NAUS Weekly Update 6 April 2007

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Subject: NAUS Weekly Update for April 6, 2007Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:11:57 -0700From: Brig Gen R. Clements USAF ret <;p38bob@deepwell. com>Reply-To: p38bob@deepwell. comOrganization: USAF retiredTo: BG Bob Clements USAF ret<;p38bob@deepwell. com>CC: AAGEN&ADM, Key Military, military


On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 12:01:58 -0400, "Mike Plumer" <;mplumer@naus. org> wrote:NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR UNIFORMED SERVICESNAUS WEEKLY UPDATE FOR APRIL 6, 2007www.naus.org"Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritualand timeless." ~ Charles M. Crowe ~NAUS Wishes a Joyous and Happy Easter to all!WASHINGTON REPORTHouse and Senate Take Spring BreakFollowing a Spring break, which began March 30, the Senate willreconvene on April 10 and the House on April 16.Senate Approves New Assistant Defense Secretary for HealthOn March 29, the Senate confirmed Houston cardiologist Dr. S. WardCasscells, MD., to be the next assistant secretary of defense for healthaffairs. Dr. Casscells, an Army reservist and a wounded veteran ofOperation Iraqi Freedom, replaces Dr. William Winkenwerder. House Approves Wounded Warrior Assistance Act Prior to a two-week break, the House approved HR 1538, the WoundedWarrior Assistance Act, to provide additional case managers, advocatesand counselors for injured troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan aswell as a hotline for medical patients to report problems in theirtreatment. The bill passed unanimously 426-0. The White House said that the legislation' s goals while commendable arepremature. They suggested Congress wait for a June report from apresidential commission headed by former Sen. Bob Dole and former Healthand Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) agreed that more could bedone later, but he said, the legislation is "needed now to provideimmediate support for our wounded warriors." NAUS agrees with ChairmanSkelton.The bill still requires Senate approval before being sent to the WhiteHouse.War Funding Bill Goes to ConferenceBefore taking the Spring break, the Senate approved, 51 to 47, itsversion of HR 1591, the supplemental appropriations bill to fund thewar. As in the House approved bill, the Senate bill provides thePresident's $100 billion request for funding U.S. troops, but alsoimposes an arbitrary timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces fromIraq and adds nearly $23 billion in domestic funding provisionsunrelated to the war effort. The measure, officially titled as the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans'Health, and Iraq Accountability Act (HR 1591), now goes to conferencewith the House to iron out any differences. Committee staffs havealready begun working out details, but the conference is not expected toconclude until after the House returns from break on April 16. The President has promised to veto the final bill if the timetable forwithdrawal from Iraq is included. HEALTH CARE NEWSTRICARE for Life EOBLast week we told you about a change to the TRICARE for Life Explanationof Benefits (EOB). This week we received the following letter fromTRICARE, which reverses the change."Dear TFL Beneficiary,"We appreciate the comments received from our customers regarding theApril 1 change to eliminate the TFL Explanation of Benefits when thepatient liability is zero. We have listened to our customers and willnot be making the change at this time. You will continue to receive theTFL Explanation of Benefits as you have in the past. "If you have registered on TRICARE4u.com to receive an email that aclaim has processed, you will continue to receive that notification.However, you will also continue to receive the TFL Explanation ofBenefits through the mail. "If you do not wish to receive notification through email, you candisenroll by updating yourTRICARE4u profile page. "If you have not registered on TRICARE4u.com giving you the ability toreceive an email notification and an electronic TFL Explanation ofBenefits, the process is very easy.Simply log onto www.TRICARE4u. com and click on "Register as aBeneficiary/ Sponsor". "If you have questions about the registration process, please contact ustoll-free at 1-866-773-0404. For those requiring a TelecommunicationsDevice for the Deaf (TDD) please contact us toll-free at1-866-773-0405. "ACTIVE DUTY NEWSAir Force Starting Email for LifeAir Force Communications Agency officials are launching an initiativecalled Email for Life, or E4L. The first step in this multiple-phaseconsolidation effort is to give everyone an email address with auniversal extension of @us.af.mil, and every Air Force user will keepthat address for as long as they are associated with the Air Force.Users will receive an email this month notifying them that their new E4Laccount has been issued. Any items sent to the E4L address willautomatically be forwarded to the servicemember' s current email address.NAUS Note: We applaud the Air Force for its initiative. Maintainingcontact with service members will be much easier and will eliminate thatawkward gap in the transfer to a new duty station. We trust the otherservices take note and do something similar.Increase Your GI Bill Benefits by $5,400If you are an eligible active-duty servicemember the GI Bill Buy-Upprogram can help you get up to an extra $150 a month added to yourstandard MGIB "pay rate," which could increase your total benefits by asmuch as $5,400. Our friends at Military.com have set up a great infopage. Check it out athttp://education. military. com/money- for-school/ gi-bill/gi- bill-buy- up-program.Sailors Have Opportunity to Present Their ViewsAll sailors, including active and Navy Reserve, can voice their opinionsby answering quality-of-life questions in the ARGUS Milestone TrackingSystem survey. The updated version of ARGUS has a new section withquestions relating to Reserve life. The Web-based survey gathersSailors' perceptions on quality-of-life issues such as the Navy'sservices, leadership, and job satisfaction. Sailors can access and usethe ARGUS from BUPERS Online (BOL) by going to http://www.npc. navy.miland clicking on the BOL link on the right-hand side or by going directlyto https://www. bol.navy. mil. Once logged in to BOL, the ARGUS surveycan be accessed from the main BOL menu.____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ __________SPACE-A NEWSItem 1: Space-A Travel UpdateIn late March, Secretary of Defense Gates approved a new policy forSpace-A travel. It opens seats on ANY DoD aircraft in CONUS supportingDoD senior officials travel to active duty members who have been injuredin a combat zone and are receiving treatment.If traveling TDY the individual will be manifested as Space Required andif in a leave status will have priority over all other space-apassengers. The policy includes immediate family members traveling withthe Wounded Warriors.Item 2: Changes To Space-A Travel in EuropeMany NAUS members use their retirement benefit of Space-A travel quiteoften. There are a number of changes coming to the European Theaternoted in the Stars & Stripes article below:"Changes are on the way for the thousands of servicemembers, familiesand military retirees who use space-a travel in and out of Europe.New eligibility standards, the elimination of one route and changes toseveral others are all scheduled in the next seven months, according tothe Air Mobility Command, which manages the Air Force's massive cargoand passenger airlift operations."There is a demand," said Cindy Rothenbach, who manages the PatriotExpress program at the Air Mobility Command. "We are moving a lot ofSpace-A."And thanks to demand, a regulation change in June should make it easierfor families to travel without their military sponsors, she said.Currently, families are allowed to use available seats to travel on theplanes, but generally need to do so with the military member present.Some also have been able to travel at a lower priority and others basedin Europe were able to do so under a waiver requested by the U.S.European Command. That waiver has come under dispute, though.Rothenbach said a change to DOD regulations is coming, though, that willallow eligible military dependents to travel as long as they have aletter from the servicemember approving it."This is a good quality- of-life issue," she said.So far this year, Rothenbach said, more than 11,000 passengers havetraveled Space-A in, out or through Europe. In all of 2006, that numberwas around 31,000.Just where they will be able to travel changes somewhat beginning Oct.1, though. The Patriot Express currently operates eight weekly routesthat pass through Europe. All but one of them fly on to countries thatthe military refers to as "Southwest Asia" before returning back throughEurope to the States.That one other route - originating in Baltimore, with stops at LajesField in the Azores and Aviano Air Base in Italy - is disappearing atthe beginning of the new fiscal year.But Aviano has been added to a route that connects Baltimore withRamstein and Al Udeid, Qatar. Lajes has been added to three otherroutes and will join Ramstein as the most visited spot in Europe. Stopsin Rota, Spain, and Souda Bay, Crete, have been eliminated, though.In an e-mail, Tony Joyner, an AMC public affairs officer, said Aviano,Lajes, Sigonella, Naples, Souda Bay and Rota all were scheduled to losestops in fiscal 2008. But a survey of use by duty passengers convincedthe command to retain most of those stops.The Patriot Express' main mission is ferrying those duty passengers.Space-A travel is limited to seats left after duty passengers haveboarded and isn't offered to Turkey or any of the forward-deployedlocations in combat zones. The Patriot Express uses commercial jetsleased by the Department of Defense. Space-A travel also is availableon some military cargo planes, but such routes aren't scheduled with thesame regularity.For more information on Space-A travel, visit the AMC Web site atwww.amc.af.mil. Click on "Questions" then click on "Space AvailableTravel" to download a 14-page document that contains generalinformation, eligibility rules and contacts."VETERANS NEWSDr. Michael J. Kussman to Head Veterans Health Care On Wednesday, the White House announced that President Bush intends tonominate Dr. Michael J. Kussman to be Under Secretary for Health at theDepartment of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Kussman currently serves asPrincipal Deputy Under Secretary for Health at the Department ofVeterans Affairs and assumed the role of Acting Under Secretary forHealth at the Department of Veterans Affairs following the departure ofDr. Jonathan Perlin last August. As Under Secretary, Dr. Kussman would direct a health care system with amedical care appropriation of approximately $35 billion, employing morethan 198,000 health care professionals at more than 1,400 sites of care,including hospitals, community and facility-based clinics, nursinghomes, domiciliaries, readjustment counseling centers, and various otherfacilities. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) delivers health care to morethan 5.3 million veterans and 7.7 million enrollees throughout theUnited States. In addition to its medical care mission, VHA is theNation's largest provider of graduate medical education and a majorcontributor to medical and scientific research. More than 125,000volunteers, 92,000 health profession trainees, and 25,000 affiliatedmedical faculties are also an integral part of the VHA community.Dr. Kussman retired from the United States Army in September of 2000,having reached the final rank of Brigadier General. Dr. Kussman beganhis military career in 1970, serving with the 7th Infantry Division inKorea. He left active duty in 1972. He received his bachelor's degreeand his MD from Boston University and a Masters degree from Salve ReginaUniversity.Deaths of Two Maryland WWI VeteransIn 1916, Charlotte L. Winters called on the secretary of the Navy andasked why women weren't allowed to enlist. A year later, she had begunher military career.On March 27 Mrs. Winters - the nation's oldest female military veteranand last female World War I veteran - died in her sleep at theFahrney-Keedy life care community in Boonsboro, Maryland. She was 109.Since the beginning of the year, six World War I veterans have died.Lloyd Brown, the last known surviving World War I Navy veteran, died onApril 2 in Charlotte Hall, Maryland. He was 105.His death, at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, was confirmed by hisfamily and the United States Naval District in WashingtonWith the number of known living American veterans of World War I nowstanding at four, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seekingpublic assistance in determining whether others are still alive.VA Secretary Nicholson noted that the VA usually knows about theidentity and location of veterans only after they come to the Departmentfor benefits. None of the four known surviving World War I veterans hasbeen on the VA benefits rolls.The Secretary asks members of the general public who know of a survivingWorld War I veteran to contact VA. To qualify as a World War I veteran,someone must have been on active duty between April 6, 1917, and Nov.11, 1918. VA is also looking for surviving Americans who served in thearmed forces of allied nations.Information about survivors can be e-mailed to ww1@va.gov; faxed to202-273-6702, or mailed to the Office of Public Affairs, Department ofVeterans Affairs (80), 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20420.VDBC UpdateThe next public meeting of the Veterans Disability Benefits Commissionis scheduled for Thursday, April 19th (8:00 AM to 5:15 PM) and Friday,April 20th (8:30 AM to 3:00 PM).Location: Almas Temple located at 1315 K Street, NW, (adjacent to theHamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel at 14th & K Streets NW), in Washington, DC.NAUS NEWSNAUS on the RoadThis Saturday, April 7, NAUS President MG Matz attends the NAUS "BILLRYERSON" EL PASO AREA CHAPTER 20th anniversary meeting. MG Matz is thekeynote speaker at the luncheon meeting at the Fort Bliss Officers Club.MG Matz is again on the road April 21 as keynote speaker at the PatrickAFB, Florida Retiree Appreciation Day. Come by and say hello to yourNAUS President and his wife Linda.The Fort Jackson Army Hospital at Columbia, SC, will host a RetireeAppreciation Day April 27 and 28. Those of you who will be in or aroundthat area on those days are welcome to attend and acquire some importantinformation. While you are there, come by the NAUS table and say helloto NAUS member Robert Daugherty. He is looking for other NAUS memberswho are interested in getting a South Carolina chapter up and running.Come by and volunteer to assist him in his quest. If you can't make theRetiree Day and want to help, email Robert at rkd107@netzero. com.Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen stand inharm's way around the globe to defend our nation and our cherishedliberties. NAUS asks you to please pray for their continued strengthand protection-and pray as well for their families, who daily stand insupport of their spouses, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, andtheir brothers and sisters.GOD BLESS AMERICAE-mail your comments to: mplumer@naus. orgInclude your full name and mailing address in the body of your messageMembers: To subscribe/unsubscri be e-mail to: taboone@naus. orgNon-Members: www.naus.org, click on Free Weekly Update, fill out shortform and send back. "If It Weren't For The United States military""There Would Be NO United States of America""Home of The Free, Because of the Brave"