RAO BULLETIN 1 April 2019 PDF Edition THIS RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES Pg Article Subject . * DOD * . 05 == DOD Deploy or Out Policy [02] ---- (About 21,000 Troops Booted So Far) 05 == DOD Missile Tests [01] ---- (First GMD GBI Salvo Test Against ICBM A Success) 06 == Transgender Troops [22] --- (Judge Says Trump Cannot Implement Military Policy) 07 == DOD Space Weapons ---- (Pentagon Wants to Test A Space-Based Weapon in 2023) 08 == DOD Missile Tests ---- (This year | INF Restrictions Anticipated to be Removed in AUG) 10 == Navy Carrier Fleet [03] ---- (Why Acting Defense Secretary Wants 10 Vice 11) 11 == DOD Recruitment Concerns [02] ---- (Recruiting Medical Standards) 12 == DOD Gifts Limits [02] ---- (Acceptance Regulations) 12 == DOD Expenditures FY 2017 ---- (Where the Money Was Spent) 13 == Navy Shipbuilding Plan [02] ---- (355-Ship Fleet Sooner Than Last Year’s Plan) 16 == PFAS Toxic Exposure [05] ---- (Pentagon Wants New Contamination Standards Set) 18 == Air Force Fire Fighting Foam ---- (PFAS Replacement May Be More Harmful 19 == DOD Lawsuit ~ Chaplain Promotions ---- (Religious Discrimination Claimed) 20 == DOD Fraud, Waste, & Abuse ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 Mar 2019) 22 == POW/MIA Recoveries & Burials ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 MAR 2019 | Nine) . * VA * . 24 == Hidden VA Money ---- (VA Programs You May Be eligible For) 24 == VA Health Care Access [66] ---- (Wilkie on Privatization Concerns | Will Not Happen) 1 25 == VA Clinic Plano TX ---- (Near Capacity Enrollment Causing Vet Concerns) 26 == VA Incarcerated Vet Program [01] ---- (Michigan’s Program) 27 == VA Agent Orange Benefits [06] ---- (Hope for Blue Water Navy Vets) 28 == VA Disability System [02] ---- (Proposed Reform to Reduce Medical Exams/Time/ Money) 29 == VA Blue Water Claims [67] ---- (Vets Should Receive Long-Sought VA Benefits) 30 == VA Community Living Centers ---- (Health Care Inspection Reports) 30 == VA Disability Compensation System [06] ---- (Catastrophically Disabled Veterans) 31 == National Women Vets Hotline [02] ---- (Providing Outreach to Female Vets) 32 == VA Caregiver Program [53] ---- (Senators Concerned About VA Lack of Transparency) 34 == VA Heart Care [04] ---- (New Class of Biological Resilient Tissue Heart Valve in Use) 34 == VA Heart Care [05] ---- (Pacemaker Implants) 35 == VA Hepatitis C Care [19] ---- 96,654 of nearly 116,000 Vets Cured 36 == Depression [06] ---- (Spravato Nasal Spray VA Treatment Now Offered) 37 == PTSD Treatment | Adrenaline ---- (Sports and Exercise Beats than Self-Medicating) 38 == VA Overpayment Recoupment [02] ---- (Veteran Rodger Zink Situation) 39 == VAMC San Diego [02] ---- (Selected for HRO Program) 39 == VAMC Las Vegas [04] ---- (Tele-ICU Program Goes Live) . * VETS * . 41 == GI Bill Colleges [01] ---- (Testimony | $101k in Debt with a Sketch Degree) 42 == GI Bill [282] ---- (Forever GI Bill Doomed From the Beginning) 43 == Arthritis [02] ---- (Vet Advocates Pushing for More Research/Treatment/Prevention Money) 44 == Tattoos That Tell a Story ---- (Turning Scars into Tattoos) 45 == Vet Unclaimed Remains | TX ---- (Unaccompanied Vet Program) 47 == Iraq War Vets 02 ---- (Matthew Rittner | Killed in Milwaukee Feb. 6, 2019 in LOD) 47 == WWII Vets 186 ---- (Kirk Douglas | Navy Communications Officer) 48 == WWII Vets 187 ---- (Helen-Louise Brooks | Served In WWII, Korea, & Vietnam 49 == WWII Vets 188 ---- (Denton W. Crocker Jr & Sr | One Came Home, The Other Didn’t) 50 == Vet Suicide [25] ---- (VA Report Touts ‘Positive Outcomes’ But Suicide Rates Haven’t Slowed) 51 == Vet Suicide [27] ---- (One is too Many but 6,000+ A Year is a BIG Problem) 52 == Vet Hiring Fairs ---- (Scheduled As of 1 APR 2019) 52 == Military Retirees & Veterans Events Schedule ---- (As of 1 APR 2019) 53 == Vet State Benefits ---- (Kentucky 2019) . * VET LEGISLATION * . 53 == Base Housing [07] ---- (H.R. ___/S.703 | Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act) 54 == Vet Newborn Care ---- (S.835 | Newborn Care Improvement Act) 55 == VA Funding Needs [02] ---- (H.R.1721 | Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act) 55 == VA Facility Funding ---- [01] ---- (H.R.1722 | Build a Better VA Act) 56 == VA Overpayment Recoupment [01] ---- (S.805 | Veterans Debt Fairness Act) 56 == DOD Fertility Services [01] ---- (S.319 | DoD Pay to Freeze Troops Sperm, Eggs) 57 == VA Job Vacancies ---- (H.R 1271 | Vet HP Act Passed House and Sent to Senate) 59 == Vet Suicide [26] ---- (S.785 | The John Scott Hannon Act) . * MILITARY* . 60 == USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) ---- (Effectively Quarantined At Sea for Over Two Months) 60 == Navy Uniform Changes [06] ---- (Gold Chevrons Plus 12 More) 2 61 == USS Zumwalt [10] ---- (Delivery 5 Year Late and 10 Years After Construction Began) 62 == Feres Doctrine [11] ---- (Military Malpractice Policy May Be Closer to Overturn Than Ever) 64 == Army Artillery ---- (Upgrades | M109A6 Paladin Self-Propelled 155 mm Artillery Cannon) 65 == USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) [21] ---- (Navy Enacts 91 of 103 Recommendations) 67 == PFAS Toxic Exposure [06] ---- (Army Wants ~$300K to Release Water Test Results) 68 == Air Force AGR ---- (Full-Time Reservist Program to Grow) 69 == Navy Cruisers [02] ---- (Plan Proposed to Decommission 6 to Save Money) 70 == SCRA [11] ---- (Improper Servicemember Evictions Cost Virginia Company $1.6M) 71 == U.S. Submarine Capabilities ---- (Present and Projected) 72 == Drones | Aerial [06] ---- (Russian CUAS Variant) 73 == Military Lodging [05] ---- (Navy Moving to Privatize All Lodging by DEC 2020) 74 == Base Housing [08] ---- (Officials Now Looking for Evidence of Fraud) 75 == M17/M18 Sidearm [01] ---- (Air Force Deploys New Handgun As It Modernizes Weapons) 76 == Navy Terminology, Jargon & Slang ---- (Bloggins thru Bogey) 77 == Warships That Will Change the Future ---- (USS Lassen (DDG-82) . * MILITARY HISTORY * . 78 == Army Air Corps ---- (WWII Statistics) 80 == Battle for Hue Citadel ---- (TWS Battlefield Chronicles) 81 == Korean War Remembrances [04] ---- (Interesting Facts About the War) 83 == Night Fighter Team "George" ---- (Korea - Winter War) 86 == War Memorials ---- (World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Hawaii) 86 == Post WWII Photos ---- (G.I. Fraternization) 87 == Every Picture Tells A Story ---- (Stall) 87 == WWII Bomber Nose Art [27] ---- (The Ink Squirts) 88 == Military History Anniversaries ---- (01 thru 15 APR) 88 == Medal of Honor Citations ---- (Mikio Hasemoto | WWII) . * HEALTH CARE * . 89 == Aging [02] ---- (5 Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp) 89 == Aging [03] ---- (Female Physical Activity) 92 == Insulin ---- (Seven Million Americans Need It to Live But Many Can no Longer Afford it) 94 == Prescription Drug Costs [26] ---- (1 in 10 U.S. Adults Ration Medicine to Lower Costs) 94 == Prescription Drug Costs [27] --- (Specialty Drugs | The Next Front in Cost War) 95 == TRICARE Use While Traveling [05] ---- (TRICARE Goes with you) 95 == TRICARE User Fees [105] ---- (Proposed 2020 DOD Budget Impact) 96 == TRICARE Prime [39] ---- (Know Your Prime Plan) 97 == Arterial Fibrillation ---- (Catheter ablation [Surgery] vs. Drug Therapy) 98 == COPD ---- (Causes Permanent Damage to the Lungs and Narrows the Airways) 100 == Postpartum Depression ---- (Bench-To-Bedside Journey for Treatment Drug) 102 == Fatty Liver Disease ---- (Estimated 100 Million People in the U.S. Are Impacted by the Disease) 103 == Macular Degeneration [03] --- (Calcium-Rich Diets Do Not Appear to Increase AMD Risk) 104 == Colon Cancer [06] ---- (Annual Deaths Exceed Total Vietnam War U.S. Combat Deaths) 105 == TRICARE Podcast 493 ---- (Coverage After Divorce – MilConnect site – Emergency/Urgent Care) 106 == TRICARE Podcast 494 ---- (TRICARE Prime – EOB – Getting Care When Traveling) 108 == TRICARE Podcast 495 ---- (TRICARE Webinar - Brain Injury Awareness Month - Provider Types) 3 . * FINANCES * . 109 == VA Loan Refinancing [03] ---- (New Regulations) 110 == Pensions ---- (Buyout Policy Change) 111 == Job Scam ---- (Voicemail from an 'Old Friend'?) 111 == Tech Support Scam 2 ---- (Compromised IP Address Alleged) 112 == Political Robocall Scam ---- (Hotly Debated Issue Use to Request Donations) 113 == State Taxation of Retirement Income ---- (SSA & Pension | 2018) 113 == Tax Burden for North Carolina Retired Vets ---- (As of MAR 2019) . * GENERAL INTEREST * . 115 == Notes of Interest ---- (16 thru 31 MAR 2019) 116 == USS Cole Lawsuit ---- (Invalid | Supreme Court Rules Sudan Misnotification) 117 == Nuclear Weapons Arsenal [05] ---- (Modernization Need Fight Heats Up in Congress) 119 == Russia Missile Program [01] ---- (Burevestnik & Avangard Status) 119 == EMP Threat [01] ---- (Trump Signs Executive Order to Guard U.S. Infrastructure Weaknesses) 120 == Iran’s American Prisoners ---- (Navy Vet Sentenced to 10 Years) 121 == International Criminal Court ---- (Philippines Withdraws) 123 == International Criminal Court [01] ---- (Inquiry | Alleged Afghan U.S. War Crimes) 123 == U.S. Troop Host Charge [01] ---- (Cost + 50 Reporting by Bloomberg Erroneous) 124 == Nursing Homes [16] ---- (HHS Violation Fine Changes) 125 == Baby Powder ---- (Johnson & Johnson Lawsuit | 13,000 plaintiffs) 125 == Afghan Taliban [03] ---- (American Taliban Militant John Walker Lindh to be Freed in May) 127 == Interesting Ideas ---- (More Ketchup) 127 == One Word Essays ---- (Contentment) 127 == Not All Thieves Are Stupid ---- (Readers Take Heed) 128 == Have You Heard? ---- (Seven Days | Potato Family | Pun-ography) NOTE 1. The page number on which an article can be found is provided to the left of each article’s