RAO BULLETIN 1 March 2015 PDF Edition THIS BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES Pg Article Subject * DOD * . 04 == SECDEF [13] ----------------------------- (Chuck Hagel | A Look Back) 06 == DoD Mobilized Reserve 10 FEB 2015 --- (24,893| Decrease of 2,867) 06 == Afghanistan/Iraqi Campaign Medals [03] ------------- (OFS Extension) 07 == Humanitarian Service Medal [01] --- (Operation Damayan Approved) 08 == DoD IT---------------------------------- (Cloud Transition | Cyberthreats) 08 == DECA Budget Cuts [12] -- (ALA Opposed to 2016 Commissary Cuts) 10 == POW/MIA [53] - (Remains Recovery Team Dispatched to Koh Tang) 13 == POW/MIA [54] ------ (4 Family Groups Displeased with New DPAA) 14 == POW/MIA Recoveries ----------------- (Reported 150215 thru 150228) * VA * . 16 == VA Conversion Proposal --- (Make it a Non-Profit Government Corp) 18 == Louisiana DVA Complaints ----- (Late Bill Payments | Poor Outreach) 19 == VA Health Care Stories [07] --------------------- (In Praise of VA Care) 20 == VA SSVF Program [03] --------------- $300M Available for Homeless) 20 == VA Vet Choice Program [05] -------------- (2016 Budget Controversy) 21 == VA Vet Choice Program [06] ------------ (Senator Coalition Urges Fix) 22 == VA Vet Choice Program [07] ------------------- (Doctors May Opt Out) 23 == VA Choice Act [11] ------------------- (900 Employees Let Go to Date) 23 == VA Accountability [02] -------- (Problem Employee Firings Decrease) 24 == VA Lawsuit | Bain~Gerald ------ (Minneapolis Vet Home Negligence) 26 == VA Needs Based Programs --------- (Proposed Regs | 3-yr Look Back) 27 == VA BRAC ----------------------------------------- (336 Buildings at Issue) 28 == Crisis Hotline [01] ------------------------------ (50+% of Calls Blocked) 1 29 == VA Health Care System --- (On GAO’s 2015 High Risk Program List) 30 == VA Prescription Policy [03] --- (Opioid Rule Adversely Impacts Vets) 32 == VA Whistleblowers [19] --------- (Rosayma Lopez Pending Dismissal) 33 == VAMC Northampton MA --------- (Hospice Care | A Daughters Story) 34 == VAMC Tomah WI [02] ------- (Sen. Baldwin Comprehensive Review) 35 == VARO Oakland CA ------------- (13,184 Forgotten Claims Discovered) * VETS * . 37 == Burn Pit Toxic Exposure [31] --------------------- (SIGAR Final Report) 38 == Uniform Wearing [03] ------------------------ (Army Policy for Retirees) 39 == Burial At Sea [05] ---------------------------------------- (How to Request) 40 == Vet Needless Deaths ----------------------- (Skelley John | Hypothermia) 41 == Vet Needless Deaths -------------------- (Sutter~Bradley | Hypothermia) 42 == Purple Hearts Reunited ---------------- (Over 100 Returned to Families) 43 == War Experience False Claims [01] - (VA Secretary Robert McDonald) 45 == OBIT | Craven~John P. | WWII ---------------------------- (12 Feb 2015) 46 == OBIT | Johnston~Donald | WWII -------------------------- (17 Feb 2015) 47 == OBIT | Thomas~Robert Jr | WWII-------------------------- (10 Feb 2015) 48 == Retiree Appreciation Days --------------------------- (As of 26 Feb 2015) 48 == Vet Hiring Fairs ------------------------------------- (01 thru 31 Mar 2015) 50 == WWII Vets [81] ------------------------------------------- (Racine~Angelo) 52 == America's Most Beloved Vets -------------------------- (Vietnam War (2) 52 == Vet State Benefits & Discounts ----------------------------- (Kansas 2015) * VET LEGISLATION * . 53 == SVAC [12] ------------ (Senate VA Leaders lay out goals, hopes to AL) 54 == DoD Sexual Abuse [19] ------------------------------ (DOD Registry Bill) 55 == TRICARE Choice Act of 2015 ------------------------ (S.448 & H.R.868) 55 == VA Blue Water Claims [26] --------------- (Bill Reintroduced | H.R.969) 56 == Federal Recovery Coordination Program ------------ (Vets Act H.R.914) 57 == Vet Bills Submitted to 114th Congress -------------- (150215 to 150228) * MILITARY * . 59 == Army Most Wanted Fugitives ------------------------ (Website Launched) 61 == Army Retired Lapel Button ------------------------------- (Now Available) 61 == USNS SGT Matej Kocak ------------ (Reef Grounded Vessel Refloated) 62 == Iwo Jima Survivors ------------------------- (70th Anniversary Gathering) 63 == GuardBot --------- (Amphibious Drone | Future of Amphibious Assault) 64 == SAFFiR ------------------- (Shipboard Autonomous Fire-Fighting Robot) 66 == Medal of Honor Citations ------------- (Freeman~Edward W. | Vietnam) * MILITARY HISTORY * . 69 == Aviation Art ------------------------ (Ploesti: The Odyssey of Utah Man) 69 == Military Trivia 100 ------------------------- (Legion of the United States) 2 70 == Military History ------------- (Iwo Jima | AP Was There 70 Years Ago) 74 == D-Day ---------------------------------------------- (Tending the Wounded) 74 == WWII Prewar Events ---------------- (Nazi Youth Movement Feb 1936) 75 == WWII Postwar Events ----------------------- (7” TV Showing Aug 1945) 75 == Spanish American War Image 12 ----- (Battle of Quasimas June 1898) 76 == WWI in Photos 121 ------------------- (Mr. Dumas Realier’s Dog 1915) 76 == Faces of WAR (WWII) ------------------- (General Omar Bradley 1945) 77 == Military History Anniversaries -------------------------- (01 thru 31 Mar) * HEALTH CARE * . 77 == Pulmonary Health ------------ (OEF/OIF Vets Needed for Army Study) 78 == TRICARE Program Abolishment -- (Proposal Splits Veterans' Groups) 79 == Caffeine Powder ------------------------------------------ (Health Dangers) 80 == TRICARE Air Evac -------------------------------- (Who Pays and When) 81 == TRICARE Dental Program [09] ------------------------ (Dental Sealants) * FINANCES * . 82 == Timeshares [01] ------------------------------------------- (Tips For Selling) 82 == Store Return Policies ----------------------------------------------- (5 Worst) 84 == Military Pay & Benefits [03] ------------- (Paycheck is Getting Smaller) 85 == TRICARE on Tax Forms -------------------------------- (How to Report It) 87 == Tax Law Misperceptions -------------------------------- (4 Most Common) 89 == my Social Security Account ------------------------ (New Online Service) 90 == TriWest Scam ---------------------------------------------- (Phishing Letters) 90 == Background Check Scam ----------------------------------- (How it Works) 91 == Online Dating Scam ----------------------------------------- (How it Works) 92 == Tax Burden for Oregon Retired Vets -------------------- (As of Feb 2015) 93 == Tax Burden for Colorado Residents --------------------- (As of Feb 2015) 95 == Thrift Savings Plan 2015 ------------ (Share Prices + YTD Gain or Loss) * GENERAL INTEREST * . 96 == Notes of Interest ------------------------------------- (01 thru 14 Feb 2015) 97 == China Island Building ------------ (600 Acres of at Least Seven Islands) 98 == TV Commercials ------- (Speeding Up Program Content to Fit for Ads) 99 == Homeland Security ---------- (Congress Refusing to Fund on Principle) 100 == Photos That Say it All -------- (Father & Son | 9/11 Tenth Anniversary) 100 == Normandy Then & Now ---- (Omaha Beach near Colleville sur Mer 2) 101 == They Grew Up to Be? --------- (Tina & Tamery Mowry | Sister Sister) 101 == WWII Ads ----------------------------------------------- (Camel Cigarettes) 102 == Have You Heard? -------------------------------------- (Mexican Invasion) 102 == Interesting Inventions ------------------- (Solar Charging while Parking) 103 == Moments in US History -------------------- (4-H Club Convention 1941) Note: 1. The page number on which the above articles can be found is provided to the left of each article’s title 3 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 - Veteran Legislation as of 27 Feb 2015 Attachment - Kansas Vet State Benefits & Discounts Jan 2015 Attachment - Military History Anniversaries 01 thru 31 Mar Attachment - Retiree Activity\Appreciation Days (RAD) Schedule as of Feb 26, 2015 * DoD * SECDEF Update 13 ► Chuck Hagel | A Look Back Chuck Hagel’s tenure as secretary of defense comes to a close 17 FEB. During two turbulent years at the helm of the Pentagon, he won kudos for managing the Defense Department bureaucracy during a period of downsizing but may have been scapegoated for the policy disarray following the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East. Defense analysts give the former Nebraska Republican senator high marks for managing the withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan, setting in motion the shift in military resources to the Pacific, and coping with the deep, congressionally mandated budget cuts known as “sequestration.” All those achievements, however, were overshadowed by the Obama administration’s muddled response to the rise of the Islamic State group after the militants seized about a third of Syria and Iraq and routed the U.S.-trained Iraqi army last year. The Associated Press reported this month that foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among the 20,000 from around the world. In Iraq, efforts to retrain the Iraqi army are moving slowly, and the Islamic State has threatened one of the air bases where U.S. troops are training Iraqi forces. Meanwhile, the Pentagon program to recruit and train moderate forces to fight the Islamic State in Syria has barely gotten off the ground. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S. ground forces into combat in Iraq or Syria, which makes training local forces to retake terrain