Rao bulletin 1 October 2014 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles
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Saratoga Springs, NY October 7 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Wichita, KS October 8 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Glen Allen, VA October 9 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Ft. Irwin, CA - Military Spouse Networking Luncheon & Hiring Fair October 9 @ 11:00 am to @ 2:00 pm Details Register Boston, MA - Recovering Warrior Employment Conference October 14 @ 9:00 am to October 15 @ 1:30 pm Details Register McAllen/Mission, TX October 15 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Knoxville, TN October 1 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Quantico, VA - Military Spouse Networking Reception October 6 @ 7:00 pm to @ 9:00 pm Details Register Quantico, VA - Military Spouse Hiring Fair October 7 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Saratoga Springs, NY October 7 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Wichita, KS October 8 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Glen Allen, VA October 9 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Ft. Irwin, CA - Military Spouse Networking Luncheon & Hiring Fair October 9 @ 11:00 am to @ 2:00 pm Details Register Boston, MA - Recovering Warrior Employment Conference October 14 @ 9:00 am to October 15 @ 1:30 pm Details Register McAllen/Mission, TX October 15 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Baton Rouge/Lafayette, LA October 16 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA - Washington State Service Member for Life Transition Summit October 21 @ 12:00 pm to October 23 @ 4:00 pm Details Register Toms River, NJ October 22 @ 10:00 am Details Houston, TX October 22 @ 10:00 am Details Register MCAS Miramar, CA - Military Spouse Networking Reception October 22 @ 7:00 pm to @ 9:00 pm Details Register Raleigh/Durham, NC October 23 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register MCAS Miramar, CA - Military Spouse Hiring Fair October 23 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Ft. Worth, TX October 29 @ 10:00 am to @ 1:00 pm Details Register Virtual Job Fair October 29 @ 11:00 am to @ 3:00 pm Details Register Caregiver Summit Washington, DC October 30 @ 8:15 am to @ 1:30 pm Details Register [Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Assn 28 Sep 2014 ++] ********************************* WWII VETS 71 ► Martin~Jim Veteran paratrooper Jim "Pee Wee" Martin, who jumped into Normandy on D-Day returned to coastal France to mark the 70th anniversary of the invasion that changed the course of World War II. Martin, who spoke in an interview ahead of the anniversary, remembers looking out in the night sky before making the historic jump. "When we made our initial jump into France, there were a few cirrus clouds up above, just enough so you still saw shadows down below," he said at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton Ohio. "It was just unbelievable to see as many ships as there were down there," he said. Martin said he hoped to leap from the skies again during the anniversary. "I truly would want to do that one, because there's no other 93-year-old guy in the unit who can do it but me," he said. Martin was a private first class with the elite 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. 
93 year old Jim "Pee Wee" Martin Martin said he and his unit were known as the "Toccoa Men," because they attended basic training at Camp Toccoa, Ga. They were trained alongside Easy Company of the 506th, later depicted in the "Band of Brothers" series. Martin said he was aware then that they were part of something big. "We knew that the success was going to hinge on us. We were absolutely certain of that. Eisenhower was too, that's why he made the decision to send us in, even though all the others didn't want to," Martin said. Martin said he "never had a doubt about the success of the mission," but had concern about what the human cost would be. "I knew it was going to be bad," he said. He and his unit were among the first wave of paratroopers to jump into Normandy. They later jumped into Holland in "Operation Market Garden," were among the defenders of Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge, and captured Adolph Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria at the end of the war. "Going into Normandy, it wasn't so much scary," he said. "Now going into Holland, we were different, we had already been there, and we showed more fear, but don't let anybody tell you that he wasn't scared going in to any combat, whether it was us or others." Men died all around him; the unit endured a lot during the war, Martin said. It was terrible when his unit landed in Normandy, he said, because German paratrooper and SS troops were right where they landed. "It was a slaughterhouse on that drop zone." The plane ride over Normandy was typical, Martin recalled, but the pilots didn't slow down and make a slight left turn, to protect the Soldiers and the equipment. "As a consequence, we lost most of our equipment," he said. Soldiers were also killed making the jump as well. The unit's objective was one of the most important ones of the whole operation, Martin said, to capture a pedestrian bridge and a vehicle bridge, both of which were put in a few months prior to let reinforcements down to the beach when forces landed on shore. "It was paramount we get the bridges, which we did," he said. But he said the unit lost all of its communication equipment in the jump. "Division thought we had been wiped out, so they ordered the bridges bombed, and here we are right there at the bridges," he said. The danger was present every day as Soldiers were killed around him; he thought each day might be his last. Once you accept you might die, "you're better off," and can focus on the mission at hand, Martin said. "You got to understand that you can't let the fear control you; you have to do your job regardless of the fear, and we all did it. That's what we had to do and we did," he said. Martin would "absolutely" do it all over again. 
Supreme Allied Commander U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks with 101st Airborne Division paratroopers before they board airplanes and gliders to take part in a parachute assault into Normandy as part of the Allied Invasion of Europe on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He enlisted in 1942, at the age of 21. He knew the situation was deteriorating in Europe, and that France and Britain were no match for Germany. Besides, men were being drafted and had to leave their wives and children at home. "Here I am a young person with no family to worry about and these guys are going away and leaving their families. That did change me," he said. "I went down, I had a deferment, I didn't have to go, but I went down and signed up for submarine service." Not wanting to wait the months that it would be before the Navy finished the ship it was building that he would be on, he then signed up and shipped off with the Army. When the Navy came knocking on his mother's door saying he was a deserter, she showed the men the letters he had written home from the Army, and they reportedly said "'Well, that's OK, he's in, he's in.'" Times were certainly different then, he said. Serving one's country, he said, is part of the duty of living in a free nation. "I don't consider it a sacrifice. A lot of people said it was a sacrifice. It's not a sacrifice. It's a duty that you're obligated to do," he said. "If you live in a free country, whether you agree with what they do, if you're called, you should go and do your very best." Martin is proud of the men and women who serve the nation today. What advice does he have for the fighting generation: "Go in there and do the best you can. Be thankful that you have a country that will back you with materiel." [Source: Army News Service | Lisa Ferdinando | June 2, 2014 ++] ********************************* Afghanistan Vets 01 ► Jonathan Kong Former Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF/SW) Jonathan Kong waited nearly four years for his first firefight. When it finally happened, his actions that day led to a Silver Star. After a Marine collapsed from gunshot wounds at the start of a four-hour battle in Afghanistan’s deadly Sangin district in 2011 — their squad’s first enemy contact — Kong, then an HM3, rushed into the hail of bullets to pull Cpl. Michael Dawers out of the kill zone. Kong received the military’s third-highest award for valor during a 19 SEP ceremony at Camp Pendleton, California. 
Then-Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF/SW) Jonathan Kong, right, with former 5th Marines squad mate Lance Cpl. Marshall Kotchasak. Kong’s unit, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, had been in country for three months without enemy contact, he said, and they were starting to wonder if they’d ever see real combat. The fighting season was just kicking off, Kong recalled in a 17 SEP phone interview, when his squad headed out to the village of Kotozay on 17 JUN to clear a known Taliban stronghold. “They kept telling us, ‘It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,’ ” Kong recalled. Two hours into the four-day operation, locals approached to warn them of the Taliban. Suddenly, bullets were flying overhead and the Marine in front of him was down on the ground. “When Dawers got hit, it was so real, instantly,” Kong recalled. “The Taliban, until this point, were these mythical creatures that we’d never encountered.” Kong took action immediately. According to his citation, he ran toward the Marine, returned fire on the enemy positions, then braved a hail of bullets to drag the wounded Marine 15 meters to pack the gunshot wound to his chest. “I think as a corpsman, it’s always in the back of your head. You’re trained, and you’re so ready to do this, and you think about that moment all the time,” he said. “Ideally, I don’t ever have to do my job.” It wasn’t until they got back to Patrol Base Nevada that he had time to take stock of what had happened. “It’s not that scary until afterward, when you sit there and think about it and you’re like, ‘Oh man — I could’ve died,’ ” he said. Kong joined the Navy in 2007, picking the corpsman rating because he knew it could get him closer to the action. He spent his first deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, cruising the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf. When he reported to 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton in early 2011, he said, he was more than ready to go. Two months later he was in Afghanistan. “I always joke that I know more about the Marine Corps — weapons tactics, fire team maneuvers — than I do about ships,” he said. The 25-year-old admitted that being a Silver Star hero is still sinking in. “It’s not a conversation starter,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, my name’s Jon, I’m getting a Silver Star.’ ” Kong left the Navy a year ago and returned home to Milpitas, California, where he’s studying pre-medicine at a local community college. He remains on inactive reserve for the next year, he said. He said things might change once he works his way to medical school, but for now, he plans to take his experience into the civilian world as an emergency room doctor. [Source: MarineCorpsTimes | Meghann Myers | Sept. 20, 2014 ++] ********************************* America's Most Beloved Vets ► World War II (2)     
Doris Miller Douglas MacArthur Dwight Eisenhower Ernest Borgnine Gene Roddenberry
********************************* Veteran State Benefits & Discounts ► Connecticut 2014 The state of Connecticut provides several benefits to veterans as indicated below. To obtain information on these plus discounts listed on the Military and Veterans Discount Center (MCVDC) website, refer to the attachment to this Bulletin titled, “Vet State Benefits & Discounts – CT” for an overview of the below benefits. Benefits are available to veterans who are residents of the state. For a more detailed explanation of each of the below benefits refer to http://militaryandveteransdiscounts.com/location/connecticut.html & http://www.ct.gov/ctva/site/default.asp.
[Source: http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-state-benefits/connecticut-state-veterans-benefits.html Sep 2014 ++] ********************************* * Vet Legislation * 
VA Hospital Construction ► House Passes Oversight Bill The House has passed a bill to increase oversight of veterans' hospitals under construction, following a report that some medical centers take three years longer to complete than estimated and cost an extra $366 million per project. Republican congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado says the Veterans Affairs Department's oversight of construction projects is dysfunctional and leads to delayed health care. A report by the Government Accountability Office last year found that at least four medical centers were behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. The hospitals are in Las Vegas, Denver, New Orleans and Orlando, Florida. The House bill would require the VA to appoint a project manager from the Army Corp of Engineers to oversee construction projects that cost more than $60 million. [Source: Associated Press | Matthew Daly| Sept. 16, 2014 ++] ******************************** TRICARE Birth Control Update 01 ► Legislation Introduced in House All women enrolled in the military’s health care program would have access to birth control, counseling and family planning services for free, under legislation pending in the House and Senate. The Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act aligns TRICARE coverage with the 2010 Affordable Care Act ensuring birth control and education are available without a health insurance co-pay to female service members who are not on active duty, or female dependents of service members. Currently women on active duty with TRICARE coverage do not have to pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs, including contraception. The legislation defines pregnancy prevention care as all Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control, sterilization procedures and patient education and counseling.  
Rep. Jackie Speier sponsors TRICARE contraceptive bill “The Affordable Care Act established that being a woman is not a preexisting condition,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) who introduced the bill in the House on 17 SEP. “We owe female servicemembers the same access to contraception and family planning services as the women they fight to protect.” Under Obamacare, new insurance plans have to offer free birth control and reproductive education to the enrollee; however, because some insurance coverage—mostly employer-sponsored plans—was grandfathered into the health care reform law, many women still have co-payments for contraception. The Defense Department provides health care to more than 3 million women, including active-duty service members, non-active duty women and female dependents enrolled in TRICARE. “We need to make sure women in the military and women who rely on military health care are receiving the comprehensive care they deserve, and that needs to include access to basic preventative health care, including contraception and family planning counseling,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) who introduced a similar bill (S.2687) in the Senate in July. The legislation also requires the department to make sure every military treatment facility is fully-stocked with FDA-approved birth control for beneficiaries, to ensure access to contraception counseling for women and to educate all service members—male and female—on family planning. Under the bill, military treatment facilities also would be required to provide, upon request, emergency contraception and information about emergency birth control to any woman who is a victim of sexual assault, or “reasonably believed to be a survivor of sexual assault.” A 2008 survey by Ibis Reproductive Health, an international nonprofit group that aims to improve women’s reproductive choices, found that the unintended pregnancy rate for women in the military was 50 percent higher than for civilian women. “Unintended pregnancy is not only a public health and reproductive justice concern, but also impacts troop readiness, deployment, and military health care costs,” the study stated. “The large number of unintended pregnancies among servicewomen each year likely has a significant impact on military operations and troop readiness; however, there are limited public data on this topic.” [Source: GovExec.com | Kellie Lunney | September 19, 2014 ++] ******************************** VA Alternative Energy ► Bill to Cease Expenditures Introduced Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) has introduced legislation that would prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from spending funds on alternative energy projects. Weber said he was spurred to offer the measure after finding that the department had spent at least $420 million on solar and wind renewable energy projects at VA facilities. Under the Texas Republican's bill, the VA would be required to instead spend that money on reducing the veterans' benefits backlog unless the alternative energy funds are specifically authorized by law. Weber argued that funds allocated for renewable energy projects were "wasteful," especially compared to the need address the benefits backlog. "If enacted, this legislation would prohibit the VA from spending any more money on wasteful alternative energy projects. Instead, that money would go toward reducing the VA backlog," Weber said. The measure further states that the VA should focus first and foremost on veterans' medical care. "The primary responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs is to provide the best possible medical care to wounded veterans," the text reads. [Source: The Hill | Cristina Marcos | Sept. 23, 2014 ++] ******************************** Vet Bills Submitted to 113th Congress ► As of 28 SEP 2014 For a listing of Congressional bills of interest to the veteran community introduced in the 113th Congress refer to this Bulletin’s “House & Senate Veteran Legislation” attachment. Support of these bills through cosponsorship by other legislators is critical if they are ever going to move through the legislative process for a floor vote to become law. A good indication of that likelihood is the number of cosponsors who have signed onto the bill. Any number of members may cosponsor a bill in the House or Senate. At https://beta.congress.gov you can review a copy of each bill’s content, determine its current status, the committee it has been assigned to, and if your legislator is a sponsor or cosponsor of it by entering the bill number in the site’s search engine. To determine what bills, amendments your representative/senator has sponsored, cosponsored, or dropped sponsorship on go to:
Grassroots lobbying is the most effective way to let your Congressional representatives know your wants and dislikes. If you are not sure who is your Congressman go to https://beta.congress.gov/members. Members of Congress are receptive and open to suggestions from their constituents. The key to increasing cosponsorship support on veteran related bills and subsequent passage into law is letting legislators know of veteran’s feelings on issues. You can reach their Washington office via the Capital Operator direct at (866) 272-6622, (800) 828-0498, or (866) 340-9281 to express your views. Otherwise, you can locate their phone number, mailing address, or email/website to communicate with a message or letter of your own making at either:
Tentative 2014 Legislative Schedule 113th Congress, 2nd Session: The below list identifies the remaining expected non-legislative periods (days that the Senate will not be in session)
FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF VETERAN RELATED LEGISLATION INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE SINCE THE LAST BULLETIN WAS PUBLISHED:
Sponsor: Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] (introduced 9/19/2014)
[Source: https://beta.congress.gov & http: //www.govtrack.us/congress/bills Sept. 28, 2014 ++] * Military * 
Military Pay & Benefits Update 02 ► Blue Star Families’ 2014 Survey Military families have a lot to worry about, and their biggest fears are over pay and benefits. Concerns over changes to military pay and other compensation, as well as changes to the retirement system, were the top two issues cited by spouses, service members and veterans in a new survey from Blue Star Families, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting the military community. Pay and benefits issues represented the No. 1 fear for 73 percent of military spouses and 75 percent of service members in the Blue Star Families’ 2014 military family lifestyle survey. Sixty-four percent of vets named compensation as their second biggest worry, followed by potential changes to the military’s pension system. The survey drew 6,270 responses. The Defense Department’s planned force reduction after 13 years of war and sequestration is driving the anxiety many military families feel over their short- and long-term financial future, the survey found. “These issues are not lost on individuals serving in the military, veterans or their families,” the report said. “National decisions also trickle down to the dinner table at home, increasing concern among military families on how they will be personally impacted by each decision.” Military families also listed pay and benefits issues as their top concern in 2013. A commission studying military compensation and retirement will submit recommendations to President Obama and Congress in February 2015, and the proposed changes could affect a range of third-rail military compensation issues, including commissary benefits, housing allowances and the pension system. “With these forecasts and discussions as the backdrop, concerns about uncertainty and financial stability were of top importance to military members, families and veteran survey respondents in this survey,” the report stated. Seventy percent of the survey respondents were military spouses, followed by 21 percent who were either service members or veterans. The remaining participants included other family members of active-duty military members or vets. Military spouses and active-duty members also cited spouse employment, the uncertainty of the military lifestyle and the impact of deployment on children among their top five “lifestyle” concerns. Vets reported the greatest anxiety, after pay and benefits worries, over the disability claims backlog, the perceived disconnect between the military and civilian communities, and post-traumatic and combat stress. Military spouses often encounter difficulty finding jobs, which contributed to respondents’ general sense of financial uncertainty, according to the survey. The challenges vary, but typically include a lack of child care, frequent moves or employer bias. “Within open-ended responses, many spouses described encounters with potential employers who reportedly held preconceived notions that military spouse job seekers lacked adequate education, skills or experience, or who were concerned that frequent moves would ultimately mean short periods of employment,” the survey said. “Employers may be unaware that many military tours are about the same length of time as the average worker’s tenure with one company--around four years.” In fact, the 2014 survey’s military spouse respondents were better educated than the general public, with 33 percent having a bachelor’s degree and 20 percent holding an advanced professional degree. Some spouses who do work are feeling another kind of pressure. One Navy spouse told Blue Star Families: “I am so broken as a mother because I work, then I come home and run around to take them both to their activities. We have less than two hours each night to be in our home and I am dying inside! I am away from my other family because the military required us to move and then deployed my husband. I have no outlet but am expected to maintain normalcy for my children, continue working, and take on the EVERYDAY role of two parents for two children for over a year with absolutely NO break!” The survey also touched on a range of other issues important to military families including, military kids’ education and emotional well-being, transitioning to civilian life, ability to cope with stress, healthiness of respondents’ marriages and the quality of Defense Department services. The top services used by respondents were the commissary and exchange network; health care system; morale, recreation and welfare; base housing; and child development centers. The survey found that most services were “underutilized,” but for those respondents who did take advantage of the programs, a majority reported they were satisfied with them. Along those lines, 71 percent of respondents said they “felt prepared” to transition to civilian life, compared to 29 percent who said they did not. One of the most interesting findings from the survey: Despite the pride and commitment most respondents reported feeling about their own or their loved one’s military service, nearly half (48 percent) said they weren’t likely to recommend the path to a young person. [Source: GovExec.com | Kellie Lunney | Sept. 18, 2014 ++] ******************************** Military Divorce & Separation Update 03 ► Pay & Benefits Issues Servicemembers’ and veterans’ benefits are administered by either the services or the VA. Because there are no VA benefits for former spouses, all potential benefits for former spouses come from the services. This article summarizes the major programs affecting divorcing servicemember couples. For detailed or personalized information, you need to consult legal or functional experts within the services. Look to the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) for greater detail. Retired pay. The USFSPA allows state courts to treat “disposable” service retired pay as property of the marriage. Disposable retired pay can be split between the divorcing couple. There are some misconceptions about the law and how it works. The law allows disposable retired pay to be treated as property. It does not state it has to be split. Also, the law does not state the former spouse automatically gets 50 percent of the retired pay. State divorce courts will award to a former spouse whatever amount they feel is appropriate within their laws. Many courts use a formula to determine what portion of the retired pay a former spouse gets. The 10/10 rule. If the marriage and the member’s service time overlap by at least 10 years, the pay agencies (Defense Finance and Account service [DFAS], for the military services) can directly pay a spouse up to a maximum of 50 percent of the disposable retired pay amount, assuming the court awarded the former spouse 50 percent or more. Note the nuance in the paragraph above. This is an administrative limitation on the amount of retired pay a pay agency can directly pay to a former spouse. The court can award more or less than 50 percent. If the court awards 50 percent or less, the former spouse can be paid directly by the pay agency. If the award is more than 50 percent, the servicemember must figure out how to get any amount over 50 percent to the former spouse. By law, a servicemember’s service disability compensation is not considered part of the divorce property eligible for award to a former spouse. Specifically, service disability pay under the medical retirement law (10 USC Chapter 61) is not considered disposable retired pay for division as marriage property. However, VA disability compensation is not protected from the requirements of family or child support by a state divorce court as is commonly believed. So again, note that the court doesn’t have to award, meaning specifically assign, disability compensation whether from service retired pay or VA disability compensation to a former spouse. A court can order a general amount to be paid by the servicemember to a former spouse or family. Where the money comes from is up to the servicemember, even if disability pay has to be tapped. 20/20/20 rule. For a former spouse to be entitled to service benefits (health care, ID card, base benefits), the servicemember must serve for 20 years and the couple must be married 20 years with 20 years overlapping with the service period. This is the rule of law used to determine a former spouse’s eligibility for the following service benefits (10 USC, Sections 1072, 1078a, and 1086a). Exceptions to the 20/20/20 rule are based on old rules from the 1980s that probably won’t apply to cases today. Special rules also exist for abused spouses. Health care. The 20/20/20 rule must be met before a former spouse is eligible for TRICARE. There are two catches. (1) The former spouse can’t remarry. Once remarried, the former spouse loses TRICARE forever (unless the former spouse remarries a military retiree) and (2) the former spouse can’t have an employer-sponsored health care plan or a purchased health care plan. The choice is between an employer/purchased plan and TRICARE. Exceptions to the 20/20/20 rule involve at least 15 years of overlap for limited TRICARE eligibility (no more than 1 year) or eligibility for the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP), which is similar to purchasing a plan through the health care marketplace. CHCBP is for unremarried former spouses and is limited to 36 months. ID cards. Spouses previously enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) can get service from any ID card office. (Locate the nearest ID card office.) Initial applications must be made through the parent service. The former spouse application for an ID card requires the following documents:
Base benefits. An ID card confers base benefits; commissary and exchange privileges; Morale, Welfare, and Recreation services; and other benefits that come with an ID card. Any questions can be addressed to the parent service or to the nearest uniformed services ID card issuing office. Unlike the TRICARE benefit, a subsequent remarriage that ends because of death or divorce does not exclude a former spouse from reapplying for base benefits. The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). The SBP is the only program that provides to a beneficiary a monthly lifetime income based on the servicemember’s retired pay amount. A beneficiary gets 55 percent of the servicemember’s base amount, which is usually the amount of retired pay. The 20/20/20 rule does not apply to SBP. If a divorce decree states a former spouse is to get SBP, it happens, if timely notification is made to the pay agency by the servicemember or the former spouse The former spouse must provide an official copy of the court document to the service pay agency and declare a “deemed election.” This means the former spouse makes a claim for the SBP based on legal grounds, whether the servicemember is involved or not. The deemed election changes the beneficiary on the SBP to “former spouse.” It also allows for “former spouse and child” coverage. The deemed election must be made to the pay agency within a year of the divorce date. Remarriage does not cancel the coverage, but it will be suspended until the remarriage ends in death or divorce and the SBP is reactivated. If the former spouse is receiving survivor payments because of the servicemember’s death and the former spouse remarries, payments are suspended if the spouse remarries prior to age 55 and can start again if the remarriage ends. Remarriage by the former spouse at or after age 55 does not stop the payments. The servicemember is not allowed to have another beneficiary as long as the former spouse has beneficiary status. If a former spouse dies as the SBP beneficiary while the servicemember is still alive, the servicemember loses the SBP and the policy is cancelled. VA benefits. Generally there are no VA benefits for former spouses, but you can contact a local Veteran Service Office to confirm there are no special circumstances granting eligibility in your situation. If previously eligible for CHAMPUS that eligibility ends with divorce. [Source: MOAA | Lt. Col. Shane Ostrom, USAF (Ret) | Sept. 12, 2014 ++] ******************************** Other than Honorable Discharge Update 01 ► 600k between 2000 & 2013 While on tour with the Navy in Guam in 2000, Brian Lewis says he was raped by a higher-ranking service member. He said his superiors told him not to report the incident, suggesting that he could lose his job and that "it would have made the command look bad." About a year later, while suffering from posttraumatic-stress disorder from the assault, Lewis received what he says was a misdiagnosis of personality disorder instead of PTSD. He was dismissed from the military without an honorable discharge. "The way they did it was to send me from Guam and a doctor that knew the area, to San Diego, where the doctor has no idea of me, or of the situation out there, and basically called me a liar," said Lewis, 34, who has testified before Congress about his experience. (A Navy spokesperson said the service is familiar with Lewis's case, but could not discuss it due to privacy issues.) Lewis, who received a general discharge under honorable conditions, is one of the tens of thousands of service members who leave the military each year with something other than an honorable discharge. Without it, they are ineligible for some or all of a sliding scale of VA benefits, which can include education, health care, and disability compensation. 
The Pentagon says that the majority of soldiers—about 77 percent—do receive an honorable discharge. But more than 600,000 received a lesser rating between fiscal years 2000 and 2013, according to a Defense Department breakdown. These soldiers often feel left behind by the government and find it very hard to get the full benefits they believe they have earned. "Basically what people view it as is walking down an equal flight of stairs, where honorable is at the top, dishonorable is at the bottom, and it's equal gradations the entire way. And that's not the case, at all," said Lewis, who was eventually correctly diagnosed with PTSD but still is denied education benefits to help cover his law school expenses. "Basically, it's a long step down from honorable to general. It's kind of like falling down a flight or two of stairs to get to the next level [other-than-honorable]. And then you're into the court-martial discharges, which is like falling down an elevator shaft." When soldiers leave the military, their time in the service gets characterized: honorable; general under honorable conditions; other-than-honorable conditions; bad conduct; dishonorable; or uncharacterized. And the level of categorization—along with the reason for discharge—can impact what VA benefits are available. Service members who do not receive honorable discharges can try to get their benefits back in two ways: through the VA, or through the Pentagon. They can ask the VA to grant them benefits that their discharge status might block them from automatically getting. But VA spokesperson Meagan Lutz said the department isn't able to quantify how frequently it grants benefits to these soldiers. Separately, soldiers can also try to get their discharge status changed after they leave the military through Pentagon boards, but they face an uphill climb, with estimates of successful upgrades at less than 10 percent. "These discharges are extremely hard to correct after the fact.... The batting average for veterans getting corrections is in the single digits," said Phillip Carter, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based defense think tank. " ... In absence of really compelling evidence from the veterans, the board members are going to presume that everything was done right by the service. And it's really hard for veterans to overcome that, so it usually has to be some clear policy change." And getting a non-honorable discharge can have impacts well beyond the government world of VA and military benefits, making it more difficult for these veterans to find civilian employment after they leave the service. "This is a hard question I think the military is wrestling with … essentially how to exercise that judgment at the moment of discharge," Carter said. "... There's this vast category in the middle where I think the military is adopting a more humanitarian approach toward its own." Overall, the number of honorable and general discharges has increased over the past decade, and the number of other-than-honorable conditions, bad conduct, and dishonorable discharges have declined, according to Pentagon numbers. "The overwhelming majority of our service members are tremendous professionals. There will always be those who don't meet the standards we set, and when they do, we hold them accountable," Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a spokesperson for the Defense Department, said in an email. "Trust is the foundation for everything we do as military professionals, and we expect our service members to conduct themselves with integrity and character from accession to retirement." 
The Veterans No One Talks About And though many service members who receive something other than an honorable discharge are largely overlooked, there is some hope for those—like Lewis—who believe they were wrongly discharged while suffering from PTSD. The Pentagon announced earlier this month that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering the discharge review boards to give "liberal consideration" to upgrade requests, including from service members who were diagnosed with PTSD by a civilian doctor or those that can prove they suffered from at least one PTSD-related symptom. These symptoms can include nightmares, flashbacks, and changes in personality, sleeping disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Veteran’s advocates hope the new Pentagon policy, which is expected to be implemented by late October, could lead to getting help for those veterans who may not currently qualify for VA care because of a less than honorable discharge. "The end goal for anything in this sort of realm is that it really needs to be a standardized streamlined process that is veterans-centric," said Lauren Augustine, the legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "... The DOD is moving toward that, they have been moving toward that, and we'll ensure they continue moving toward that." [Source: NJ Daily Sept. 15, 2014 ++] ******************************** Army AKO Update 01 ► Beware Phony Website DoD personnel continue to be targeted by unscrupulous individuals in an attempt to gain access to individual PII (Personally Identifiable Information). Over the past year alone US businesses have been targeted on several occasions with hundreds of thousands to millions of passwords and account information being stolen. A potentially malicious website: http://akoarmymil.com is posing as the legitimate Army Knowledge Online (AKO) website. Caution is advised when accessing AKO to ensure the correct site is being accessed. It is unknown if all Army activities have blocked access to this site. When attempting to access AKO from an other than dedicated DoD access point ensure the correct URL https://ako.us.army.mil is being used. The key to identifying the phony website is that it is NOT a .mil address. It is recommended that users are certain of the sites they visit, change passwords on a regular basis, provide PII only to authorized persons, and carefully consider the ramifications before downloading and installing unknown drivers. ASSISTANCE: For assistance or questions please contact the 24-hour Army Enterprise Service Desk (AESD) at 282-4444. [Source: US Army Signal Network Enterprise Center Detroit Arsenal Network Bulletin 14-061 Sept. 15, 2014 ++] ******************************** Military 2015 Pay Raise Update 01 ► Last 30 Years Civilian federal employees seem headed for a 1 percent pay raise in 2015. President Obama called for it, and Congress has shown no inclination to stand in his way. The fate of the military raise, however, hangs much more in the balance. Obama and a Senate committee have backed a 1 percent pay boost, while the House has passed legislation that would give uniformed service personnel a 1.8 percent base salary increase. The military pay raise is technically automatically tied to a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure -- the Employment Cost Index -- that measures wage increases in the private sector. The president will usually make his own proposal, however, and Congress has the final say. Civilian and military pay raises have, at times, mirrored each other, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the Congressional Research Service. Since the turn of the century, Congress has by and large granted military personnel larger salary bumps. The chart below shows the pay raises for military and federal civilian employees over the last 30 years: 
[Source: GovExec.com | Eric Katz | Sept. 15, 2014 ++] ******************************** Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2014 2014 -> For want of a nail 2014 -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 2014 -> Ihbb asian Championships 2014 middle school bowl Round 4 First Quarter 2014 -> Ihbb european Championships 2014 Bowl Round 4 First Quarter 2014 -> International History Bee and Bowl 2013-14 Asian Division Question Set Bowl Round Six 2014 -> United states patent and trademark office 2014 -> Coffs harbour eisteddfod vocal syllabus 2014 -> Listen News Programs Schedule pledge now 2014 -> Slow club announce third album complete surrender Download 479.35 Kb. Share with your friends:
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