience you’ll have and the money you’ll make are going to be different depending on who you are and what characteristics survey creators are looking for. To get the best chance of getting rewards from survey sites, sign up for all of them — it will improve your chances of being given surveys that are relevant to you. [Source: MoneyTalksNews | Geof Wheelwright | November 4, 2016 ++]
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Veteran Scams Update 02 ► Top Five
Aside from elderly fraud, scams targeting veterans really burns my bacon. Men and women who have proudly served our country are constant targets for scam artists. Swindlers target vets because they know they are drawing guaranteed benefits. While veteran payments are paid over a lifetime, they often aren’t enough to pay all of the bills.
93 Financial predators know this.. According the the AARP Fraud Watch Network, there are a host of scams aimed at vets. Many of these operations masquerade as charities that claim to benefit vets. Here are the major scams: Bogus sales – “A scammer claiming to be a deploying service member posts a large ticket item on a classified ad website that he needs to sell right away and at a steep discount. The scammer asks for upfront payment with a wire transfer or gift cards. Real estate rip-off – A scammer posts a fake rental property on a classified ad website offering military discounts. You just need to wire transfer a security deposit to the landlord. VA phishing – A caller claiming to be from the Department of Veterans Affairs calls to “update” your information. Fake charities – Fake charities use names that are close to the names of legitimate charities, often referencing Armed Forces, veterans, or military families. Benefits “buyout” – Scammers will target veterans in need of money by offering cash in exchange for their future disability or pension payments. These buyouts are typically a fraction of the value of the benefit. Note: The “benefits buyout” scam also goes by the name of “pension advances.” A company will offer to “buy” monthly pension payments in exchange for a lump-sum payment. It’s actually an unregulated, high-interest loan. Dubious investment advice – An “adviser” will tell the veteran she is missing out on benefits, and wants to review her investment portfolio. He’ll then want to put the veteran’s investments in a trust, to appear to have fewer assets and to therefore be eligible for an additional pension.”
The best way to protect yourself against vet scams? Avoid all mail, email and phone solicitations. If the solicitor claims to be from a charity, check them out on www.give.org . The Fraud Watch network also gives the following advice: “Be suspicious anytime you are asked to pay by wire transfer or gift cards. Know that the VA will never call, text or e-mail you to update your information. Make donations directly to the veterans’ organizations you know. And only work with VA-accredited representatives when dealing with VA benefits; you can search for them online at the VA Office of General Counsel website.” [Source: Forbes | John Wasik | November 6, 2016 ++]
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Mortgage Refinancing Scam 2 ► How It works
Service men and women are, unfortunately, often the targets of scams. One con that preys on military members is predatory lending, when unscrupulous companies use false promises to trick borrowers into bad loans.
How the Scam Works: You get an offer - via mail, email or even social media - touting mortgage refinancing just for members of the military or veterans. The advertisement mentions special offers, such as government programs for veterans. It may claim to be endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or be part of the official Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program. You call the number provided, and the refinancing company "guarantees" you an excellent interest rate. It may sound like a great deal, but proceed with caution! This has several red flags. Real lenders never guarantee a loan rate upfront, and the VA does not contact homeowners about mortgages. This may be a case of misleading advertising, or it might also be an outright scam, where con artists charge upfront fees and then vanish with your money.
Protect Yourself From a Predatory Loan Scam: Mortgage refinancing is not the only loan scam targeting service members, veterans, and military families. Use caution when evaluating auto loans, student loans, and short term "payday" loans.
94 Don't pay for the promise of a loan. It's illegal for companies doing business by phone in the US to promise a loan and require payment before they deliver. All advance fee loans are illegal in Canada. Investigate claims that it's a government program. Scammers increase their credibility by connecting themselves to official or trustworthy institutions. Do your research and contact the government or your loan servicer first. Legitimate lenders never guarantee a loan in advance. Real lenders will check your credit score and other documents before providing an interest rate and/or loan amount. You are pressured to make a decision immediately. Phrases like "act fast" or "limited time offer" should be red flags indicating a possible scam. Scammers hope that time pressure makes victims more likely to make costly mistakes. Some legitimate companies use this sales technique, too, but you should never feel pressured to make a snap decision about something important. Legitimate lenders don't pressure you to pay via wire funds transfer, prepaid debit cards, or gift cards. These services are like cash. Once it leaves your hands, it is very difficult to trace and almost impossible to reverse.
For more information visit BBB Military Line (www.bbb.org/military) to learn more about BBB's consumer education program specifically for military members and their families. To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker (www.bbb.org/scamtracker). [Source: BBB Scam Alert | November 11, 2016 ++]
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Tax Burden for Minnesota Retired Vets ► As of NOV 2016
Many people planning to retire use the presence or absence of a state income tax as a litmus test for a retirement destination. This is a serious miscalculation since higher sales and property taxes can more than offset the lack of a state income tax. The lack of a state income tax doesn’t necessarily ensure a low total tax burden. Following are the taxes you can expect to pay if you retire in Minnesota:
Sales Taxes State Sales Tax: 6.875% (food, clothing, prescription and non-prescription drugs exempt); Liquor and beer have a tax at 9.375%. The sales tax rate does not apply to motor vehicles that are subject to the state excise tax on motor vehicles. A few cities and counties also add a sales tax which can be as high as 9.0%. Gasoline Tax: 47.0 cents/gallon (Includes all taxes) Diesel Fuel Tax: 53.0 cents/gallon (Includes all taxes) Cigarette Tax: $3.00/pack of 20
Personal Income Taxes Tax Rate Range: Low – 5.35%; High – 9.85% Income Brackets: Four. Lowest – $25,180; Highest – $155,650 Personal Exemptions: Single – $4,000; Married – $8,000; Dependents – $4,000 Standard Deduction: Single – $6,300; Married filing jointly – $12,600. Minnesota allows personal exemption or standard deductions as provided in the Internal Revenue Code. Medical/Dental Deduction: Federal amount Federal Income Tax Deduction: None Retirement Income Taxes: Social Security income is taxed by Minnesota to the same extent it is on your federal return. A married couple that receives the average Social Security benefit of $22,800 and has total income from all sources of less than $43,400 is not subject to tax on any Social Security benefits, while a couple with average benefits and total income over $71,141 must include 85 percent of the Social Security, or $19,380, in taxable income. If your only income is Social Security, you would not be required to file an income tax return. Pensions, including federal pensions, received while a Minnesota resident are taxable by Minnesota regardless of where your
95 pension was earned. Railroad retirement benefits paid to you by the Railroad Retirement Board are not taxed by Minnesota. If these benefits are included in your federal taxable income, you may subtract them from your taxable income. Taxpayers 65 and older may subtract some income if federal adjusted gross income is under certain limits. Retired Military Pay: Pensions are taxable. Military Disability Retired Pay: Retirees who entered the military before Sept. 24, 1975, and members receiving disability retirements based on combat injuries or who could receive disability payments from the VA are covered by laws giving disability broad exemption from federal income tax. Most military retired pay based on service- related disabilities also is free from federal income tax, but there is no guarantee of total protection. VA Disability Dependency and Indemnity Compensation: VA benefits are not taxable because they generally are for disabilities and are not subject to federal or state taxes. Military SBP/SSBP/RCSBP/RSFPP: Generally subject to state taxes for those states with income tax. Check with state department of revenue office.
Property Taxes There is a Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program that allows people 65 years of age or older, whose household incomes are $60,000 or less, to defer a portion of their property tax on their home. This deferral program has two primary advantages for senior citizens. It limits the maximum amount of property tax you pay to three percent of your total household income, and it provides predictability. The amount of tax you pay will not change for as long as you participate in this program. It is not a tax forgiveness program. It is a low interest loan from the state. The deferred tax is paid by the state to your county. Interest will be charged on this loan. The interest rate will be adjusted annually, but will never exceed five percent. A lien will attach to your property.
Minnesota has two property tax refund programs for homeowners: the regular property tax refund, and the special property tax refund. You may be eligible for one or both, depending on your income and the size of your property tax bill. For details refer to http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/Pages/default.aspx,
Inheritance and Estate Taxes Minnesota has an estate tax. The estate tax is a tax on all of the assets of a decedent before they are distributed to beneficiaries. If the estate meets the filing requirements, the estate pays this tax to the IRS and/or the state in which the decedent lived (prorated to any other states where the decedent had property). Many states have a threshold different from the federal level.
Minnesota does not have an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax on the beneficiaries of an estate (a tax on what you inherit). If you are a beneficiary, you generally do not have to include inheritance on your income tax return. However, you may have to pay income tax if you inherit an IRA/annuity, etc., which includes the decedent’s pre-tax dollars. You should be notified by the estate if this is the case. The income tax is owed to the state in which the beneficiary lives (not the state where the decedent lived.).
Military Tax Credit If you are a veteran of the U.S. military, including the National Guard and Reserves, you may qualify for a tax credit of up to $750 for your past service. To qualify, you must have separated from military service before the end of the year and one of the following must be true: You served at least 20 years in the military, You have a service-connected disability rating of 100% total and permanent (as rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs), or (Beginning with tax year 2013) You were honorably discharged and you receive a pension or other retirement pay for service in the military. To determine the amount of your credit, complete the worksheet for Schedule M1C, Other Nonrefundable Credits. If you are a part-year resident of Minnesota or a nonresident, you may still qualify for the credit. When completing the worksheet for Schedule M1C, use your percentage of Minnesota income from Schedule M1NR, Nonresidents/Part-Year Residents.
96 Note: Refer to www.revenue.state.mn.us/individuals/individ_income/Pages/Members_of_the_Military.aspx for additional military tax credits or relief
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Visit the Department of Revenue site http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/Pages/default.aspx for further information for the state of Minnesota [Source: http://www.retirementliving.com/taxes-kansas-new-mexico#Minnesota NOV 2016
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* General Interest *
Notes of Interest ► 1 thru 15 NOV 2016 WWII Vet Story. Beloved by his community Jim McGrady passed away on October 27. He was 98- years-old. To listen to some very entertining stories of his regarding his experiences in the Air Force check out http://www.thenews-messenger.com/546702c6-167e-449c-949b-a5dfd0c5740c. Thankful Vet. Go to "My grandfather’s service in WWII is the reason I cherish my life today" to hear how Judge Wilbur P. Trammell and his family benefited from his decision to join the service. He remembers walking into the Veterans Affairs clinic in Buffalo without an appointment. He sat there for three hours and left with a complete physical, his medical history and copies of his medical tests to give to his primary physician. Papa said, “I know that there are glitches and problems, but you’ve got to realize that each year we have more veterans and less money”. Women Draft. While U.S. Defense Department officials have made clear it has no problem with requiring women to register for the draft, lawmakers in Congress appear poised to dodge the issue in the upcoming battle over the defense policy bill. House and Senate negotiators plan to shelve the provision in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act in favor of ordering up a study of the issue, Foreign Weapon Sales. The US hit $33.6 billion for foreign weapon sales in fiscal year 2016, down $13 billion from the record-setting FY 2015 number. Washington D.C. Voters supported a draft constitution that would turn the district into a full-fledged state, with a governor and 21-seat state legislature. WWII Memorial. The Memorial in Washington has been vandalized, apparently by someone opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some time before 10 a.m. 7 NOV, someone spray-painted the phrase "#NoDAPL" on the North Dakota section of the memorial. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been fighting along with other tribes and environmental groups to stop the completion of the $3.8 billion pipeline, saying it would threaten the water supply for millions of people. Supporters say the pipeline is a safer way to move oil than trucks and trains. Marine Corps Birthday. November 10, 2016 was the Marine Corps 241st Birthday. To view this year's Birthday message go to https://youtu.be/Fax87Bs5lWg. VA Claims & Appeals. The National Academy of Public Administration has submitted their report to Congress titled Veterans Benefits Administration: Review of the Disability Claims and
97 Appeals Processes. It can be reviewed at http://www.napawash.org/images/reports/2016/VBA- REPORT-FINAL-11-09-16.pdf. Federal Workforce Vets. The percentage of veterans making up the federal workforce remained the same between fiscal years 2014 and 2015, at roughly one-third, according to new data from the Office of Personnel Management. Gift Cards. According to a new survey from Bankrate, just 27 percent of Americans say they prefer receiving a gift card over an actual gift during the holidays. National Anthem. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5BxC4CoBKU to see how and what artist Joe Everson "Paints" to it. National Anthem. Watch and hear 500 high school choir students singing the U.S. National anthem in a high-rise hotel at https://youtu.be/VggHqIPjEoI. Each night before curfew, they gathered on their balconies and sang the Star-Spangled Banner from the balconies of the 18-story atrium at Louisville’s downtown Hyatt Regency as part of the Kentucky Music Educators convention. Quotes to Consider. It is fatal to enter a war without the will to win it -- Douglas MacArthur and Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it -- Dwight Eisenhower Vet Hepatitis C. Research presented at The Liver Meeting® — held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases — suggests the United States Veteran Healthcare Administration could potentially cure almost all U.S. veterans in its care who have hepatitis C (HCV) within two-to-three years. Power Outage. To check if there was one while you were gone, put a glass of water in your freezer and place a coin in it after it freezes. Upon returning home check to ensure the coin is still on top. If not, you my want to consider replacing the food in the refrigerator to sure it will not make you sick. Soda Tax. In addition to Berkeley CA and Philadelphia PA, Chicago IL, San Francisco CA, Oakland CA, and Albany CA voters approved and implemented a one cent per ounce tax on soda plus other sugary drinks. Boulder CO voters approved a two cent per ounce tax. Election. Trump wins. Inauguration Day is 20 JAN. He does not plan to accept the presidential $400,000 annual salary but has not yet said what he will do with it. Afghanistan. The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has closed following deadly insurgent attacks on a German Consulate and an American military base. In a statement late 12 NOV, the embassy says it will be "closed for routine services" Sunday "as a temporary precautionary measure."
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Fact Checking ► Tech Tactics | Tools & Tips
This election season, the issue of truth versus falsity has been taken to new heights - or, perhaps, depths. The online world also has a history of misinformation, disinformation, urban myths, rumors, conspiracy theories, and deception. But just as the internet is a fount of falsehood, it's also a source of tools for verifying statements and alleged facts. Some helpful sites include: Emergent http://www.emergent.info FactCheck http://www.factcheck.org Hoax Slayer http://www.hoax-slayer.com PolitiFact http://www.politifact.com Skeptic's Dictionary http://www.skepdic.com Snopes http://www.snopes.com - for getting to the bottom of urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation. Truth or Fiction http://www.truthorfiction.com
98 Wikiquote https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page- for checking the accuracy of quotes.
Keep in mind, anybody can play expert online, and many do. You frequently see, for instance, lay people playing lawyer, offering legal opinions about complicated subjects and advising others on what's legal and what's not when it's clear all they've done is Googled to find a statute or court case. Then there are the outright lies and similar statements that show no regard for the truth or falsity of the matter, only the agendas and biases of those behind them. As a reader, it's good to be skeptical, not cynical, about information you come across and don't believe everything you read. In asking yourself "Is it true?" also ask: Who's behind the information? Different sources employ different levels of thoroughness in research and fact-checking and different levels of objectivity. Why is the person or organization presenting the information? Individuals and organizations often have agendas, sometimes explicit, sometimes hidden. Advocacy groups and companies, for instance, have different reasons for putting out information than news organizations. Is the information paid for? Ads and advertorials are inherently less reliable than other information. Does the information diverge from my current understanding? If it diverges widely and might affect an important business, health, or family decision, try to verify the same information with at least two other sources. Your local librarian can be a valuable resource here. Is the information new or old? A lot of deadwood data is floating around in cyberspace at websites that haven't been updated in several years. If the site doesn't include a "Last updated" line or otherwise date its content, check out some of its links. If more than a few are no longer working, the information at the site might no longer be up-to-date either.
Whether online or off, the byword is, and likely always will remain, caveat lector: Let the reader beware. [Source: MOAA | Reid Goldsborough | October 25, 2016 ++]
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Got Your Six Update 01 ► Recommended Veteran Related Entertainment
A nonprofit group pushing for an accurate portrayal of veterans by the entertainment industry found a lot to like in recent months. From superhero shows to blockbuster movies, and even Broadway, Got Your 6 announced 1 NOV that 13 productions have earned “6 Certified” status, meeting at least some of the organization’s criteria for a balanced representation of former service members. It’s the fourth such list offered by the group as part of the “6 Certified” effort, which launched last year at an event featuring first lady Michelle Obama. To qualify, productions must either consult with veterans or veterans groups, cast a veteran or hire one as a writer, portray a multidimensional veteran character, or include a plotline with veteran-based themes.
As with past winners, the recent selections include both productions with heavy military focus and those where the notion of veterans or service is part of a larger story. Among the former category:
“Hacksaw Ridge,” the Mel Gibson-directed film about Pfc. Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to earn the Medal of Honor. It premieres nationwide Friday. “Citizen Soldier,” a documentary featuring soldiers from an Oklahoma National Guard unit and their experiences in Afghanistan. “No Greater Love,” another documentary set in Afghanistan, this one featuring the fighting through the eyes of an Army chaplain. “Reparation,” an independent film co-written by an Air Force veteran, builds its suspense when the main character’s friend from his days in the Air Force brings unwelcome memories into what had been a happy life after service.
99 “Roadtrip Nation: The Next Mission,” co-produced by American Public Television, features three veterans who begin their newfound civilian life by traveling the country and speaking to fellow former service members. Broadcast productions of the Invictus Games, an international competition featuring wounded warriors, and the Power Triumph Games, a contest taped at the U.S. Military Academy over the summer featuring 10 wounded warriors battling for a $50,000 grand prize. “ Bandstand,” a musical set to open on Broadway in April, also features veterans central to the plot, but not for their combat experiences -- they’ve joined forces to win a swing band competition.
Other “6 Certified” products outside the war-story genre:
“Cast Me!”: A reality-TV series featuring daily goings-on from a Los Angeles casting agency owned by a Marine Corps veteran. “Hap and Leonard”: A dark buddy-comedy series in which one of the leads – a gay, black, Vietnam War veteran – is “portrayed as a skilled and resourceful problem solver,” according to the news release announcing the selections. “Justified”: The FX series based on an Elmore Leonard novella includes a supporting character who draws on his background as a former Army Ranger. “Marvel’s Luke Cage”: The protagonist in this Netflix series is a former Marine who fights to save his Harlem home … with the help of superpowers from an experiment gone wrong. “Sully”: Tom Hanks portrays Air Force veteran Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, whose military experience helped him pilot his commercial aircraft and its 155 passengers to safety in what would become known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
Past “6 Certified” programs have also run the gamut of veteran involvement, from military-themed blockbusters (“American Sniper”) to comedies (“Modern Family”) to shows featuring real veterans in starring or supporting roles (Army veteran Noah Galloway on “Dancing with the Stars,” Marine Corps veteran and aspiring Sith lord Adam Driver hosting “Saturday Night Live”). The latest selections were announced Tuesday as part of the nonprofit group’s 2016 Storytellers event in Los Angeles. [Source: Military Times | Kevin Lilley, November 1, 2016++]
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Tomb of the Unknowns Update 10 ► Documentary | The Unknowns
A veteran-produced documentary offering a behind-the-scenes look at the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in time for Veterans Day. “The Unknowns” aims to give viewers a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Tomb Guard, one of the members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “The Old Guard,” who serve at Arlington. It was released in theaters on Memorial Day through Gathr (https://gathr.us/films/the-unknowns) , which screens movies depending on how many people buy tickets. Ethan Morse, the documentary’s producer who guarded the tomb from 2005-06, said there were 45 screenings over the summer that brought in $56,000.
The DVD or Blu-Ray versions can be ordered online at the film's website and will be available online through Walmart, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Digital download also was available starting on Veterans Day. The film will be available through iTunes, Amazon Prime and Google Play by the end of the year. Morse said Arlington National Cemetery has agreed to stock copies in its gift shop. “We’re really honored about that,” he said. “As a soldier, [the gift shop] is where I used to go to hang out before I went to the tomb.” The DVD and Blu-Ray feature commentary from Morse and director Neal Schrodetzki (another Army veteran who served at the Tomb of the Unknowns), bonus interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes.
100 Through a partnership with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (http://www.taps.org) , anyone who orders a copy of the movie from the website can use the promotional code "TAPS" to receive 5 percent off their purchase. Five percent of the sale will then be donated to TAPS. Passengers on most Delta Airlines flights also will have the chance to watch the documentary, where it will be part of the in-flight entertainment package through July, Morse said. “Delta is based in Atlanta, and they always have a lot of military flying through there to Fort Benning,” he said. [Source: Military Times | Charlsy Panzino | November 2, 2016 ++]
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Dumb Smart Device ► Umbrella
‘The high-tech umbrella you cannot lose’. Sick of forgetting your umbrella? For $125, you can buy an umbrella with “Loss Alert’ technology that syncs to your smartphone. The Davek Alert tracks the distance between your phone and umbrella and signals you when they’re more than 30 feet apart. Big money to solve a fairly simple problem. And, what are you going to do if your smartphone tells you the umbrella is speeding off in a taxi you just exited? Probably what we all do: Step into a convenience store and buy a cheap replacement.
http://davekny.com/collections/umbrellas2/products/the-davek-alert-connects-to-your-phone
[Source: MoneyTalksNews | Nancy Dunham | August 16, 2016 ++]
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Trump Election ► Russia's Reaction
The Russian media had been preparing for Hillary Clinton for weeks, if not months. On state television channels and news outlets, the former secretary of state was routinely derided as a corrupt, anti-Russian war monger. Some Russian media even went so far as to depict her as possibly insane, and out to start World War III. In a country where the leader is never in question, Russian politicians and pundits were perhaps among the most shocked spectators of the 2016 presidential election when Donald Trump emerged as the likely victor in the morning hours here on Wednesday. Clinton would win, Russians believed, because she is part of the elite. And the elite always steals the election.
In the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, lawmakers reportedly erupted into wild applause upon hearing the news. Vladimid Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) – a nationalist outfit that espouses policies neither liberal nor democratic – reportedly organized a party. Zhirinovsky dropped about $1,560 on food and refreshments. A senior official from President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, Sergei Zheleznyak, also chimed in on Clinton’s loss. The American people, he said, were “tired of artificial confrontation and imposed globalization,” before going on to blame the results on Clinton’s “bellicose rhetoric, rabid anti-Russian hysteria, [and] the desire to dictate America’s will to the world.” Higher up the echelons of power, the celebration was more restrained. Possibly because, for the first time, the Kremlin has to reckon with a
101 Trump presidency. Predicting his foreign policy will undoubtedly consume Moscow for the next few months. Clinton worried them, but as far as the local foreign policy elite was concerned, they knew what they were getting.
In a telegram sent to Trump on 9 NOV, Putin expressed hope that the incoming U.S. president would prove a constructive partner in pulling U.S.-Russia relations back from the brink. Trump’s election, the telegram read, should “lead to constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington based on equality and respect.” Later in the afternoon, at a ceremony at the Kremlin for foreign ambassadors, Putin spoke of Trump's promises on the campaign trail to restore relations with Russia. “We understand and acknowledge that will be a difficult process, considering how far relations have deteriorated," he said. "As I have repeated multiple times, this is not [Russia’s] fault." [Source: Defense News | Matthew Bodner | November 9, 2016 ++]
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Trump Election Update 01 ► What Troops Can Expect
A Washington outsider who pledged to rebuild what he's called a weak and ineffective military soon will serve as the new commander in chief. In his acceptance speech, Trump called on Americans to come together after the divisive campaign season. The New York businessman also pledged to put more Americans to work by rebuilding infrastructure and promised to “finally take care of our great veterans.” Throughout his campaign, Trump said he'd boost the size of the military, including people, ships, and aircraft - though details about how he'd carry out those plans were never specified. He recently released a 10-point plan for VA reform, and he'll face tough decisions about the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who will serve as his defense secretary, and how he'll lead the armed forces through ongoing personnel and budget cuts. Trump will be joined in office by Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is the father of a Marine Corps officer currently training to become a pilot. Here's what troops can expect from their new commander in chief.
PEOPLE AND PAY
After repeatedly arguing that President Barack Obama's administration had undercut the military, Trump laid out plans in September to: Increase the number of active-duty soldiers to 540,000, up nearly 100,000 troops from the Army's current drawdown plans. Boost the number of Marine Corps battalions to 36 in order to deal with major contingencies. That would add about a dozen battalions to the force Build a Navy that has 350 surface ships and submarines, about a 28-percent bump from today's fleet. Build an Air Force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft.
With another round of across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration, threatening to wreak havoc on the 2018 defense budget, the military currently doesn't have the funds to carry out those plans. Trump said in his plan that he would “ask Congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild our military.” Thomas Donnelly, a defense and security policy analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said defense spending could increase in the years to come since the White House and both chambers of Congress will soon be controlled by Republicans. Whether it actually happens will largely depend on how congressional Democrats respond, he said, since they could try to block any effort by Trump to boost spending. Donnelly said Trump might be more likely than Clinton to override the Pentagon's recent plans to overhaul military pay and benefits. “I think Hillary might've had the political instincts … to push that noodle forward,” he said. “I think it's more likely that Trump will say, 'We can't cut back on the benefits that our brave guys in uniform deserve.' ” Benjamin Friedman, a research fellow in defense and homeland security studies at the CATO Institute, said if spending doesn't increase that overseas contingency funds will be something to watch because the
102 services have used those dollars to offset some cuts they've faced.. When it comes to servicemembers' pay and benefits, Friedman said it's difficult to know what might change since Trump hasn't made his plans for the military clear. All politicians tend to say they're great advocates for military pay and benefits, he said, but it's not yet clear where Trump will come down on expenses like TRICARE fees, pay raises, housing, and commissary benefits.
OVERSEAS OPERATIONS
The fight against ISIS could get even more complicated after the Iraqis retake Mosul, and Trump said that on his first day in office he'd give general officers 30 days to present a plan to defeat the terror group. That followed comments he'd made about knowing “more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” Trump has blasted the Obama administration's handling of the fight on the terror group. Trump argued that the Iraqis were giving ISIS fighters too much notice about their offensive plans, but Trump offered few details on what else he'd do differently, Friedman said. “Trump continued throughout the campaign to say that he can't make his plan public on what he was going to do about it,” he said. “Other than generally saying he's going to be aggressive, it's hard to know what Trump was planning.” The president-elect might even be anxious to get troops out of the region, Donnelly said, and take a more standoffish approach toward Middle East conflicts. That could allow him to focus on domestic issues like the economy. That approach could apply to other parts of the world, too. Trump made waves when he suggested in recent months that he wouldn't defend certain alliances if he felt partner nations weren't holding up their end of the bargain. Friedman said it's likely “more bluster than reality,” but added that Trump doesn't seem as emotionally committed to the NATO alliance or other allies as most Washington politicians.
REFORMING THE VA
During his campaign, Trump released a 10-part plan to reform the VA in which he said he'd support veterans' physical and mental health care through modernization and better accountability. “No more long drives, no more waiting backlogs, no more excessive red tape,” the plan states. “Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.” Trump wants to appoint a new VA secretary whose “sole purpose will be to serve veterans.” He said he will remove and discipline federal employees who've violated the public's trust and will ask Congress to pass legislation that will allow the VA secretary to “terminate any employee who has jeopardized the health, safety, or well-being of a veteran.” Trump's White House will also have a 24-hour hotline, according to the plan, that will be “answered by a real person” that veterans can call if they have complaints about their VA care. He plans to increase the number of mental health care professionals and will allow veterans to seek care outside the VA system. “Under a Trump administration, no veteran will die waiting for service,” the plan states.
LEADERSHIP STYLE
When it comes to getting buy-in from the military community, Trump could face an easier time of that than Clinton might have. Polls conducted by Military Times and Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families routinely showed that Trump maintained the edge when it came to the military vote. Clinton proved less popular with troops, the polls showed, although servicemembers weren't overly confident about either candidate's ability to serve as commander in chief. Trump's comments about Sen. John McCain's capture during Vietnam, Gold Star families, and knowing more about ISIS than military leaders didn't sit well with everyone, but Donnelly said the president-elect has proven he's skilled at redefining “what he meant on pretty much anything.” “He's perfectly capable now of saying, 'These guys are my generals. I like these guys and working for me, they're going to be great,' ” he said, even if he previously spoke ill of them. Regardless, Friedman said it's not necessary for Trump - or any commander in chief - to have the military's complete support since troops carry out the president's will regardless of political beliefs. As long as Trump tones down some of his campaign rhetoric, Friedman said it's likely Trump will have the support of his military. “If he behaves like a president and seems considered and reasoned, and maybe even reduces the amount of wars that we're fighting, it might go a long way to win military support,” he said.
[Source: MOAA Legislative Update | Gina Harkins | November 10, 2016 ++]
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Trump Election Update 02 ► 7 Ways It Could Impact your Wallet
The president-elect has ideas -- if not fully formed policy proposals -- that could have significant impact on your finances, for better or worse. Trump should be able to get some things done. His party will control both houses of Congress. Although Republicans won’t have the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the new president and his party should have a relatively free hand when it comes to making promises reality. However, several of Trump’s ideas are not in line with traditional Republican policies. Only time will tell if he’s able to find sufficient votes to pass them. Here are seven issues Trump might address that could impact on your bottom line.
1. Health insurance costs Republican lawmakers have said they wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act signed in 2010) pretty much from the start. Now, they have their chance. Some aspects of the legislation have been popular. These include the ban on denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, allowing people up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ plans, and the ban on insurers setting lifetime maximum coverage limits. In addition, roughly 20 million uninsured people have purchased insurance through the state exchanges set up by Obamacare. However, rising premiums from insurers have cast long shadows over any prospect of keeping the program in its current state. It remains to be seen which changes will be made.
2. Consumer prices, manufacturing jobs Trump wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement — or NAFTA — and has said he won’t sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership multinational trade agreement. These deals have become four-letter words in factory towns across the country, as free trade is blamed for making it attractive for companies to move plants to other countries with low labor costs. Undoing NAFTA may require Senate approval (though it’s unclear), but the TPP could be scuttled by the new president. What this means is a mixed bag. These deals have given Americans access to low-cost goods from overseas. Abandoning these pacts would drive up prices on many consumer goods. If the Trump administration and Congress could engineer it so that abandoning the trade deals would prompt manufacturers to reinvest in U.S. plants and employ U.S. workers (instead of robots), it could be good news for blue-collar families.
Trump also called for steep tariffs — essentially taxes on imports. In some cases he’s specifically called out the Ford Motor Co. for making goods outside of the country. In others, he’s made general comments about imposing high tariffs on a broad swath of imported goods. This would, obviously, increase the costs of those goods to the consumer. According to Trump, these moves would also lead to more domestic jobs by making goods produced in this country more competitive. Trade deals negotiated over the past several decades have allowed huge growth in imports, but they have also made it easier for U.S. companies to sell to foreign markets. Reinstating tariffs and quotas could lead to a trade war — prompting other countries to impose similar tariffs on exported American goods, presumably reducing sales of these goods overseas.
3. Tax cuts Trump’s proposals call for cutting taxes on businesses — reducing income taxes to three brackets — 12 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. Whether you would benefit from this change depends on how much you earn. Under this plan, the wealthiest people will get the biggest cut. What happens to lower-income people isn’t likely to be as nice, since the lowest tax-rate bracket will go up from 10 percent to 12 percent. While the standard deduction would also go up, a basket of other tax code provisions would go away, likely meaning a net increase in taxes paid by working families with children and single-parent households, according to a recent report from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. The report estimates the changes to the tax code would increase the national debt by $20 trillion over the next 20 years. Trump disputes these findings. He expects that by reducing taxes on business (while eliminating many tax loopholes and incentives) and reducing regulations (without specifying which ones), renegotiating trade
104 deals and increasing domestic energy production, the economy will see tremendous growth. He’s also said that under his plan, individuals making less than $25,000 per year, or couples making $50,000 per year would no longer pay income tax.
4. Child-care costs Trump has said he wants to change the way parents deduct child-care costs — allowing deductions up to the average for their state — instead of a maximum deduction of $3,000 for one child or up to $6,000 for two or more. People who live in higher cost-of-living areas may be hurt by this. The deduction would be available to individuals making up to $250,000 per year, or $500,000 for married couples. Under his proposal, new mothers would be able to collect unemployment for six weeks of maternity leave from their jobs. He’d also allow people to create special child-care accounts where money could grow tax-free. There’s a grab bag of different deductions and allowances depending on income level. Low-income families who managed to put in $1,000 per year would get a $500 match from the government. Some advocates note that this would help wealthier families by providing a tax shelter for them, while many poor families would be unlikely to have an extra $1,000 per year to set aside.
5. Retirement benefits Trump has said he wants to leave Social Security as is, and he has opposed an increase in the retirement age. However, many experts expect the program to face financial difficulties in the coming decades unless there are substantial changes to it, and Republican leaders have expressed support for an increased retirement age.
6. Infrastructure jobs? Trump has promised to rebuild bridges, highways and airports, and to do it for one-third of what the country currently pays for such projects. Even at that discount, the money for the projects would need to come from somewhere — and it’s unclear how much Congress will allocate. On the up side, it could potentially create a large number of construction jobs.
7. Wall Street changes Trump has vowed to scrap the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (usually referred to as Dodd-Frank), a package of financial regulations that was passed under President Barack Obama after the 2007- 2009 recession. One element was creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The impact of such changes are difficult to foresee, but they’re more likely to benefit high fliers on Wall Street than small investors or non-investors on Main Street. He also wants to end the “carried interest deduction,” a loophole that many Wall Street insiders use to reduce their effective tax burden.
[Source: MoneyTalksNews | Ari Cetron | November 10, 2016 ++]
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U.S. Philippine Bases Update 12 ► RP Defense Equipment Acquisitions
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said 3 NOV he'll consider continuing to acquire weapons and defense equipment from treaty ally the United States if his military recommends so, despite offers from China and Russia. Duterte made the remark in a speech in which he again railed at the U.S. with expletives for criticizing his deadly anti-drug crackdown, calling American officials "monkeys" and breaking a promise that he would no longer resort to trash talk. Duterte, who took office in June, has been antagonistic to U.S., EU and U.N. officials who have raised human rights concerns over his brutal crackdown on illegal drug sellers and users and called for an end to extrajudicial killings.
He has used expletives in responding to their criticisms, telling President Barack Obama to "go to hell" in an outburst last month. He has declared his intention to scale back his country's military engagements with Washington, including ending largescale joint combat exercises and the presence of visiting U.S. forces, while reaching out to expand once-frosty relations with China and Russia. U.S. officials, however, say they have not been formally
105 notified by the Philippines of any change in security relations and activities and stress that Washington wants to continue its decades-long alliance with Manila. Duterte said he has asked his defense secretary and military officials to travel to China and Russia to check what weapons and defense equipment they have to offer, but added that the military's recommendation will be crucial. "China is open. Anything you want. They even sent me a brochure, telling me to choose and they will provide," Duterte said. "I'm just holding off because I'm looking at the military," he said. "If you want to stick with America, fine, but assess it well and find a balance because we are being ridiculed."
The brash president traveled to a wharf in Sual town in the northwestern province of Pangasinan to lead a poignant send-off ceremony for 17 Vietnamese fishermen who were arrested last month for poaching in local waters. The complaints were dropped after the Vietnamese said a typhoon forced their three boats toward the northern Philippines and that they had no intention of poaching. Duterte said his Vietnamese counterpart appealed for the fishermen's release and Wednesday's ceremony — in which he shook hands with the fishermen and handed each a bag filled with food, a raincoat and toiletries — showed how Asians resolve problems. "Vietnam drove the Americans away in humiliation," Duterte said, using the ceremony to criticize U.S. actions that he said brought countries like Iraq, Syria and Libya to chaos and civil strife. "I have good impressions of America but the problem is I have lost my respect, that's why I'm bad-mouthing them," he said. "These Americans never learned their lesson with their interventions." Since then the following has occurred:
On 2 NOV responding to a question from a Marine staff sergeant who had recently trained with the Philippines military, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. has not given up on repairing the strained relationship. Carter implied 2 that the loss of the Philippines as a U.S. ally would not have a major effect on U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. "Our strategy … is strong and isn't dependent on any single one of our friend or allies out there, and we have many," Carter said at a question and answer session with U.S. troops at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. On 7 NOV Duterte ordered the cancellation of Philippine's purchase of police rifles from the United States, after U.S. senatorial aides said last month that Washington was halting the sale due to concerns about human rights violations. "We will not insist on buying expensive arms from the United States. We can always get them somewhere else. I am ordering the police to cancel it. We don't need them," Duterte said in a televised speech at a event attended by Muslim rebel leaders. On 11 NOV Duterte said he wants all foreign troops out of the country by 2022 (when his term ends) and not replace them with any other foreign troops. He has also called for an end to joint war games with allies.
[Source: Washington Examiner | Joel Gehrke | October 24, 2016 ++]
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Lies ► 10 Ways to Spot Them
Let’s face it: Most of us lie every day. A famous study at the University of Massachusetts found that “60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average of two to three lies.” Most of us are not very good at spotting a lie. And science so far hasn’t done much better. Polygraph machines aren’t reliable enough to be used in most courts. And while brain researchers keep trying to unravel the mechanism of lying, they have come up with nothing definitive. Even so, knowing a few things about lies and their tellers might help you. Here are 10 of the more popular techniques researchers and others working in law enforcement recommend when trying to spot a lie:
1. Voice changes -- Changes in a person’s normal behavior can betray discomfort of some sort, and might be a tip- off to lies. These departures from normal behavior are most useful when you are observing someone you know well and are familiar with their normal patterns and departures from those patterns. If you don’t know your subject well,
106 spend time paying attention to how she or he normally talks and acts when relaxed. Is her speech normally slow or quick, loud or soft? What is the quality of his voice usually like? Then, watch for distinct, but not subtle, changes from the normal pattern, retired FBI criminal profiler Gregg McCrary tells Real Simple.
2. Fidgeting -- Guilt and the accompanying anxiety are thought to cause some people — though perhaps not accomplished liars — to squirm and fidget. But experts disagree on whether fidgeting really is a telltale sign of lying. Again, it might be more important to know whether fidgeting is typical for a person, or if it is an unusual behavior. Some people do the opposite of fidgeting — they cope with stress by standing still or freezing.
3. Protesting too much -- “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” says Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, as they watch a play in which a character swears she’ll never marry if her husband dies. The queen is pointing out that liars sometimes give themselves away by making too big a point of proclaiming their innocence. A twist on this is when someone loudly denies guilt or takes offense at the idea they might be thought guilty even though no one has actually accused them of anything. This hostile defensiveness can include finger-pointing.
4. Vowing honesty -- Liars often work too hard to demonstrate their honesty, and that can be a dead giveaway. They’ll make too much use of vows and expressions like “to tell the truth,” “to be perfectly honest,” “I swear on a stack of Bibles” and “as God is my witness.”
5. Subtle eye movements -- Lying is thought to be stressful for most liars. They have to think about what’s true and concoct a story that departs from the truth, causing a level of strain that, even when it’s subtle, may be observable. This stress can show up in a number of unconscious gestures. Liars are said to look away, or perhaps glance at an exit, betraying a desire to escape, says Psychology Today. Liars sometimes point their feet or even move their bodies toward the exit.
6. Throat clearing -- When you are talking with someone who clears his or her throat repeatedly or continues swallowing hard, see if you can figure out the reason for it. The person might just have something stuck in the throat, but be aware that stress can make your mouth dry, forcing a liar to try to relieve the condition.
7. TMI -- Liars, at least unskilled ones — and we can all hope that the liars in our lives at least aren’t very good at it — may try creating a distraction by offering much too much information. If you find yourself wondering why you’re getting all this unnecessary detail, sit back, watch and listen. Then, ask yourself what’s going on.
8. Touching the mouth -- People who hold their hands around their mouth, covering it or touching it, are unconsciously betraying the fact that they’re lying, behavioral analyst Lillian Glass tells Business Insider: “When adults put their hands over their lips, it means they aren’t revealing everything, and they just don’t want to tell the truth,” she says. “They are literally closing off communication.”
9. Signs of nervousness -- Nervousness betrays many liars. Signs of nervousness aren’t hard to spot. For example someone who is nervous may experience changes in breathing tempo. Under stress, a person’s shoulders rise and fall, and his or her voice rises.
10. Fixed staring -- Blinking, looking away and the inability to look you in the eye are supposed to be signs of evasion with some people. Others, though, may look you right in the eye and lie — but they can give themselves away by staring too intently or failing to blink, Glass says. This brazen behavior might be the sign of a more- accomplished liar. Financial scammer Bernard Madoff, “like most con men, overcompensated and stared at people longer than usual, often without blinking at regular intervals,” Glass tells Business Insider.
[Source: MoneyTalksNews | Marilyn Lewis | November 11, 2016 ++]
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107 Have You Heard? ► Cow, Ant & an Old Fart || Nun at Hooters
A cow, an ant and an old fart are debating on who is the greatest of the three of them.
The cow said, "I give 20 quarts of milk every day and that's why I am the greatest!"
The ant said, "I work day and night, summer and winter, I can carry 52 times my own weight and that's why I am the greatest!" | | | | Why are you scrolling down? It's your turn to say something.
-o-o-O-o-o-
A nun, badly needing to use to the restroom, walked into a local Hooters.
The place was hopping with music and loud conversation -- and every once in a while 'the lights would turn off.' Every time the lights would go out, the place would erupt into cheers. However, when the revelers saw the nun, the room went dead silent. She walked up to the bartender, and asked, 'May I please use the restroom?'
The bartender replied, 'OK, but I should warn you that there is a statue of a naked man in there wearing only a fig leaf.'
'Well, in that case, I'll just look the other way,' said the nun.
So the bartender showed the nun to the back of the restaurant. After a few minutes, she came back out, and the whole place stopped just long enough to give the nun a loud round of applause.
She went to the bartender and said, 'Sir, I don't understand. Why did they applaud for me just because I went to the restroom?'
'Well, now they know you're one of us,' said the bartender, Would you like a drink?'
'No thank you, but, I still don't understand,' said the puzzled nun.
'You see,' laughed the bartender, 'every time someone lifts the fig leaf on that statue, the lights go out. Now -- how about that drink?'
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111 taken from previously reliable sources. My staff consist of only one person (myself) and it is a 7/10-12 endeavor to prepare and publish. Readers who question the validity of content are encouraged to go to the source provided to have their questions answered. I am always open to comments but, as a policy, shy away from anything political. Too controversial and time consuming.
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RAO Bulletin Editor/Publisher: Lt. James (EMO) Tichacek, USN (Ret) Tel: (858) 432-1246 Email: [email protected] Bulletin Web Access: http://www.nhc-ul.org/rao.html, http://www.veteransresources.org, http://frabr245.org, and http://veteraninformationlinksasa.com/emos-rao.html [PDF & HTML Editions w/ATTACHMENTS]
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