UMA Newsleer Quarterly Newsleer for USPTO Veterans and Families March 2013, Volume 1, Number 1 this issue THIS ISSUE HR and Veteran’s Benefits Corner Did you know ? Current Events So What is the UMA? UMA Fitness Deployments At the UMA, or USPTO Military Associaon, we do the following: UMA Classifieds Support and promote the diversity goals of the USPTO Veteran Profiles of 2012 Serve as a resource for hiring and retaining Veterans UMA POC Help educate the USPTO community about the valuable service Veter‐ ans have rendered to the United States and how Veterans contribute to President Joe Hirl the USPTO workplace and community Vice President Brent Howard Support USPTO employees and their families during mes of recall to Treasurer Aretha Grayson acve duty Secretary April Blair Representaves at Large: Culvate a network of people and resources devoted to Veterans issues Eric Atkisson Stuart Snyder and concerns, and in all endeavors, exert appropriate proacve inia‐ Asghar Bilgrami Kacy Verdi ves that strive to provide well‐being support and guidance to Veterans Sieg Chencinski Kat Wyrozebski Anhthuan Nguyen and their families. HR Veterans Benefits Corner Military Service: Is it Creditable Towards Civilian Rerement? by Anthony Henderson o you have prior military service? period of war; or Have you considered combining ● Under provisions of 10 U.S.C. 12731‐ D your acve military service me 12739 (rered pay under Chapter 1223 for with your civilian service rerement benefit? members of the reserves). HR Point of Contact In some cases your acve military service If you have prior military service and would may count towards your civilian rerement like more informaon regarding combining computaon. For example, employees cov‐ your military service me with your civilian HR Representave for UMA and all ered under the Federal Employees Rere‐ service for rerement, please contact the USPTO Veterans: ment System (FERS) may receive credit for Compensaon and Benefits Division at 571‐ post‐1956 military service only if they depos‐ 272‐6209 to schedule an appointment with it with the employing agency a sum equal to our rerement counselor. 3 percent of the military basic pay they Anthony Henderson 571‐272‐6160 earned during their period of military ser‐ [email protected] vice, plus interest. Current Events New civilian employees with acve‐duty service have three years to buy back their Wounded Warrior Events me without interest. However, an im‐ HR Compensaon and Benefits portant decision needs to be made between The UMA is in the process of organizing Division 571‐272‐6209 the following two rerement opons: small volunteer pizza pares and events 1. Combine military and civilian careers for wounded soldiers who are currently into one civilian rerement and forfeit mili‐ Classifieds located at Fort Belvoir and Bethesda tary rerement. This decision also requires Photo contest: Please submit any military hospitals. If you are interested making a military service credit deposit of 3 photos you have of you and your percent of military base pay (Federal Em‐ in parcipang in one of these future family with a military theme. Top 3 ployees Rerement System) or 7 percent of events, please nofy Brent Howard of military base pay (Civil Service Rerement winners will be included in the next System) plus interest on military service your desire to join this team at issue of the newsleer. If you would credit deposits. UMA@uspto,gov. Dates of events will like to post classifieds, please write 2. Rere from CSRS or FERS using only civil‐ be TBD unl the teams are formed. ian federal service and connue receiving a separate military rerement benefit. Editors The decision to combine careers into one Career Q&A for Veterans and Editor‐in‐Chief, Kat Wyrozebski rerement also would not alter other mili‐ their families at USPTO tary rerement benefits such as health care Asst Editor, Eric Atkisson and commissary privileges. Addionally, a Asst Editor, Brent Howard This will be a lunch me event, a Q&A decision to use military service toward a civilian rerement would not affect Social session during which USPTO Veterans Looking for contributors. If you Security rerement benefits. (especially those new in their federal would like to consider wring for the Generally, an employee must waive mili‐ careers) and Veteran spouses can ask UMA Newsleer, please email us at tary rered pay in order to receive credit for [email protected]. military service in the computaon of the more experienced Veterans and drilling CSRS or FERS annuity, unless he or she is: reservists how they became successful at For more details, please contact Kat 1. Rered from civilian service aer Sept. the USPTO. Think of it as professional at 571‐272‐1127 or 30, 1982, and has military service that was [email protected] not used in the computaon of military re‐ Development. Date: April 9, from 11:30 red pay ‐‐ for example, four years at one of unl 1 pm , 1st floor Conference Center, Employer Support of the Guard and the service academies such as West Point or Jefferson BLDG. the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Reserve (ESGR) 2. Receiving military rered pay awarded: UMA members volunteer with ESGR in Fundraisers On account of a service‐connected organizing H2H Events that teach current disability incurred in combat with an enemy The UMA is always looking for ways to of the United States; Veterans how to write effecve resumes raise our funding. If you have any ideas or On account of a service‐connected and how to gain proper interview skills. disability caused by an instrumentality of would like to help, please contact us at For more informaon, please contact Kat war and incurred in the line of duty during a [email protected]. Wyrozebski or Lawana Hixon. Volume 1, Number 1 ‐ Page 2 Family Group POC April Blair 571‐270‐1014 [email protected] Margaret Squalls [email protected] DID YOU KNOW? The USPTO Military Associaon (UMA) has VETERANS AND FAMILY SUPPORT GROUPS formed a new Military Family Group. Military One Source 1‐800‐342‐9647 If you are a spouse, parent, child or family Deployments Offers non‐medical counseling for returning member of a service member, you are invit‐ warriors and their family members in areas ed and encouraged to join. The group’s focus such as health, wellness, and financial solu‐ Seenam Agbeafan will be deploying is supporng and mentoring military family ons. It also provides informaon and re‐ to Afghanistan on Mar. 4, 2013. members, especially during the deployment sources to help deal with unique challenges UMA sponsored a Pizza lunch for of a loved one, and member are commied of military life. examiner Agbeafan for Feb. 19, to promong friendship through social acvi‐ 2013. es. Stay safe, Seenam! The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides support as well. Please WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT visit hp://www.hhs.gov/children/ UMA members can support the Wounded supportmilitaryfamilies.html. Warrior project by parcipang with Fitness Group and Tough Mudder run (please see UMA Fitness). To date Tough Mudder parc‐ ipants have raised approximately $3 million to support thousands of warriors returning UMA Fitness from balefield. Money raised provides combat stress recovery programs, adapve We stay fit. If you would like to join us, here is a good starng point: sports programs, counseling and employ‐ Scuba Diving — POC Albert Gagliardi ment services. A team of Wounded Warriors is hosted by every Tough Mudder event just Gym Workouts, Basketball/pick up games — POC Marta Dulko and Margaret Squalls to remind everyone about our heroes. For Tough Mudder run —POC Marta Dulko and Kat Wyrozebski every parcipant that raises $150 or more, Sky Diving and other exhilarang special events —POC Brent Howard Tough Mudder will donate $25 to the Wounded Warrior Project. For more infor‐ Game/sports watching events — Basketball, Soccer, College Football, and Monday Night NFL football if anyone is interested. maon, visit hp://toughmudder.com/ wounded‐warrior‐project/. Fitness challenge — Gym workout team challenges you to aend total body condion‐ ing class with Drew on Mondays at 4 p.m. It is a good preparaon for Tough Mudder. Can you outlast Kat and Marta? Volume 1, Number 1 ‐ Page 3 Veteran Profiles of 2012—A look back Veteran Profiles What was your experience in the mili‐ atarzyna “Kat” Wyrozebski, a tary? supervisory patent examiner in K art unit 1746, is a native of We’d love to hear your story. Please Poland ...left the country in 1986 to ... reach out to us at [email protected]. start a new life in the United States. She studied chemistry then joined the U.S. Navy in 1989 as an aviation ma- Scott Chmielecki ieg Chencinski, a patent examiner in chinist’s mate, working on A-6 Intruder Technology Center 3600, business attack airplanes. S methods (finance, insurance, and advertising), arrived in Queens, N.Y., as a “Initially I worked in the trainer’s child when his German-speaking family fled cott Chmielecki is a patent exam- squadron,” said Kat, “but then the Navy Transylvania, Romania, after World War II. changed its policy to allow women to iner in Art Unit 1729, but before serve at sea, so off I went.” S he joined the USPTO he was in a In March 1962 he received his commission very different kind of unit: the Marine as a second lieutenant through the Air Force She served a combat tour in the Per- Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron. Reserve Officer Training Corps at Brooklyn sian Gulf in 1991, and …(later) trans- College in New York City, with a degree in A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he enlist- ferred to the Navy Reserve and complet- mathematics and minors in engineering and ed as a Marine in 1997, assigned to the ed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry.