RAO BULLETIN 1 April 2020 PDF Edition THIS RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES Pg Article Subject . * DOD * . 04 == DOD FYDP ---- (Congress Asked for Okay to Classify It) 05 == PCS Moves [07] ---- (Cash Help Available for Military COVID-19 Delays) 05 == PCS Moves [08] ---- (DOD PCS Movers want $186.6 Million Bailout) 06 == Navy Drug Interdiction ---- (SOUTHCOM Area to Have Enhanced Presence of Ships) 06 == PFAS Toxic Exposure [15] ---- (As of Last OCT 651 Sites Contaminated) 07 == DFAS 1099-R [09] ---- (Tax Year 2019 Availability) 08 == SBP/DIC Offset Phase-Out ---- (FAQs | Premiums & Annuities - 3) 09 == POW/MIA Recoveries & Burials ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 March 2020 | Fifteen) . * VA * . 12 == VA Regional Offices ---- (Availability During Pandemic) 12 == VA Funding Needs [03] ---- ($16.6B to Cover Anticipated COVID-19 Patients) 13 == VA Mission Act [14] ---- (VA Making Adjustments during Pandemic) 13 == VA Hospitals [14] ---- (Bracing for Possible 1M COVID-19 Patient Surge) 15 == VA Community Care [08] ---- (Planned 90-Day Program Pause) 16 == VA Coronavirus Preparations [01] ---- (VA Insists it Can Handle the Pandemic) 17 == VA Fraud, Waste, & Abuse ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 MAR 2020) 1 . * VETS * . 20 == Coronavirus SITREP 2 ---- (COVID-19 Resources for Veterans) 22 == AFRH [16] ---- (Now Accepting Applications for 2020 Residency) 23 == Vet Cemeteries [03] ---- (Cemetery Operations Adjusted in Response to COVID-19) 23 == Vet Internet Availability ---- (Comcast Internet Essentials Program) 24 == Vet Service Dogs [27] ---- (DOT Proposed Emotional Support Animal Plane Rule) 25 == Vet Jobs [261] ---- (Earn Money Making Deliveries in Your Car) 26 == Vietnam Vets [37] ---- (Humbert Roque Versace | POW Awarded MOH) 28 == Vietnam Vets [38] ---- (Bennie Adkins | MOH Holder Hospitalized w/COVID-19) 29 == Vet Fraud & Abuse ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 MAR 2020) 30 == Military Retirees & Veterans Events Schedule ---- (As of 31 MAR 2020) 30 == Vet Hiring Fairs ---- (Scheduled as of 31 MAR 2020) 31 == State Veteran's Benefits ---- (Alaska 2020) . * VET LEGISLATION * . 32 == Coronavirus Financial Planning [01] ---- (H.R. 6201 - Coronavirus Response Act) 33 == VA Cemeteries [21] ---- (S.3492/H.R.6228 | Allow Federal Property Transfer to VA Nevada) 34 == GI Bill [306] ---- (S.3503 | Allow Online & On Campus Courses be Treated Same) 35 == IRS Tax Filing [01] ---- (S.3535 | Tax Filing Relief for America Act) 35 == VA Disability Pay [02] ---- (H.R.5995/S. 3393 | Major Richard Star Act) 36 == Board of Veterans' Appeals [10] ---- (H.R.4771 | VA Tele-Hearing Modernization Act) 36 == American Legion Legislative Agenda ---- (116th Congress, Second Session) 37 == State Income Tax Rates [03] ---- (1071 | Exempt CA Military Retirement Pay) 38 == HVAC [28] ---- (Newly Passed Vet Bills for Floor Vote) . * MILITARY* . 39 == Army Recruiting [15] ---- (Recruits Offered Student Loan Payoffs) 39 == USMC Confederate Paraphernalia Policy ---- (On Base Ban on All Rebel Items) 40 == USMC End Strength [04] ---- (Ten Year Decision on Force Reductions) 41 == Military Draft [04] ---- (Commission Recommends Women Be Eligible) 42 == USS Gerald R. Ford [17] ---- (Sewage Problem Costs $400K per System Flush) 43 == Army Notice ---- (Retirees Asked to Volunteer in COVID-19 Response Effort) 43 == Military Pay & Benefits [08] ---- (Hardship Pay for Troops in COVID-19 Quarantine) 44 == Navy Terminology, Jargon & Slang ---- (‘Gulch’ thru ‘Hat Locker’) . * MILITARY HISTORY * . 45 == WWI Gallipoli Naval Action ---- (So Little Achieved at So Much Cost) 47 == Wurzburg Germany Bombing ---- (British Bombers Destroy 90% in Only 20 Minutes!) 47 == WWII Medical Improvement’s ---- (Saved Lives During and After the War) 48 == St. Patrick’s Battalion ---- (American Irish Battalion that Defected to Mexico) 50 == Battle of Chickamauga ---- (Battlefield Chronicles) 51 == WWII Bomber Nose Art [51] ---- (“Hell’s Belle”) 51 == Military History Anniversaries ---- (01 thru 15 APR) 51 == Medal of Honor Citations ---- (Jesse N. Funk |WWI) 2 . * HEALTH CARE * . 53 == Military Health System [03] ---- (COVID-19 Non-Military Service Access Limitations) 54 == ICU Bed Availability ---- (Millions of Older Americans Live In Counties without Any) 57 == Fall Prevention [03] ---- (Ways to Avoid Potentially Devastating Falls) 57 == Hand Washing [01] ---- (Beware These 7 Mistakes) 59 == Prescription Drug Costs [50] ---- (Why Senate Ignoring H.R.3 that Could End Rising Drug Prices) 61 == Medicare Part B Premiums [08] ---- (What to do When You Can’t Afford Them) 62 == Medicare Part D [39] ---- (Out-of-Pocket Costs Take Record Jump 62 == Prostatitis [04] ---- (Study Reports on Satisfaction with Upper-limb Devices) 63 == Gingivitis & Periodontitis ---- (Gum Inflammation) 65 == Shoulder Pain ---- (Acromion Symptoms, Causes, Risk factors, Diagnosis & Treatment) 67 == Coronavirus [08] ---- DHA Answers to Questions on COVID-19 69 == Coronavirus [09] ---- (Snopes Fact Checker) 69 == Coronavirus [10] ---- (A Full Night’s Sleep Could be the Best Defense) 70 == Coronavirus [11] ---- (Cardiac Issues) 72 == Coronavirus [12] ---- (Handling Mail) 73 == Coronavirus [13] ---- (Virus Survivability) 74 == Coronavirus [14] ---- (What It Does to Your Body) . * FINANCES * . 76 == Coronavirus SITREP 3 ---- (Nontaxable Recovery Rebate) 77 == Federal Reserve [03] ---- (Rate Further Slashed Over Coronavirus Impact) 79 == IRAs [05] ---- (More on Secure Act Impact) 80 == Credit Card Charges [09] ---- (COVID-19 Related Payment Relief) 81 == Cash at Home [01] ---- (Reasons Hiding at Home Is a Terrible Idea) 82 == SBP DIC Offset [64] ---- (How Elimination Will be Accomplished) 83 == Coronavirus Financial Planning [02] ---- (How to Survive COVID-19 Economic Fallout) 85 == Coronavirus Financial Planning [03] ---- (Steps to Take Now to Protect Your Financial Life) 87 == Donation Scams ---- (Is That Charity Really What it Seems?) 89 == Fake Check Scams ---- (What you Need to Know) 89 == Relief Check Scam ---- (Scammers Cash in on Federal Stimulus News) 90 == COVID-19 Tests Scam ---- (Phony Text Messages) 91 == Tax Deductions [05] ---- (No Nos for Tax Year 2019) 92 == State Tax Burden for Alabama Retired Vets ---- (As of Mar 2020) . * GENERAL INTEREST * . 94 == Notes of Interest ---- (16 thru 31 March 2020) 96 == Coronavirus SITREP 1 ---- (Latest Actions Taken to Combat COVID-19) 98 == U.S. Embassy Manila ---- (Health Alert | Travel Assistance) 99 == U.S. Embassy Manila ---- (Health Alert | Shelter in Place) 102 == Philippine Bureau of Immigration ---- (Temporarily Transaction Suspensions) 103 == State Taxation [03] ---- (Filing Date Revisions) 103 == Tax Rebates ---- (Overview of Previous Ones during Economic Downturns) 105 == Social Security Proposals ---- (Locality-based Payment Rate) 106 == Still Tasty [03] ---- (Foods That Can Keep for Years) 107 == Judge Roy Bean ---- (Knew Little About the Law or Proper Court Procedures) 108 == Remember When ---- ("I Was a Sailor Once") 3 110 == Recession ---- (Good Things about One) 111 == Pandemics Compared ---- (Bubonic Plague to Coronavirus) 113 == Toilet Paper ---- (Crisis Hawaii Has Never Forgotten) 113 == Have You Heard? ---- (War Of 1812 At Walmart | Q&A | Speeding Ticket) 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]. 3. Recipients of the Bulletin are authorized and encouraged to forward the Bulletin to other vets or veteran organizations. * ATTACHMENTS * . Attachment - Alaska Vet State Benefits Attachment - Military History Anniversaries 01 thru 15 APR (Updated) * DoD * DOD FYDP Congress Asked for Okay to Classify It The Pentagon has asked Congress to allow it to classify its Future Year Defense Program spending projections, new documents have revealed. The FYDP numbers, which project five years into the future, are considered essential information for the public to see where the Department of Defense expects to invest in the future, and to hold the department accountable when those spending plans change. Information on the request was published 30 MAR by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. Aftergood wrote that the proposal would “make it even harder for Congress and the public to refocus and reconstruct the defense budget.” In its request to Congress, the Pentagon wrote that an unclassified FYDP “might inadvertently reveal sensitive information,” despite the fact the numbers have been unclassified since 1989. “With the ready availability of data mining tools and techniques, and the large volume of data on the Department’s operations and resources already available in the public domain, additional unclassified FYDP data, if it were released, potentially allows adversaries to derive sensitive information by compilation about the Department’s weapons development, force structure, and strategic plans,” the DoD wrote. It added that there is a commercial concern with the FYDP providing too much information to industry. “The Department is also concerned about the potential harm to its interactions with commercial interests by release of FYDP information prior to the budget year. Exposing resources allocated to future acquisition plans may encourage bids and other development activities not beneficial to the Government,” the proposal read. Seamus Daniels, a budget analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies,