NAUS Weekly Update for November 30, 2007

[admin]

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR UNIFORMED SERVICES

NAUS WEEKLY UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 30, 2007

NAUS :: National Association for Uniformed Services

"It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it
taken from you." ~ Dick Cheney ~

WASHINGTON REPORT
Congress to Return Next Week

Congress will return after their two week Thanksgiving break next week.
The Senate will return to work on Monday the 3rd and the House on
Tuesday the 4th. NAUS hopes that they will quickly resolve any
remaining difficulties with the NDAA and finish the conference. We
encourage you to go to the NAUS website NAUS :: National Association for Uniformed Services
<http://www.naus. org/> and click on the Capwiz area and send an email
to your elected representatives asking them to remove any non-germane
issues from the bill. Please ask your families, friends and neighbors
to become involved, too.

NAUS Calls on Congress to Act on War-Funding

After a two-week Thanksgiving Day vacation, its 70th vacation day of the
year, Congress returns to work next week facing a decision on funding
our men and women in harm's way.

Prior to the vacation, Members of Congress passed the base Defense,
which the President signed, but took no action on war funding. War
funding expired Nov. 15, and according to congressional leaders, it may
not be considered again until next year.

What this means is that the Department of Defense has begun pulling from
its base budget to pay for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Without approval of wartime funding, there is no other choice. It also
means that robbing one defense account to pay for another will have a
dramatic negative affect. Delay in war funding will likely force the
closure of facilities, the suspension of civilian jobs and the stoppage
of current contracts.

According to Deputy SecDef Gordon England, without positive action from
Congress, the Army's operation and maintenance account will be
completely exhausted in mid-to-late January. And within a few weeks,
DoD will be required by law to issue notices of termination to civilian
employees and deferral of contract activity.

Four months into the surge with 175,000 troops in Iraq right now, the
Department of Defense needs the money to avoid undermining our troops
and ensure our military men and women are fully equipped.

NAUS calls on Congress to give priority consideration to this emergency
matter. Stop withholding funds for operations and pass legislation that
supports and sustains our troops in the field.

HEALTH CARE NEWS

TRICARE Debuts New Web Service

TRICARE Prime and Prime Remote beneficiaries in the United States are
now able to manage their health care online. Beneficiaries can log on
to the TRICARE Beneficiary Enrollment
<https://www. dmdc.osd. mil/appj/ bwe/> website to enroll, disenroll,
update personal information and perform other functions. TRICARE
Standard beneficiaries can also update personal information, add other
health care information and enroll in Prime. Enrollment forms are still
available at the TRICARE My Profile
<http://www.tricare. mil/mybenefit/ home/overview/ Enrollment/ WebEnrollment
> website to fill out and mail to a TRICARE regional office.
Beneficiaries can also visit a TRICARE Service Center to enroll and
obtain assistance with other health-care needs.

Specialty Care Referrals

Many community programs and organizations like Military OneSource offer
free helpful resources for active duty service members (ADSMs) and their
families including financial planning, legal assistance and behavioral
health counseling, among other services.

For ADSMs it is important to know that receiving a referral to a
counselor from Military OneSource is not the same as being referred by
your primary care manager (PCM) or obtaining approval from your service
point of contact (SPOC) at the Military Medical Support Office (MMSO).

Seeking care through Military OneSource for short-term counseling (six
sessions or less) is helpful if your situation does not warrant
long-term treatment. However, an ADSM should notify his/her PCM
regardless of how long your treatment lasts because many aspects of your
health care are managed by your PCM and are essential to maintaining
your fitness for duty or your ability to perform worldwide duty.

For behavioral health services offered through TRICARE, ADSMs must have
a referral and prior authorization before seeking care. If you have
already been treated by a civilian provider and desire additional care,
be sure you notify your PCM or SPOC immediately, so continued care can
be coordinated for you. All other TRICARE Prime beneficiaries,
including, active duty family members, retirees and their family
members, may receive the first eight outpatient counseling sessions from
a network provider without a referral or authorization from your PCM.

Military OneSource offers many other services and resources to ADSMs and
their family members in addition to behavioral health services. You can
visit their Web site at www.militaryonesour ce.com or call 1- (800) 342
9647.

ACTIVE DUTY NEWS

VA/DOD Commence Single Disability Examination Pilot for Wounded Warriors

(VA Press Release)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense
(DoD) this week began a pilot program to test a new single disability
evaluation system for wounded warriors at the three major military
medical facilities in the Washington D.C. area.

This initiative is designed to eliminate the duplicative and often
confusing elements of the current disability processes of the two
departments. Key features of the disability evaluation system (DES)
pilot include one medical examination and a single-sourced disability
rating.

The single disability examination pilot is another improvement as a
result of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning
Wounded Warriors (Dole/Shalala) and is aimed to simplify health care and
rehabilitation for injured service members and veterans.

This pilot program will seek to ease the transition of wounded service
members through the disability evaluation system to reentry into the
civilian community with more efficient delivery of disability
compensation at the time they leave military service.

VA is providing the medical professionals performing the examinations.
The pilot is being conducted for service members at the Washington,
D.C., VA Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington,
D.C., the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and the
Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and will run
for one year. Throughout the pilot, VA and DoD officials will monitor
progress to determine potential expansion into other locations.

The pilot includes all non-clinical care and administrative activities,
such as case management and counseling requirements associated with
disability case processing from the service member's initial referral to
a Military Department Medical Evaluation Board to VA's compensation and
benefits program.

New Program to Aid Both Active Army and National Guard Recruiting

The Active First Program is helping recruit people for the active Army
via the Army National Guard (ARNG). Under the program, the Guard
recruits Soldiers who commit to 30, 36 or 48 months' active duty in
certain military occupational specialties (MOS), followed by service in
the ARNG.

Active First features enlistment bonuses of up to $60,000; the amount
depends on the participant' s active duty time:
* 48 months active duty - $40,000
* 36 months active duty - $30,000
* 30 months active duty - $20,000
* Transition from active duty to standard part-time Guard service -
$20,000

The program applies to people with no prior military service who are
placed in select MOS's. Bonuses are paid when a Soldier reaches his/her
first duty station after completing Initial Entry Training (IET). After
active duty, a Soldier has two options: re-enlist in the active Army or
transition back to the ARNG in a drilling status.

The Active First Program has three phases:
* Phase One - Recruit enlists in the ARNG, drills with his/her unit
until leaving for basic training, attends basic training, and then
Advanced Individual Training (AIT).
* Phase Two - Soldier completes Initial Entry Training (basic training
plus AIT) and transitions to the active Army and receives orders for a
regular Army unit.
* Phase Three - Soldier completes active duty and either re-enlists in
the active Army or transitions to back to a drilling unit in the ARNG
for the remainder of his/her eight-year enlistment.

For more information: www.1-800-GO- GUARD.com/ activefirst/
<http://www.1- 800-go-guard. com/activefirst/> or GoArmy.com.
<http://www.goarmy. com/>

Musical Instruments for Deployed Troops

Operation Happy Note is a volunteer effort to send musical instruments
to our deployed service men and women throughout the world.

Steve and Barb Baker from Fergus Music in Fergus Minnesota started
Operation Happy Note after their son was deployed to Iraq. They had
sent him a guitar and then a buddy wanted one.

Since March of 2005, the Bakers have sent hundreds of instruments
including guitars, mandolins, banjos, violins, harmonicas and
accessories

If you have an instrument you might want to donate or just make a
monetary contribution please go to their website to see what you can do.
http://www.operatio nhappynote. com/ <http://www.operatio nhappynote. com/>

Education and Training for Spouses

In an agreement between the Department of Defense and the Department of
Labor a new program called the Military Spouse Career Advancement
Initiative will soon begin. The program will set up accounts for
eligible spouses in eight States to cover expenses directly related to
post-secondary education and training in health care, education,
information technology, construction trades, financial services, and
other 'high-growth, portable' fields.

Beginning in January 2008, the new program will launch at 18 military
installations in following States: California, Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, North Carolina and Washington. Spouses of
active-duty servicemembers, grades E1 through E5 and O1 to O3, will be
eligible to participate. For more information about the program, visit
the site set up by our friends at Military.com at
www.Military. com/Spouse <http://www.military .com/Spouse> .

NAUS NOTE: We applaud this initiative and hope that in the near future
it will be expanded to more locations and include ALL military spouses.

Operation Forward Santa

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) has a gift-giving program
specifically designed for deployed troops. "Operation Forward Santa"
lets deployed servicemembers shop for friends and family back home
through free fliers distributed throughout Operations Enduring and Iraqi
Freedom. Featured merchandise focuses on holiday gift ideas with a
majority of the items available at special promotional prices
exclusively for deployed troops. Servicemembers can fill out the flier
and return it to any of more than 50 Exchanges in Operations Enduring
and Iraqi Freedom where a sales associate will process their order.
Troops can also visit the AAFES website at http://www.aafes. com
<http://www.aafes. com/> .

Christmas Cheer for Deployed Troops

Some staff members of the VA Headquarters staff have elected to send
care packages to troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan in lieu of
exchanging gifts among themselves for the holidays. They recently sent
four boxes containing items from "wish lists" posted by servicemen and
women on the Any Soldier(r) website. Any Soldier(r)'s mission is to
make our troops feel more at home when stationed in harm's way by
posting "wish lists" submitted by soldiers (items on these lists include
everything from baby wipes to magazines to candy bars) and allowing
individuals to access these lists and send those items to our troops.

If you would like to obtain more information about this organization,
you may do so by visiting http://anysoldier. com/
<http://anysoldier. com/> . On the website you can see who to send
these packages to, what they might need and how to go about sending
them. If you want to participate please do so soon so the packages will
get there by Christmas.

Nominees Sought for Freedom Award

The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
(ESGR) is seeking nominations for the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer
Support Freedom Awards, now through Jan. 21, 2008. Nominees should be
employers with records of stellar support for military employees. Past
recipients of the award have provided full salary, a continuation of
benefits, care packages and other forms of help such as home and lawn
care for families of employees fulfilling military obligations.
Nomination forms are available on the ESGR <http://www.esgr. org/>
website. National Guardsmen, reservists and their family members are
eligible to nominate employers for the awards. So if you work for a
person or company that really supports employees who are in the Guard
and Reserve, please nominate them.

VETERANS NEWS

DFAS Clarifies COLA Increase Payments

This week the Defense Finance and Accounting Service issued guidance on
the COLA increase.

Retirees being paid on an account where the retiree first became a
member of the uniformed services before Sept. 8, 1980 and retired before
July 1, 2007 will receive a full COLA increase of 2.3 percent.

The COLA increase for retirees being paid on an account where the
retiree first became a member of the uniformed services on or after
Sept. 8, 1980 will be as follows:

-- 2.3 percent for those retiring before Jan. 1, 2007

-- 2.3 percent for those retiring in the first quarter calendar 2007

-- 2.3 percent for those retiring in the second quarter calendar 2007

-- 0.2 percent for those retiring in the third quarter calendar 2007

-- No increase for those retiring in the fourth quarter calendar 2007

Retirees being paid on an account where the retiree first became a
member of the uniformed services on or after Aug. 1, 1986, retired on or
after Jan. 1, 2007, and elected to receive a Career Status Bonus at 15
years of active service will receive COLA as follows:

-- 1.3 percent for those retiring before Jan. 1, 2007

-- 1.3 percent for those retiring in the first quarter calendar 2007

-- 1.3 percent for those retiring in the second quarter calendar 2007

-- No increase for those retiring in the third or fourth quarter
calendar 2007

The COLA increase will be reflected in the Jan. 2 payment. (Courtesy
of DFAS)

WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA

The Department of Veterans Affairs' national cemeteries will again
participate in this year's annual Wreaths Across America initiative
scheduled to take place at noon on Saturday, December 15, 2007.

December 15th will mark the 16th anniversary of Maine wreaths being
donated to decorate the graves at Arlington National Cemetery and the
second year of a national campaign, dubbed Wreaths Across America, that
will bring the same remembrance wreaths to over 230 National and State
Veterans cemeteries and monuments across the nation.

The Worcester Wreath Company has donated 5,000 wreaths for placement by
volunteers on gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery, in a mission to
Remember - Honor - and Teach the value of freedom in the world today.
Participants include veterans groups, companies, school children and
individuals.

The truck carrying the wreaths, flanked by a contingent of Patriot Guard
Riders, is scheduled to arrive at Arlington National Cemetery at 9:00am.
The volunteers will then lay the wreaths, and a ceremony will be held at
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at noon.

This year, all 125 VA national cemeteries will participate with
wreath-laying ceremonies for six wreaths - one for each Service and one
for POW/MIAs.

The wreaths are made and decorated by the employees of Worcester Wreath
Company. Through this program, company president Morrill Worcester
wanted to recognize veterans, active duty military, and their families.

For more information on this event, go to the following Web sites:
www.wreaths- across-america. org or
http://wreaths- across-america. org/civil- air-patrol. html.

NAUS Note: Last year several NAUS staff members participated at the
Arlington National Cemetery, and this year we are dusting off our gloves
and boots in preparation of once again having the privilege of honoring
American service members.

NAUS NEWS

NAUS on the Road

This weekend NAUS President MG Matz will be in California attending our
Merced chapter annual meeting.

On Saturday MG Matz will be presenting a legislative update at the
general meeting at 10am at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater. He will
also be attending their Annual Christmas Dinner on Saturday evening.
For more information contact Norman Cloutier at 209-358-0266 or email at
ncloutier@sbcglobal .net <mailto:ncloutier@sbcglobal .net> .

Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen stand in
harm's way around the globe to defend our nation and our cherished
liberties. NAUS asks you to please pray for their continued strength
and protection-and pray as well for their families, who daily stand in
support of their spouses, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and
brothers and sisters.

GOD BLESS AMERICA