THE SEVEN SERVICES NEWSLETTER MONTGOMERY COUNTY CHAPTER MARYLAND A SPECIAL EDITION President s Note This special edition of our newsletter has been prepared to report to you the accomplishments and activities under our TOPS effort. Our TOPS Coordinator is Jim Dittbrenner. The Montgomery TOPS Coordinator began the year working with the one other TOPS Coordinator in the Maryland Council Ft. Meade Chapter. In March Susquehanna Chapter added their TOPS Coordinator and in November the Star Spangled Banner Chapter (Baltimore) added their TOPS Coordinator. Both Ft. Meade and Susquehanna lost their Coordinators and were able to replace them. The three chapter TOPS Coordinators receive support and resources from the Montgomery County s TOPS Coordinator in support their own Chapter s efforts. This is a combination of Chapter TOPS working together on issues and as part of MC Coordinator s role as Maryland Council s TOPS Networking Coordinator. The new Chapter TOPS Coordinators have also been provided with contact information of key Virginia resources. Offers to the other nine Chapter TOPS Coordinators, or representatives, to develop programs incorporating civic, governmental and/or associations in their arenas have been made and continue to be made. Programs proposed include one such as Northern Virginia Chapter s Business And Networking Group (BANG) program that was initiated in Northern Virginia in 1994, and is still operating. Another program proposed to the Maryland Council s Chapters is a three Saturdays transition program drawn from the best pieces of transition programs being offered across the U.S. The BANG program focuses on networking contacts and local area employer information. The three Saturday program is focused on all aspects of the job search and the first 30 days in the new role. The three Saturday transition program includes unlimited follow on coaching at no cost to program participants. Employers would be contacted and asked to underwrite the low costs of the Three Saturday Transition Program. 1
In February the MC TOPS was asked to serve as a resource and identify active organizational resources supporting transitioning service members in the mid-atlantic region. The request came from ONR who was tasked with developing the report for DoD. MC TOPS received complements from ONR for information, resources and contacts identified and provided. This DoD Study covering the mid-atlantic area is the first of seven that will cover the nation. The second area being studies is the Ft. Bragg area and that study is currently underway. The study of the mid-atlantic area should be available online in early 2014. Received high kudos from Marine Colonel (Retired) who ran the study. MC TOPS was asked to become an active member of the Wounded Warrior Program s Jobs Committee and met with the Committee in April. Ongoing efforts include providing job postings, the Career Fair and Open House listings, identifying area resources, locating special programs and special opportunities; and providing job search counseling as needed across the tri-state area. The MC TOPS was able to participate in the MOAA Regional Seminar and Workshop in Hershey, PA, the last week of September. A written report was provided to the Transition Center staff of those Chapter TOPS activities found to be most useful to transitioning service members. This was made available to the 15 attendees of the TOPS Workshop at Hershey. Subsequent to the Seminar at Hershey a report of the results of the TOPS Workshop portion of the Seminar was submitted to the Maryland Council and to the Chapter TOPS Network Coordinators. A copy of this report to the Maryland Council and Chapters may be obtained by contacting Jim Dittbrenner at jimditt@verizon.net. Please specify whether a Microsoft Word document or a PDF is desired. Several significant changes to the TOPS Directorship were announced at the Seminar. Key among those changes and additions, for the TOPS areas of concern are these: The Directorship or the old TOPS is now the Transition Center with three key areas of activity and responsibility: Career Management Consulting Benefits Information Veterans Service Officers The Career management Consulting side includes the semi-annual career fairs, the MOAA Transition Center LinkedIn blog, and the new MOAA Connect for communications with fellow members and Associates. The introduction of InterviewStream, which is a video interview program designed to assist members in preparing for interviews. It poses questions, selected by the interviewee, records and plays back for critique. The program allows the interviewee to go over and rerecord showing improvement by the interviewee. This is a superior program over any of the TAPs or etaps. The new Military Executives in Transition (MET) is a one day offering for senior officers that brings the latest technologies, search firm counselors and one-on-one coaching over the day as well as presentations on the current employment picture. The MOAA Transition Liaison networking Program is new and currently available via MOAA Connect. A new program, the Care Givers Guide, is a program for those working with veterans. It is an online workshop offering information and support to the caregiver, including helpful resources. It is free and available to family caregivers. 2
. Interested MOAA Members may go to www.caregiver.va.gov and place your ZIP code in the ZIP code finder. The VSO operation is awaiting final approval of the training protocols in order to begin the training of its first volunteers. This program is set up to assist veterans waiting for Veterans Affairs approvals or appeals. The whole program is designed to help the Veterans Affairs clear up its backlog of applicants. In the Benefits area Lt. Colonel Shane Ostrum, USAF (Ret), has come over to counsel and advise on financial matters, healthcare and benefits. This area is also responsible for MOAA s transition publications. The Montgomery County TOPS Coordinator was able to celebrate the completion of 26 years of continuing career counseling and coaching to transitioning military the end of October. The Wounded Warrior Mentor Program for Maryland was discontinued this fall with the transition of much of the work to Ft. Belvoir. The detachment at Ft. Meade is no longer looking for Mentors. Montgomery County Chapter s Networking Coordinator (TOPS) is continuing to support the out of state Wounded Warriors. this November. This is the second year that this session has been included in the recruitdc programs. The recruiters attending these semi-annual programs are recognized among the top recruiters in the metro DC MC TOPS Networking Coordinator again was able to get the recruitdc area. The same approach was incorporated in 2012, drawing a program from the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A veteran from Rockville, MD, has been identified, with an alternate, also from Rockville, to present a program on the value of the veteran to the recruitdc program in the Spring. The distribution of the Career Fairs and Open House listings has now reached 75,000+ according to the latest estimates by outside sources. This is based on the common threetiers or levels of distribution. This level of distribution includes the initial distribution of 1100 that goes world-wide 20 to 21 times a year. This distribution includes the military installations from the Naval War College in Providence, RI, and Ft. Hamilton, in New York City, to Southern Command in Tampa, Florida. Many of the TAPs in the metro Washington, DC area distribute the listings in their TAP classes. This results in additional requests for personal copies of the free document. Additionally, the Career Fair and Open House listings are posted on four acknowledged career sites. Plans are in place for the listings to be directly posted on the web early next year. DoD approved Military One-Stop s request to select and post some of the Career Fair and Open House listing s newsletters dealing with areas of job search. Organization to include a session the value of hiring transitioning service personal and veterans. This session was for all 240 recruiters attending its November program, not one of the break-out sessions. The semi-annual recruitdc program was held in Silver Spring, MD 3
Several positives result from the distribution the Career Fair and Open House listing and its cover newsletter on the different aspects of job search and career management. Transitioning officers not already members of MOAA are joining and connecting with their State MOAA Networking Coordinator. Another positive is the connection and development of working relationships between State Networking Coordinators whereby transitioning officers can be connected directly with the State Networking Coordinator and where available Chapter TOPS. Requests continue from transition officers who are locating away from the areas served by the Career Fair listings for that information to be developed for their specific area. Currently these requests include Alabama, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, California and Washington State. This information is being passed on to the MOAA Transition Center for their consideration. A representative from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has asked to discuss the feasibility of creating a national listing of career fairs whose primary focus is returning service members and veterans. The organization Military.com, and its web site www. Military.com, has been mentioned as possible participant. Initial discussions will begin before Christmas. This would supersede a planned approach to MOAA s Transition Center and Council and Chapters Directors. IN OTHER NEWS Montgomery College Service Center Now Open! The Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs announces the opening of its newest service center, located at Montgomery College. Please join us in extending a hearty welcome to Mr. Marlon Brown, our new benefits specialist. Mr. Brown can be reached at: Montgomery College Service Center 51 Mannakee Street Counseling and Advising Building, Room CB 103 Rockville, MD. 20850 240-567-5405 240-567-4361 (From the National Military Family Association) House Subcommittee Revisits Commissary and Exchange Benefits On November 21, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel held its annual overview hearing of the military resale benefit, which includes the commissary and exchange. Subcommittee members heard testimony on the value of the commissary benefit as well as the impact of proposed cuts from Department of Defense (DoD) officials, commissary and exchange leadership and representatives from nonprofit associations. The National Military Family Association submitted a statement that was accepted for the record. Throughout the hearing, subcommittee members asked panelists about options for reducing the cost of the resale benefit. The commissary in particular is a target for cuts because of the $1.4 billion subsidy appropriated for its operation annually. However, according to Joseph Jeu, Director and CEO of the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), 4
there is nothing more to cut, no more low hanging fruit to dispense with. Additional budget cuts will cause the commissary to operate less efficiently and lead to lower customer satisfaction, according to Jeu. Unlike the commissary, the exchanges do not receive a subsidy from the government. They operate at a profit, which is used to support installation Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs. However, the government does fund the cost of shipping goods to overseas commissaries and exchanges. Subcommittee members suggested eliminating this expense. However, panelists explained that the transport of goods overseas provides opportunities for training within the forces, as well as avoiding costs that would be incurred by mailing U.S. goods through APO addresses. These are not calculated as a benefit, but if the exchanges were cut, the Department of Defense would have unintended increases in cost to other areas. Commissary shoppers save an average of 30 percent on their grocery bills. Significantly cutting commissary funding and eliminating overseas shipping would lead to an estimated $2.1 billion loss in compensation to military families according to Armed Forces Marketing Counsel President Thomas Gordy. This demonstrates the efficiency of the benefit provided. Dollar for dollar, the government spends very little to provide a lot of benefit via the commissary and exchanges. During the question and answer portion of the hearing, Representative Heck proposed that increasing the surcharge to military patrons at the commissary by another 5 percent would be a small impact, and it should be considered to keep the benefit from being eliminated completely. However, even this seemingly small increase would have a large impact on a military family s grocery budget. A family that spends $875 per month on groceries, for example, would spend an additional $650 per year if the surcharge increased to 10 percent. Rosemary Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, reminded the subcommittee that military families need the support of DoD programs and services now more than ever, especially with more service members coming home. She emphasized that it is not just a readiness and resilience issue, it s a moral imperative, and pointed to our Association s information about how sequestration has affected military families as a resource for examining the necessity of these programs. The Association knows that the commissary and exchange benefits rank high among nonmonetary benefits for military families, providing them with critical quality of life assets, access to programs, and valuable savings no matter what their rank or financial situation. We support an enduring and meaningful benefit in the commissary and exchange programs that continue to provide tangible and non-tangible value to our service members, retirees, their families, and survivors. 5
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL! 6