MAY 2020 VOL 87 President’s Message Chapter 16 Newsleer Organizaon and Responsibilies: Editor: Glen Craig Secons: Message from the President: Stephen Durfee Treasurers Report: Willi Lindner Sec. Rpt (Staff Meeng Minutes): Mike Barkstrom Sick Call/Obituary: Chaplain Butch Hall Blast from the Past: Glen Craig Special Recognion: Mike Barkstrom Upcoming Events: Mike Barkstrom Calendar: Stephen Durfee Human Interest Story: Chapter at large SFA Naonal HQ Update: Stephen Durfee Aer Acon Report: Stephen Durfee Membership Info: Roy Sayer Adversements: Glen Craig A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one Suspense: another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of st industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the Newsleer published (Web): 1 of each bread it has earned. – Thomas Jefferson odd numbered month Respecully, (Special Forces Associaon Chapter XVI President) th Stephen P. Durfee (DOL) Booz, Allen, Hamilton Inc. Input due to editor: 20 of each Strategic and Operaonal Exercise Planner, Mid [email protected] even numbered month Personal Cell: 208‐530‐5472 Dra due to President: 30th of each Pastor Butch’s Corner even numbered month th Powerful stories, to be so short. Final Dra due 30 of each These twelve short stories are all very good stories and make us think even numbered month twice about the daily happenings in our lives as we deal with others!! 1. I asked my grandmother to define success in her own words, she said; "Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile." 2. Today, I asked my mentor ‐ a very successful business man in his 70s what his top 3 ps are for success. He smiled and said; "Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do something no one else is doing." 3. Today, aer my 72‐hour shi at the fire staon, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug. When I tensed up, she realized I didn't recognize her. She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most sincere smile and said; "On 9‐11‐2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Center ." 4. Today, aer I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying. And just before he died; he licked the tears off my face. 5. Today at 7AM, I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so I went into work. At 3PM I got laid off. On my drive home I got a flat re. When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too. A man in a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride, we chaed, and then he offered me a job. I start tomorrow. Page 1 6. Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my mother's hospital bed, my mother uered her last coherent words before she died. She simply said, "I feel so loved right now. We should have goen together like this more oen." 7. Today, I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed. About 5 seconds aer he passed, I realized it was the first me I had given him a kiss since I was a lile boy. 8. Today, in the cutest voice, my 8‐year‐old daughter asked me to start recycling. I chuckled and asked, "Why?" She replied, "So you can help me save the planet." I chuckled again and asked, "And why do you want to save the planet?" Because that's where I keep all my stuff," she said. 9. Today, when I witnessed a 27‐year‐old breast cancer paent laughing hysterically at her 2‐year‐old daughter's ancs, I suddenly realized that, I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrang it again. 10. Today, a boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me. He helped me all the way across campus to my class and as he was leaving, he said, “I hope you feel beer soon." 11. Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back malignant. When I got home, I opened an e‐mail that said, "Thinking of you today. If you need me, I'm a phone call away." It was from a high school friend I hadn't seen in 10 years. 12. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eang. The first thing the man said was, "We can share it." The best sermons are lived, not preached. Millions of veterans to get leers this week on potenal reimbursements for medical costs Leo Shane III Military Times April 13, 2020 The exterior of the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver is shown in 2017. (David Zalubowski/AP) More than one million veterans will soon be receiving instrucons from Veterans Affairs officials on how to check if they are eligible for thousands of dollars in medical cost reimbursements as part of a court decision last fall. Starng today, department staffers will send leers to tens of thousands of veterans who were rejected for financial relief in recent years for bills they received for non‐department emergency medical care. That move comes over VA objecons concerning an ongoing lawsuit over the issue, which could add billions in new costs to the department’s budget. Last fall, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled that the department’s current regulaon for veterans who seek non‐department medical care violates exisng federal law. They ordered VA officials to re‐examine more than 72,000 rejected claims and update their rules, arguing the department has a responsibility to cover the costs of the unexpected medical visits. The case centers on veterans whose unpaid emergency room expenses were denied by VA officials under exisng policies. The plainffs’ both had part of their bills paid for by other insurance, but were le with several thousand in personal costs. VA officials argued in court that they did not need to handle the unpaid balance because the veterans were primarily covered under other insurance plans. The court ruled that violates both exisng law and past legal precedent. A VA Inspector General report last summer found $716 million in improperly processed payments in cases involving veterans who sought medical care outside the department’s health system in 2017, including about $53 million that should have been refunded under exisng rules. VA officials are considering appealing the ruling, and asked that any acon on the cases be postponed unl higher courts weigh in on the maer. But earlier this month, the appeals court rejected that moon and ordered leers be sent out starng April 13. Advocates praised the decision. “Hundreds of thousands of veterans affected by this class acon have suffered far too long and endured severe financial hardships due to VA’s wrongful handling of their reimbursement claims,” said said Bart Schman, execuve director of the Naonal Veterans Legal Services Program. VA officials have esmated that full compliance with the court order could cost between $1.8 billion and $6.5 billion. Reimbursements may date back to cases decided by the department in 2016. The ruling also invalidated all VA decisions denying reimbursement for deducbles and co‐insurance costs not covered in emergency visits at non‐VA facilies. The leers come as many veterans are facing new debts related to work interrupons and other financial problems related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, processing of the claims is likely to take several months, and may be stalled further by ongoing legal appeals. Page 2 'Legendary' Air Force Crew Gets Medals Aer 9‐Hour Firefight Against ISIS’ 14 Air Commandos with the 4th Special Operaons Squadron were presented 2 Disnguished Flying Crosses and 12 Air Medals by Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operaons Command, at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Mar. 2, 2020. (U.S. Air Force photo/Joseph P. Leveille) Task & Purpose | By David Roza 4 Mar 2020 This arcle by David Roza originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publicaon dedicated to military and veterans issues. An Air Force AC‐130U crew was awarded two Disnguished Flying Crosses and 12 Air Medals on Monday for phenomenal gunnery above a firefight against ISIS fighters in Afghanistan in April 2019. The skill of the air crew made all the difference for the guys on the ground, explained Air Force Special Taccs Officer Maj. Jeffrey Wright, of the 24th Special Operaons Wing, who led the fire support element of the firefight. “I would have to reach for examples like Normandy, Iwo Jima or Hamburger Hill to appropriately convey the degree to which the enemy were prepared and ready for our assault,” Wright wrote in an account of the bale for the 1st Special Operaons Wing Public Affairs Office. The mission on the night of April 3, 2019 was to assault a notorious Islamic State ‐ Khorisan (ISIS‐K) stronghold in the Afghanistan's Nangahar Province that was so well forfied it was known as ISIS‐K’s Pentagon, Wright said. The installaon was dug into the side of a mountain with only a single path through which friendly forces could assault.