AMOAA CONNECTION NEVER STOP SERVING

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1 AMOAA CONNECTION NEVER STOP SERVING JUNE Volume XXIX, Issue 6 Chapter President s Message June is PTSD awareness month and the United States has many worthy mental health programs supporting the silent or unspoken wounds of our Veterans. Examples include the Intrepid Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Landstudl Medical Center in Germany and multiple private facilities across America. The newest organization to join the PTSD/TBI fight are the Cohen Clinics. Billionaire philanthropist Steven Cohen has donated $275 million to open multiple clinics across the states in support of our wounded Warriors. Anthony M. Hassan, Ed.D, LCSW, Executive Director, Cohen Veterans Network and Veteran informed Fox News during a recent interview, VA does not provide mental health resources to Veterans and their families. In the 1970s under the leadership of the Vietnam Veterans Association and currently operating under the VA, Vet Centers treat wounded warriors and their families in individual sessions, couples therapy, group counseling and family reintegration MAJ Bill Howerton, USA-Ret counseling sessions. Each Vet Center is staffed with one combat Veteran counselor, licensed clinical social workers, Family and Marriage therapists and outreach coordinators. Additionally Vet Centers treat service members suffering from PTSD, TBI and Military Sexual Trauma, MST. Group programs include seeking safety, morality training, relationship-building and reconnecting on the intimacy level with their spouse or significant other. The Atlanta area has three Vet Centers with locations in Marietta, Lawrenceville, and Atlanta Continued on p. 5 CONTENTS Chapter Luncheon... 2 Satellite Supper... 2 Legislative Update... 3 JROTC Leadership Awards... 4 Veterans Treatment Court... 5 E-Connection... 5 South Satellite... 7 Sponsors... 7 THE CONNECTION will not be published in July or August. Go to website for important notices. BOARD MEETING The Chapter Board will meet on Wednesday, Dobbins AFB Club No board meeting in July or luncheons in July or August Happy Summer, team. See you in September as we focus on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. IN TIMES OF CRISIS In case of illness or death of member or spouse, please advise Col. Dan Holtz: Phone: (648) laurohn@bellsouth.net For those who fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know

2 AMOAA CONNECTION Vol. XXIX, #6 JUNE MEETING & LUNCHEON When SATURDAY 18 JUNE 11:30 AM 1:30 PM Where The Colonnade 1879 Cheshire Bridge Road Atlanta, GA Menu Chicken Cordon Bleu or Slow Roasted Pork Loin Served with House Salad Au Gratin Potatoes, Pole Beans Peach Cobbler Cost $29/person Please pay by check or correct change. Spouses, guests, and prospective members are always welcome Reservations Please make reservation not later than Noon, Monday, June 13 with Rosalie Castleberry Phone: Include menu choices and any food allergies Anyone making reservations and not attending or cancelling will be billed Guest Speakers Mrs. Carol Mitchell SGT Jeff Mitchell and Jeff s Service Dog, AUSTIN Paws4Vets SOUTH SATELLITE SUPPER Learning from MOAA Spouses Speaker: Della Reinhart When Thursday, 9 June 6:00-8:00 PM Where Charlie's Country Home Cooking 115 Marquis Dr. Fayetteville, GA Separate checks. All you can eat with beverage $9.42 plus tip. Please RSVP no later than noon, Monday, 6 June with Hershel Webb Phone: (770) webbhershel@bellsouth.net Spouses, guests, and prospective members are always welcome October 14-15: Georgia MOAA Convention, Savannah October 23-25: MOAA Annual Meeting, Washington DC Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death! - Sun Tzu WELCOME COL Mel Pender, USA-Ret Keep us updated If you change your contact information, please keep us informed so you will continue to receive the AMOAA Connection and other important notices. Chapter secretary LTC Brad Lord bradford.j.lord@gmail.com Stay Informed Sign up to receive the MOAA Messages, the Council and Chapter Update, and the Legislative Update by visiting or by calling MOAA s Member Service Center at MOAA (6622). The Legislative Update informs you of time-sensitive legislative alerts weekly; the Council and Chapter Affairs Updates reaches you monthly. 2

3 1 2 Vol. XXIX, #6 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE New Tricare Fees Delayed Broad changes could be coming to Tricare and the military health system under legislation drafted by the House Armed Services Committee, but active-duty personnel and current retirees wouldn't see the immediate hits to their wallets that were proposed earlier this year in the Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget. House lawmakers propose to overhaul the military health system and Tricare health plans to maintain the medical readiness of the force, now and in the future, according to the HASC staff. Those changes include reorganizing multiple Tricare programs into two options: the existing Tricare Prime program and Tricare Preferred a network care option similar to Tricare Standard and Extra. The current fee structure would remain in place but could change in 2020 if the Defense Department meets certain standards for patient access and care. Under the HASC proposal, all personnel now serving or who will retire before Jan 1, 2018, will elect to use Tricare Prime or Tricare Preferred and will pay the current fee structure, with enrollment fees adjusted to the cost of living. The current fee structure would remain in place until Then, if DoD has shown to Congress that it has improved the overall quality and access to care for beneficiaries, retirees using Tricare Preferred would start paying an annual enrollment fee: $100 per an individual and $200 for a family. Those on Tricare Prime would continue to pay the COLA-based enrollment fee. AMOAA CONNECTION Active-duty families would continue to not pay any enrollment fees until their sponsor retires. Anyone enlisting after Jan. 1, 2018, would pay an annual fee, including the active-duty member, of either $180 for an individual and $360 for a family for Tricare Prime, or $300 for an individual or $600 for a family for Tricare Preferred. When they eventually retire, they would pay $325 for an individual and $650 for a family on Prime and $425 for an individual and $850 for a family for Tricare Preferred. Another change also would be implemented for new users in 2018: they would pay set amounts for primary and specialty care visits under Tricare Preferred, instead of the 20 percent or 25 percent rate currently used. Beneficiaries who use Tricare Reserve Select, Tricare Retired Reserve or Tricare Young Adult would be moved into the Tricare Preferred umbrella, which allows patients to see a network provider at a lower cost or go out of network without a referral. The fee structure for those programs would remain as they are. The Pentagon, in its fiscal 2017 budget proposal, sought to require all working-age retirees pay annual enrollment fees regardless of which Tricare program they selected or forfeit their health care for a year. The $48.8 billion health budget request also sought to increase pharmacy fees across-the-board and proposed new enrollment fees, based on a percentage of gross retired pay, for the oldest military retirees and other Medicare eligible retirees. The HASC rejected both those requests. When we looked at reforming the Tricare benefit, we looked at the goal of preserving readiness, and ensuring that military treatment facilities would remain as a readiness platform we want people to use military treatment facilities," a House staff member said. The proposed legislation also makes changes to the military health system to "ensure medical readiness and streamline administrative structure," staff said. The bill would require military health facilities to operate past normal business hours to improve patient access and to maintain urgent care facilities that are open until 11 p.m., or have a contract with a community based urgent care center to ensure that Tricare beneficiaries could seek urgent care without a referral. Continued on p. 6 3

4 AMOAA CONNECTION Vol. XXIX, #6 JROTC LEADERSHIP AWARDS More award presentations can be found at Bill Howerton presented the MOAA Leadership Medal to Dylan Griffin at Altoona HS and Joshua Medina of Kennesaw Mountain HS Larry Spinks presented the Medal to Anthony Cole of Luella HS and Kerry Bennett, Jr. at Eagles Landing HS Don Latson presents the Medal to Nia Archuleta at Riverdale HS Dan Holtz and Paul Robinson present the Medal to Dana Bonner at Lithia Springs HS Tom Torbert presented the Medal to DreQuan Ripley at Mays HS and Jocelyn Pacheco of North Atlanta HS Karl Wingard presented the Medal to Talia Parrah at Chamblee HS and Marc Sanchez at Cross Keys HS Bob Scott presents the Medal to Ahsan Shah at Northgate HS and to Brandy Watson at Newnan HS Jeff Hoffman presented the Medal to Me'shana Slaton at Washington HS and Cooper Donlin at Marietta HS Bernie Booth presented the Medal to Morgan Gaynor at Hiram HS and Ryan Garrett at South Paulding HS 4

5 Vol. XXIX, #6 COBB VTC GRADUATION Congratulations to Willis Hatfield (USA) and Brannon Musser (USMC) for successfully completing the Cobb County Veterans Treatment Court and becoming the inaugural graduates after 18 months of treatment and support. Special thanks go to two mentors, Bill Craig (USMC) and Peter Varljen (USA) for guiding and leading both men to graduation. Willis will remain in the area and potentially become a mentor, while Brannon plans to open a motorcycle repair shop within the year in Pennsylvania. Honoring the graduates was keynote speaker Senator Johnny Isakson and COL Blackstock, GAARNG, who spoke personally to Willis and Brannon about their accomplishments and challenged them to continue to serve the community and support the Veteran Brotherhood. Special thanks to Bill Howerton, Robert Certain, Chuck Davis, Jewel Montgomery, David Bockel and Phil Carter, all AMOAA members and Veteran Mentors for the VTC. Their silent service to the warrior on the battlefield as mentors and community leaders will build a legacy for all to follow. We say farewell to Bill Craig who will move close to his grandchildren in Jasper, GA. The program continues to grow with 32 mentors and 32 participants in all four phases of the VTC. Thank you Bill for your service to the mentor program and the United States. President, from p. 1 AMOAA CONNECTION and over 100 across the US. The Vet Centers also assist in completing disability claims by providing VA mental health treatment assessments and partner with Georgia State Veterans Services Offices to track and report on disability findings and will file the necessary dispute paperwork as required. War Veterans and families receive unlimited therapy to cope with their unique mental issues and Vet Centers have the latitude to offer limited transition assistance to non-combat Veterans separating from the service into the private sector. On a person note, I take advantage of some of Vet Center s services and encourage all of my Veteran Treatment Court participants to participate in the anger management and transition classes the Vet Center continually offers to our wounded warriors and their families. While more mental health resources are needed to treat our Veterans, the Vet Centers under the VA umbrella are a great place to start. Georgia State PTSD/TBI Clinic, Milledgeville, GA. Credit goes to Mike Nelson-Palmer for following up with Dan Holtz on the progress of the PTSD/TBI Clinic. Since the team Stormed the Golden Dome in February 2016, the Legislature approved $3 million of $6 million through the general bond fund for structural repairs to the to the clinic. Future plans include requesting the final $3 million, combining the two appropriations, and request matching funds from VA in FY Above: Judge Green begins the ceremony Below: Willis Hatfield expresses his gratitude E-CONNECTION In addition to this print version of our newsletter, we also send our 5- Star electronic version. If you are not receiving it, send your address to amoaa@att.net so we can add you. The E- Connection is published semi-monthly and contains more than space allows in the print version. The website and the E-Connection help us communicate better and save money. 5

6 AMOAA CONNECTION Vol. XXIX, #6 Legislation, from p. 3 The bill also would place military health facilities under the administration of the Defense Health Agency, with the three service surgeons general being responsible for command of military medical personnel, medical readiness, manpower, training and equipment. And military treatment facilities would be required to be right sized for their communities, with large medical centers focused on trauma and specialty care, military hospitals providing in-patient care in areas where the surrounding communities cannot provide that care, and ambulatory care clinics in areas with ample civilian emergency and specialty care services. The draft legislation, proposed by HASC Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R- Texas, must be approved by the House and reconciled with the Senate before it becomes law. The Senate was expected to introduce its version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act in early May. House Votes to Hold the IRS More Accountable In late April, the House of Representatives passed legislation to ensure that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is more accountable to American taxpayers. Under the Obama Administration, the IRS has unfairly targeted citizens, failed to objectively enforce the law, and has provided inadequate support to a majority of Americans filing their taxes. Despite this disappointing track record, the IRS has continued to reward its employees with bonuses for inadequate work. American taxpayers work hard for their money and rightly expect high standards for IRS employees who handle highly sensitive taxpayer information. If signed into law, these measures would: Prohibit the IRS from rehiring employees who were fired for misconduct. Prohibit the IRS from paying bonuses to employees until the Secretary of the Treasury develops and implements a comprehensive customer service strategy that puts hardworking taxpayers first. Require the Treasury to deposit these funds into a general fund that will be used for improving taxpayer services. Suspend the hiring of new IRS employees unless the Treasury Secretary certifies that no IRS employees have serious delinquencies with respect to their own tax obligations. Prohibit the use of funds by the IRS to target citizens of the United States for exercising any right guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Update on Commissary Reform Congress has directed the commissary system to implement pilot programs to find ways to reduce the costs of commissaries to taxpayers and commissary officials have pledged to try and determine which reforms can be put into place that will keep the benefit for commissary customers but also reduce commissary dependence on taxpayer support. Commissary officials want to save the benefit while running commissaries as efficiently as possible. This is very different from past DoD proposals that would have raised commissary prices, reduced operating hours and reduced the number of days that commissaries would be open. Instead, they want to initiate pilot programs to test what they call variable pricing and introducing their own generic products, like virtually every grocery store now offers, as do AAFES exchanges. They also want to institute common back office procedures within all commissary stores with the aim of achieving financial savings. Finally, they will be looking at ways to expand the business. There are no plans to close any commissaries that are not already scheduled to be closed. 6

7 Vol. XXIX, #6 AMOAA CONNECTION Southside Satellite Corner The Atlanta Chapter of the Military Officer Association of America (AMOAA) Satellite Group held their second monthly meeting in Peachtree City on 13 April Almost twenty MOAA members met for breakfast at J. Christopher s restaurant to hear Robert (Rob) Johnson present a thoughtful overview of the services provided by the Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS). Rob, an Air Force veteran, is a senior Veterans Field Service Officer (VFSO) and Manager of the Newnan field office of the GDVS. The group included MOAA members from all services who had not attended the kick-off meeting last month. Attendees of note were Max Baratz, MG(R), US Army, and former Chief, US Army Reserve, from 1994 to 1998; and Mike King, LTC(R), US Army, Council Member-Post 2 of the Peachtree City Council; and Randy Brown, a new VFSO in the GDVS Office. The AMOAA Satellite Group (ASG) held their third monthly meeting at Speedi-Pig Barbeque restaurant in Fayetteville to recognize the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training (JROTC) Program s 100th Anniversary. We honored senior instructor representatives from two of the seven JROTC programs in Fayette, Coweta, and Spalding counties with framed certificates of appreciation. The JROTC reps gave an overview of their respective local programs and their challenges today. The JROTC reps present at the meeting were CSM(R) Frank Gunter, US Army, from the Spalding High School and MAJ (R) Pete Merrill, US Marine Corps, from East Coweta High School. Pictures are in the PHOTO section of the webpage. Our June satellite meeting will highlight important planning elements and considerations for surviving spouses. The discussion will be led by our newly designated ASG Surviving Spouse Representative Ms. Della Reinhart. This supper meeting will be held on 9 June at Charlie s Country Home Cooking in Fayetteville. See page 2 for details and reservations. No ASG meetings will be held in July and August, but watch the AMOAA website calendar and Chapter information link for Satellite South over the summer or monitor E-Connection updates for happenings. LIST YOUR SERVICES IN THE AMOAA CONNECTION and E-CONNECTION. You can have your company, books, or services listed in this newsletter and/or the electronic version and/or on our webpage, and be welcomed into the homes of more than 700 MOAA members and spouses. Contact Col. Robert Certain, (770) or via amoaa@att.net. VetJobs is the leading military job board for transitioning military, veterans, DOD civilians and their family member. Get help and search openings at CAPT Ted Daywalt, USN-Ret tdaywalt@vetjobs.com UNCHAINED EAGLE By Col. Robert Certain When combat troops come home from war, we have been profoundly changed. This book is the story of one warrior's journey from the prisons of North Vietnam to full freedom decades later. Available as a Kindle book at Amazon.com for $2.99 Exceptional Senior Living Parc at Duluth Independent and Assisted Living 3315 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Duluth, GA AMOAA NAME BADGES Order from Graphic Engraving 6061 Buford Hwy Atlanta, GA minimum order of two badges Indicate logo preference with Services or without 7

8 The AMOAA Connection is published by the Atlanta Chapter MOAA, an affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). The Connection is published monthly except for July and August. MOAA and its chapters are non-partisan and articles, opinions, and comments are solely those of the authors and do not express policy or opinion of MOAA. MOAA VISION STATEMENT Promote and protect a strong national defense and lead our Nation to honor its commitments to all who serve. MOAA MISSION STATEMENT To advocate for our community and connect it to the Nation we serve. WE NEVER STOP SERVING The Atlanta Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America is a non-profit veterans association dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and to preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families and survivors. Membership is open to anyone who holds, or has ever held, a commission or warrant in any component of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and their surviving spouses. We strive to foster fraternal relations among active, reserve, National Guard, retired and former commissioned and warrant officers of the seven uniformed services. Our chapter adheres to the principles and goals of the Military Officers Association of America. The Atlanta Chapter of MOAA, Inc. P. O. Box Atlanta, GA31146 FIRST CLASS MAIL