OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: LtCol Gary Peppers, USAF (RET) Email: garypeppers199@gmail.com 573-6690 VICE PRESIDENT: Col. Tom Wagner, USMC (RET) Email: Redleg70@gmail.com (608)658-6254 SECRETARY: Natalie Pittenger Email: nfaino@comcast.net (978) 828-8659 TREASURER: Marilyn Stout Email: astout34@comcast.net 549-5629 MEMBER AT LARGE: Jean Van House Email: rjvanhouse@hotmail.com 542-3965 COMMITTEES: CHAPLAIN: WAYS & MEANS Col. Tom Wagner, USMC (RET) Email: Redleg70@gmail.com (608)658-6254 SPEAKERS PROGRAM: Marilyn Stout Email: astout34@comcast.net 549-5629 WEBMASTER/HISTORIAN: LCDR Jason Menapace, USCG (RET) Email: Jason_Menapace2010@comcast.net 687-6650 LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS PERSONAL AFFAIRS: Janet Deile Email: seehof@embarqmail.com 574-6718 VETERANS AFFAIRS: MEMBERSHIP: PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Jody Van Cooney Email: jodyvanc@gmail.com 590-6416 SUNSHINE: Carol Turiello Email: cturiello@aol.com PARLIAMENTARIAN: Marilyn Stout Email: astout34@comcast.net 549-5629 NEWSLETTER EDITOR/PUBLISHER: Jean Van House Email: rjvanhouse@hotmail.com 542-3965 TOPS: LTC John Buick, USAF (RET) Email: johnrbuick@comcast.net 945-5030 The Calusa Communicator CCMOAA MONTHLY BREAKFAST MEETING January 9, 2016 9:00 AM Gulf Coast Village 1333 Santa Barbara Blvd. Reservations required Email or call Dixie Buick at calusamoaa@yahoo.com or 945-5030 By Wednesday, January 6 $10.00 no checks please Please wear your nametags!! Members of the Calusa Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, P.O. BOX 100508, Cape Coral, FL 33910-0508, publish the Calusa Communicator monthly, except June, July and August. The Chapter is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, affiliated with National MOAA and the Florida Chapter of Councils, MOAA, not associated with the Department of Defense. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of MOAA, the Florida Council of Chapters, the Chapter, or DOD. CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 1
PRESIDENT S MESSAGE As I accept the Gavel of Doom from Nick Hubbell, let me just remind you of the purpose of CCMOAA and reasons for our existence. First, we are primarily a fraternal organization of unique individuals with diverse experiences as leaders of America s fighting forces. I enjoy the company of each of you and promise to do my best to make every Saturday breakfast an event you look forward to as well. Our upcoming military ball on Valentine s Day promises to be an exciting event and an opportunity to dress up in your finest and to enjoy the camaraderie we share as military officers. Please plan to be there. It will be fun! Our second objective is to support the goals of National MOAA in securing the earned benefits and fair treatment for all military members and their families, currently serving or retired. To that end, I pledge my personal support and that of the Calusa Chapter in any way we can to help National achieve its goals. The third objective CCMOAA has adopted is to encourage our community s best and brightest new high school grads to become the future leaders of America s armed forces. We are the only Cape Coral organization that awards monetary grants to students pursuing military commissions through college ROTC programs. We need to help our scholarship funds grow in 2016 through donations, fund raising events, and wise investments. I ll have more to offer on these subjects in the coming weeks. Finally, give a big Thanks! to Nick for guiding CCMOAA for the past two years, to Marilyn Stout as Secretary, and to Bob Saldarini as Treasurer. Welcome to Tom Wagner, who is taking on the responsibility of Vice President and the Ways and Means Committee Chair; Natalie Pittenger, who stepped up to be the new Secretary; and Marilyn, who is assuming her new post as Treasurer. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year, or for however long this pony carries us! Gary FAREWELL FROM NICK I want to wish you all a happy and safe holiday season. Let us remember our service men and women who are in harm s way and pray for their safety and success. This is my last message to you as the chapter president. I want to thank all of you for your support and assistance during my tenure. Gary Peppers and his new slate of officers will do everything possible to make us a strong and more viable MOAA chapter. I look forward to our future. Thank you again for allowing me to work with you. Nick Hubbell EDITOR S NOTE I d like to thank Natalie Pittenger and Carol Turiello for agreeing to step up to help the chapter. Natalie will be our new chapter secretary. She and Russ are not in town the entire year, but they are in Florida for most of the months that we meet. Carol will be taking on the Sunshine Chair position (sending out get well and sympathy cards as needed), a job vacated when we recently lost Helen McClary. To both of you, I say thank you. UPCOMING EVENTS January Breakfast Meeting, Saturday, Jan. 9, 9 AM, Gulf Coast Village February Breakfast Meeting, Saturday, Feb. 13, 9 AM, Gulf Coast Village Military Ball, Sunday, Feb. 14, 6-9 PM, Burroughs Home, Ft. Myers March Breakfast Meeting, Saturday March 12, 9 AM, Gulf Coast Village April Breakfast Meeting, Saturday April 9, 9 AM, Gulf Coast Village May Breakfast Meeting, Saturday May 14, 9 AM, Gulf Coast Village CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 2
INVESTMENT REPORT As of the date of this report, 16 December 2015, our Operations Account totals $10,385.80 and the Scholarship Account is $16,851.61 for a total investment of $27,237.41. Year-to-date withdrawals are $1,700 from Operations and $5,500 from Scholarship. The net return on our combined investment of $33,700.00 as of 1 Nov 2014 amounts to $737.41, about a +2.19 percent overall yield. While that s just a snapshot, please note that our mutual fund portfolio has outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average by almost 4% and the S&P 500 index by 3% in 2015. COMBINED CCMOAA BOARD MEETINGS FOR DECEMBER The Calusa Chapter MOAA Board met on 3 December at the Military Museum and the General Membership meeting was on 12 December at Gulf Coast Village. The following action/information was taken: - ROTC Scholarship - Four checks were written, one was returned for a new address, the other three have not been cashed. MOAA National Leadership will meet in Orlando Jan 8-9. Tim Cook will attend to represent our Chapter. Publicity in local media has been good. Gary Peppers sent an article to national for the Military Officer magazine. Carol Turiello has been appointed Sunshine Chair. Minutes approved as published in Newsletter. As of December 1, our Operating Account has $1,634.49 and the Scholarship Account has $4,036.10. Our Investment Account has $26,912. Fashion Show has been proposed for April 2016, either at Palmetto Pines CC or at the Elks Club. If at Elks, attendance could be greater. Membership is 86. Tim Cook would like everyone to recruit a member. Dues remain at $20. Military Ball will be held on Sunday, February 14, at the Burroughs Home in Ft Myers. Price has not been determined. An Audit Committee will be appointed, prior to the new Treasurer taking over books. 2016 Officers are as follows: President Gary Peppers, Vice President Tom Wagner, Secretary Natalie Pittenger, Treasurer, Marilyn Stout and Member-At-Large Jean Van House. Marilyn Stout, Secretary LEGISLATIVE REPORT I gave a brief legislative oral report at our November meeting. Thought I would share the details. The weekly legislative report is sent each Friday. I expect there will be news about a continuing resolution as I do not think a budget will be passed. This week, MOAA President, Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, USN (Ret.), testified before the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee on what's working vs not working in military healthcare delivery, and what should be done about it. MOAA was invited to testify and provide its perspective on recent TRICARE and military health reform proposals, including the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission's (MCRMC) to replace all forms of TRICARE with a commercial insurance plan much like federal civilians. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.), an Army Reserve physician, said he is determined that, This process is not being driven by budgetary concerns, but by how we can best maintain readiness and provide the best health benefit to the military community. Ryan told the panel that the first goal should be to do no harm. Rather than tossing out the whole current system, Congress should focus on preserving what's working and fixing what isn't. He laid out several key principles, including: CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 3
Means-testing (e.g., setting premiums based on income) is inappropriate for service-earned military health benefits; Readiness-driven costs (such as when doctors deploy and patients get shifted to more costly civilian care) should not be passed to beneficiaries The military health benefit should be the gold standard rather than being made more like civilian plans through higher fees Ryan debunked the oft-quoted myth that DOD s health care costs are spiraling out of control, noting that DoD projections of future rising costs have been consistently wrong. In fact, he said, Military health costs have remained flat or have been declining for the past five years. He showed the Subcommittee a chart to demonstrate that fact. Among things that are working well, he cited combat casualty care, the overall quality of health care once it s delivered, TRICARE for Life, pharmacy programs, and TRICARE Standard for the most part. Key problem areas he cited included: TRICARE Prime's appointment and specialty care referral processes Inconsistent Guard and Reserve TRICARE coverage Provider capacity management in Military Treatment Facilities The inefficiencies of building DoD healthcare delivery around three separate military service programs, Inadequate case-management of the highest-cost or at-risk healthcare users, and Pediatric coverage. MOAA's recent survey of more than 30,000 beneficiaries found that those who used TRICARE For Life are most satisfied. Among currently serving families and working-age retirees, TRICARE Standard had a higher satisfaction rate and significantly lower dissatisfaction than those who used TRICARE Prime. In closing, Ryan stated that, The primary purpose of the military health system is readiness. But he insisted that also includes meeting the needs of and keeping commitments to families and retirees. When a service person goes over the horizon, they want to trust that their family is taken care of, he said, and also trust that when they complete a service career, the promises made about their future care will be kept. MOAA's written statement for the subcommittee listed 12 specific recommendations, including: Testing a unified budget/oversight authority in major locations with multiple service facilities Setting provider payments to reward quality care, not just patient visits Revamping the Guard and Reserve health care system to make it a better, more consistent, and more flexible benefit Creating more appointment capacity in military hospitals and clinics Ensuring DoD appointment access and timeliness standards are met Adopting more child-centered provider payment for pediatric care, and Fee-setting should include an explicit acknowledgement of the very large, pre-paid premium inherent in decades of service and sacrifice. MOAA appreciates the invitation to represent our members' in front of Congress. We will continue to work to make improvements to the military health system. CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 4
CALUSA CHAPTER OF THE MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (CCMOAA) P.O. BOX 100508, Cape Coral, FL 33910-0508 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION/DIRECTORY UPDATE New Chapter Annual Renewal Membership Change of Address Name Spouse s Name Please Print (Spouses, Widows, Widowers, are welcomed as chapter members.) Street Address: City: State Zip Telephone E-mail Rank Service Member DOB Check appropriate boxes: Retired Active Duty Widow(er) Αssociate *Associate members have the same privileges as other members except that they are ineligible to vote. Regular Reserve National Guard Former Officer MOAA National Membership No. Signature Date Dues Amount $ Donation to the JROTC Program $ Amount Enclosed Total $ Please include a check for $20.00 (New member s 1 st year dues are free.) The check should be made payable to CCMOAA and mailed to: CCMOAA, P.O. Box 100508, Cape Coral, FL 33910-0508 Attn: Treasurer As a reminder, dues are late after March 31 st, 2016. Please pay dues early!!!! CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 5
May God Bless America!!! 2003 Newsletter Communications Award Recipients 2005 Four Star Excellence Award Recipient 2006 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2007 Four Star Excellence Award Recipient 2008 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2009 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2010 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2011 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2012 Five Star Excellence Award Recipient 2013 Four Star Excellence Award Recipient Calusa Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America P.O. Box 100508 Cape Coral, FL 33910-0508 CCMOAA Newsletter January 2016 Page 6