Nonprofit Org PMOAA Beacon Pensacola Florida · idea of giving a lump sum of cash to members at 12...

Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - July 2015 - Military Officers Association of America Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - July 2015 - Military Officers Association of America

What’s Inside… pg 1 President's Corner

pg 1 PMOAA May Photos

pg 2 Legislative Affairs

pg 3 Legislative Affairs (Cont)



pg 6 PMOAA June Photos (Cont)

pg 7 Member Spotlight

pg 7 August Scholarship Awards Dinner Reservation

pg 8 Board of Directors Minutes

pg 8 ROTC/JROTC Leadership Awards

pg 9 Auxiliary Corner

pg 9 Singles Group

pg 9 Donation Form

PMOAA Beacon is published by UPS Store 2927, proud member of PMOAA 4051 Barrancas Avenue, Suite G Pensacola, FL 32507-3482 Tel (850) 457-1099 Fax (850) 457-1022

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PMOAA Beacon The City of Five Flags-Pensacola Florida

4 Star Chapter Award – 2002 A 5 Star Chapter Since 2003

http://www.pmoaa.org

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

First, let me thank all of you that attended our annual picnic June 18 at the Pensacola Yacht Club. It was an amazing turnout and everyone had a really great time. The buffet took a little time to go through but the tacos, fajitas and accompanying sides were worth the wait. RADM Joan Engel and I presented CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret) an MOAA Leadership certificate and pin for his many contributions to our membership through his work as the Chair of the Personal Affairs and Survivor Assistance committee. I also displayed the two plaques I received from VADM Ryan, USN (Ret), MOAA President, at the annual Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) Convention in May. Both awards were for the 2014 Col Marvin J. Harris Communica-tions Awards - one, as winner in Category III for our Recruiting Brochure and the second as the 1st Runner Up Category III Website www.pmoaa.org. Second, I want to pass along my thanks for the all of the support I’ve received while serving as PMOAA President the last year and a half and I’m looking for-ward to the same over the next six months. My direct involvement in PMOAA affairs only began as 1st VP in late 2013. I’ve been able to call upon the corporate knowledge contained in the memories of so many members who have served and some who are still serving as Officers and Directors of PMOAA. The membership of PMOAA has enjoyed the benefits of our organization in part due to those who have served as Officers and Directors, committee chairs and committee members and so many others who support PMOAA. I’ve attended several MOAA and Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) symposiums, conventions and other functions. I have met many members of oth-er chapters throughout the United States and I have been struck by how so many chapters struggle for leadership and participation in governance of their Chapters. Just to the east of us the local chapter slowly withered because sufficient numbers of members didn’t step up to serve in positions and keep the chapter moving for-ward. Right now that chapter doesn’t exist in reality. I wonder how many PMOAA members want to see us turn in our charter? It could happen, but hopefully we will not let this happen. This fall we have to elect a new President, 1st VP, 2nd VP, Secretary, Treasurer and 3 Directors. We have volunteers to fill the Direc-tor’s positions but nobody is stepping up to serve as Officers and time is running out. Elections will be held in November 2015 in accordance with our By Laws.

Immediate Past President CDR William (Vann) Milheim, USN (Ret) 850-969-9715 [email protected]

DIRECTORS

CDR Joe Brewer, USN (Ret) 850-453-9291 [email protected]

Col Susan Morgan, USAF (Ret) 850-444-9825 [email protected]

LCDR Ray Judd, USN (Ret) 850-456-8104 [email protected] Mrs. Iva Prosser, Auxiliary 850-485-5533 [email protected]

Mrs. Joan Ferry, Auxiliary

850-501- 8087 [email protected]

President LCDR David Wilhite, USN (Ret) 850-380- 2767 [email protected]

1st Vice President Vacant

2nd Vice President MAJ Molly Werner, USA (Ret) 850-474-1291 [email protected]

Secretary RADM Joan M. Engel, USN (Ret) 850-473-9899 [email protected]

Treasurer Mrs. Elizabeth Richbourg 850-206-0986 [email protected]

Chair, Survivor Assistance Committee CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret)

850-932-5999 [email protected]

Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage Paid

Permit No 326 Pensacola, FL

Pensacola Chapter, MOAA P.O. Box 17728

Pensacola, Florida 32501-7728

Return Service Requested

PMOAA enjoys a great reputation within MOAA and FCOC for its many accomplishments and leadership efforts over the past nearly 45 years. Lest anyone reading this think I am being an alarmist, talk with the serving Officers and Directors and you will find agree-ment with me, in general, about our future. The solution is for every member to think about whether they can serve in an office or who they know that might make a good leader. Officers and auxiliary members are lead-ers – who is willing to step up to the plate? Start talking about PMOAA’s future and get involved. I don’t want to leave office next January without a relief and see a great organization falter. I want to welcome our newest member CDR Russ Pas-coe USN, (Ret). We’re working on more prospects so you will read more names in the future. Thanks to Mrs. Iva Prosser who stepped up to serve as Chair of the By Laws committee. Recommended chang-es will be properly presented to the PMOAA member-ship via the Beacon and voting at our business meeting in November. There is no social event in July but mark your calen-dars for August 6th - our signature event – the annu-al scholarship awards banquet. The event will be held at the Pensacola Yacht Club. Menu reservation form is in this edition of the Beacon

Dave Wilhite

PMOAA June Photos Courtesy of Christine Frazier and Elaine Ciardello

( Photos continued on page 6)

CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret) receives MOAA Leadership Award from RADM Joan Engel and

LCDR David Wilhite, USN (Ret), President,

mailto:[email protected]













LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UPDATE

DoD: Reshape ‘Blended Retirement’ Plan to Better Protect AVF (Source: Military.com) 11 June 2015 by Tom Philpott

Military leaders and Department of Defense pay experts have presented to Congress a reshaped version of that new “blended retirement” system for future service members, saying this one “best enables us to maintain the readiness of the All-Volunteer Force.” Their hope is that Congress will accept the fresh changes quickly and integrate them into the “momentous” retirement reform package being shepherded toward enactment this year.

The Pentagon plan embraces most key features of re-tirement reform unveiled in late January by the Military Compensation and Retirement Reform Commission

and included by the armed services and appropriations committees in their fiscal 2016 defense bills. Those key features include:

— A 401(k)-like Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with gov-ernment matching of member contributions up to 5 percent of basic pay; — An immediate annuity after 20 or more years of service but reduced by 20 percent compared to cur-rent benefits; — A Continuation Pay offer at mid-career to entice high-quality service members to stay longer, perhaps until the pull of an immediate annuity at 20 years is near enough it can’t be ignored. — Grandfathering of all current members under the existing High-3 retirement plan but also allow them to opt into the new system if attracted by TSP with gov-ernment matching, full vesting after two years and account balances that can be carried into civilian ca-reers.

The new plan would take effect 1 January 2018, time enough to educate the force including career counse-lors and develop financial training programs and tools, such as retirement calculators that can compare plans and total lifetime benefits under various assumptions and circumstances.

The “DoD Blended Retirement System Proposal” as briefed to military associations and congressional staffs and described in a five-page point paper is touted as being more carefully considered and better designed to

meet future recruiting and retention challenges than other variations.

For example, government matching of TSP contribu-tions wouldn’t begin until after four years’ service ver-sus two under current House and Senate plans. It seems the services fear a drop in retention rates after initial service obligations are completed if TSP nest eggs are made too robust through earlier matching of contributions.

DoD also rejects saddling future force working-age re-

tirees with cost-of-living adjustments set a percentage point below inflation. COLAs need to match inflation. Two years ago, during debt-reduction talks, House and Senate negotiators first adopted a COLA-minus-one formula for military retirees including the current force. It was signed into law before a tsunami of protest hit law-makers and they realized what they had done.

Congress quickly repealed COLA-minus-one for the cur-rent force, let it apply to future new entrants. It twice moved the effective date of that change so it still has not stung anyone now serving.

DoD officials now urge reconsideration and full COLAs. They also seek greater flexibility regarding Continuation Pay. House and Senate plans adopt the commission idea of giving a lump sum of cash to members at 12 years if they agree to serve four more. Payments would

at least equal to two and a half months’ basic pay but could be far greater based on job specialty, service needs or other factors.

Even that is too rigid, DoD says. To ensure that TSP nest eggs don’t cripple career force retention, the ser-vices want to be able to offer that lump sum of cash an-ytime from eight to 16 years of service. They also seek greater flexibility on size of payments and length of ser-vice obligations required, with the minimum as low as one year. The services want lump sum enticements as high as 22 months’ basic pay for active duty members and 11 months’ active duty pay for reserve component members.

DoD also rejects the commission’s idea, popular in the Senate for the savings it ensures, of allowing members at retirement to choose a lump sum of cash rather draw full annuities during second careers. DoD says that’s only a “smart” choice in “very limited circumstances” and the interaction with survivor benefits and disability retired pay is complex, too complex.

To underscore how important it is that Congress ac-cepts these changes, DoD notes that it was first looked seriously at adopting a blended retirement plan in 2011 and shared that idea with commissioners as they began their work. DoD seeks now to revise the commission’s plan after considering retirement “holistically in the con-text of the larger recruiting, retaining and retirement continuum” and also weighing the “need to retain talent in an increasingly competitive labor market.”

DoD notes the Joint Chiefs have been involved in ana-lyzing details of retirement systems and making recom-mendations to the defense secretary. So their views are reflected in the DoD plan. Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, DoD spokesman on personnel and readiness issues, said the proposal would give the department “the flexi-bility it needs to manage our force into the future while helping ensure that 85 percent of service members will start long-term retirement savings.”

(Continued on page 3)

permanent duty station. Automatic enrollment would be into a Roth TSP rather than a traditional tax-deferred account. Roth is viewed as more beneficial to young savers who pay only modest income taxes as TSP grows, and withdrawals from Roth accounts after age 59-and-a-half are then tax-free. COLA Watch (Source: MOAA)

The May Consumer Price Index of 232.908 increased 0.6 percent compared to last month. It remains .6 percent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2015 is sched-uled to be released on July 17, 2015. (Continued on

page 3)

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There are two new bills before the 114th Congress to eliminate the SBP/DIC Offset for un-remarried military surviving spouses. Those bills are: H.R. 1594, spon-sored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), with 60 original co-sponsors and S. 979, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as the original co-sponsor.

Use the MOAA Capitol switchboard number (866) 272-6622 to contact your representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the bill.

Kathy Prout, Chair, Surviving Spouse Advocacy Committee

SINGLES GROUP

Tina is going to be our hostess for the July meeting

which will be Thursday, July 23 at 5 PM. We are going to gather at the Outback restaurant on Gregory Street. Remember, Gregory is Westbound, so make the necessary adjustment in your approach. We have all been there, so you know how to get there. If not, call Tina ((32-4295) or ask your caller. Bring a friend or a relative to join us. As always, all PMOAA mem-bers are welcome to attend our gatherings.

Gisela Vogentanz

SCHOLARSHIP DONATION FORM

Please accept my/our gift of $_______ to support

the PMOAA Scholarship Fund.

This gift is being made in honor of, or, in memory of ________________________________________________________

Donor Information:

Name ____________________________________

Address __________________________________

_________________________________________

Phone_________________Email ______________

Please send an acknowledgement to:

Name ____________________________________

Address __________________________________

_________________________________________

Your gift is tax deductible to the extent allowable by

law.

Mail your donation payable to:

PMOAA, P.O. Box 17728, Pensacola, FL 32501

Thank you for your support!

AUXILIARY CORNER: ‘Storming the Hill 2015’

The Surviving Spouses Advisory Committee (formerly the Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee), stormed the Hill with MOAA council and chapter presidents from across the country. We stormed with the teams from our own states, representing Alabama, California, Colorado, Texas, and Virginia. MOAA teams visited the offices of all 535 members of Congress and 100 senators in one long productive day.

The main issues were sustaining the pay and benefits of our troops, rejecting disproportional TRICARE fee hikes and plan changes, and ending sequestration. We left information for Congress about three additional is-sues: eliminating the inequities facing un-remarried sur-viving spouses who are affected by the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (SBP/DIC) offset, the disability offset to retired pay for the less

than 50-percent disabled military retirees, and inequities with the Guard/Reserve credit since 9/11.

DoD’s FY 2016 proposals have called to “slow the growth” by cutting military people programs. This in-cludes capping active duty pay COLAs at 1.3 percent, 1 percent under the COLA baseline. Proposals recom-mend a reduction to the housing allowance (BAH) for active duty personnel, including those who reside in mil-itary housing, that would result in a 5 percent out-of-pocket cost. Also suggested was a $1 billion subsidy cut to the commissaries that would result in a 66-percent loss of savings to commissary shoppers. Additionally, the proposals include drastic changes to health care, such as higher means-tested TRICARE fees for working-age retirees and consolidation of TRICARE Prime, Ex-tra, and Standard into one program. Under this pro-posal, servicemembers and their families would pay the Prime enrollment fees plus the Standard deductible, with no assurance of access or quality. Emergency rooms in military treatment facilities would charge pa-tients, including active duty personnel, a means-tested fee for non-life-threatening visits.

Congress rejected the active duty pay cap, the commis-sary cuts, and the TRICARE fee hikes. However, it did approve a new military retirement system that would overhaul the current 20-year cliff vesting benefit and create a blended pension and 401(k)-like Thrift Savings Plan with government matching. This system would pro-vide servicemembers who leave before the 20-year mark with a transportable career device, but it would do so at the cost of reducing 20-year pensions by 20 per-cent.

The SBP/DIC offset affects spouses of deceased retir-ees who purchased SBP and received DIC for a VA dis-ability or a VA presumptive condition. For more infor-mation, visit the VA website, www.va.gov. These surviv-ing spouses currently forfeit $1 of SBP for each $1 re-ceived in DIC. This inequity presently affects almost 62,000 surviving spouses.

http://militaryadvantage.military.com/author/tom-philpott/

http://www.va.gov


PMOAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 23 June 2015

President Wilhite called the meeting to order at 1700 with the following members present: LCDR Wilhite, MAJ Werner, RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg, COL Morgan, LCDR Judd, Iva Prosser and past president, CDR Milheim. Member absent – CDR Brewer; member ex-cused – Joan Ferry. A motion was made by LCDR Judd, seconded by COL Morgan, to approve the 26 May minutes. Motion carried. Treasurer Report: Liz gave an accounting to cover the period 24 April to 23 May. The 2015 scholarship raffle income was $3015.00. The raffle winners were: First place – Marian Thomas - $754.00; Second place – Mar-yAnn Whitlock - $452.00 and Third place – Betty Scoralle - $151.00. Liz reported that a $20 check from the raffle was returned because the account was closed. The board recommended that PMOAA absorb the check. One member will be contacted to cover the cost of his reservation for the picnic. She also reported that PMOAA may receive some monies from an estate that is still being settled. Liz recommended a change to the Bylaws to enable the treasurer to pay bills using electronic means. The By-laws (Article IV, Section C 5) currently state that only a check can be used to make disbursements. The board approved this recommended change. Liz asked if docu-mentation for grant scholarship applications (approved by the board), should be processed by the treasurer. The board felt this was already covered in the existing Bylaws (Article IV, Section C 5b). No further action is required.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Membership: Major Werner reported one new member, CDR Russ Pascoe, signed on as a new member. She will be contacting several members who joined the Chap-ter yet are not MOAA members. Scholarship: CDR Milheim has received 22 scholarship applications to date. The deadline has been extended to 30 June for a select few. The scholarship committee will convene on 8 July to review applications. The LET appli-cation has been submitted requesting $4,000 to fund 2 scholarships. Liz will provide scholarship dollars by cate-gory to CDR Milheim preferably by Friday, 26 June. OLD BUSINESS Directory: RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg and Elaine Ciardello are finalizing the revised Directory. Social Events: There is no membership social in July. The scholarship dinner will be held on 6 August at the PYC. Several board members agreed to be greeters to welcome scholarship recipients and their guests. NEW BUSINESS Review of Bylaws: Iva Prosser has agreed to serve as the Chair of the Bylaws Review Committee. All board members are to read the Bylaws and provide input to Iva in time for the July board meeting. One recommended change, listed above, has been approved. Article I Sec-tion A3 – Social Membership will need to be amended. RADM Engel will provide and assist Iva with the Bylaws

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Defense Bill Clears Senate (Source: MOAA) 19 June 2015 On Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the FY16 defense bill, defying a veto threat from the administration. The 71-25 vote means the Senate has enough support to override the veto, should that occur.

The administration threatened to veto the defense bill because it exceeds budget caps put in place by se-questration. The bill attempts to circumvent the budget caps by funding base operations using special war ac-counts. War accounts are not subject to sequestration. In a surprising move, lawmakers rejected the Senate Armed Services Committee's recommendation to pri-vatize commissaries. However, many of the commit-tee's original proposals remain in the final bill.

Although lawmakers submitted over 600 amendments, only a handful made it into the final bill. Several signifi-cant amendments, which would have prevented further erosion to pay and benefits, never saw the light of day. Left out were amendments that would have granted a full active duty pay raise, blocked a five percent reduc-tion to housing allowances, prevented further cuts to commissary benefits, and prohibited increased TRI-CARE pharmacy fees. We thank the senators who in-troduced these amendments.

The following table shows where we currently are with the House and Senate-passed defense bills:

What's Next? Now that both chambers have passed their respective versions of the defense bill, House and Senate law-makers will go to conference to iron out differences.


LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UPDATE (Continued from page 2)

If this plan were enacted, the only members who would leave service without some portable retirement savings would be the 15 percent who typically attrite short of two years. Meanwhile, the DoD plan would preserve “a nearly equivalent or better retirement benefit” for those who serve 20 or more years. DoD still would realize “real tangible savings” of $8.1 billion over the first dec-ade after it takes effect.

DoD would set up a TSP account for every new entrant and contribute an amount equal to one percent of basic pay. New entrants automatically would begin to make TSP contributions of 3 percent basic pay. They could not opt out until completing financial literacy training at their first permanent duty station.

Automatic enrollment would be into a Roth TSP rather than a traditional tax-deferred account. Roth is viewed as more beneficial to young savers who pay only mod-est income taxes as TSP grows, and withdrawals from Roth accounts after age 59-and-a-half are then tax-free.

COLA Watch (Source: MOAA) The May Consumer Price Index of 232.908 increased 0.6 percent compared to last month. It remains .6 per-cent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline. The Consum-er Price Index for June 2015 is scheduled to be re-leased on 17 July 2015.

Note: Military retiree COLA is calculated based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Works (CPI-W), not the overall CPI. Monthly changes in the index may differ from national figures reported elsewhere.

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review. Recommended changes for the Bylaws will be posted in the October Beacon and will be voted upon during the November business meeting. VADM Ryan Visit: VADM Unruh, Flight Captain of the Daedalians has invited VADM Ryan to visit during Octo-ber. Dates are still being finalized but this will be a joint venture between the Daedalians and PMOAA. PMOAA will be celebrating their 45th anniversary.

Beacon deadline is NLT COB Wednesday, 24 June. The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, 21 July at 1700 at PYC. Meeting adjourned at 1750.

Respectfully submitted, Joan M. Engel, Secretary

ROTC/JROTC LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Congratulations to the following recipients of the MOAA Leadership Award:

ROTC Army – Cadet Dustin Retherford Air Force – Cadet LtCol Christopher Waldon

NJROTC Gulf Shores High School – Cadet LTJG Meagan Brown Washington High School – Cadet PO2 Christopher Deboe Northview High School – Cadet SCPT Miriah McGahan Pine Forest High School – Cadet LTJG Zachary Bergeron Escambia High School – Cadet PO1 Dean Golden Milton High School – Cadet Dominic Jones AFJROTC Pensacola High School - Cadet Cordel Weeks Foley High School – Cadet Major Cody M. Straughan Gulf Breeze High School – Cadet Major Megan Gru Enloh AJROTC Tate High School – Cadet Todd Smith Congratulations to the following cadets who were commis-sioned as Second Lieutenants in their respective service and received MOAA Gold Bars:

AIR FORCE ROTC Auriaunna A. Fry Andre S. Lombardo Tracy L. Jenne Eric D. Phillips Nathan A. Joiner Roman M. Kowalski ARMY ROTC Jonathan E. Akers Cara J. Kendall Yuri A. Armstrong Travis H. King Benjamin C. Cooper Cindy I. Lopez Michael G. Esquitin Alexander J. Ragnoli Daniel A. Estes Robert V. Salazar Erich Giltinan Kevin A. Sowers Brett A. Glaess Tyler C. Stark Jared B. Harrelson James R. Tully Nicha Jumsil

http://www.moaa.org/Main_Menu/Take_Action/Top_Issues/Serving_in_Uniform/Compensation/Defense_Bill_Breakdown.html



Leadership from the Armed Services Committees an-nounced that they hope to complete their work before the August recess.

When conferencing begins, we will need your help. During this process, we'll ask you to contact your legis-lators in support of the House version of the defense bill.

We sincerely appreciate all of our members who take the time to contact Congress. We need your effort and support to remind Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the military.

Congress Divided on Future of Commissary (Source MOAA) 19 June 2015 Published by Karen The House and Senate have approved their versions of the defense bill, and they don’t see eye to eye on the commissary.

The Senate The Senate unfortunately took aim at the commissary system in its version of the National Defense Authori-zation Act (NDAA). Senate lawmakers cut $322 million from the commissary budget. A cut this big will lead to increased prices, reduced operating hours and days of operation, and a reduction in store staff.

Also tucked inside the bill was language allowing DoD to increase prices in stores to cover costs.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) sponsored an amend-ment to restore the $322 million funding and to strike language that would allow DoD to adjust commissary prices, but her amendment did not come to a vote.

Even though her amendment wasn’t voted on, as Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mikulski rejected the commissary cut and provided full funding.

Civics 101: What does that mean? Every year Congress works on two major types of leg-islation: authorization bills and appropriation bills. Au-thorization bills tell federal departments (like DoD) and agencies what to do. Appropriations bills fund federal agencies. Appropriations bills distribute money to fed-eral departments, agencies, and programs. These bills tell DoD how much they can spend and where the

money will go.

Currently, the money for the commissary is in the Sen-ate appropriations bill but the authorization to spend it is not in the Senate authorization bill.

The House The House passed its version of the authorization bill in May. In it, House lawmakers rejected the cuts to commissary funding. The House defense appropria-tions bill included full funding for the commissary in the budget.

What’s Next? The Senate is currently working on its version of the defense appropriations bill. Once passed, it will go to conference where differences between the House and Senate bills must be resolved.

The defense authorization bill is also headed to confer-ence. We are hopeful that funding for the commissary subsidy will be restored during this process. Ultimate-ly, without the funding, the cost of operating the com-missary will slowly shift to you, the shopper.

Top Docs Squash Privatization Talks (Source: MOAA) 19 June 2015 The military's top doctors told lawmakers they do not support proposals to privatize TRICARE. In Congres-sional testimony, senior military medical leaders ad-dressed health care reforms recommended by the Mili-tary Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC).

The report, released earlier this year, recommended privatizing TRICARE and creating a new Joint Readi-ness Command. Although the surgeons general all expressed appreciation for the time and effort put for-ward by the MCRMC, they were unanimous in reject-ing the TRICARE privatization proposal. They cited several reasons for rejecting the proposal, including increased costs and the negative impact to readiness training. Under the MCRMC proposal, known as TRI-CARE Choice, millions of TRICARE beneficiaries would move to commercial, private sector health plans. The plans, administered by the Office of Per-sonnel Management, would be similar to those offered to federal civilians. According to the MCRMC, TRI-CARE Choice would give servicemembers and their families more choices in health care coverage. Howev-er, the commission says that military families would pay up to four times more in health care costs.

According to Army Surgeon General Patricia Horoho, TRICARE Choice "would negatively impact the readi-ness of our entire health care team and present finan-cial challenges for active duty families and retirees." Having TRICARE compete with the private sector "would drive up administrative costs and significantly detract from the operational mission of our medical facilities," said Air Force Surgeon General Mark Edi-

ger. "It is critical to understand that our direct health care system connects with the battlefield and exists to provide health readiness to our soldiers and their fam-ilies," said Horoho. "This is what separates us from the civilian health care system."

This message echoes what MOAA President, VADM Norb Ryan, USN (Ret) told lawmakers in February. Ryan said that problems with TRICARE "can be ad-dressed in a systemic manner without resorting to its


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2013. In 2012, she realized her lifelong dream by gradu-ating from Park University with a BS in Social Psycholo-gy. Florida is in her blood, and so, fortunately for us, she returned to Pensacola. Among her many interests is VOSH International (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity), an organi-zation that offers free eye exams and dispenses Lions Club glasses to those less fortunate. Working with that group, Iva has been to some exotic spots such as Jigiga, Ethiopia; Cape Hatian, Haiti; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is evident that Iva is a person who strives to make the world a better place, so we are lucky that she has chosen to bring that energy to our little corner of the world.

LCDR Ray Judd, USN (Ret)

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MRS. IVA PROSSER

In January 2015, Iva stepped up and began a two year tour as a Director on the PMOAA Board, so it is fitting that we all get to know her. Iva was born in Defuniak Springs, Florida right after WWII. She was the youngest of four siblings. When two years old, the family moved to Bartow, Florida and so she grew up in the orange groves and cow pastures of central, rural Florida. When she was 16, her dad died and her mother was not able to take care of her, so she moved to Dothan, Alabama to live with her sister. While there, she began her college studies at Wallace College, a technical school. Her initial studies were in Optical Lab Technology. She was the first female to be enrolled in that usually all male curriculum. She graduated from the program in 1967 and began work-ing for Tindell Optical. She soon met the love of her life, an Army helicopter pilot, Rick Prosser, who had just returned from his first Vietnam tour. They were married in 1968, and while Iva remained in Dothan, Rick pulled a second Vi-etnam tour. When he returned to Dothan, they both took college courses, Rick at Troy State and Iva at Wallace Col-lege. Following a 3 year sojourn at FT Hood, they returned to Ft Rucker. Iva worked for Tindell Optical and Rick transi-tioned to Cobras. In 1979 Rick graduated from Troy State and in 1980 he was sent to Korea for an unaccompanied tour. Upon his return to Dothan, he received orders to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. Iva couldn’t find a job as an optician, so she worked for the State of Georgia, testing and evaluating people with disabilities. In 1983, the Prossers moved to Nuremberg, Germany. Iva attended the University of Maryland extension program at Johnson Barracks. They thoroughly enjoyed their time in Europe since their daughter Susan and her husband were stationed in Northern Germany during the same time, and their first grandchild was born. In 1986, when Rick was ordered to FT Ord, CA, Iva en-rolled at UC Berkley for a couple of years and receive her National Certification in Opticianry. Meanwhile Rick did six months in the Sinai on a “peace keeping” tour, and then was deployed to Panama. In 1988 they went to Fairbanks Alaska. Iva worked in an Optical Shop and made four trips to Chicago for classes at the Chicago School of Optometry, to qualify for certification in Refraction. In 1991 Rick pulled his last tour, another unaccompanied one to Korea. Iva didn’t buy the program, and so she joined him in Korea. She taught English to Korean school children. Following Rick’s retirement in 1992, Iva earned her contact lens certification and opened an Optical Shop in Harbourtown, Gulf Breeze. She closed the shop in 1998 due to health issues. In 2004, two weeks after Hurricane Ivan, Rick passed away (Agent Orange). She and Rick had been married for 41 years and were the proud parents of four children: Susan, Jim, Sharon and Joey. Iva then decided that a new venue was in order so she moved first to Oklahoma, and then to Kansas City to work at the VA Hospital. She remained there until she retired in

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AUGUST SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS DINNER

Thursday, 6 August 2015 Pensacola Yacht Sailing Club

1897 West Cypress Street Pensacola, FL 32502

Social Hour - 1730 Dinner - 1800 Honored Guests - Scholarship Recipients

Guest Speaker - School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas

MENU (1) Teriyaki Grilled Salmon served with Rice Pilaf and

Green Beans OR

(2) New York Strip with Garlic Butter served with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli with Baby Carrots

Both menu items will be served with Mixed Green Salad, Rolls and Butter

Coffee, Iced Tea and Water Cash bar available Dessert: Lemon Cake

Reservations must be received by Monday, 3 August 2015 -- No Exceptions --

Meals are ordered on the basis of accepted reservations. Phone/email reservations are considered committed and are payable at the door.

RSVP to: Captain James Frazier, USN (Ret) 7645 Brook Forest Place, Pensacola, FL 32514

Phone: 850-383-9162 Email: [email protected] or www.pmoaa.org

Reservations for ____ at $25.00/person Total Enclosed ______ Make check payable to PMOAA _______ Check here if you would like a Singles Table

Member Name __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice

Spouse Name __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice

Guest Name(s) __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice



Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - July 2015 - Military Officers Association of America

5

Thoughts to ponder:

Imagine Greece as a client state of Russia.

Imagine the U.S. governed ruled by International

Bureaucrats.

Imagine Communist Chinese Imperialism.

Imagine Obama being as critical of Islam as he is of

Christianity.

Imagine ISIS active in the U.S.

Imagine a Balkanized USA America.

Imagine the disappearance of Freedom.

Compiled by Colonel Robert Pappas, USMC (Ret)

LATE BREAKING NEWS

Supreme Court Rules on Health Care (Source: MOAA) 26 June, 2015

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can continue to provide subsidies for health insurance to qualifying individu-als. The decision upheld a centerpiece of the ACA and national health care reform.

The issue before the Court was whether individuals purchasing health care insurance through federally run exchange systems, rather than state run ex-changes, are eligible to receive subsidies. Thirty-four states currently rely on the federal marketplace for health insurance plans.

TRICARE beneficiaries are unaffected by the deci-sion. At the urging of MOAA and other military and veterans organizations, Congress passed the TRI-CARE Affirmation Act in April 2010, providing a statu-tory regulation saying that TRICARE satisfies the minimum essential coverage requirements of the ACA. Congress passed subsequent legislation a month later to exempt VA and CHAMPVA beneficiar-ies from the coverage requirements. These plans are also excluded from so-called "Cadillac taxes" on high-value plans.

Importantly, the ACA will not affect TRICARE or the VA's health administration, eligibility, or cost to benefi-ciaries.

Colonel Robert Pappas, USMC (Ret)


elimination." The surgeons general also rejected the creation of a new Joint Readiness Command, saying that current and existing reforms are providing the desired changes.

The Surgeon General said the recent establishment of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) aims to standard-ize common or shared services between the three military medical commands, such as a joint Health Information and Technology service.

MOAA agrees, and has consistently said that the larg-est barrier to an efficient and highly reliable health care organization is the three-service system. Instead of creating a far-reaching command tasked with han-

dling the entire scope of joint readiness, MOAA sug-gests building upon the current DHA structure and establishing a unified medical command with a single budget authority, one that can reduce redundancies and produce cost savings.

MOAA appreciates the time Congress is taking to an-alyze the MCMRC health care proposals before taking action, and supports initiatives that strengthen TRI-CARE for beneficiaries and sustains military medical readiness. At the conclusion of the testimony, Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) emphasized Congress's desire to improve TRICARE, saying they "look forward to con-tinuing to work … to make TRICARE the premier health care provider in the nation."

House Votes for Biggest Pay Raise in 5 Years (Source: Military.com) Week of 22 June 2015

The House of Representatives passed their version of the 2016 defense budget (H.R. 1735), which includes plans to give service members a 2.3 percent pay in-crease for 2016. The increase is 1.3 percent greater than last year and would be the largest military pay raise in since 2010. The Senate, however, voted to stick with the WH request for a 1.3 percent raise.

Senate Kills Commissary Plan, Keeps BAH Cuts (Source: Military.com) Week of 22 June 2015

The Senate voted to kill a plan hatched by its armed

services committee to privatize five large commissary stores to test the concept of commercial grocers run-ning base stores to save defense dollars. However, they did allow a plan to remain that could sharply re-duce Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) paid to more than 40,000 "dual service" couples, or members mar-ried to other military members.

http://capwiz.com/military/issues/bills/?bill=66162636

http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/basic-allowance-for-housing

Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - July 2015 - Military Officers Association of America

6

JUNE PMOAA PHOTOS

Courtesy of

Christine Frazier and Elaine Ciardello

(Continued from page 1)



Leadership from the Armed Services Committees an-nounced that they hope to complete their work before the August recess.

When conferencing begins, we will need your help. During this process, we'll ask you to contact your legis-lators in support of the House version of the defense bill.

We sincerely appreciate all of our members who take the time to contact Congress. We need your effort and support to remind Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the military.

Congress Divided on Future of Commissary (Source MOAA) 19 June 2015 Published by Karen The House and Senate have approved their versions of the defense bill, and they don’t see eye to eye on the commissary.

The Senate The Senate unfortunately took aim at the commissary system in its version of the National Defense Authori-zation Act (NDAA). Senate lawmakers cut $322 million from the commissary budget. A cut this big will lead to increased prices, reduced operating hours and days of operation, and a reduction in store staff.

Also tucked inside the bill was language allowing DoD to increase prices in stores to cover costs.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) sponsored an amend-ment to restore the $322 million funding and to strike language that would allow DoD to adjust commissary prices, but her amendment did not come to a vote.

Even though her amendment wasn’t voted on, as Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mikulski rejected the commissary cut and provided full funding.

Civics 101: What does that mean? Every year Congress works on two major types of leg-islation: authorization bills and appropriation bills. Au-thorization bills tell federal departments (like DoD) and agencies what to do. Appropriations bills fund federal agencies. Appropriations bills distribute money to fed-eral departments, agencies, and programs. These bills tell DoD how much they can spend and where the

money will go.

Currently, the money for the commissary is in the Sen-ate appropriations bill but the authorization to spend it is not in the Senate authorization bill.

The House The House passed its version of the authorization bill in May. In it, House lawmakers rejected the cuts to commissary funding. The House defense appropria-tions bill included full funding for the commissary in the budget.

What’s Next? The Senate is currently working on its version of the defense appropriations bill. Once passed, it will go to conference where differences between the House and Senate bills must be resolved.

The defense authorization bill is also headed to confer-ence. We are hopeful that funding for the commissary subsidy will be restored during this process. Ultimate-ly, without the funding, the cost of operating the com-missary will slowly shift to you, the shopper.

Top Docs Squash Privatization Talks (Source: MOAA) 19 June 2015 The military's top doctors told lawmakers they do not support proposals to privatize TRICARE. In Congres-sional testimony, senior military medical leaders ad-dressed health care reforms recommended by the Mili-tary Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC).

The report, released earlier this year, recommended privatizing TRICARE and creating a new Joint Readi-ness Command. Although the surgeons general all expressed appreciation for the time and effort put for-ward by the MCRMC, they were unanimous in reject-ing the TRICARE privatization proposal. They cited several reasons for rejecting the proposal, including increased costs and the negative impact to readiness training. Under the MCRMC proposal, known as TRI-CARE Choice, millions of TRICARE beneficiaries would move to commercial, private sector health plans. The plans, administered by the Office of Per-sonnel Management, would be similar to those offered to federal civilians. According to the MCRMC, TRI-CARE Choice would give servicemembers and their families more choices in health care coverage. Howev-er, the commission says that military families would pay up to four times more in health care costs.

According to Army Surgeon General Patricia Horoho, TRICARE Choice "would negatively impact the readi-ness of our entire health care team and present finan-cial challenges for active duty families and retirees." Having TRICARE compete with the private sector "would drive up administrative costs and significantly detract from the operational mission of our medical facilities," said Air Force Surgeon General Mark Edi-

ger. "It is critical to understand that our direct health care system connects with the battlefield and exists to provide health readiness to our soldiers and their fam-ilies," said Horoho. "This is what separates us from the civilian health care system."

This message echoes what MOAA President, VADM Norb Ryan, USN (Ret) told lawmakers in February. Ryan said that problems with TRICARE "can be ad-dressed in a systemic manner without resorting to its


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2013. In 2012, she realized her lifelong dream by gradu-ating from Park University with a BS in Social Psycholo-gy. Florida is in her blood, and so, fortunately for us, she returned to Pensacola. Among her many interests is VOSH International (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity), an organi-zation that offers free eye exams and dispenses Lions Club glasses to those less fortunate. Working with that group, Iva has been to some exotic spots such as Jigiga, Ethiopia; Cape Hatian, Haiti; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is evident that Iva is a person who strives to make the world a better place, so we are lucky that she has chosen to bring that energy to our little corner of the world.

LCDR Ray Judd, USN (Ret)

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MRS. IVA PROSSER

In January 2015, Iva stepped up and began a two year tour as a Director on the PMOAA Board, so it is fitting that we all get to know her. Iva was born in Defuniak Springs, Florida right after WWII. She was the youngest of four siblings. When two years old, the family moved to Bartow, Florida and so she grew up in the orange groves and cow pastures of central, rural Florida. When she was 16, her dad died and her mother was not able to take care of her, so she moved to Dothan, Alabama to live with her sister. While there, she began her college studies at Wallace College, a technical school. Her initial studies were in Optical Lab Technology. She was the first female to be enrolled in that usually all male curriculum. She graduated from the program in 1967 and began work-ing for Tindell Optical. She soon met the love of her life, an Army helicopter pilot, Rick Prosser, who had just returned from his first Vietnam tour. They were married in 1968, and while Iva remained in Dothan, Rick pulled a second Vi-etnam tour. When he returned to Dothan, they both took college courses, Rick at Troy State and Iva at Wallace Col-lege. Following a 3 year sojourn at FT Hood, they returned to Ft Rucker. Iva worked for Tindell Optical and Rick transi-tioned to Cobras. In 1979 Rick graduated from Troy State and in 1980 he was sent to Korea for an unaccompanied tour. Upon his return to Dothan, he received orders to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. Iva couldn’t find a job as an optician, so she worked for the State of Georgia, testing and evaluating people with disabilities. In 1983, the Prossers moved to Nuremberg, Germany. Iva attended the University of Maryland extension program at Johnson Barracks. They thoroughly enjoyed their time in Europe since their daughter Susan and her husband were stationed in Northern Germany during the same time, and their first grandchild was born. In 1986, when Rick was ordered to FT Ord, CA, Iva en-rolled at UC Berkley for a couple of years and receive her National Certification in Opticianry. Meanwhile Rick did six months in the Sinai on a “peace keeping” tour, and then was deployed to Panama. In 1988 they went to Fairbanks Alaska. Iva worked in an Optical Shop and made four trips to Chicago for classes at the Chicago School of Optometry, to qualify for certification in Refraction. In 1991 Rick pulled his last tour, another unaccompanied one to Korea. Iva didn’t buy the program, and so she joined him in Korea. She taught English to Korean school children. Following Rick’s retirement in 1992, Iva earned her contact lens certification and opened an Optical Shop in Harbourtown, Gulf Breeze. She closed the shop in 1998 due to health issues. In 2004, two weeks after Hurricane Ivan, Rick passed away (Agent Orange). She and Rick had been married for 41 years and were the proud parents of four children: Susan, Jim, Sharon and Joey. Iva then decided that a new venue was in order so she moved first to Oklahoma, and then to Kansas City to work at the VA Hospital. She remained there until she retired in

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AUGUST SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS DINNER

Thursday, 6 August 2015 Pensacola Yacht Sailing Club

1897 West Cypress Street Pensacola, FL 32502

Social Hour - 1730 Dinner - 1800 Honored Guests - Scholarship Recipients

Guest Speaker - School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas

MENU (1) Teriyaki Grilled Salmon served with Rice Pilaf and

Green Beans OR

(2) New York Strip with Garlic Butter served with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli with Baby Carrots

Both menu items will be served with Mixed Green Salad, Rolls and Butter

Coffee, Iced Tea and Water Cash bar available Dessert: Lemon Cake

Reservations must be received by Monday, 3 August 2015 -- No Exceptions --

Meals are ordered on the basis of accepted reservations. Phone/email reservations are considered committed and are payable at the door.

RSVP to: Captain James Frazier, USN (Ret) 7645 Brook Forest Place, Pensacola, FL 32514

Phone: 850-383-9162 Email: [email protected] or www.pmoaa.org

Reservations for ____ at $25.00/person Total Enclosed ______ Make check payable to PMOAA _______ Check here if you would like a Singles Table

Member Name __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice

Spouse Name __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice

Guest Name(s) __________________________ Menu 1 or 2 Circle Choice




PMOAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 23 June 2015

President Wilhite called the meeting to order at 1700 with the following members present: LCDR Wilhite, MAJ Werner, RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg, COL Morgan, LCDR Judd, Iva Prosser and past president, CDR Milheim. Member absent – CDR Brewer; member ex-cused – Joan Ferry. A motion was made by LCDR Judd, seconded by COL Morgan, to approve the 26 May minutes. Motion carried. Treasurer Report: Liz gave an accounting to cover the period 24 April to 23 May. The 2015 scholarship raffle income was $3015.00. The raffle winners were: First place – Marian Thomas - $754.00; Second place – Mar-yAnn Whitlock - $452.00 and Third place – Betty Scoralle - $151.00. Liz reported that a $20 check from the raffle was returned because the account was closed. The board recommended that PMOAA absorb the check. One member will be contacted to cover the cost of his reservation for the picnic. She also reported that PMOAA may receive some monies from an estate that is still being settled. Liz recommended a change to the Bylaws to enable the treasurer to pay bills using electronic means. The By-laws (Article IV, Section C 5) currently state that only a check can be used to make disbursements. The board approved this recommended change. Liz asked if docu-mentation for grant scholarship applications (approved by the board), should be processed by the treasurer. The board felt this was already covered in the existing Bylaws (Article IV, Section C 5b). No further action is required.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Membership: Major Werner reported one new member, CDR Russ Pascoe, signed on as a new member. She will be contacting several members who joined the Chap-ter yet are not MOAA members. Scholarship: CDR Milheim has received 22 scholarship applications to date. The deadline has been extended to 30 June for a select few. The scholarship committee will convene on 8 July to review applications. The LET appli-cation has been submitted requesting $4,000 to fund 2 scholarships. Liz will provide scholarship dollars by cate-gory to CDR Milheim preferably by Friday, 26 June. OLD BUSINESS Directory: RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg and Elaine Ciardello are finalizing the revised Directory. Social Events: There is no membership social in July. The scholarship dinner will be held on 6 August at the PYC. Several board members agreed to be greeters to welcome scholarship recipients and their guests. NEW BUSINESS Review of Bylaws: Iva Prosser has agreed to serve as the Chair of the Bylaws Review Committee. All board members are to read the Bylaws and provide input to Iva in time for the July board meeting. One recommended change, listed above, has been approved. Article I Sec-tion A3 – Social Membership will need to be amended. RADM Engel will provide and assist Iva with the Bylaws

8

Defense Bill Clears Senate (Source: MOAA) 19 June 2015 On Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the FY16 defense bill, defying a veto threat from the administration. The 71-25 vote means the Senate has enough support to override the veto, should that occur.

The administration threatened to veto the defense bill because it exceeds budget caps put in place by se-questration. The bill attempts to circumvent the budget caps by funding base operations using special war ac-counts. War accounts are not subject to sequestration. In a surprising move, lawmakers rejected the Senate Armed Services Committee's recommendation to pri-vatize commissaries. However, many of the commit-tee's original proposals remain in the final bill.

Although lawmakers submitted over 600 amendments, only a handful made it into the final bill. Several signifi-cant amendments, which would have prevented further erosion to pay and benefits, never saw the light of day. Left out were amendments that would have granted a full active duty pay raise, blocked a five percent reduc-tion to housing allowances, prevented further cuts to commissary benefits, and prohibited increased TRI-CARE pharmacy fees. We thank the senators who in-troduced these amendments.

The following table shows where we currently are with the House and Senate-passed defense bills:

What's Next? Now that both chambers have passed their respective versions of the defense bill, House and Senate law-makers will go to conference to iron out differences.



If this plan were enacted, the only members who would leave service without some portable retirement savings would be the 15 percent who typically attrite short of two years. Meanwhile, the DoD plan would preserve “a nearly equivalent or better retirement benefit” for those who serve 20 or more years. DoD still would realize “real tangible savings” of $8.1 billion over the first dec-ade after it takes effect.

DoD would set up a TSP account for every new entrant and contribute an amount equal to one percent of basic pay. New entrants automatically would begin to make TSP contributions of 3 percent basic pay. They could not opt out until completing financial literacy training at their first permanent duty station.

Automatic enrollment would be into a Roth TSP rather than a traditional tax-deferred account. Roth is viewed as more beneficial to young savers who pay only mod-est income taxes as TSP grows, and withdrawals from Roth accounts after age 59-and-a-half are then tax-free.

COLA Watch (Source: MOAA) The May Consumer Price Index of 232.908 increased 0.6 percent compared to last month. It remains .6 per-cent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline. The Consum-er Price Index for June 2015 is scheduled to be re-leased on 17 July 2015.

Note: Military retiree COLA is calculated based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Works (CPI-W), not the overall CPI. Monthly changes in the index may differ from national figures reported elsewhere.

3

review. Recommended changes for the Bylaws will be posted in the October Beacon and will be voted upon during the November business meeting. VADM Ryan Visit: VADM Unruh, Flight Captain of the Daedalians has invited VADM Ryan to visit during Octo-ber. Dates are still being finalized but this will be a joint venture between the Daedalians and PMOAA. PMOAA will be celebrating their 45th anniversary.

Beacon deadline is NLT COB Wednesday, 24 June. The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, 21 July at 1700 at PYC. Meeting adjourned at 1750.

Respectfully submitted, Joan M. Engel, Secretary

ROTC/JROTC LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Congratulations to the following recipients of the MOAA Leadership Award:

ROTC Army – Cadet Dustin Retherford Air Force – Cadet LtCol Christopher Waldon

NJROTC Gulf Shores High School – Cadet LTJG Meagan Brown Washington High School – Cadet PO2 Christopher Deboe Northview High School – Cadet SCPT Miriah McGahan Pine Forest High School – Cadet LTJG Zachary Bergeron Escambia High School – Cadet PO1 Dean Golden Milton High School – Cadet Dominic Jones AFJROTC Pensacola High School - Cadet Cordel Weeks Foley High School – Cadet Major Cody M. Straughan Gulf Breeze High School – Cadet Major Megan Gru Enloh AJROTC Tate High School – Cadet Todd Smith Congratulations to the following cadets who were commis-sioned as Second Lieutenants in their respective service and received MOAA Gold Bars:

AIR FORCE ROTC Auriaunna A. Fry Andre S. Lombardo Tracy L. Jenne Eric D. Phillips Nathan A. Joiner Roman M. Kowalski ARMY ROTC Jonathan E. Akers Cara J. Kendall Yuri A. Armstrong Travis H. King Benjamin C. Cooper Cindy I. Lopez Michael G. Esquitin Alexander J. Ragnoli Daniel A. Estes Robert V. Salazar Erich Giltinan Kevin A. Sowers Brett A. Glaess Tyler C. Stark Jared B. Harrelson James R. Tully Nicha Jumsil

http://www.moaa.org/Main_Menu/Take_Action/Top_Issues/Serving_in_Uniform/Compensation/Defense_Bill_Breakdown.html


LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UPDATE

DoD: Reshape ‘Blended Retirement’ Plan to Better Protect AVF (Source: Military.com) 11 June 2015 by Tom Philpott

Military leaders and Department of Defense pay experts have presented to Congress a reshaped version of that new “blended retirement” system for future service members, saying this one “best enables us to maintain the readiness of the All-Volunteer Force.” Their hope is that Congress will accept the fresh changes quickly and integrate them into the “momentous” retirement reform package being shepherded toward enactment this year.

The Pentagon plan embraces most key features of re-tirement reform unveiled in late January by the Military Compensation and Retirement Reform Commission

and included by the armed services and appropriations committees in their fiscal 2016 defense bills. Those key features include:

— A 401(k)-like Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with gov-ernment matching of member contributions up to 5 percent of basic pay; — An immediate annuity after 20 or more years of service but reduced by 20 percent compared to cur-rent benefits; — A Continuation Pay offer at mid-career to entice high-quality service members to stay longer, perhaps until the pull of an immediate annuity at 20 years is near enough it can’t be ignored. — Grandfathering of all current members under the existing High-3 retirement plan but also allow them to opt into the new system if attracted by TSP with gov-ernment matching, full vesting after two years and account balances that can be carried into civilian ca-reers.

The new plan would take effect 1 January 2018, time enough to educate the force including career counse-lors and develop financial training programs and tools, such as retirement calculators that can compare plans and total lifetime benefits under various assumptions and circumstances.

The “DoD Blended Retirement System Proposal” as briefed to military associations and congressional staffs and described in a five-page point paper is touted as being more carefully considered and better designed to

meet future recruiting and retention challenges than other variations.

For example, government matching of TSP contribu-tions wouldn’t begin until after four years’ service ver-sus two under current House and Senate plans. It seems the services fear a drop in retention rates after initial service obligations are completed if TSP nest eggs are made too robust through earlier matching of contributions.

DoD also rejects saddling future force working-age re-

tirees with cost-of-living adjustments set a percentage point below inflation. COLAs need to match inflation. Two years ago, during debt-reduction talks, House and Senate negotiators first adopted a COLA-minus-one formula for military retirees including the current force. It was signed into law before a tsunami of protest hit law-makers and they realized what they had done.

Congress quickly repealed COLA-minus-one for the cur-rent force, let it apply to future new entrants. It twice moved the effective date of that change so it still has not stung anyone now serving.

DoD officials now urge reconsideration and full COLAs. They also seek greater flexibility regarding Continuation Pay. House and Senate plans adopt the commission idea of giving a lump sum of cash to members at 12 years if they agree to serve four more. Payments would

at least equal to two and a half months’ basic pay but could be far greater based on job specialty, service needs or other factors.

Even that is too rigid, DoD says. To ensure that TSP nest eggs don’t cripple career force retention, the ser-vices want to be able to offer that lump sum of cash an-ytime from eight to 16 years of service. They also seek greater flexibility on size of payments and length of ser-vice obligations required, with the minimum as low as one year. The services want lump sum enticements as high as 22 months’ basic pay for active duty members and 11 months’ active duty pay for reserve component members.

DoD also rejects the commission’s idea, popular in the Senate for the savings it ensures, of allowing members at retirement to choose a lump sum of cash rather draw full annuities during second careers. DoD says that’s only a “smart” choice in “very limited circumstances” and the interaction with survivor benefits and disability retired pay is complex, too complex.

To underscore how important it is that Congress ac-cepts these changes, DoD notes that it was first looked seriously at adopting a blended retirement plan in 2011 and shared that idea with commissioners as they began their work. DoD seeks now to revise the commission’s plan after considering retirement “holistically in the con-text of the larger recruiting, retaining and retirement continuum” and also weighing the “need to retain talent in an increasingly competitive labor market.”

DoD notes the Joint Chiefs have been involved in ana-lyzing details of retirement systems and making recom-mendations to the defense secretary. So their views are reflected in the DoD plan. Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, DoD spokesman on personnel and readiness issues, said the proposal would give the department “the flexi-bility it needs to manage our force into the future while helping ensure that 85 percent of service members will start long-term retirement savings.”


permanent duty station. Automatic enrollment would be into a Roth TSP rather than a traditional tax-deferred account. Roth is viewed as more beneficial to young savers who pay only modest income taxes as TSP grows, and withdrawals from Roth accounts after age 59-and-a-half are then tax-free. COLA Watch (Source: MOAA)

The May Consumer Price Index of 232.908 increased 0.6 percent compared to last month. It remains .6 percent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2015 is sched-uled to be released on July 17, 2015. (Continued on

page 3)

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There are two new bills before the 114th Congress to eliminate the SBP/DIC Offset for un-remarried military surviving spouses. Those bills are: H.R. 1594, spon-sored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), with 60 original co-sponsors and S. 979, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as the original co-sponsor.

Use the MOAA Capitol switchboard number (866) 272-6622 to contact your representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the bill.

Kathy Prout, Chair, Surviving Spouse Advocacy Committee

SINGLES GROUP

Tina is going to be our hostess for the July meeting

which will be Thursday, July 23 at 5 PM. We are going to gather at the Outback restaurant on Gregory Street. Remember, Gregory is Westbound, so make the necessary adjustment in your approach. We have all been there, so you know how to get there. If not, call Tina ((32-4295) or ask your caller. Bring a friend or a relative to join us. As always, all PMOAA mem-bers are welcome to attend our gatherings.

Gisela Vogentanz

SCHOLARSHIP DONATION FORM

Please accept my/our gift of $_______ to support

the PMOAA Scholarship Fund.

This gift is being made in honor of, or, in memory of ________________________________________________________

Donor Information:

Name ____________________________________

Address __________________________________

_________________________________________

Phone_________________Email ______________

Please send an acknowledgement to:

Name ____________________________________

Address __________________________________

_________________________________________

Your gift is tax deductible to the extent allowable by

law.

Mail your donation payable to:

PMOAA, P.O. Box 17728, Pensacola, FL 32501

Thank you for your support!

AUXILIARY CORNER: ‘Storming the Hill 2015’

The Surviving Spouses Advisory Committee (formerly the Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee), stormed the Hill with MOAA council and chapter presidents from across the country. We stormed with the teams from our own states, representing Alabama, California, Colorado, Texas, and Virginia. MOAA teams visited the offices of all 535 members of Congress and 100 senators in one long productive day.

The main issues were sustaining the pay and benefits of our troops, rejecting disproportional TRICARE fee hikes and plan changes, and ending sequestration. We left information for Congress about three additional is-sues: eliminating the inequities facing un-remarried sur-viving spouses who are affected by the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (SBP/DIC) offset, the disability offset to retired pay for the less

than 50-percent disabled military retirees, and inequities with the Guard/Reserve credit since 9/11.

DoD’s FY 2016 proposals have called to “slow the growth” by cutting military people programs. This in-cludes capping active duty pay COLAs at 1.3 percent, 1 percent under the COLA baseline. Proposals recom-mend a reduction to the housing allowance (BAH) for active duty personnel, including those who reside in mil-itary housing, that would result in a 5 percent out-of-pocket cost. Also suggested was a $1 billion subsidy cut to the commissaries that would result in a 66-percent loss of savings to commissary shoppers. Additionally, the proposals include drastic changes to health care, such as higher means-tested TRICARE fees for working-age retirees and consolidation of TRICARE Prime, Ex-tra, and Standard into one program. Under this pro-posal, servicemembers and their families would pay the Prime enrollment fees plus the Standard deductible, with no assurance of access or quality. Emergency rooms in military treatment facilities would charge pa-tients, including active duty personnel, a means-tested fee for non-life-threatening visits.

Congress rejected the active duty pay cap, the commis-sary cuts, and the TRICARE fee hikes. However, it did approve a new military retirement system that would overhaul the current 20-year cliff vesting benefit and create a blended pension and 401(k)-like Thrift Savings Plan with government matching. This system would pro-vide servicemembers who leave before the 20-year mark with a transportable career device, but it would do so at the cost of reducing 20-year pensions by 20 per-cent.

The SBP/DIC offset affects spouses of deceased retir-ees who purchased SBP and received DIC for a VA dis-ability or a VA presumptive condition. For more infor-mation, visit the VA website, www.va.gov. These surviv-ing spouses currently forfeit $1 of SBP for each $1 re-ceived in DIC. This inequity presently affects almost 62,000 surviving spouses.

http://militaryadvantage.military.com/author/tom-philpott/

http://www.va.gov


What’s Inside… pg 1 President's Corner

pg 1 PMOAA May Photos

pg 2 Legislative Affairs




pg 6 PMOAA June Photos (Cont)

pg 7 Member Spotlight

pg 7 August Scholarship Awards Dinner Reservation

pg 8 Board of Directors Minutes

pg 8 ROTC/JROTC Leadership Awards

pg 9 Auxiliary Corner

pg 9 Singles Group

pg 9 Donation Form

PMOAA Beacon is published by UPS Store 2927, proud member of PMOAA 4051 Barrancas Avenue, Suite G Pensacola, FL 32507-3482 Tel (850) 457-1099 Fax (850) 457-1022

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PMOAA Beacon The City of Five Flags-Pensacola Florida

4 Star Chapter Award – 2002 A 5 Star Chapter Since 2003


PRESIDENT’S CORNER

First, let me thank all of you that attended our annual picnic June 18 at the Pensacola Yacht Club. It was an amazing turnout and everyone had a really great time. The buffet took a little time to go through but the tacos, fajitas and accompanying sides were worth the wait. RADM Joan Engel and I presented CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret) an MOAA Leadership certificate and pin for his many contributions to our membership through his work as the Chair of the Personal Affairs and Survivor Assistance committee. I also displayed the two plaques I received from VADM Ryan, USN (Ret), MOAA President, at the annual Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) Convention in May. Both awards were for the 2014 Col Marvin J. Harris Communica-tions Awards - one, as winner in Category III for our Recruiting Brochure and the second as the 1st Runner Up Category III Website www.pmoaa.org. Second, I want to pass along my thanks for the all of the support I’ve received while serving as PMOAA President the last year and a half and I’m looking for-ward to the same over the next six months. My direct involvement in PMOAA affairs only began as 1st VP in late 2013. I’ve been able to call upon the corporate knowledge contained in the memories of so many members who have served and some who are still serving as Officers and Directors of PMOAA. The membership of PMOAA has enjoyed the benefits of our organization in part due to those who have served as Officers and Directors, committee chairs and committee members and so many others who support PMOAA. I’ve attended several MOAA and Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) symposiums, conventions and other functions. I have met many members of oth-er chapters throughout the United States and I have been struck by how so many chapters struggle for leadership and participation in governance of their Chapters. Just to the east of us the local chapter slowly withered because sufficient numbers of members didn’t step up to serve in positions and keep the chapter moving for-ward. Right now that chapter doesn’t exist in reality. I wonder how many PMOAA members want to see us turn in our charter? It could happen, but hopefully we will not let this happen. This fall we have to elect a new President, 1st VP, 2nd VP, Secretary, Treasurer and 3 Directors. We have volunteers to fill the Direc-tor’s positions but nobody is stepping up to serve as Officers and time is running out. Elections will be held in November 2015 in accordance with our By Laws.

Immediate Past President CDR William (Vann) Milheim, USN (Ret) 850-969-9715 [email protected]

DIRECTORS

CDR Joe Brewer, USN (Ret) 850-453-9291 [email protected]

Col Susan Morgan, USAF (Ret) 850-444-9825 [email protected]

LCDR Ray Judd, USN (Ret) 850-456-8104 [email protected] Mrs. Iva Prosser, Auxiliary 850-485-5533 [email protected]

Mrs. Joan Ferry, Auxiliary

850-501- 8087 [email protected]

President LCDR David Wilhite, USN (Ret) 850-380- 2767 [email protected]

1st Vice President Vacant

2nd Vice President MAJ Molly Werner, USA (Ret) 850-474-1291 [email protected]

Secretary RADM Joan M. Engel, USN (Ret) 850-473-9899 [email protected]

Treasurer Mrs. Elizabeth Richbourg 850-206-0986 [email protected]

Chair, Survivor Assistance Committee CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret)

850-932-5999 [email protected]

Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage Paid

Permit No 326 Pensacola, FL

Pensacola Chapter, MOAA P.O. Box 17728

Pensacola, Florida 32501-7728

Return Service Requested

PMOAA enjoys a great reputation within MOAA and FCOC for its many accomplishments and leadership efforts over the past nearly 45 years. Lest anyone reading this think I am being an alarmist, talk with the serving Officers and Directors and you will find agree-ment with me, in general, about our future. The solution is for every member to think about whether they can serve in an office or who they know that might make a good leader. Officers and auxiliary members are lead-ers – who is willing to step up to the plate? Start talking about PMOAA’s future and get involved. I don’t want to leave office next January without a relief and see a great organization falter. I want to welcome our newest member CDR Russ Pas-coe USN, (Ret). We’re working on more prospects so you will read more names in the future. Thanks to Mrs. Iva Prosser who stepped up to serve as Chair of the By Laws committee. Recommended chang-es will be properly presented to the PMOAA member-ship via the Beacon and voting at our business meeting in November. There is no social event in July but mark your calen-dars for August 6th - our signature event – the annu-al scholarship awards banquet. The event will be held at the Pensacola Yacht Club. Menu reservation form is in this edition of the Beacon

Dave Wilhite

PMOAA June Photos Courtesy of Christine Frazier and Elaine Ciardello

( Photos continued on page 6)

CAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret) receives MOAA Leadership Award from RADM Joan Engel and

LCDR David Wilhite, USN (Ret), President,













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