merican Legion

January 2012

Volume 1, Issue 1 Libby-Mitchell Post 76

Individual Highlights:

DOD News 2

VA Updates 3

Lead Story Cont 4

Legion News 5

Ladies Auxiliary 5

Sons of the AL 5

Event Calendar 7

American Legion Post 76 (207)883-3902

Executive Corner

Greetings to all members of Post #76, Sons of the Legion, and Auxiliary as well as our many friends and guests. I hope all is well with you and that you are getting ready for the upcoming Holidays.

This is our first newsletter in quite some time and we are trying to keep all of you informed about what is happening at the Post. I want to thank one of our newest members, Mike Peters, for stepping up to push this newsletter and make it happen. Mike realizes the need for informing the members and has done a great job in initiating this.

Over the last several months, we have been able to provide support to many worthy organizations around the area to include $3850.00 to Wreaths Across America, $1000.00 to the MAINE Veteran’s Home Christmas dinner, $1000.00 to Toys for Tots, $1000.00 to the Maine Army National Guard Youth Camp, and many more deserving charities, too many to name now.

We are in the process of replacing our heating system over the next several months by installing new natural gas heaters and replacing the very old oil furnaces that we now have. Thanks to several people, Ed McBrady, Charley Brown, Jeff Waterman. Lenny Dow, Shawn Babine ―Big‖ Tony, and John Hodgdon, we were able to dismantle the tent and store it while we were excavating and forming new concrete wheel chair ramps at our two main doors. We will be pouring the concrete before Thanksgiving to make it easier for folks to enter the Post Home. We are also in the process of painting the downstairs area.

I want to let you know that we are on a very good pace with memberships, putting us well ahead of where we have been at this time for many years. If you have not yet paid you dues, please do so as soon as possible so we can reach and surpass 100% membership.

If any of you have ideas or comments about how we can improve the organization and provide more and better support to the community, please contact us with your ideas. We need mall of the help we can get to improve what we do and how we do it.

Again, it is my pleasure to write these comments in the newsletter and I look forward to seeing some of you at the Post Home and some of the events we have coming up.

Respectfully, Phil Ceaser Commander

Libby-Mitchell Post 76 Page 2 of 8

Vet jobless rate 2.6 pct higher than general

population

* * As wars wind down, lawmakers and groups focus on issue

By Roy Strom

NAPERVILLE, Ill, Oct 29 (Reuters) - When Matthew Burrell left the U.S. Army after eight years of service, he landed a job as a public relations contractor in Iraq. With a salary of $170,000, he figured military experience had finally paid off.

But five months after returning home to Chicago, 33-year-old Burrell is unemployed and his search for a job in the private sector has left him disheartened.

Despite having six years of experience as a public relations officer in the Army, he said he is treated as though he had just graduated from college.

"I can tell you for a fact that definitely in my field in public relations and marketing, private-sector companies do not value (military experience)," Burrell said.

Burrell, along with many of what the Department of Labor says are 235,000 unemployed veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has run into a vexing problem.

Many U.S. companies, and sometimes veterans themselves, do not know how to translate military experience into civilian skills. There is a disconnect between companies demanding a college degree and veterans giving confusing descriptions of their military experience to civilian employers.

That disconnect has contributed to veterans having an unemployment rate 2.6 percent higher than the general population, according to September's Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment report.

As U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan winds down, lawmakers and organizations are starting to address the issue.

Cont. on Pg 4

Jobless US vets say military experience not valued

Libby-Mitchell Post 76

Page 3 of 8

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that it is amending an agency rule in the Code of Federal Register (C.F.R.) to remove an inappropriate restriction on sharing of information about treatment for certain types of medical conditions with the Department of Defense (DOD). This update to the regulation removes the restrictive VA provision and enhances VA’s collaboration with DOD so Veterans can receive better and more timely treatment, services and benefits.

―VA and DOD clinicians must have the most accurate and comprehensive data available to ensure they provide the highest quality care possible. We have discovered that, particularly in this age of electronic health records, this regulatory restriction created an impediment to maximizing this exchange of information,‖ said Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

This interim final rule removes a restriction that is not required by the statute, 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 7332, and is inconsistent with the intent and purpose of that statute. This confidentiality statute was enacted before other privacy laws were in place to protect against the unauthorized disclosure of VA medical records relating to treatment for drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and sickle cell anemia.

Because Congress never intended the protection of such records to interfere with the treatment of Veterans, the statute contains an exception that permits VA to share the protected records with DOD. 38 U.S.C. § 7332(e). However, when VA published the implementing regulation in 1995, 38 C.F.R. § 1.461, the rule further narrowed the exception to allow the interchange of only a subset of these records: those pertaining to a period when the individual was subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

A recent VA review of information sharing processes with DOD found that this restriction, which is narrower than the statutory exception, impedes VA’s ability to share important medical information to coordinate the care and treatment of Veterans. The updated rule removes this extra restriction and makes the agency rule consistent with statute. It allows for the appropriate sharing of this treatment information and continues to preserve Veteran and patient privacy in accordance with § 7332 and other privacy statutes and regulations without obstructing the delivery of medical care to Veterans.

The interim final rule, which may be found at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=VA-2011-VHA-0025-0001, is effective the date posted to the Federal Register. Written comments may be submitted through www.regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1068, Washington, DC 20240; or fax to (202) 273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to ―RIN 2900-AN95—Sharing Information Between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.‖

“VA and DOD clinicians

must have the most

accurate and

comprehensive data

available to ensure they

provide the highest quality

care possible.”

VA Updates Information Sharing Rule with DOD

Libby-Mitchell Post 76 Page 4 of 8

“Private employers

should give more

credit to the

experience and skills

veterans acquire in the

military.”

Cont. From Pg 2

The Obama administration this week announced steps that include encouraging community health centers to hire 8,000 veterans over the next three years, and improving training opportunities for military medics to become physician assistants.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it hopes to get 15,000 veterans hired through 100 job fairs around the country for veterans this year. One of those job fairs was held recently in Naperville, a Chicago suburb, giving 86 companies the chance to meet more than 600 veterans.

'TONE THAT DOWN'

One problem is that veterans need to explain more clearly to companies the value of their experience, said Kevin Schmiegel, vice president of veterans' employment programs at the Chamber of Commerce.

Hiring managers who have not served in the military are often bewildered by the jargon used by soldiers and weapons specialists, said Becky Brillon, who heads a program at the Community Career Center in Naperville.

A military job title might be listed like this: "25 Romeo visual and media equipment operator and maintainer."

"If somebody was artillery, or a sharpshooter or a sniper, you have to tone that down in the civilian world. It's more about being detail-oriented, precise and focused," she said.

On the flip side, private employers should give more credit to the experience and skills veterans acquire in the military, Schmiegel said.

Some military jobs, like a mechanic or technician, are fairly easily adapted to the private sector. But military credentials and certificates for other forms of training do not seem to carry much weight.

Rick Combs, a 27-year-old who retired as a sergeant in the Army, says he was given management training in the military. So far that training has not translated into a comparable private-sector job.

"You can come in, and slap something down that says, 'Here, the military says I can lead people. Give me a department and I will make it dance for you,'" Combs said. "I haven't had the opportunity on the civilian side yet."

Libby-Mitchell Post 76

Page 5 of 8

The Ladies Auxiliary will be hosting an Italian dinner. At that dinner they will have a 50/50 drawing benefiting the Relay for Life program. The dinner starts at 4pm and ends at 6pm. As a reminder, the Ladies Auxiliary meets the Tuesday before the Legion meeting at 6:30pm at the Legion Hall.

As a reminder, the Sons of the American Legion meet every second Monday of the month at 6:30pm @ the Legion Hall.

Ladies Auxiliary News

News from Around the Post

Post 76 brings back newsletter! In an attempt to reach more of our post members, Libby-Mitchell Post 76 will publish a newsletter to all post members. In an attempt to conserve our resources we are offering the newsletter in a PDF format for electronic publication. If you would like to receive your newsletter through e-mail, please let us know ASAP by e-mailing us at mdpeters74@me.com All Legion bartenders will be taking a State certification class online. This will ensure that all our bartenders are speaking the same language when serving our customers. As a reminder to our members/patrons; your bartender has the first and final word regarding alcohol purchases at the Legion bar. Please respect them as their job is hard enough. Mark your calendar! The American Legion meets the second Monday of every

month at 7pm at the Legion Hall.

Sons of the American Legion News

Libby-Mitchell Post 76 Page 6 of 8

On February 13th 2012, the American legion will be

hosting a FREE dinner right before their regular

meeting. It is open to all members of the American

Legion. Take this opportunity to meet your Executive

Board as well as the other members of your American

Legion. Come get involved in the meeting and have a

tour of our wonderful historic building!

We’ll see you there!!!

49 Manson-Libby Rd Scarborough, ME 04074

January 3, 2012: Ladies Auxiliary Meeting

6:30pm @ the Legion Hall

January 7, 2012: Legion Executive Board

meeting 10am @ the Legion Hall

January 8, 2012: American Legion Breakfast from

8:00am – 11:00am

January 9, 2012: Sons of the American Legion

meeting 6:30pm @ the Legion Hall

January 9,2012: American Legion meeting

(Open to all members) 7pm @ the Legion Hall

February 7,2012: Ladies Auxiliary Meeting

6:30pm @ the Legion Hall

February 13, 2012: Sons of the American Legion

meeting 6:30pm @ the Legion Hall

February 13, 2012: American Legion meeting (Open to all members) 7pm @ the Legion Hall

Street Address 40 Manson-Libby road

Scarborough, ME 04074

PHONE: (207) 883-3902

E-MAIL:

MDPeters74@Me.com

LIBBY-MITCHELL AMERICAN LEGION

POST 76 40 Manson-Libby Rd

Scarborough, ME

04074

COMPANY NAME STREET ADDRESS

CITY, ST 22134

By David Peters

The Libby-Mitchell American Legion Post 76 baseball organization is looking to have a great start with its two team rosters warming up early this winter. The Legion had their annual baseball tryouts on September 11, 2011 at Hadlock field, home of Senior Legion coach Glenn Reeves former team, the Portland Seadogs. The baseball teams general manager Dan Warren has set up certain dates for throwing sessions for the team in hopes to get the teams better prepared for next year’s season. Under the wing of coach Reeves, the players look forward to competing hard this year while representing and supporting the Libby Mitchell American

Legion

Libby-Mitchell Base Ball Team Selected