JUNE 2018 MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, SENCLAND CHAPTER P.O. BOX 10015 WILMINGTON, NC 28404 SENCLAND.ORG EDITOR: HARRY L. BRUD DEAS III BRUDDEAS@GMAIL.COM (910) 338-0409 June Meeting - Submitted by Jim Jackson, Program Chair The Friday, 01 June meeting will be our annual Pig Pickin at High MacRae Park in Wilmington (Picnic Shelter #6) @1700. During this event our annual scholarship presentations will be made to the winning students from the local JROTC Programs, as well as previously awarded scholarships to veterans enrolled in Health & Allied Services at UNCW, Cape Fear CC and Brunswick CC. In addition, we will have a special Missing Man ceremony orchestrated by COL Ed Baisden, USA (Ret.) and COL Jeri Graham, USA (Ret.). Menu for Pig Pickin (Catered by Parchie s) Pulled Pork Bar-B-Que Fried Chicken Cole Slaw Baked Bean Hush Puppies Cookies for Dessert Soft Beverages + Wine and Beer Price $20 for everything! Reservations and payment must be made in advance. Please respond with your pre-payment via the PayPal option that also serves as your RSVP via our website www.sencland.org, on the News and Events Tab, or send a check to the Chapter PO Box, to be received NLT 29 May. Upcoming Programs for Remainder of 2018 July, August Summer break No meetings scheduled 11 Sep Blue Water TBD 19 Oct Special Event Wardroom, Battleship North Carolina 06 Nov Blue Water John Gizdic, CEO New Hanover Regional Medical Center 04 Dec Special Holiday Luncheon Blue Water The Harmony Belles will perform Message from SENCLAND Chapter President, Ken Klassen May 1 st was another beautiful beach day on Oak Island for our Southern area yearly luncheon. Thanks to Island Way Restaurant, Chad Cook and staff for a pleasant venue, meal and hospitality. We enjoyed the view, heard an informative presentation by MG Peggy Wilmoth, USA (Ret.) about changes in battlefield medicine, and realignment of the Armed Forces Medical Services under the newly formed Defense Health Agency. She also spoke about the educational opportunities for Veterans enrolled in UNC universities and colleges pursuing careers in Allied Health and Nursing, and then answered related questions. Our thanks to COL Chrissy Sanford, USA (Ret.) for inviting the General, who is a long-time personal friend as well as professional colleague. Recent events and summer activities within your SENCLAND Chapter: 1. Your Board of Directors met May 7 th to discuss updates to Chapter By-Laws. Recommended changes will be presented to the Chapter at a fall 2018 Luncheon and then voted on by the membership. We also discussed the need to purchase Liability Insurance for Directors and Officers, plus scholarship
distribution for JROTC students and Veterans studying health-related, and other, courses in our area community colleges and UNCW. You will hear more information at the picnic. 2. Plans were finalized for the June 1st picnic at Hugh MacRae Park. Please respond with your pre-payment via the PayPal option that also serves as your RSVP via the Website www.sencland.org, on the News and Events Tab, or send a check to be received NLT 29 May. We will honor JROTC Scholarship recipients for 2018 and host Veteran Scholarship winners from last fall who are attending local colleges. Treasurer David Gould will be on hand to receive your contribution toward our campaign to increase the scholarship goal this year by $5400 over 2017. As an additional program item well timed for Memorial Day, Past President Jeri Graham, COL, USA (Ret.), and husband Ed Baisden, COL, USA (Ret.) will perform the Missing Man Ceremony. Don t miss this special event before we take a summer break. 3. On April 30 th there was a very well done memorial service at the Wrightsville Beach United Methodist Church for a long-time member of MOAA, Col Robert Newman, Jr. USAF Retired. He was a combat veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He and wife Josephine were married 71 years. He will be missed. 4. Remember to wear poppies starting one week prior to Memorial Day, May 28 th - poppies were distributed at the last two luncheons. They are a reminder of our appreciation to all who have served and encourage all of us to Keep on Serving. 5. Don t forget to RSVP for the special presentation of the Caine Mutiny on the Battleship July 13 th. Tickets are still available. MG Peggy Wilmoth speaks to Chapter Another Great Presenter at Island Way Special Events Submitted by Ed Sullivan, Special Events Coordinator SENCLAND Special Event - Friday July 13th, Beginning at 5PM on Battleship North Carolina We have 40 members and guests who have paid to attend the Friday, July 13 th, event on the Battleship North Carolina, "The Caine Mutiny". Ed Sullivan will be contacting everyone who paid to attend to discuss the Pot Luck at the Battleship s River Front Cabana shelter and the remaining logistics. For those who did not sign up but would like to join us, please call Ed at 910-599-1595 as soon as possible to discuss the options. 2
Legislative Affairs - Submitted by Barry Coyle, Legislative Affairs Chair In Washington news, the FY 2019 Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills are working their way through the House and Senate committee hearings and mark-up process. No major issues have surfaced yet. MOAA National is concerned that some members of Congress may seek to add an enrollment fee for Tricare for Life (TFL). While any such fee is likely to be small, MOAA is concerned about continued chipping away at retirees earned benefits, especially after last year s pharmacy price increases. MOAA has prepared correspondence on this issue for your use, if you would like to get involved. These letters can be found in the Take Action section of the MOAA website. The SENCLAND website also has a direct link to the Take Action page. Department of Veterans Affairs leadership remains in transition. RADM Ronny Jackson withdrew his nomination as Secretary and President Trump has not yet named a new nominee. On 8 May the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved the VA Mission Bill and forwarded it to the full House for consideration. This legislation includes: modernization of the VA health care system, including expanded access to community providers; expanding assistance to caregivers of disabled veterans; additional care and services for women veterans; improved support and care related to suicide prevention and traumatic injuries; increased research and compensation regarding deployment-related illnesses and toxic exposures; improved protections for Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients; military spouse residency support and transition programs; and infrastructure modernization. I will keep you updated on progress with this legislation. In other VA news, the Veterans ID Card program is back on track and cards are being mailed to applicants. This program now includes NOAA and USPHS veterans. Speaking of new cards, if you are over 65 you have probably already been notified that MEDICARE is issuing new ID cards to all current beneficiaries. The new cards will no longer use Social Security Numbers and each person will receive a new account number. Be sure to provide the updated ID number to your providers. I recommend that you also verify that the new number is properly entered in your master MEDICARE account. It will take some time to complete mailing both of these cards, so be patient. The NC General Assembly will convene for the Short Session on 16 May 2018. Under rules established for the Short Session, neither HB 103 nor the similar S 153 bills for retiree tax relief are eligible for consideration, so it s likely these initiatives are dead for this legislative year. Several bills of military, retiree or Veteran interest are eligible for consideration in the Short Session. These include bills addressing DAV license plates and fees for both motorcycles and cars, easing teacher licensing requirements for military spouses moving to NC, and reporting abuse of military children to appropriate Armed Services agencies. I will report on progress of these bills as the Session progresses. Chapter Membership Dues Submitted by Dave Gould, Treasurer and Al Schroetel, Membership Chair 2018 SENCLAND Chapter Dues were payable in JANUARY. If you have a question about your payment status, please contact Al Schroetel at downeast@bellsouth.net, or 910-686-6905. Our Chapter derives its funding for Chapter activities almost exclusively through membership dues. The annual dues ($20 for members and $15 for surviving spouses) are among the lowest in the State. Chapter dues pay for representational items at military and veteran functions, special events like our WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam Veterans Recognitions, MOAA logo gifts for luncheon speakers, membership in the North Carolina MOAA Council of Chapters, website maintenance, mailing costs, and other operational expenses. Dues are waived for the following two categories of members: All members 90 years of age or older 3
New chapter members, for the remainder of the calendar year in which they join; thus, if a member joins in January, dues are waived for the entire year. Donations Please consider donating to the Chapter's Outreach Program that provides support for local veterans and military members and their families and/or Junior ROTC and Veterans Scholarships. There are two ways to pay your dues and make donations: On-Line: Open the Chapter's website, http://www.sencland.org, Click on the word Membership in the menu on the left side of the home page. On that new page, there are two separate choices; one is to pay Chapter dues, the other is to make a donation. Continue by clicking on the appropriate "Buy Now" button and follow the prompts. If you have questions about this process, please contact the Chapter Treasurer, Dave Gould, at dgould321@yahoo.com or 910-319-7021 Mail in a Hard Copy: Please print the following form and mail your dues and donations to: SENCLAND CHAPTER MOAA P.O. Box 10015 Wilmington, NC 28404 Name: Address: Email Address: Telephone number Dues $ Donation Total $ $ Please indicate where there are changes such as phone number or a new address. You may also bring the completed form and payment to the monthly luncheon Membership Updates We are pleased to report that the following are new SENCLAND Chapter members: Joe Calisto, COL, USA (Ret.). Joe and Dawn live in Wilmington. Gary Crowden, LTC, USA (Ret.). Gary and Maggi live in St. James Phillip Jones, Col, USAF (Ret.). Phil and Suzan live in Oak Island Bernie Maguire, former LT, USN. Bernie and Joyce live in Wilmington Lieve Morris, Surviving Spouse of Col. John H. Morris. Lieve lives in Sunset Beach Please continue to invite friends and neighbors that are current, former or retired military, Public health or other Uniformed Service members to a luncheon so that they can benefit from participation with the Chapter. Virtually all guests that have attended in the past have joined, keeping the Chapter strong, purposeful and fresh. 4
Deceased Members Newman, Jr., Robert, Col, USAF (Ret.) Surviving spouse is Jo JROTC Scholarships and Outreach Support Submitted by LTC LeeRoy Hanna, Leadership/Scholarship Chair We would like to recognize the following members who have donated to the scholarship/outreach programs this month: James Brumit ** James W. Jackson Thomas C Jones ** Juanita Neumeister Rosemary Peterson Ritt Schiano Ronald Watts * Donations $100 to $199 ** Donations $200 or more Please considering making a donation to these worthwhile projects now. We are always accepting applications for outreach support. Thank you again to all of our generous contributors. We received several communications from our 2018 Scholarship recipients over the past few weeks; here is one of the more enthusiastic ones: From Joshua Synakowski: Thank you so much for awarding me this amazing scholarship. Words can't begin to describe how excited I am. I look forward to the great opportunities that await me. I want to immensely thank you for helping me achieve my future goals! Thank you so much I hope you have a great day and look forward to hearing from you. We are currently making the JROTC Leadership Award presentations. Eight presentations have occurred with three coming up this week. I have volunteers for all dates except East Duplin (23 May at 0830) and Wallace- Rose Hill (25 May at 0900). If you would like to do either of these please contact me. If I don t get a volunteer I will make the presentations. If you are interested in making a presentation, please send me an email at MACHanna@aol.com. When we finish this cycle, we will have made 18 presentations to our JROTC programs. I would like to recognize and say thank you to those who have made presentations or are scheduled to make them. CDR (Ret) Bob Johannesen MAJ (Ret) Michael Graham COL (Ret) David Benton COL (Ret) Craig MacPherson BG (Ret) Tom Jones LTC (Ret) Larry Wilson CWO2 (Ret) Dave Foster COL (Ret) Robert Campbell CAPT (Ret) John Stewart COL (Ret) Dick Husemann COL (Ret) Chrissy Sanford LTC (Ret) Lee Hanna Thank you to all of you who support these very visible and worthwhile programs. 5
Expanded Veteran s Scholarship Support - Submitted by Chrissy Sanford, 2 nd VP This year SENCLAND MOAA is increasing the amount of money being awarded to military Veteran students at UNC Wilmington, Cape Fear Community College, and Brunswick Community College. Additionally, we are including nominations to Veteran Students who are enrolled in other courses of study besides Nursing and Allied Health. All nominees and recipients will continue to meet the criteria outlined in the original scholarship guidelines. As an incentive to contribute to the scholarship programs, including JROTC, Chrissy Sanford, 2nd Vice President, is challenging our members to match her $100 donation for these causes. North Carolina Real ID Editor s Note: We ran an article on this ID change a few months ago, but I m putting this subject back in the newsletter for June. My personal driver s license was coming up for renewal (you can renew up to 6 months in advance), so I logged onto the NC Department of Transportation website and downloaded the page that details what ID you need to have your license changed to a Real ID license. It was really quite painless. Here s some pertinent information: The N.C. REAL ID will make it more convenient when you need to board a commercial airplane or visit a military base or other federal facility. Beginning in 2020, federal agencies will enforce tougher security standards at airport check-ins, federal buildings, military installations and nuclear sites. The N.C. REAL ID is just like your traditional license or ID but has a gold star at the top. Driver licenses and IDs without a gold star are noted "Not for Federal Identification." N.C. REAL IDs N.C. REAL ID driver licenses and IDs carry a gold star in the top right corner. Non-REAL ID 6
Without a star, licenses and IDs now carry the stamp "Not for Federal Identification." Without an N.C. REAL ID, you will still be able to board flights and enter federal facilities, but you will have to provide additional documentation with your traditional license or ID. You must also contact the Transportation Security Administration and other federal facilities about their required identification before each visit. Getting an N.C. REAL ID Downloadable Brochure Download and print the N.C. REAL ID brochure as a reference when collecting your required documents. Getting an N.C. REAL ID driver license or ID card costs the same as getting any other license or ID for the first time: 1. Gather the necessary documents. 2. Take them to your nearest NCDMV driver license office Drop in any time when it's convenient for you Avoid the lines and make an appointment by calling (919) 715-7000. Required Documents You'll need documents from the following table to get an N.C. REAL ID. 7
Proof of Identity, date of birth, legal presence/lawful status Social Security number Acceptable Documents View list View list Requirement 1 document with full name 1 with full name and Social Security number N.C. address View list 2 with current address Name change View list 1 (required only if name is different from the name on birth certificate, passport, U.S. government documents or REAL ID) To avoid inconveniences, make sure you have all necessary documents before visiting the driver license office. To confirm identity and residency under the federal law, NCDMV scans these documents and permanently and securely stores them in your DMV record. You can expect to receive your N.C. REAL ID driver license or ID card by mail in 10-15 business days. SENCLAND Chapter Website Information If you have logged onto the Chapter Website (www.sencland.org) over the past few months, you have read coverage about a busy summer of special events plus legislative updates. There are numerous pieces in the News and Events, Legislative Affairs, Photo Gallery and Our Heritage tabs for your review. Also, numerous new members have joined and their contact info is available in the roster that is available to members only. If you need help logging onto the website for roster info, please call or email Ken Klassen, Webmaster, at 910-791-3999 or kwkswk@att.net. Chaplain s Corner Chapter Chaplain Charles Lewis sends this reminder - In the event of a serious illness, or a death, in the case of a Chapter member or spouse, please make sure to let our Chaplain know of the specific mailing address for family members who should receive get-well or sympathy cards from SENCLAND Chapter. This is a vital communication process - we want our membership to know that we sincerely care. Editorial Policy and Comments The SENCLAND SENTINEL Newsletter is published by the SENCLAND Chapter, which is an affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). MOAA and its affiliated chapters and councils are independent, nonprofit, and politically nonpartisan organizations. As a part of MOAA s efforts to advance legislation and budgets that would be in the best interests of military members, retirees, and their families, there is an ongoing initiative to create awareness on many important topics, and to provide members with easy ways to give their input to state and national legislators. The following link will take you directly to MOAA s legislative activities and provide access to congress. http://capwiz.com/moaa/home/. 8
SENCLAND Sentinel Our Chapter s Voice Our newsletter is published monthly (except July & August) in sufficient time to provide information on upcoming meetings. We want this newsletter to be of value to you, but we do not aim to compete with established print, broadcast, or online media, and we do not simply distill what MOAA National is publishing in Military Officer each month. What we want to do here is keep you informed about the chapter and our SENCLAND efforts to stay connected with each other and support our local military and veteran communities. To that end, we encourage you to provide content for publication in our newsletter and online. Simply send your notices, letters, articles, and photos to our editor, Brud Deas, (bruddeas@gmail.com) as you collect them. Everything submitted by the 15th of the month will be considered for inclusion in the following month s newsletter. All items are subject to editing. SENCLAND Sentinel accepts sponsorships from our members and other supporters. You can see a full listing of current sponsors at the end of each newsletter. Soliciting sponsorship in this way provides a way to recognize our sponsors while allowing us to keep our dues the lowest in the state. If you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities for yourself, your company, other veteran fraternal and support organizations, or anyone else that appreciates the mission of SENCLAND MOAA, please email Brud. Cash sponsorships in excess of the cost of publishing this newsletter in its current format will augment our local military and veteran outreach activities, increasing the positive effect that we have on our local community. Consider inviting your neighbors to participate by sharing this newsletter with them and talking about MOAA SENCLAND. Whenever possible, please patronize our sponsors and let them know we all appreciate their support of our important initiatives. 9
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THE SENCLAND CHAPTER of the MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA P.O. BOX 10015 Wilmington, NC 28404 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED June 2018 SENCLAND Chapter (MOAA) Membership Application Form Date of Application: Active Duty Active Reservist Retired Former Officer Name: Rank Service Street Address: City State Zip+4 Date of Birth MM/DD/YYYY: Spouse s Name: Home Phone: Email: Are you a National MOAA member? Annual Life Member Note: It is not necessary that you be a member of National MOAA in order to join the local chapter although we strongly encourage you to become a National MOAA member. Your National MOAA membership number (on magazine label): 12 Annual chapter dues of $20.00 are waived for the current calendar year for new members! Please complete this form and mail to the return address above. Call Al Schroetel, Membership Chairman, at 910-686-6905 or email downeast@bellsouth.net if you have any questions. We look forward to meeting you!