PMOAA Beacon · Pensacola Chapter Newsletter -June 2016 -Military Officers Association of America....

Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - June 2016 - Military Officers Association of America Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - June 2016 - 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 4 PMOAA Scholarship Application

pg 4 TAPS

pg 5 President’s Corner (Cont)

pg 5 Member Spotlight

pg 6 PMOAA May Photos (Cont)

pg 7 Surviving Spouse Corner

pg 7 Singles Group

pg 7 Scholarship Donation Form

pg 8 Board of Directors Minutes

pg 9 Board of Directors Minutes (Cont)

pg 9 June Picnic Reservation

PMOAA Beacon is published by UPS Store 2927,

proud member of PMOAA4051 Barrancas Avenue, Suite G

Pensacola, FL 32507-3482Tel (850) 457-1099 Fax (850) 457-1022

1 10

Immediate Past PresidentLCDR Dave Wilhite, USN (Ret)850-380-2767 [email protected]

DIRECTORS

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

LTC William Derr, USA (Ret) 850-457-1987 [email protected]

COL Michael Cook, USA (Ret) 850-916-7338 [email protected]

Mrs. Iva Prosser, Auxiliary 850-485-5533 [email protected]

CAPT Walter Viglienzone, USCG (Ret)

850-492-5634 [email protected]

PresidentCPT William Clark, USA (Ret)850-380-0762 [email protected]

1st Vice PresidentCPT Dean Kirschner, USA (Former) 850-458-7988 [email protected]

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

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

TreasurerLCDR Trumin Brown, USN (Ret) 850-932-0370 [email protected]

Chair, Survivor Assistance CommitteeCAPT Bill Mayer, USN (Ret)


walls and tables were filled with pictures of many great Detroit players. I enjoyed seeking out pictures of some of my favorite players. We then had our annual meeting and MOAA update. Afterwards we went to the Aero-space Pavilion for lunch and a Salute to the Military by the Nathan Baldwin Band. We went back to the hotel for a short break and then on to the Florida Air Museum. No comparison to our Naval Air Museum but very interesting and well worth seeing. After a power packed dinner, there was entertainment to work off the meal by the Lakeland Swing Band with swing dancers. Dancing to the old favorites brought back many wonderful memories. So ended day two and what a day.

Sunday started at 0900 in the Veterans Park with Bag-pipes to the National Anthem and on to the MOAA Roll Call of the Fallen for the past year with the Bell Ringing. A sculpture was unveiled and “Ode to the Fallen” was sung, followed by Taps. What a grand ceremony to end a great weekend. The drive was long going home but very well worth every minute of it. These meetings are not just for the Chapter President to attend but for any-one in the chapter.

(Continued on page 5)

PMOAA May Photos Courtesy of Christine Frazier and Elaine Ciardello

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

Thursday, 13 May, Donna and I drove down to Lakeland Florida to attend the business meeting of the Florida Council of Chapters. We were dreading the drive to and from but looking forward to seeing some of the members we met in early January. We knew we would also meet a large number of people from Central Florida we had not met at the prior meeting. What a grand time we had as the next three days were totally filled with entertaining meetings and a great view of what the beautiful city of Lakeland had to offer. It was too bad we did not have any other members from our chapter attend. If you re-member reading the April President’s Corner, I did write a paragraph on this particular three day weekend. I cer-tainly did not do the trip justice as it had been over forty years since I had been to Lakeland and did not remem-ber it being a great United States Air Force city.

The Hampton Inn was the hotel of choice by the Conven-tion and was centrally located and easy to find. The only drawback for me was that it was adjacent to a large out-door mall. Donna did not share my sentiments but rather enjoyed the close proximity to the many ladies stores they had to offer. There also was a wide variety of res-taurants covering almost every nationality and even pro-vided late night entertainment.

We started Friday morning at the Summerlin Military Academy meeting the Commandant and the Cadre Lead-ership with a full briefing. The cadets put on quite a show with Kendo and Jujutsu sparring which took some of us back to our hand to hand training. We then watched in awe as the Summerlin Rifle and Raider Teams profes-sionally performed and then the Drill and Equestrian Teams strutted their stuff for us. As you can see, we had a full morning. In the afternoon we were off to the Central Florida Aerospace Academy for our Board Meeting. For-tunately that was short, and then it was on to Aviation Briefings and a tour through the Aerospace Center for Excellence. Friday evening we went to the Draken Inter-national Hangar for the President’s Reception. We en-joyed hearing Mayor Howard Wiggs discuss the past and future of Lakeland. We were supplied with drinks and a buffet with music and dancing to follow. That was only day one.

Saturday morning we went to Tigertown, at 0730 hours for breakfast in their dining hall. For those who are unfa-miliar with baseball, Tigertown is where the Detroit Tigers have Spring Training and also where athletes from all over the world come to show off their baseball skills. The

Nonprofit OrgU.S. Postage Paid

Permit No 326 Pensacola, FL

Pensacola Chapter, MOAAP.O. Box 17728

Pensacola, Florida 32501-7728

Return Service Requested

(Photos continued on page 6)

CPT Bill Clark and CAPT Sarah Martin, Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital Pensacola and

Guest Speaker

mailto:[email protected]














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Like the House-passed bill, the Senate bill would move most responsibilities for military health care programs from the Army, Navy, and Air Force to the Defense Health Agency. This would place military medical facilities, healthcare delivery, and personnel and budget responsibil-ities directly under DoD for unified planning and execu-tion. The bill also includes a wide range of provisions aimed at improving access and quality of care, including: eliminating referral requirements under TRICARE

Prime for urgent and specialty care; requiring a single appointment system for all military

medical facilities; expanding telehealth capabilities; requiring a DoD plan to improve pediatric care; allowing military beneficiaries to enroll in federal civil-

ian dental/vision plans; and requiring new accountability standards for military

healthcare leaders at all levels.

MOAA Answers Your Top Questions May 6, 2016 Every week MOAA's Member Service Center answers hundreds of emails and phone calls. Here are answers to a few of the most common legislative related questions recently asked: Q. If there are newly imposed TRICARE for Life (TFL) fees, will I be affected? DoD's FY17 budget proposed annual enrollment fees that would eventually reach 2 percent of retired pay for those who become Medicare-eligible on or after Jan. 1, 2017. Under its proposal, beneficiaries already enrolled in Medi-care on Jan. 1, 2017 would be exempted from the new fee. Chapter 61 (military disability) retirees and survivors of servicemembers who died on active duty also would be exempt from the new fee. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) rejected the proposed TFL fees in its version of the FY17 Defense Authorization Act. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is scheduled to take up its version of the bill next week, and MOAA hopes the SASC will follow the HASC in resisting additional TFL costs. Q. Wasn't I promised free health care for life? There is widespread discussion about the “free” part of that promise. MOAA believes many servicemembers were promised free health care for life by supervisors, retention officers, or NCOs based on the widespread availability of military hospitals and clinics across the country in the past. In the late 1960's, Congress changed the law to specify that retirees would be eligible for care “on a space-available basis” in military medical facilities. Still, MOAA has documented that some service retention brochures continued to tout “lifetime health care” as a career benefit long after that. Regardless of whether the word “free” was explicitly used, MOAA believes that was how most members inter-preted the lifetime health care promise - because their only experience as active duty members was with free care in military facilities.


LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UP-DATE

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the FY 2017 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 2943), and it's consider-ably different from the one approved by

House lawmakers on a range of issues. On non-healthcare issues, the bill would:

approve force levels recommended in the president'sbudget rather than increases like the House bill recom-mended;

make the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance perma-nent at the $310 monthly rate;

provide a 1.6 percent military pay raise (vs. the 2.1 per-cent House proposal);

enable the family to either move early or remain at theircurrent duty station for up to six months while their ser-vicemember begins a new assignment to increase sta-bility under certain circumstances;

require a test of privatizing military commissaries at fivelocations;

impose a 25 percent cut in 4-star billets and another 25percent cut from other flag-officer billets; and requirewomen to register for the draft.

For TRICARE, the Senate bill makes no changes to TRI-CARE For Life. But it would adopt most of the DoD-proposed fee increases for other beneficiaries, including:

requiring a new annual enrollment fee for TRICAREStandard that would start at $150/$300 (single/family)as of Jan. 1, 2018, and rise to $450/$900 over the nextfive years;

raising the TRICARE Prime annual enrollment fee 24percent to $350/$700 (single/family);

raising the annual cap on out-of-pocket expenses to$1,500 for currently serving families and $4,000 for re-tired families (vs. current $1,000/$3,000);

giving DoD discretion to implement a pilot program au-thorizing Guard and Reserve members to elect cover-age under the auspices of the federal employees healthinsurance program;

eliminating TRICARE Standard deductibles for carefrom DoD network providers, but doubling the deducti-ble to $300/$600 (single/family) for out-of-network care;

changing TRICARE Standard co-pays for various pro-vider visits to a flat fee vs. a percentage of TRICARE-approved charges;

adjusting annual enrollment fees by the ConsumerPrice Index for Health Care Services established by theBureau of Labor Statistics;

adjusting co-pays, doctor visit cost shares, the cata-strophic cap, and other flat fees by the same percent-age as the retired pay COLA;

roughly doubling pharmacy copays over a 9-year peri-od, including raising the mail-order copay for genericdrugs from the current zero to $11, effective in2020; and

authorizing DoD to collect a “no-show” fee for missedappointments at military medical facilities.

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”

SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME

- JUNE PICNIC - Thursday, 16 June 2016

Pensacola Yacht Club Ballroom B

1897 West Cypress Street Pensacola, FL 32502

Event Starts: 1730

No Speaker

Just come, relax and have a good time

MENUChicken Fajitas and Seasoned Ground Beef

Make your own Tacos with Hard and Soft Taco Shells

Shredded Lettuce, Cheddar Cheese, Tomatoes,

Onions, Sour Cream and Salsa,

Black Bean Quesadillas,

Chili con Queso with Chips,

Chimichangas, Tamales

Dessert: Chocolate and Lemon Cake

Coffee, tea, water and cash bar available

Reservations must be received by

Monday, 13 June 2016 -- 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: 850-484-9162

Email: [email protected] or www.pmoaa.org

Reservations for ____ at $24.00/person

Total Enclosed ______ Make check payable to PMOAA

_______ Check here if you would like a Singles Table

Member Name __________________________________

Spouse Name __________________________________

Guest Name(s) __________________________________

PMOAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 24 May 2016

(Continued from page 8)

will help assist with those who join the chapter as

well as those who renew their membership at no cost

to our chapter. Due consideration was given to

Elaine Ciardello, our data base manager. Her input

was solicited. She was concerned that many, if not

most, of our members wouldn’t use the service. It

would be beneficial for new members joining as she

wouldn’t have to wait for the treasurer to tell her that

the dues have been paid. Dues must be received

before the person can be entered into the data base.

MAJ Werner asked LCDR Brown to ask MOAA how

MOAA will track the new members and how does

that affect our receipt of MOAA monies for new

members. Item tabled until next month.

Email Listing: LCDR Brown has the membership email list and will soon send out a test message.

The email list is an important step forward in being

able to contact members with supplemental chapter

information or important schedule changes.

Veterans Still Serving: This is a Blab TV presenta-tion that would benefit PMOAA in getting information

out to the public regarding PMOAA. A request was

received for program sponsorship. This is not an ap-

proved budget item; therefore, the request for pro-

gram sponsorship was disapproved at this time.

BEACON Printing: The UPS Store on Barrancaswill be selling the store effective 30 June 2016 and

will no longer be publishing and printing the Beacon.

LTC Tom and MAJ Kathy Kuklish have done an out-

standing job over the years in getting this timely pub-

lication into the hands of our membership. Their last

publication will be the July edition. RADM Engel met

with the new owner who expressed a desire to con-

tinue supporting PMOAA. At this time, there are too

many unanswered questions regarding the cost and

ability to meet our quick turnaround time require-

ments. She will meet again with the new owners in

June. In the meantime, LCDR Brown will meet with

MAJ Kuklish to shadow the June edition. MAJ Wer-

ner and CPT Kirschner will investigate other printing

sources. RADM Engel stated it has been a real joy

working with the Kuklishs.

Beacon input for the June edition is due NLT COB

Wednesday, 25 May. Deadline for the July edition is

NLT COB 22 June. The next Board meeting will be

on Tuesday, 21 June at 1700 hours at the Pensacola

Yacht Club. The meeting adjourned at 1820.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan M. Engel, Secretary





President Clark called the meeting to order at 1700hours with the following members present: CPT Clark,

CPT Kirschner, MAJ Werner, RADM Engel, LCDRBrown, LTC Derr, COL Cook, Iva Prosser and Schol-arship Chair, CDR Milheim. Member absent: CDR Brewer. Member excused: CAPT Viglienzone

April Minutes: A motion was made by Iva Prosser, seconded by LCDR Brown, to approve the April board minutes. Motion carried.Treasurer Report: LCDR Brown gave the NFCU re-port covering the period of 3/24/16 to 4/23/16. As a result of the raffle, a total of $1,425.00 was added to the scholarship account. The raffle winners were:First Place: CAPT Barney Walsh ($700); Second Place: CDR John Walters ($400) and Third Place:RADM Carmen Ciardello ($250). A motion was made by COL Cook, seconded by CPT Kirschner, to ap-prove the treasurer report. Motion carried. LCDR Brown distributed information on the 2015 Flori-da Statues, Title XXXIII, Chapter 496, Section 4055regarding solicitation of funds for charitable organiza-tions by officers or board of directors. This requiresboard members sign a ‘conflict of interest’ statement. All members were encouraged to review for discus-sion at the next board meeting. LCDR Brown will draft a statement to this effect. LCDR Brown recommended that when the 2017 budg-et is prepared, printing costs be increased. As per RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg recommended that if nodate was listed on the raffle tickets, we could save money by using left over tickets the following year.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Recruiting and Membership: One new member has been recruited. MOAA sent a list of over 2000 peoplewho are MOAA members and live in our catchment area. This can be used as a recruiting tool. No deci-sions were made on how contacts were to be made.MAJ Werner stated she would review the list and con-tact people she personally knows. She also distribut-ed another list received from MOAA listing all PMOAA chapter members. An initial review shows there are some errors in that listing. SCHOLARSHIP: CDR Milheim reported that to date,two scholarship applications have been received. Hewas concerned that the Pensacola News Journal has not published the scholarship article. He will follow up. PMOAA’s request for LET dollars was approved in theamount of $4,000 – enough to fund two scholarships. At first blush, it looks like PMOAA will be able to fund six to eight scholarships. For the benefit of new board members, CDR Milheim reviewed the selection pro-cess. He is in the process of finalizing dates for thescholarship committee to review all applications. Ap-plications will be printed and sent to all committee

8

LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UPDATE (Continued from page 2)

Crunch time really came in 1996, when TRICARE was im-plemented at the same time DoD downsized and eliminated hundreds of military hospitals and clinics, and specified that care would be allocated by priority for (1) currently serving members and families, (2) retirees and family members un-der age 65 and (3) retirees and families over 65. As a practical matter, that radically changed the availability of military health care and shut virtually all of the over-65s out of the military health care system. The resulting outcry over broken commitments led Congress to enact TRICARE For Life (TFL) as a supplement to Medicare in 2001. So cur-rent law does, in fact, authorize lifetime health coverage for career servicemembers and their families and survivors. Regardless of what people believe they were promised (or, in many cases, actually were promised), it has been a long time since military people have been exempt from paying at least something for health care. Servicemembers and family members over 65 have been paying Medicare premiums since the 1960s. Even before TRICARE was implemented, care not provided in military facilities was covered by CHAM-PUS, which entailed a deductible and 25 percent cost share. So the days of hoping for free health care are gone. MOAA remains committed to resisting disproportional fee increas-es, and ensuring whatever fees are charged take appropri-ate account of the in-kind premiums career servicemembers and families paid “up-front” through decades of service and sacrifice. MOAA will continue to oppose any TFL fees be-yond the Medicare Part B premium. Q. What is going on with the commissary? Is privatiza-tion coming? Last year, instead of providing a plan to privatize the com-missary, Congress wrote a provision into the defense bill requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to achieve budget-neutrality for the commissary and exchange benefits no later than March 1, 2016. After the report, DoD was to begin pilot programs to achieve that goal - while also maintaining current levels of patron savings and satisfaction and product quality. The report is yet to be released. MOAA and The Military Coalition supported these provi-sions, in full knowledge that making the program budget-neutral while still achieving the same levels of patron sav-ings and satisfaction and product quality is functionally im-possible. However, the House version of the FY17 defense bill includ-ed a provision allowing DoD to implement variable pricing strategies and “house brand” products at commissaries na-tionwide while still maintaining requirements to preserve cur-rent levels of patron savings and satisfaction. If this provi-sion is enacted, commissaries will be able to use variable pricing to modify product prices, up or down, for up to five years (or more if it works to reduce requirements for tax dol-lar support). Although the proposed provision still requires DoD to meet benchmarks for product quality and customer savings and satisfaction, variable pricing could change the way commis-saries deliver those savings either within a market basket or by locality. MOAA will continue to urge DoD and Congress to find efficiencies without reducing the value of this im-portant benefit. 3

members by 24 June giving them adequate time to re-view.He will submit a letter outlining the printing costs for taxpurposes as an in kind donation. The funding request process was explained to the treasurer. CDR Milheim requested another scholarship article be placed in theJune edition of the Beacon.

ROTC/JROTC Support: CPT Clark and his volunteers have completed the awards cycle. It was indeed a very busy spring. A total of two ROTC, 12 JROTC and 21

Gold Bars were presented on behalf of MOAA.

UNFINISHED BUSINESSAudit: Four board members now have the authority to sign checks. This was a recommendation made by theaudit committee. All audit requirements have now been fulfilled.

Challenge Coin: CDR Milheim has made initial contact with a representative but no feedback has been re-ceived. It was suggested that he look for other sources. JROTC Requests: Funding requests were receivedfrom Gulf Breeze High School and Pensacola High School. Gulf Breeze requested $1,000 to be used to-ward purchasing a plaque for Silver Eagles (top 3%who completed AFJROTC for the last twenty years). Pensacola High School requested funding to coversuch events as Cadet Fun Days, Induction Ceremonies, a Military Ball, end-of-the year Awards Ceremony andSummer Leadership School at Hurlburt Field. A motion was made by LCDR Brown, seconded by LTC Derr, to give Gulf Breeze $1,000 and Pensacola High School $500. RADM Engel objected and stated that the re-quest from Pensacola High School didn’t fully meet therequirements for the funding request and she did not support the motion. Discussion ensued and LCDRBrown rescinded his initial motion and made the motion that PMOAA award only Gulf Breeze in the amount of$1,000. Motion carried. CPT Clark will notify both schools of the board action results. CDR Milheim sug-gested that the Gulf Breeze Color Guard be invited to the August Scholarship Awards Banquet. There was some concern that since school is not in session in Au-gust, the Color Guard may not be able to attend. CPT Kirschner will investigate.Memorial Day: Ceremony will be held at the NAS Chapel starting at 0900 on Monday, 30 May 2016. CPT Kirschner has the PMOAA flag and stand. He willcheck with CAPT Viglienzone to see if he can attend to carry the flag. RADM Engel will read the names of de-ceased members.

NEW BUSINESSMOAA’s Online Renewal and Join Program: MOAArequested that PMOAA consider registering for MOAA’s online dues renewal and join program. MOAA will pay all costs associated with all credit card charges. This


Q. What is MOAA's position on privatizing the VA? MOAA believes the VA system definitely needs improve-ments, but we disagree with those who would phase it out and move all veterans' care to the private sector. The Veter-ans Health Administration (VHA) is a system with a unique and comprehensive mission, and is unlike any other health system in America today. Privatizing the VA would eliminate some of the best aspects of VA care, such as spinal and polytrauma care. That said, the system is in need of immedi-ate attention and reform. Part of that reform is ensuring quali-fying veterans are able to access private sector care if they can't get timely care in VA facilities. MOAA has joined with several other veterans groups to urge the Commission on Care, a congressional commission tasked with strategically examining how to best organize the VHA for the next generation of veterans, to consider serious reforms rather than a total overhaul. Q. Is concurrent receipt still a priority for MOAA? Definitely. MOAA continues to support full concurrent receipt of both military retired pay and VA disability pay-regardless of the percentage of disability. This issue remains one of MOAA's key legislative priorities, and our goal of full elimina-tion of the offset is specified in MOAA's Resolutions, under Resolution No. 6-Career Force Compensation and Retire-ment System. There are currently three MOAA-supported bills on this is-sue. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced the Retired Pay Resto-ration Act (S. 271). This bill would permit retired members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability rated less than 50 percent to receive full concurrent receipt of both retired pay and veterans' disability compensation, including Chapter 61 disability retirees with less than 20 years of service. The House companion to this bill is H.R. 333, introduced by Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.). Another MOAA-supported bill regarding concurrent receipt is H.R. 303, introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.). This bill would authorize full concurrent receipt for retirees with regu-lar or Guard/Reserve retirements, regardless of disability rat-ing. Members are able to see up to date bill status information and send letters of support through MOAA's key bills webpage. MOAA is committed to advocating for concurrent receipt until the offset is eliminated for all disabled retirees. We believe strongly in the principle that career military mem-bers earn their retired pay by service alone, and those unfor-tunate enough to suffer a service-caused disability in the pro-cess should have any VA disability compensation added to, not subtracted from, their service-earned retired pay. The main challenge, as it is with so many of our legislative goals, is funding. Under congressional rules, the only way the Armed Services Committees can propose such fixes is by identifying equal spending cuts in other programs in their purview. That's why it's been so difficult winning further progress. In all likelihood, progress will come as it has in the past - in increments rather than in one big change. In that regard, MOAA's top concurrent receipt priority is providing relief for severely disabled medical retirees with less than 20 years of service. Under current law, a 100 per-cent (non-combat) disabled medical retiree with 19 years of service still loses most or all of his retired pay to the disability


http://www.moaa.org/Content/About-MOAA/MOAA-at-a-Glance/MOAA-Resolutions.aspx

http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/?bill=64031751



month after the date of death of the former spouse. Married AFTER Death of the Former Spouse - If the mem-ber married after the former spouse’s date of death (or in the 1 year period preceding the date of death of the former spouse), the effective date is the 1st day of the 1st month after the 1st anniversary of the marriage. For members who are not fully paid, retroactive premiums will be effective on the date of the election. Such members will be responsible for all premiums for this time period. An estimate of premiums and payment options will be provided after receipt of a member’s expression of interest form. The member will be required to pay the premiums in either a lump-sum amount or over a period of months, but all premiums must be paid within 24 months of the date of their final election. An excellent source of current information in a variety of Military related subjects is Military.com. One may select among thirteen newsletters tailored to specific areas of in-terest to Military personnel at the following link: http://www.military.com/LeadForms/NewsLetterSignup Thoughts to Ponder Are Americans better off today than they were eight years ago? Do political parties actually care about their constituents, or are they self-serving? Ditto the above with respect to Congressional Represent-atives and Senators? Do political careerists help or hurt their constituents? Is the primary purpose of Representation to bring money, programs and government largesse to a District? Would “Term Limits” help to regain control out-of-control government?

Compiled and Edited by Colonel Bob Pappas,

USMC (Ret)

PMOAA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE 15 JUNE 2016

PMOAA will be awarding scholarship grants to children, stepchildren, spouses or grandchildren of active duty or retired military personnel (officer and enlisted). To be eligi-ble, applicants must be a resident, dependent of a resident, or grandchild of a resident of Escambia, Santa Rosa or Baldwin (AL) counties. Applicants must have completed a minimum of one year at a college/university, with at least a 3.2 GPA, if an undergraduate, or 3.5 if a graduate student, for the two preceding semesters (fall of 2015 and spring of 2016 as a full time student). Applications must be submitted no later than Wednesday, 15 June 2016. Application may be downloaded at www.pmoaa.org. For more information or to request assis-tance in applying, contact CDR Vann Milheim, USN (Ret) at 850-969-9715 or [email protected].

Vann Milheim

4

If you receive an email asking for money, forward it to your local police department. Shred documents containing personal or financial in-formation before discarding. Many fraud and identity theft incidents happen as a result of mail and garbage theft. Promptly retrieve incoming mail, and place outgoingmail with financial information in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox, instead of your home mailbox. Consider paperless options for your bills and financial information.Remember, be alert and question any suspicious com-munication to help protect yourself from fraud and scams.

Anne Hartline, SSAC

SINGLES GROUP

Rhetta, our June Hostess, is going to make reservationsfor us to gather at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse on9th Avenue at Cordova Mall. The new eatery is locatednext to the Red Lobster. As usual, we will meet at 5:30PM on Thursday, 23 June. I have not visited this new restaurant, so it’s going to be a surprise for me and I am looking forward to a new adventure. Bring a guest or a friend to join us. If you need more information, give Rhetta a call at (850)-457-2702. Enjoy the Memorial Weekend.

Gisela Vogentanz

SCHOLARSHIP DONATION FORM

Please accept my/our gift of $_______ to support thePMOAA 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!

7

SURVIVING SPOUSE CORNER - ‘Protect Yourself from Fraud’

Many dishonest people work diligently every day to gather information illegally in order to steal identities and money. To help protect yourself from fraud, beaware: Do not open suspicious emails, carefully read emails from agencies and businesses that appear tobe legitimate, and cautiously answer telephone callsfrom unknown individuals. In addition, do not depositchecks that come in the mail from unfamiliar sources. USAA, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and banks are three of the most commonly targeted sources forscams. Some clever thieves now can show USAA, IRS, and the names of banks on the telephone callerID and send emails that look authentic. In 2014, USAA shut down 6,724 fraudulent websites. Accord-ing to the Federal Trade Commission, from 2013 to2014, IRS scams increased by 20 percent, with more than 54,000 Americans being targeted in 2014. In ad-dition, almost daily, the media report scams involvingbanks and bogus checks. USAA advises that legitimate communications fromtheir company always will have a “USAA Security Zone” stamp. Look for your name and the last four digits of your member number. Like all security cau-tions from any source that might be compromised, USAA directs that you should not reply to any email with personal information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or bank ac-count numbers. If you receive suspicious communica-tions from USAA, contact them at (877) 762-7256 orforward suspicious email communications [email protected]. Fraudulent IRS agents can be quite intimidating. They call and state back taxes are owed, and the only way to avoid jail is to pay back taxes and fines immediate-ly. Then they offer various methods of transferring themoney. Sometimes the con artists take a positive ap-proach, telling people they have a refund due andthen asking for personal information. If you receive a suspicious IRS call, assume it is a scam. The IRSdoes not call people about back taxes or refunds; you will receive notice via a mailed letter. The IRS also does not solicit information by email, text, or social media. If you are contacted by phone, report the inci-dent to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for TaxAdministration at (800) 366-4484. If you are contactedby email, forward the message directly to the IRS [email protected]. Wells Fargo has excellent information on their website regarding bank fraud and scams, including tips onhow to protect yourself, such as:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your homework before cashing checks re-

ceived in the mail from unknown sources. Call thebank, and independently research an individual,company, or check to verify legitimacy.


offset. We're convinced the offset will be fully eliminated for all dis-abled retirees at some point. But the current budget envi-ronment poses a huge obstacle for the short term. Former Spouse SBP Coverage Open Season (Source: DFAS) The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA FY16) amended the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) statute to provide a member who had made an elec-tion to provide SBP or Reserve Component SBP (RCSBP) coverage for a former spouse the ability to cover a subse-quent spouse if the former spouse dies. The enactment of this legislation included provisions in the form of an open season period to accommodate members whose covered former spouse beneficiaries were already deceased when the legislation was enacted.

Who is eligible for this Open Season? Members who have been identified as a military retiree who once elected former spouse coverage, which is now discon-tinued, have been contacted via direct mail. However, some members may be eligible to elect coverage for a current spouse during this open season period if, before November 25, 2015, they had a former spouse beneficiary under the SBP who died before that date and if they were, on Novem-ber 25, 2015, married to a subsequent spouse. This Former Spouse SBP Coverage Open Season DOES NOT APPLY if they are not currently married or if their former spouse SBP coverage was discontinued for any reason other than the death of their covered former spouse.

How do I make an election to cover my current spouse? If a member has not already been contacted, but believes the open season may apply to them, and has an interest in making the election, please direct their inquiry to us at the address found here http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/about/aboutus/customer-service.html. Once we have re-ceived their inquiry, we will provide them with the necessary supporting documents which may include:

Certificate of Death for the Former Spouse

Marriage Certificate for Current Spouse

Birth Certificate for Current Spouse

Expression of Interest FormOnce we receive all required documentation, we will pre-pare an estimate of the costs associated with the coverage, and any retroactive premiums due from the effective date of the coverage. We will provide this estimate to them along with a blank “Final Election” form. Once they have reviewed the figures, if they decide to elect the coverage, they will need to complete and sign the “Final Election” form and return it to us. The election must be made with the form provided or in writing. It must be received by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service Cleveland with a postmark on or before 24 November 2016. When will my election become effective? Married ON the Date of the Death of the Former Spouse – If the member had been married for at least 1 year on the former spouse’s date of death, the effective date is the first

TAPS

Captain Robert J. Forsyth, USN (Ret)

http://www.military.com/LeadForms/NewsLetterSignup






http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/about/aboutus/customer-service.html


Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - June 2016 - Military Officers Association of America

5

PRESIDENT’S CORNER (Continued from page 1)

The ROTC and JROTC Award Programs are over for a while. I want to thank Ed Boegle, Charles Booton, and Tom Fitzgerald for their assistance in presenting awards. MOAA Awards were presented in twelve different high schools and two were presented in the Air Force and Ar-my College programs. We also presented 21 sets of Gold (Butter) Bars to newly graduated 2nd Lieutenants. Each presentation also included a personal framed certificate with Pensacola MOAA recognized. Our dinner was a huge success again with over 80 at-tendees. I wish I could have eaten both dinners but I couldn’t even finish one. The prime rib was outstanding and huge, but I heard from my table that the Margarita Grouper was even better. I enjoyed talking over dinner with our guest speaker Captain Sarah Martin and her hus-band Marty Martin (Retired Naval Aviator). She gave us an outstanding presentation about what is going on as well as what is on the horizon at Naval Hospital Pensacola and also Military Medicine as a whole. She is soon retir-ing and they are building a home here and plan to be around for a while. They also committed to joining PMOAA. Our raffle was a success for our Scholarship fund. We raised a total of $1425.00 for our Scholarship Fund. Our winners were: First Place $700.00 - CAPT Barney Walsh, USN; Second Place $400.00 - CDR John Walters, USN: Third Place – RADM Carmen Ciardello, MD, USN. I want to thank Liz Richbourg and CAPT Harry Herman who worked hard putting this together and to all PMOAA mem-bers who purchased tickets. Our next gathering will be our “Chillin’ and Grillin’ Picnic Party Fling” on June 16th at the Pensacola Yacht Club. Depending on the weather it will be inside if it rains or in-side/outside if fair weather. Fun will be had by all so don’t miss this very casual affair.

Bill Clark

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT – COLONEL MICHAEL R. COOK, USA (Ret)

A native of Missouri, Mike accepted an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy in 1960. Following gradua-tion and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery in 1964, he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While there, he married the former Christine Smith of New Orleans. Their time together there was less than a year, cut short by Mike’s orders to Vietnam. Attached to the Military Assistance Command in Vi-etnam, Mike was posted to a district team in Quang Ngai Province, advising Vietnamese regional and popu-lar forces. In March, 1966 while engaged in a small clearing operation, he was wounded, leading to a two-month break in a hospital in Okinawa. Returning to duty in May, he finished his tour less dramatically, advising a small Vietnamese training center. Returning to the states as a Captain, Mike was as-signed as a battery commander at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Remaining at Fort Sill, he completed the Field Artillery advanced course. During this time, he and Christine wel-comed their first child, Michael, Jr. Mike was invited to return to West Point to teach mathe-matics to cadets. This posting required him to have a Master’s Degree, so he matriculated at Rensselaer Poly-technic Institute in Troy, New York and eighteen months later had the necessary credentials. While in cold upstate New York, he and Christine were joined by their second child, Stephanie. Then things got interesting. In 1973, Mike was selected as an aide-de-camp for an Air Force Major General, en-tailing a relocation to Teheran, Iran where his boss served as the chief of our military assistance advisory group. This involved a lot of traveling to all corners of the country. In many instances, Christine was able to accompany him. When they returned to the states, Mike rounded out his joint service experience when he was selected for attend-ance at the Naval College of Command and Staff, in New-port, Rhode Island. That completed, while most of his classmates headed for sunny places on the water, Mike and his family headed to Oklahoma. Back at Fort Sill, he served in staff positions and as the Executive Officer of an artillery battalion. Inevitably, it seems, the Pentagon and the Army Staff called. Mike served two years in charge of the Army train-ing ammunition program. Escaping Washington after two years, he and his family finally made it to Europe. Mike served as a commander of a field artillery group. Sta-tioned in the northern part of Germany, his group was a NATO unit, supporting German and Dutch Corps Artillery units. Germany was followed by attendance at the Army War College and assignment to Fort Monroe, Virginia. Mike served in various staff positions with the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command. Following his promotion to Colo-nel, it was back to the Pentagon, this time working with Force Integration for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Person-nel. His final assignment was as the Garrison Commander of Fort Myer, Virginia, a position he held until his retirement in 1992. Remaining in the Northern Virginia area, he went back to the Army, this time in a suit rather than a uniform. He worked as an instructor at the Army Manage-ment Staff College, at Fort Belvoir, VA until he and Chris-tine retired again and moved to Pensacola Beach in 1998. He joined PMOAA (nee TROA) while Christine became active with ROWWA. Mike served on the PMOAA board of Directors for four years, followed by four years as Treasurer. After a 4 year hiatus, he has returned as a Di-rector having been installed this January. He recently “retired” as a volunteer County Court Mediator. In addi-tion, Mike and Christine are active with the Pensacola Chapter, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Pensacola Beach Community Church, Pensacola Beach Mardi Gras Krewe of Wrecks and Pensacola Beach Woman’s Club (Christine). With all this going on, it is hard to believe he considers himself retired.

LCDR Ray Judd

Pensacola Chapter Newsletter - June 2016 - Military Officers Association of America

6

PMOAA May Dinner Photos Courtesy of Christine Frazier


CAPT Bill and Lou Feran

Carmen Johnson, Betty Townsend, Iva Prosser, Gail Grimes, Martha Simpkins and Gisela Vogentanz

Joan and CAPT Lathe Bowen, and Elaine Ciardello

Rosa and COL Manuel Siverio Liz Richbourg, CAPT Harry Herman, and Jane Merrill

CAPT Sarah and CDR Marty Martin CAPT Joe and LeAnn Hodge Marion Thomas and Mary Williams

COL Mike and Christine Cook, LtCol Chuck and Barbara MacDonald

Polly Shrader, Liz Derr and LtCol Paul Shrader

CDR Russ Pasco, Shane and Cathy Pasco and CAPT Bill Mayer


month after the date of death of the former spouse. Married AFTER Death of the Former Spouse - If the mem-ber married after the former spouse’s date of death (or inthe 1 year period preceding the date of death of the former spouse), the effective date is the 1st day of the 1st month after the 1st anniversary of the marriage. For members who are not fully paid, retroactive premiums will be effective on the date of the election. Such members will be responsible for all premiums for this time period. An estimate of premiums and payment options will be provided after receipt of a member’s expression of interestform. The member will be required to pay the premiums in either a lump-sum amount or over a period of months, butall premiums must be paid within 24 months of the date oftheir final election. An excellent source of current information in a variety of Military related subjects is Military.com. One may selectamong thirteen newsletters tailored to specific areas of in-terest to Military personnel at the following link: http://www.military.com/LeadForms/NewsLetterSignup Thoughts to Ponder Are Americans better off today than they were eight years ago?Do political parties actually care about their constituents,or are they self-serving?Ditto the above with respect to Congressional Represent-atives and Senators?Do political careerists help or hurt their constituents? Is the primary purpose of Representation to bring money, programs and government largesse to a District?Would “Term Limits” help to regain control out-of-control government?

Compiled and Edited by Colonel Bob Pappas,

USMC (Ret)

PMOAA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE 15 JUNE 2016

PMOAA will be awarding scholarship grants to children, stepchildren, spouses or grandchildren of active duty or retired military personnel (officer and enlisted). To be eligi-ble, applicants must be a resident, dependent of a resident, or grandchild of a resident of Escambia, Santa Rosa or Baldwin (AL) counties. Applicants must have completed a minimum of one year at a college/university, with at least a 3.2 GPA, if an undergraduate, or 3.5 if a graduate student, for the two preceding semesters (fall of 2015 and spring of 2016 as a full time student). Applications must be submitted no later than Wednesday, 15 June 2016. Application may be downloaded at www.pmoaa.org. For more information or to request assis-tance in applying, contact CDR Vann Milheim, USN (Ret)at 850-969-9715 or [email protected].

Vann Milheim

4

If you receive an email asking for money, forward it toyour local police department. Shred documents containing personal or financial in-formation before discarding. Many fraud and identity theft incidents happen as a result of mail and garbage theft. Promptly retrieve incoming mail, and place outgoingmail with financial information in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox, instead of your home mailbox. Consider paperless options for your bills and financialinformation. Remember, be alert and question any suspicious com-munication to help protect yourself from fraud and scams.

Anne Hartline, SSAC

SINGLES GROUP

Rhetta, our June Hostess, is going to make reservations for us to gather at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse on 9th Avenue at Cordova Mall. The new eatery is located next to the Red Lobster. As usual, we will meet at 5:30 PM on Thursday, 23 June. I have not visited this new restaurant, so it’s going to be a surprise for me and I am looking forward to a new adventure. Bring a guest or a friend to join us. If you need more information, give Rhetta a call at (850)-457-2702. Enjoy the Memorial Weekend.

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!

7

SURVIVING SPOUSE CORNER - ‘Protect Yourself from Fraud’

Many dishonest people work diligently every day to gather information illegally in order to steal identities and money. To help protect yourself from fraud, be aware: Do not open suspicious emails, carefully read emails from agencies and businesses that appear to be legitimate, and cautiously answer telephone calls from unknown individuals. In addition, do not deposit checks that come in the mail from unfamiliar sources. USAA, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and banks are three of the most commonly targeted sources for scams. Some clever thieves now can show USAA, IRS, and the names of banks on the telephone caller ID and send emails that look authentic. In 2014, USAA shut down 6,724 fraudulent websites. Accord-ing to the Federal Trade Commission, from 2013 to 2014, IRS scams increased by 20 percent, with more than 54,000 Americans being targeted in 2014. In ad-dition, almost daily, the media report scams involving banks and bogus checks. USAA advises that legitimate communications from their company always will have a “USAA Security Zone” stamp. Look for your name and the last four digits of your member number. Like all security cau-tions from any source that might be compromised, USAA directs that you should not reply to any email with personal information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or bank ac-count numbers. If you receive suspicious communica-tions from USAA, contact them at (877) 762-7256 or forward suspicious email communications to [email protected]. Fraudulent IRS agents can be quite intimidating. They call and state back taxes are owed, and the only way to avoid jail is to pay back taxes and fines immediate-ly. Then they offer various methods of transferring the money. Sometimes the con artists take a positive ap-proach, telling people they have a refund due and then asking for personal information. If you receive a suspicious IRS call, assume it is a scam. The IRS does not call people about back taxes or refunds; you will receive notice via a mailed letter. The IRS also does not solicit information by email, text, or social media. If you are contacted by phone, report the inci-dent to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484. If you are contacted by email, forward the message directly to the IRS at [email protected]. Wells Fargo has excellent information on their website regarding bank fraud and scams, including tips on how to protect yourself, such as:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your homework before cashing checks re-

ceived in the mail from unknown sources. Call thebank, and independently research an individual,company, or check to verify legitimacy.


offset.We're convinced the offset will be fully eliminated for all dis-abled retirees at some point. But the current budget envi-ronment poses a huge obstacle for the short term.Former Spouse SBP Coverage Open Season (Source: DFAS) The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA FY16) amended the Survivor Benefit Plan(SBP) statute to provide a member who had made an elec-tion to provide SBP or Reserve Component SBP (RCSBP) coverage for a former spouse the ability to cover a subse-quent spouse if the former spouse dies. The enactment of this legislation included provisions in the form of an openseason period to accommodate members whose covered former spouse beneficiaries were already deceased when the legislation was enacted.

Who is eligible for this Open Season?Members who have been identified as a military retiree who once elected former spouse coverage, which is now discon-tinued, have been contacted via direct mail. However, somemembers may be eligible to elect coverage for a current spouse during this open season period if, before November 25, 2015, they had a former spouse beneficiary under the SBP who died before that date and if they were, on Novem-ber 25, 2015, married to a subsequent spouse. This Former Spouse SBP Coverage Open Season DOES NOT APPLY ifthey are not currently married or if their former spouse SBP coverage was discontinued for any reason other than the death of their covered former spouse.

How do I make an election to cover my current spouse?If a member has not already been contacted, but believes the open season may apply to them, and has an interest in making the election, please direct their inquiry to us at the address found here http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/about/aboutus/customer-service.html. Once we have re-ceived their inquiry, we will provide them with the necessarysupporting documents which may include:

Certificate of Death for the Former Spouse

Marriage Certificate for Current Spouse

Birth Certificate for Current Spouse

Expression of Interest FormOnce we receive all required documentation, we will pre-pare an estimate of the costs associated with the coverage, and any retroactive premiums due from the effective date ofthe coverage. We will provide this estimate to them along with a blank “Final Election” form. Once they have reviewed the figures, if they decide to elect the coverage, they will need to complete and sign the “Final Election” form and return it to us. The election must be made with the formprovided or in writing. It must be received by the DefenseFinance and Accounting Service Cleveland with a postmark on or before 24 November 2016. When will my election become effective?Married ON the Date of the Death of the Former Spouse – If the member had been married for at least 1 year on theformer spouse’s date of death, the effective date is the first

TAPS

Captain Robert J. Forsyth, USN (Ret)











President Clark called the meeting to order at 1700 hours with the following members present: CPT Clark,

CPT Kirschner, MAJ Werner, RADM Engel, LCDR Brown, LTC Derr, COL Cook, Iva Prosser and Schol-arship Chair, CDR Milheim. Member absent: CDR Brewer. Member excused: CAPT Viglienzone

April Minutes: A motion was made by Iva Prosser, seconded by LCDR Brown, to approve the April board minutes. Motion carried. Treasurer Report: LCDR Brown gave the NFCU re-port covering the period of 3/24/16 to 4/23/16. As a result of the raffle, a total of $1,425.00 was added to the scholarship account. The raffle winners were: First Place: CAPT Barney Walsh ($700); Second Place: CDR John Walters ($400) and Third Place: RADM Carmen Ciardello ($250). A motion was made by COL Cook, seconded by CPT Kirschner, to ap-prove the treasurer report. Motion carried. LCDR Brown distributed information on the 2015 Flori-da Statues, Title XXXIII, Chapter 496, Section 4055 regarding solicitation of funds for charitable organiza-tions by officers or board of directors. This requires board members sign a ‘conflict of interest’ statement. All members were encouraged to review for discus-sion at the next board meeting. LCDR Brown will draft a statement to this effect. LCDR Brown recommended that when the 2017 budg-et is prepared, printing costs be increased. As per RADM Engel, Liz Richbourg recommended that if no date was listed on the raffle tickets, we could save money by using left over tickets the following year.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Recruiting and Membership: One new member has been recruited. MOAA sent a list of over 2000 people who are MOAA members and live in our catchment area. This can be used as a recruiting tool. No deci-sions were made on how contacts were to be made. MAJ Werner stated she would review the list and con-tact people she personally knows. She also distribut-ed another list received from MOAA listing all PMOAA chapter members. An initial review shows there are some errors in that listing. SCHOLARSHIP: CDR Milheim reported that to date, two scholarship applications have been received. He was concerned that the Pensacola News Journal has not published the scholarship article. He will follow up. PMOAA’s request for LET dollars was approved in the amount of $4,000 – enough to fund two scholarships. At first blush, it looks like PMOAA will be able to fund six to eight scholarships. For the benefit of new board members, CDR Milheim reviewed the selection pro-cess. He is in the process of finalizing dates for the scholarship committee to review all applications. Ap-plications will be printed and sent to all committee

8


Crunch time really came in 1996, when TRICARE was im-plemented at the same time DoD downsized and eliminated hundreds of military hospitals and clinics, and specified that care would be allocated by priority for (1) currently serving members and families, (2) retirees and family members un-der age 65 and (3) retirees and families over 65. As a practical matter, that radically changed the availability of military health care and shut virtually all of the over-65s out of the military health care system. The resulting outcry over broken commitments led Congress to enact TRICAREFor Life (TFL) as a supplement to Medicare in 2001. So cur-rent law does, in fact, authorize lifetime health coverage forcareer servicemembers and their families and survivors.Regardless of what people believe they were promised (or, in many cases, actually were promised), it has been a long time since military people have been exempt from paying at least something for health care. Servicemembers and family members over 65 have been paying Medicare premiums since the 1960s. Even before TRICARE was implemented, care not provided in military facilities was covered by CHAM-PUS, which entailed a deductible and 25 percent cost share. So the days of hoping for free health care are gone. MOAA remains committed to resisting disproportional fee increas-es, and ensuring whatever fees are charged take appropri-ate account of the in-kind premiums career servicemembersand families paid “up-front” through decades of service andsacrifice. MOAA will continue to oppose any TFL fees be-yond the Medicare Part B premium. Q. What is going on with the commissary? Is privatiza-tion coming?Last year, instead of providing a plan to privatize the com-missary, Congress wrote a provision into the defense billrequiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report toachieve budget-neutrality for the commissary and exchangebenefits no later than March 1, 2016. After the report, DoD was to begin pilot programs to achieve that goal - while also maintaining current levels of patron savings and satisfaction and product quality. The report is yet to be released.MOAA and The Military Coalition supported these provi-sions, in full knowledge that making the program budget-neutral while still achieving the same levels of patron sav-ings and satisfaction and product quality is functionally im-possible. However, the House version of the FY17 defense bill includ-ed a provision allowing DoD to implement variable pricing strategies and “house brand” products at commissaries na-tionwide while still maintaining requirements to preserve cur-rent levels of patron savings and satisfaction. If this provi-sion is enacted, commissaries will be able to use variable pricing to modify product prices, up or down, for up to five years (or more if it works to reduce requirements for tax dol-lar support). Although the proposed provision still requires DoD to meet benchmarks for product quality and customer savings and satisfaction, variable pricing could change the way commis-saries deliver those savings either within a market basket or by locality. MOAA will continue to urge DoD and Congressto find efficiencies without reducing the value of this im-portant benefit. 3

members by 24 June giving them adequate time to re-view. He will submit a letter outlining the printing costs for tax purposes as an in kind donation. The funding request process was explained to the treasurer. CDR Milheim requested another scholarship article be placed in the June edition of the Beacon.

ROTC/JROTC Support: CPT Clark and his volunteers have completed the awards cycle. It was indeed a very busy spring. A total of two ROTC, 12 JROTC and 21

Gold Bars were presented on behalf of MOAA.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS Audit: Four board members now have the authority to sign checks. This was a recommendation made by the audit committee. All audit requirements have now been fulfilled.

Challenge Coin: CDR Milheim has made initial contact with a representative but no feedback has been re-ceived. It was suggested that he look for other sources. JROTC Requests: Funding requests were received from Gulf Breeze High School and Pensacola High School. Gulf Breeze requested $1,000 to be used to-ward purchasing a plaque for Silver Eagles (top 3% who completed AFJROTC for the last twenty years). Pensacola High School requested funding to cover such events as Cadet Fun Days, Induction Ceremonies, a Military Ball, end-of-the year Awards Ceremony and Summer Leadership School at Hurlburt Field. A motion was made by LCDR Brown, seconded by LTC Derr, to give Gulf Breeze $1,000 and Pensacola High School $500. RADM Engel objected and stated that the re-quest from Pensacola High School didn’t fully meet the requirements for the funding request and she did not support the motion. Discussion ensued and LCDR Brown rescinded his initial motion and made the motion that PMOAA award only Gulf Breeze in the amount of $1,000. Motion carried. CPT Clark will notify both schools of the board action results. CDR Milheim sug-gested that the Gulf Breeze Color Guard be invited to the August Scholarship Awards Banquet. There was some concern that since school is not in session in Au-gust, the Color Guard may not be able to attend. CPT Kirschner will investigate. Memorial Day: Ceremony will be held at the NAS Chapel starting at 0900 on Monday, 30 May 2016. CPT Kirschner has the PMOAA flag and stand. He will check with CAPT Viglienzone to see if he can attend to carry the flag. RADM Engel will read the names of de-ceased members.

NEW BUSINESS MOAA’s Online Renewal and Join Program: MOAA requested that PMOAA consider registering for MOAA’s online dues renewal and join program. MOAA will pay all costs associated with all credit card charges. This


Q. What is MOAA's position on privatizing the VA?MOAA believes the VA system definitely needs improve-ments, but we disagree with those who would phase it outand move all veterans' care to the private sector. The Veter-ans Health Administration (VHA) is a system with a uniqueand comprehensive mission, and is unlike any other health system in America today. Privatizing the VA would eliminate some of the best aspects of VA care, such as spinal and polytrauma care. That said, the system is in need of immedi-ate attention and reform. Part of that reform is ensuring quali-fying veterans are able to access private sector care if they can't get timely care in VA facilities.MOAA has joined with several other veterans groups to urgethe Commission on Care, a congressional commission tasked with strategically examining how to best organize theVHA for the next generation of veterans, to consider seriousreforms rather than a total overhaul. Q. Is concurrent receipt still a priority for MOAA? Definitely. MOAA continues to support full concurrent receipt of both military retired pay and VA disability pay-regardless of the percentage of disability. This issue remains one of MOAA's key legislative priorities, and our goal of full elimina-tion of the offset is specified in MOAA's Resolutions, under Resolution No. 6-Career Force Compensation and Retire-ment System.There are currently three MOAA-supported bills on this is-sue.Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced the Retired Pay Resto-ration Act (S. 271). This bill would permit retired members ofthe Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability rated less than 50 percent to receive full concurrent receiptof both retired pay and veterans' disability compensation, including Chapter 61 disability retirees with less than 20 years of service. The House companion to this bill is H.R. 333, introduced by Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.). Another MOAA-supported bill regarding concurrent receipt isH.R. 303, introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.). This bill would authorize full concurrent receipt for retirees with regu-lar or Guard/Reserve retirements, regardless of disability rat-ing. Members are able to see up to date bill status information and send letters of support through MOAA's key billswebpage. MOAA is committed to advocating for concurrent receipt until the offset is eliminated for all disabled retirees. We believe strongly in the principle that career military mem-bers earn their retired pay by service alone, and those unfor-tunate enough to suffer a service-caused disability in the pro-cess should have any VA disability compensation added to,not subtracted from, their service-earned retired pay. The main challenge, as it is with so many of our legislative goals, is funding. Under congressional rules, the only waythe Armed Services Committees can propose such fixes isby identifying equal spending cuts in other programs intheir purview. That's why it's been so difficult winning furtherprogress. In all likelihood, progress will come as it has in the past - in increments rather than in one big change. In that regard, MOAA's top concurrent receipt priority is providing relief for severely disabled medical retirees with less than 20 years of service. Under current law, a 100 per-cent (non-combat) disabled medical retiree with 19 years of service still loses most or all of his retired pay to the disability


http://www.moaa.org/Content/About-MOAA/MOAA-at-a-Glance/MOAA-Resolutions.aspx




2

Like the House-passed bill, the Senate bill would movemost responsibilities for military health care programs fromthe Army, Navy, and Air Force to the Defense Health Agency. This would place military medical facilities,healthcare delivery, and personnel and budget responsibil-ities directly under DoD for unified planning and execu-tion.The bill also includes a wide range of provisions aimed at improving access and quality of care, including: eliminating referral requirements under TRICARE

Prime for urgent and specialty care; requiring a single appointment system for all military

medical facilities; expanding telehealth capabilities; requiring a DoD plan to improve pediatric care; allowing military beneficiaries to enroll in federal civil-

ian dental/vision plans; and requiring new accountability standards for military

healthcare leaders at all levels.

MOAA Answers Your Top Questions May 6, 2016 Every week MOAA's Member Service Center answers hundreds of emails and phone calls. Here are answers to a few of the most common legislative related questions recently asked: Q. If there are newly imposed TRICARE for Life (TFL) fees, will I be affected? DoD's FY17 budget proposed annual enrollment fees that would eventually reach 2 percent of retired pay for those who become Medicare-eligible on or after Jan. 1, 2017. Under its proposal, beneficiaries already enrolled in Medi-care on Jan. 1, 2017 would be exempted from the newfee. Chapter 61 (military disability) retirees and survivors of servicemembers who died on active duty also would be exempt from the new fee. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) rejected the proposed TFL fees in its version of the FY17 DefenseAuthorization Act. The Senate Armed Services Committee(SASC) is scheduled to take up its version of the bill nextweek, and MOAA hopes the SASC will follow the HASC in resisting additional TFL costs. Q. Wasn't I promised free health care for life?There is widespread discussion about the “free” part of that promise. MOAA believes many servicemembers were promised free health care for life by supervisors, retention officers, or NCOs based on the widespread availability of military hospitals and clinics across the country in the past. In the late 1960's, Congress changed the law to specify that retirees would be eligible for care “on a space-available basis” in military medical facilities. Still, MOAAhas documented that some service retention brochurescontinued to tout “lifetime health care” as a career benefitlong after that. Regardless of whether the word “free” was explicitly used, MOAA believes that was how most members inter-preted the lifetime health care promise - because theironly experience as active duty members was with freecare in military facilities.


LEGISLATIVE AND BENEFITS UP-DATE

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the FY 2017 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 2943), and it's consider-ably different from the one approved by

House lawmakers on a range of issues. On non-healthcare issues, the bill would:

approve force levels recommended in the president's budget rather than increases like the House bill recom-mended;

make the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance perma-nent at the $310 monthly rate;

provide a 1.6 percent military pay raise (vs. the 2.1 per-cent House proposal);

enable the family to either move early or remain at their current duty station for up to six months while their ser-vicemember begins a new assignment to increase sta-bility under certain circumstances;

require a test of privatizing military commissaries at fivelocations;

impose a 25 percent cut in 4-star billets and another 25 percent cut from other flag-officer billets; and requirewomen to register for the draft.

For TRICARE, the Senate bill makes no changes to TRI-CARE For Life. But it would adopt most of the DoD-proposed fee increases for other beneficiaries, including:

requiring a new annual enrollment fee for TRICAREStandard that would start at $150/$300 (single/family) as of Jan. 1, 2018, and rise to $450/$900 over the nextfive years;

raising the TRICARE Prime annual enrollment fee 24 percent to $350/$700 (single/family);

raising the annual cap on out-of-pocket expenses to $1,500 for currently serving families and $4,000 for re-tired families (vs. current $1,000/$3,000);

giving DoD discretion to implement a pilot program au-thorizing Guard and Reserve members to elect cover-age under the auspices of the federal employees health insurance program;

eliminating TRICARE Standard deductibles for carefrom DoD network providers, but doubling the deducti-ble to $300/$600 (single/family) for out-of-network care;

changing TRICARE Standard co-pays for various pro-vider visits to a flat fee vs. a percentage of TRICARE-approved charges;

adjusting annual enrollment fees by the ConsumerPrice Index for Health Care Services established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

adjusting co-pays, doctor visit cost shares, the cata-strophic cap, and other flat fees by the same percent-age as the retired pay COLA;

roughly doubling pharmacy copays over a 9-year peri-od, including raising the mail-order copay for generic drugs from the current zero to $11, effective in 2020; and

authorizing DoD to collect a “no-show” fee for missedappointments at military medical facilities.

9

”

SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME

- JUNE PICNIC - Thursday, 16 June 2016

Pensacola Yacht Club Ballroom B

1897 West Cypress Street Pensacola, FL 32502

Event Starts: 1730

No Speaker

Just come, relax and have a good time

MENU Chicken Fajitas and Seasoned Ground Beef

Make your own Tacos with Hard and Soft Taco Shells

Shredded Lettuce, Cheddar Cheese, Tomatoes,

Onions, Sour Cream and Salsa,

Black Bean Quesadillas,

Chili con Queso with Chips,

Chimichangas, Tamales

Dessert: Chocolate and Lemon Cake

Coffee, tea, water and cash bar available

Reservations must be received by

Monday, 13 June 2016 -- 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: 850-484-9162

Email: [email protected] or www.pmoaa.org

Reservations for ____ at $24.00/person

Total Enclosed ______ Make check payable to PMOAA

_______ Check here if you would like a Singles Table

Member Name __________________________________

Spouse Name __________________________________

Guest Name(s) __________________________________



will help assist with those who join the chapter as

well as those who renew their membership at no cost

to our chapter. Due consideration was given to

Elaine Ciardello, our data base manager. Her input

was solicited. She was concerned that many, if not

most, of our members wouldn’t use the service. It

would be beneficial for new members joining as she

wouldn’t have to wait for the treasurer to tell her that

the dues have been paid. Dues must be received

before the person can be entered into the data base.

MAJ Werner asked LCDR Brown to ask MOAA how

MOAA will track the new members and how does

that affect our receipt of MOAA monies for new

members. Item tabled until next month.

Email Listing: LCDR Brown has the membership email list and will soon send out a test message.

The email list is an important step forward in being

able to contact members with supplemental chapter

information or important schedule changes.

Veterans Still Serving: This is a Blab TV presenta-tion that would benefit PMOAA in getting information

out to the public regarding PMOAA. A request was

received for program sponsorship. This is not an ap-

proved budget item; therefore, the request for pro-

gram sponsorship was disapproved at this time.

BEACON Printing: The UPS Store on Barrancas will be selling the store effective 30 June 2016 and

will no longer be publishing and printing the Beacon.

LTC Tom and MAJ Kathy Kuklish have done an out-

standing job over the years in getting this timely pub-

lication into the hands of our membership. Their last

publication will be the July edition. RADM Engel met

with the new owner who expressed a desire to con-

tinue supporting PMOAA. At this time, there are too

many unanswered questions regarding the cost and

ability to meet our quick turnaround time require-

ments. She will meet again with the new owners in

June. In the meantime, LCDR Brown will meet with

MAJ Kuklish to shadow the June edition. MAJ Wer-

ner and CPT Kirschner will investigate other printing

sources. RADM Engel stated it has been a real joy

working with the Kuklishs.

Beacon input for the June edition is due NLT COB

Wednesday, 25 May. Deadline for the July edition is

NLT COB 22 June. The next Board meeting will be

on Tuesday, 21 June at 1700 hours at the Pensacola

Yacht Club. The meeting adjourned at 1820.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan M. Engel, Secretary




What’s Inside… pg 1 President's Corner

pg 1 PMOAA May Photos

pg 2 Legislative Affairs



pg 4 PMOAA Scholarship Application

pg 4 TAPS

pg 5 President’s Corner (Cont)

pg 5 Member Spotlight

pg 6 PMOAA May Photos (Cont)

pg 7 Surviving Spouse Corner

pg 7 Singles Group

pg 7 Scholarship Donation Form

pg 8 Board of Directors Minutes

pg 9 Board of Directors Minutes (Cont)

pg 9 June Picnic Reservation

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

1 10

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

DIRECTORS

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

LTC William Derr, USA (Ret) 850-457-1987 [email protected]

COL Michael Cook, USA (Ret) 850-916-7338 [email protected]

Mrs. Iva Prosser, Auxiliary 850-485-5533 [email protected]

CAPT Walter Viglienzone, USCG (Ret)


President CPT William Clark, USA (Ret) 850-380-0762 [email protected]

1st Vice President CPT Dean Kirschner, USA (Former) 850-458-7988 [email protected]

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 LCDR Trumin Brown, USN (Ret) 850-932-0370 [email protected]

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


walls and tables were filled with pictures of many great Detroit players. I enjoyed seeking out pictures of some ofmy favorite players. We then had our annual meetingand MOAA update. Afterwards we went to the Aero-space Pavilion for lunch and a Salute to the Military by the Nathan Baldwin Band. We went back to the hotel fora short break and then on to the Florida Air Museum. Nocomparison to our Naval Air Museum but very interestingand well worth seeing. After a power packed dinner, there was entertainment to work off the meal by theLakeland Swing Band with swing dancers. Dancing to the old favorites brought back many wonderful memories. So ended day two and what a day.

Sunday started at 0900 in the Veterans Park with Bag-pipes to the National Anthem and on to the MOAA RollCall of the Fallen for the past year with the Bell Ringing. A sculpture was unveiled and “Ode to the Fallen” was sung, followed by Taps. What a grand ceremony to end a great weekend. The drive was long going home but very well worth every minute of it. These meetings are not just for the Chapter President to attend but for any-one in the chapter.


PMOAA May Photos Courtesy of Christine Frazier and Elaine Ciardello

PMOAA Beacon The City of Five Flags-Pensacola Florida

4 Star Chapter Award – 2002

A 5 Star Chapter Since 2003


PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Thursday, 13 May, Donna and I drove down to Lakeland Florida to attend the business meeting of the FloridaCouncil of Chapters. We were dreading the drive to and from but looking forward to seeing some of the memberswe met in early January. We knew we would also meet a large number of people from Central Florida we had not met at the prior meeting. What a grand time we had asthe next three days were totally filled with entertainingmeetings and a great view of what the beautiful city ofLakeland had to offer. It was too bad we did not have any other members from our chapter attend. If you re-member reading the April President’s Corner, I did write a paragraph on this particular three day weekend. I cer-tainly did not do the trip justice as it had been over forty years since I had been to Lakeland and did not remem-ber it being a great United States Air Force city.

The Hampton Inn was the hotel of choice by the Conven-tion and was centrally located and easy to find. The only drawback for me was that it was adjacent to a large out-door mall. Donna did not share my sentiments but rather enjoyed the close proximity to the many ladies storesthey had to offer. There also was a wide variety of res-taurants covering almost every nationality and even pro-vided late night entertainment.

We started Friday morning at the Summerlin Military Academy meeting the Commandant and the Cadre Lead-ership with a full briefing. The cadets put on quite a show with Kendo and Jujutsu sparring which took some of usback to our hand to hand training. We then watched in awe as the Summerlin Rifle and Raider Teams profes-sionally performed and then the Drill and Equestrian Teams strutted their stuff for us. As you can see, we had a full morning. In the afternoon we were off to the CentralFlorida Aerospace Academy for our Board Meeting. For-tunately that was short, and then it was on to Aviation Briefings and a tour through the Aerospace Center forExcellence. Friday evening we went to the Draken Inter-national Hangar for the President’s Reception. We en-joyed hearing Mayor Howard Wiggs discuss the past and future of Lakeland. We were supplied with drinks and a buffet with music and dancing to follow. That was only day one.

Saturday morning we went to Tigertown, at 0730 hours for breakfast in their dining hall. For those who are unfa-miliar with baseball, Tigertown is where the Detroit Tigers have Spring Training and also where athletes from all over the world come to show off their baseball skills. The

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

(Photos continued on page 6)

CPT Bill Clark and CAPT Sarah Martin, Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital Pensacola and

Guest Speaker














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