may june 2012 uniformed services journal

Uniformed Services Journal is published bimonthly by the National Association for Uniformed Services®,5535 Hempstead Way, Springfield, VA 22151-4094; Tel. (703)750-1342, 1(800)842-3451; Fax (703)354-4380; email: [email protected]; website: www.NAUS.org. Postmaster: send address changes to Uniformed Services Journal • 5535 Hempstead Way Springfield, VA 22151-4094.

Subscription rates: Membership in NAUS includes a subscription to the USJ. For persons and organizations not eligible formembership: $15 per year in USA and its possessions; $30 per year to a foreign address. Single copy is $2.50.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR UNIFORMED SERVICES MISSION:Promote a strong national defense and protect the benefits earned

through service and sacrifice in the uniformed services.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEERADM Donald P. Loren, USN (Ret), Co-ChairmanMSgt Robert Larson, USAF (Ret), Co-ChairmanMajGen William Bowden, USAF (Ret), 1st Vice ChairmanLTG Carmen Cavezza, USA (Ret), 2nd Vice ChairmanCOL Janet Fraser Hale, USAR (Ret), 3rd Vice ChairmanMajGen James Livingston, USMC (Ret), MemberMCPO Dave Rudd, USN (Ret), MemberDIRECTORSMrs. Jessie Brundige, SMWCol James Diehl, USAF (Ret)COL Dan Dennison, USA (Ret)CAPT Thomas Doss, USPHSCol Dave Ellis, USAF (Ret)Sgt Brian Griffin, USAF (Vet)Col Jenny Holbert, USMC (Ret)MCPO Gaylord Humphries, USNSgt Karl P. Karl, USMC (Vet)BG George Landis, USA (Ret)LCDR Nicole Manning, NOAARADM Bob Merrilees, USCGR (Ret)Col Thomas W. Parker, USMC (Ret)Sgt Andy Plonski, USMC (Vet)CSM Brett Rankert, USA (Ret)LTC Joe Sheehan, USA (Ret)SMA Jack Tilley, USA (Ret)BOARD ADVISORSCSM Donna A. Brock, USACSM Donald Devaney, USA (Ret) MCPO Paul Dillon, USN (Ret) MCPO James E. Greer, USN (Ret)COL Otto Grummt, USA (Ret)Col Michael Harris, USAF (Ret)Morris Harvey, USNG (Vet)BriGen John A. Hurley, USAF (Ret)CAPT Robert C. Lloyd, Jr., USPHSSgtMajMarCor Alford L. McMichael, USMC (Ret)COL Charles Partridge, USA (Ret)LtCol Nancy L. Visser, USMCR (Ret)REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS1 CSM Ron Buatte, USA (Ret)2 Col Al Stewart, USAF (Ret)3 MSgt Thomas Paolillo, USAF (Ret) 4 SMSgt “Chuck” Murphy, USAF (Ret)5 LtCol Dick Brubaker, USAF (Ret)6 LTC Dennis O. Freytes, USA (Ret)7 MCPO Paul Dillon, USN (Ret)8 MSgt Wayne M. Gatewood, Jr., USMC (Ret)NAUS STAFFPresident and CEO – LtGen Jack Klimp, USMC (Ret) Director of Administration – Mrs. Vicki C. SumnerCFO/Director of Membership Services –

Ms. Windora Bradburn, CPALegislative Director/PAC – Rick Jones HDeputy Legislative Director/Veterans Affairs –

CTI1 Mike Plumer, USN (Ret) HLegislative Assistant – Tony KennedyMarketing Director – LCDR Steve Hein, USCG (Ret), CMEManaging Editor, USJ – Tommy CampbellDirector of Mail Operations – Mrs. Nadine VranizanJunior Accountant – Mrs. Charito AmpoyoDatabase Manager – Mrs. Toni Cimini

H Registered Federal Lobbyists

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

May/June 2012 • Vol. 36 No. 3

President’s Message:

NAUS Mailbox

Memorial Day Observance

Key Bills in Congress

NAUS Press Release

Legislative Update

The Flag Protection Admendment

NAUS PAC

NAUS Briefs: TRICARE News

NAUS Briefs: Veterans News

Warrior Resiliency Conference

NAUS Briefs: NAUS News

NAUS Annual Meeting Announcement

Health Today Q&A

NAUS Board of Directors - Working For You!

Active Duty Download

NAUS Member Profile

Chapter News

SMW News

Seniors Corner

Merchant Marine

Taps

Contributors

Member Benefits

2

3459101919202122242526

27

2830

32373839404244

Assault on Servicemembers’and Veterans’ Benefits

NAUS President Jack Klimp (l) and NAUS LegislativeDirector Rick Jones met with Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC),Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommitteeon Personnel, at his office in the Rayburn Buildingon Capitol Hill. Chairman Wilson said to NAUS thethought the DoD TRICARE increases were “wrong-headed” and a mistake.

More on this in the Legislative Update!

®

Uniformed ServicesJournale Servicemember’s Voice in Government

On the cover: Capt. Michael Riha re-enlists Staff Sgt. RobbyRagos on top of Ghar Mountain at the Kabul Military TrainingCenter in Kabul, Afghanistan. Soldiers from Delta Security Forcemade the early morning climb tore-enlist four Soldiers.NAUS asks the question; with theproposed changes Congresswants to enact, how will it affectthe military’s retention rate?

INS IDE

Prevention

Darin Montierth

10

Photo Credit: Sgt. James Sims, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

®

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR UNIFORMED SERVICES

The 2013 budget is an outright assault on the benefits NAUS members earned

through their service in uniform. A new TRICARE For Life enrollment fee,

on top of MediCare Part B premiums; a new TRICARE Standard enrollment

fee on those beneficiaries who already pay higher co-pays and deductibles; another

round of TRICARE Prime enrollment fee hikes for under-65 retirees that no one

can pretend to call “modest” this time; introduction of means testing by tiering

these fees based on military retirement income; reducing future active duty pay

raises so they’re lower than civilian wage growth; a retirement reform commission

to eye ending 20-year retirement and replacing it with a civilian 401-K type of plan;

and, to top it off, pharmacy cost increases for all. And those are just the opening

salvos we’re facing in this difficult budget environment. With eight of my thirty-

three years in the Marine Corps spent in recruiting, I am convinced that this

and other budget-driven cost saving measures will seriously hurt recruiting and

retention, and could very well mean an end to the all-volunteer force.

e Defense budget is not the cause of our national financial crisis. In historic

terms, our federal government spends a relatively small portion on defense. e base budget this year

provides $530 billion, 3.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 4.5 percent when the

expense of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are included. During the Cold War, defense spending was

7.5 percent of our national economy as expressed by GDP. And at the height of the defense buildup

in the 1980s, defense was 6.3 percent.

Likewise, military health care is not “breaking the defense budget,” as evidenced by the fact that last

year the TRICARE Management Activity returned substantially more than $500 million of unused

finds to the general account. Included was $300 million in unused TRICARE funds that Congress

redirected into largely unrelated medical research of little or no benefit to the military. Rather, it is a

cost of doing business. Yet these proposals place the burden of correcting the nation’s fiscal woes

directly on the shoulders of our military members and their families, who have already sacrificed

above and beyond their fair share.A retired Army Master Sergeant recently wrote me saying the new health care fees would claim over

19 percent of his retirement pay. Shame on the administration, shame on the Congress and shame on

the nation if, through enactment of these disgraceful proposed health care fees, we once again

dishonor the promises and the contracts made with those who have put their lives on the line to

protect the rest of us. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) said it this way to Defense Department Comptroller

Robert Hale in a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, “But what I’m saying to you is you can’t renegotiate

the front end once the back end is done. is is an obligation that was made to the people whose

military careers are now done.”Amen. And just think what it would mean

to those serving now!

Assault on Servicemembers’ and Veterans’ Benefits

President’s Message From e Desk Of:

LtGen Jack Klimp, USMC (Ret)

I am convinced that thisand other budget-drivencost saving measureswill seriously hurt recruiting and retention,and could very wellmean an end to theall-volunteer force.

ank you to all who voted by proxy or attended the April 18 Special Meeting of the Association. e bylawsamendments proposed by your Board of Directors were approved by an overwhelming majority. e amendedbylaws have been printed and inserted in this edition of the Uniformed Services Journal for your convenience,and are also available online in the Chapters section of the NAUS website.

2 Uniformed Services Journal May/June 2012


Memorial Day, One Nation, One Moment of Remembrance

“I watched the flag pass by one day.It fluttered in the breeze.A young Marine saluted it,and then he stood at ease.I looked at him in uniformso young, so tall, so proud,

with hair cut square and eyes alerthe'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like himhad fallen through the years.How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers' tears?How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea?How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,when everything was still

I listened to the bugler playand felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many timesthat taps had meant "Amen,"

when a flag had draped a coffinof a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,of the mothers and the wives,of fathers, sons and husbands

with interrupted lives.I thought about a graveyardat the bottom of the sea

of unmarked graves in Arlington.No, freedom isn't free.

is poem was written by CDR Kelly Strong, USCGR (Ret). He wrote it in 1981 as a high school senior (JROTC cadet)at Homestead High, Homestead, FL. It was a tribute to his father, a career Marine who served two tours in Vietnam, andreflects a powerful reminder that freedom isn’t free.

Memorial Day is one day out of the year the nation sets aside to remember, reflect and honor our service members whogave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country whether in battle, in support of combat operations or having died inthe line of duty doing their jobs. It is also a day to reflect upon the sacrifices made by our country’s current and formermen and women in uniform who served to protect our nation every day and all it stands for.

Memorial Day is celebrated across the country and at Arlington National Cemetery each year with a ceremony in whicha small American flag is placed on each grave. NAUS and the Society of Military Widows will join other uniformed servicesassociations to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. About 5,000 people attend the Arlington ceremony annually.

Congress has established a National Memorial Moment of Remembrance which asks Americans to pause at 3:00 pmeach Memorial Day in an act of national unity to honor the contribution of our fallen servicemembers. e “Moment” isan act of reflection and national unity and is not intended to replace other traditional Memorial Day observances.

NAUS encourages each of you to stop and take a moment to silently honor the service of the brave men and women whohave gone before us. By participating you will be demonstrating your gratitude and honoring those who died for our freedom.It is but a small token of the enormous debt owed to them, a debt we keep with faith and honor but can never fully repay.

Uniformed Services Journal May/June 2012 5

roughout the 112th Congress, NAUS will identify and track certain billsthat address issues important to our members. Over time the list will expand toinclude newly introduced bills replacing older or less comprehensive bills. We dothis because of space limitations. While we support any and all bills that lead towardsthe achievement of our legislative goals, we place the most emphasis on the morecomprehensive bills. Also appearing will be some bills for information purposesto readers interested in the issue so that they can make their position known totheir congressional delegations.

e Library of Congress provides online information concerning Congressand the legislative process through a website named THOMAS, located atthomas.loc.gov. is is an easy to use tool to help you track bills in which you areinterested but we do not list due to space limitations. THOMAS also providesaccess to other congressional committees for you to do independent research.e dates in each summary generally denote when the bill was introduced.

DefenseH.R. 24 – (215 Cosponsors), Rep.

Walter B. Jones (R-NC), 01/05/11 – Referred to House Committee on ArmedServices. Redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

H.R. 493 – (5 Cosponsors), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), 01/26/11 – Referredto House Armed Services Committee. To provide for forgiveness of certain over-payments of retired pay paid to deceasedretired members of the Armed Forces following their death.

H.R. 1003 – (1 Cosponsor), Rep. DonYoung (R-AK), 03/10/2011 – Referred toHouse Armed Services Military PersonnelSubcommittee. e Gray Area Retiree, andSurviving Spouses Space-available TravelEquity Act would authorize space-avail-able travel on military aircra for reservemembers, former members of a reservecomponent, and unremarried survivingspouses and dependents of such membersand former members. Companion Bill: S. 542 – (9 Cosponsors), Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), 03/10/2011. Referred to Senate Armed Services Committee.

H.R. 1285 – (5 Cosponsors), Rep.Michele Bachmann (R-MN), 03/31/11 –Referred to House Committee on ArmedServices. e Military Health Care Afford-ability Act would prohibit increases in feesfor military health care (TRICARE) beforefiscal year 2014.

H.R. 1263 – (No Cosponsors), Rep.Bob Filner (D-CA), 03/30/11 – Referred to House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.Amend the Servicemembers Civil ReliefAct to provide surviving spouses with certain protections relating to mortgagesand mortgage foreclosures. 10/13/11passed by House and sent to Senate forfurther consideration.

H. R. 1935 – (7 Cosponsors), Rep.Peter King (R-NY), 05/23/11 – Referred to House Armed Services Committee. e Supply Our Soldiers Act of 2011would provide for free mailing privilegesfor personal correspondence and parcels sent to members of the ArmedForces serving on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

H.R. 1968 – (15 Cosponsors), Rep.Steve Israel (D-NY), 05/24/11 – Referredto House Armed Services Committee.Provide for the award of a military servicemedal to members of the Armed Forceswho served honorably during the ColdWar. Companion Bill: S. 402 – (6 Cosponsors), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), 02/17/11 – Referred to SenateCommittee on Armed Services.

HR 4115 – (11 Cosponsors), Rep.Steve Stivers (R-OH), 3/12/12 – Referredto House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. Helping Iraq andAfghanistan Veterans Return to Employ-ment at Home Act. To require, as a condition on the receipt by a State of certain funds for veterans employmentand training, that the State ensures thattraining received by a veteran while on

active duty is taken into consideration in granting certain State certifications orlicenses, and for other purposes.

S. 67 - (No Cosponsors), Sen. DanielInouye (D-HI), 01/25/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Armed Services.Permit former members of the armedforces who have a service-connected disability rated as total to travel on military aircra in the same manner andto the same extent, as retired members of the armed forces are entitled to travelon such aircra.

S. 68 – (No Cosponsors), Sen. DanielInouye (D-HI), 01/25/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Armed Services.Authorize certain disabled former prisonersof war to use Department of Defense commissary and exchange stores.

S. 472 – (3 Cosponsors), Sen. MarkBegich (D-AK), 03/03/2011 - Referred toSenate Committee on Armed Services. eService Members Permanent Change ofStation Relief Act would increase themileage reimbursement rate for membersof the armed services during permanent

KEY BILLSIN CONGRESS

112th Congress

H.R. 1092 –(24 Cosponsors),Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), 03/15/2011 –Referred to HouseCommittee onArmed Services.The Military Retirees Health Care ProtectionAct would prohibit increases inTRICARE fees and copays for military health care.

H.R. 4310 - Rep. Buck McKeon(R-CA), 3/29/12 -National DefenseAuthorization Actfor Fiscal Year 2013.Referred to HouseCommittee on Armed Services.Authorize appropriations for fiscalyear 2013 for military activities ofthe Department of Defense, toprescribe military personnelstrengths for fiscal year 2013.

change of station and to authorize thetransportation of additional motor vehiclesof members on change of permanentstation to or from non-foreign areas outside the continental United States.

S. 490 – (3 Cosponsors), Sen. DanielAkaka (D-HI), 03.03/2011 – Referred toSenate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.Increase the maximum age for childreneligible for medical care under theCHAMPVA program.

S. 2112 – (25 Cosponsors), Sen. MarkBegich (D-AK), 02/15/12 – Referred toSenate Committee on Armed Services.Space Available Act. Authorize space-available travel on military aircra formembers of the reserve components, amember or former member of a reservecomponent who is eligible for retiredpay but for age, widows and widowers of retired members, and dependents.

Flag AmendmentH.J. RES. 13 – (82 Cosponsors), Rep.

Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), 01/07/11 – Referred to House Subcommittee on theConstitution. A proposal to amend theConstitution of the United States to giveCongress the power to prohibit thephysical desecration of the flag of theUnited States.

S.J. Res. 19 – (33 Cosponsors), Sen.Orrin Hatch (R-UT) – Referred to SenateCommittee on the Judiciary. A proposalto amend the Constitution of the UnitedStates to give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of theflag of the United States.Guard & Reserve

H.R.152 – (29 Cosponsors), Rep.Ted Poe (R-TX), 01/05/11 – Referred toHouse Armed Services Committee. eNational Guard Border Enforcement Actwould utilize the National Guard to pro-vide support for the border control activi-ties of the United States Customs andBorder Protection of the Department ofHomeland Security

H.R. 179 - (3 Cosponsors), Rep. JoeWilson (R-SC), 01/05/11 – Referred toHouse Armed Services Committee.Eliminate the requirement that certainformer members of the reserve componentsof the Armed Forces be at least 60 years

of age in order to be eligible to receivehealth care benefits.

H.R. 181 – (74 Cosponsors), Rep. JoeWilson (R-SC), 01/05/11 – Referred toHouse Armed Services Committee. e National Guardsmen and ReservistsParity for Patriots Act would ensure thatmembers of the reserve components ofthe Armed Forces who have served onactive duty or performed active servicesince September 11, 2001, in support of acontingency operation or in other emergencysituations receive credit for such servicein determining eligibility for early receiptof non-regular service retired pay.

H.R. 1283 - (43 Cosponsors), Rep.Tom Latham (R-IA), 03/31/2011 – Referred to House Armed ServicesCommittee. e Reserve Retirement Deployment Credit Correction Actwould eliminate the per-fiscal year calculation of days of certain active dutyor active service used to reduce the minimum age at which a member of areserve component of the uniformedservices may retire for non-regular service. MGIB & Educational

BenefitsH.R. 472 – (2 Cosponsors), Rep.

Dan Boren (D-OK), 01/26/11 – Referredto House Committee on Education and theWorkforce. e Impact Aid Fairness andEquity Act would reauthorize the ImpactAid Program under the Elementary andSecondary Education Act of 1965.

Coast GuardS. 1665 – (3 Cosponsors), Sen. Mark

Begich (D-AK), 10/6/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Authorizeappropriations for the Coast Guard forfiscal years 2012 and 2013.

Health Care &Medicare

H.R. 409 – (29 Cosponsors), Rep.Mike Rogers (R-AL), 01/24/11 - Referredto House Armed Services Committee. eChiropractic Health Parity for MilitaryBeneficiaries Act requires the Secretary ofDefense to develop and implement a planto provide chiropractic health care servicesand benefits for certain new beneficiariesas part of the TRICARE program.

Social SecurityH.R. 149 – (3 Cosponsors), Rep. Ron

Paul (R-TX), 01/04/11- Referred to HouseWays and Means Committee. e SocialSecurity Beneficiary Tax Reduction Actwould amend the Internal RevenueCode of 1986 to repeal the 1993 increasein taxes on Social Security benefits.

H.R. 456 – (34 Cosponsors), Rep.Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), 01/26/11 –Referred to the House Ways and Means,Education and Workforce Committees.e Consumer Price Index for ElderlyConsumers Act would enable the estab-lishment of a Consumer Price Index forElderly Consumers to compute cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits.

S.123 – (No Cosponsors), Sen. DavidVitter (R-LA), 01/25/11 – Referred toSenate Budget Committee. e SocialSecurity Lock-Box Act of 2011 wouldestablish a procedure to safeguard theSocial Security Trust Funds.

TaxesH.R. 238 – (10 Cosponsors), Rep.

Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), 01/07/11 –Referred to House Ways and MeansCommittee. Military Retiree HealthCare Relief Act of 2011 would amendthe Internal Revenue Code of 1986 toallow a refundable credit to military retirees for premiums paid for coverageunder Medicare Part B.

S.113 – (1 Cosponsor), Sen. KayBailey Hutchison (R-TX), 01/25/11 –Referred to Senate Committee on Finance.e Public Servant Retirement ProtectionAct seeks to repeal the windfall eliminationprovision and protect the retirement ofpublic servants.

VeteransH.R. 23 – (80 Cosponsors), Rep. Bob

Filner (D-CA), 01/05/11 – Referred to

H.R. 2838 –Rep. FrankLoBiondo (R-NJ),9/2/11 – Referredto the Committeeon Commerce,Science andTransportation. Coast Guard andMaritime Transportation Act of2011. 11/16/11 Passed full Houseand sent to Senate.



112th Congress


House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.e Belated ank You to the MerchantMariners of World War II Act of 2011would direct the Secretary of Veterans’Affairs to establish the MerchantMariner Equity Compensation Fund toprovide benefits to certain individualswho served in the United States merchantmarine (including the Army TransportService and the Naval Transport Service)during World War II.

H.R. 115 – (9 Cosponsors), Rep. BobFilner (R-CA), 01/05/11 – Referred toHouse Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. eCHAMPVA Children’s Protection Act of2011 would increase the maximum age to26 from 23 for children eligible for medicalcare under the CHAMPVA program.

H.R. 329 – (35 Cosponsors), Rep.Bob Filner (D-CA), 01/19/11 - Referredto House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.e Chiropractic Care Available to AllVeterans Act would require the provisionof chiropractic care and services to veteransat all Department of Veterans Affairsmedical centers and to expand access tosuch care and services.

H.R. 814 – (7 Cosponsors), Rep. BobFilner (D-CA), 02/18/11 – Referred toHouse Committees on Ways and Means,Energy and Commerce, and Veterans’Affairs. e Medicare VA ReimbursementAct of 2011 would provide Medicarepayments to Department of Veterans Affairsmedical facilities for items and servicesprovided to Medicare-eligible veteransfor non-service-connected conditions.(is is called Medicare Subvention)

H.R. 1288 – (114 Cosponsors), Rep.G.K. Butterfield (R-NC), 03/31/11 – Referred to House Committee on Veterans’Affairs. e World War II MerchantMariner Service Act would direct theSecretary of Homeland Security to acceptadditional documentation when consideringthe application for veteran status of anindividual who performed service in themerchant marines during World War II.

H.R. 1742 – (34 Cosponsors), Rep.Brad Miller (D-NC), 05/05/11 - Referredto House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommitteeon Disability Assistance and Memorialaffairs. e Jamey Ensminger Act woulddirect the Secretary of Veterans Affairsto establish a presumption of serviceconnection for illnesses associated withcontaminants in the water supply at MarineCorps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,

and to provide health care to family membersof veterans who lived at Camp Lejeunewhile the water was contaminated.

H.R. 2002 – (3 Cosponsor), Rep.Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), 05/26/11 – Referred to House Committee onArmed Services. Permit disabled or injured members of the Armed Forces totransfer Post 9/11 Educational Assistancebenefits aer retirement.

H.R. 2074 – (7 Cosponsors), Rep.Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY), 6/1/11 – Referred to House Committee on Veterans’Affairs. e Veterans Sexual AssaultPrevention and Health Care EnhancementAct. 10/5/11 Reported by Committee tofull House and placed on calendar forfuture consideration.

H.R. 2349 – (1 Cosponsor), Rep. JonRunyan (R-NJ), 6/24/11 – referred to HouseCommittee on Veteran’s Affairs. Directthe Secretary of Veterans Affairs to annuallyassess the skills of certain employees andmanagers of the Veterans Benefits Admin-istration, and for other purposes. 10/6/11Reported by Committee to Full House andplaced on calendar for future consideration.

H.R. 2383 – (No Cosponsors), Rep. BillJohnson (R-OH), 06/24/11 – Referred toHouse Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. e“Modernizing Notice to Claimants Act.”Authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairsto use electronic communication to providerequired notice to claimants for benefitsunder laws administered by the Secretary.NAUS Note: is would be optional forthose veterans who choose to receive electronic communications.

H.R. 2433 – (31 Cosponsors), Rep.Jeff Miller (R-FL), 7/7/11 - Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011.10/13/11 Passed by full House and sentto Senate for further consideration.

H.R. 3612 – (72 Cosponsors), Rep.Gibson (R-NY), 12/8/11 - e Blue WaterNavy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2011. Referred to House Committee on VeteransAffairs. Clarify presumptions relating tothe exposure (to Agent Orange) of certainveterans who served in the vicinity ofthe Republic of Vietnam, and for otherpurposes. Companion Bill: S. 1629 (11Cosponsors), Sen. Gillibrand (D-NY),9/23/11 - e Agent Orange Equity Act of2011. Clarify presumptions relating to theexposure of certain veterans, who servedin the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam.

H.R. 3662 – (71 Cosponsors), Rep.

Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA),12/14/11 - Down Payment to ProtectNational Security Act of 2011. Amendthe Balanced Budget and EmergencyDeficit Control Act of 1985 to modifythe discretionary spending limits to takeinto account savings resulting from thereduction in the number of Federal employees. Referred to the Committeeson Oversight and Government Reformand the Budget. Companion Bill: S.2065 (9 Cosponsors), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), 2/2/12 – Referred to SenateCommittee on the Budget.

H.R. 3895 – (31 Cosponsor), Rep.Jeff Miller (R-FL), 2/3/12 - Protect VAHealthcare Act of 2012. Amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency DeficitControl Act of 1985 to clarify that allveterans programs are exempt from sequestration. Referred to House Committee on the Budget. CompanionBill: S. 2128 (3 Cosponsors), Rep. JonTester (D-MT), 2/17/12 – Referred toSenate Committee on the Budget

H.R. 4048 – (No Cosponsors), Rep.Bill Johnson (R-OH), 2/16/12 - ImprovingContracting Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Act. Clarifythe contracting goals and preferences ofthe Department of Veterans Affairs withrespect to small business concernsowned and controlled by veterans.

H.R. 4142 – (4 Cosponsors), Rep. JonRunyan (R-NJ), 3/5/2012- Referred toHouse Veterans’ Affairs Subcommitteeon Disability Assistance and MemorialAffairs. To provide for annual cost-of-livingadjustments to be made automatically bylaw each year in the rates of disabilitycompensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates ofdependency and indemnity compensationfor survivors of certain service-connecteddisabled veterans.

H.R. 4155 – (1 Cosponsor), Rep. JeffDenham (R-CA), 3/7/12 – Referred tothe House Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform. Veteran Skills toJobs Act. Direct the head of each Federaldepartment and agency to treat relevantmilitary training as sufficient to satisfytraining or certification requirements forFederal licenses. Companion Bill: S.2239 (3 Cosponsors), Sen. Bill Nelson(D-FL), 3/27/12 – Referred to SenateCommittee on Homeland Security andGovernmental Affairs.

H.R. 4168 – (9 Cosponsors), Rep.Frank Giunta (R-NH), 3/8/12 – Caringfor the Fallen Act. Referred to HouseVeterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. Direct the American BattleMonuments Commission to provide for the ongoing maintenance of ClarkVeterans Cemetery in the Philippines.

S. 277 – (10 Cosponsors), Sen. RichardBurr (R-NC), 02/03/11 – Referred to SenateVeterans’ Affairs Committee. e Caringfor Camp Lejeune Veterans Act wouldfurnish hospital care, medical servicesand nursing home care to veterans whowere stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,while the water was contaminated atCamp Lejeune.

S. 491 – (16 Cosponsors), Sen. MarkPryor (D-AR), 03/04/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.e Honor America’s Guard-ReserveRetirees Act of 2011 would recognize theservice in the reserve components of theArmed Forces by members who were neveractivated for Federal Service during theircareers, by honoring them with status asveterans under law. Companion Bill:H.R. 1025 – (54 Cosponsors), Rep. TimWalz (D-MN), 03/10/2011 – Referred toHouse Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

S. 1359 – (5 Cosponsors), Sen. JonTester (D-MT), 07/13/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Energy and NaturalResources. Honoring Service throughNational Park Access Act. Make the National Parks and Federal RecreationalLands Pass available at a discount tomembers of the Armed Forces and veterans.

SurvivorsH.R. 120 – (10 Cosponsors), Rep.

Virginia Foxx (R-NC), 01/05/11 – Referred to House Committee on Veterans’Affairs. e Disabled Veterans’ SurvivingSpouses Home Loans Act would providefor eligibility for housing loans guaranteedby the Department of Veterans Affairs forthe surviving spouses of certain totallydisabled veterans. 10/13/11 Bill languagewas placed into H.R. 2433 as an amendmentand passed by the House and forwardedto the Senate for further consideration.

H.R. 178 – (181 Cosponsors), Rep.

Joe Wilson (R-SC), 01/05/11 – Referredto House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.e Military Surviving Spouses Equity Actwould repeal the requirement for reductionof survivor annuities under the SurvivorBenefit Plan for military survivingspouses to offset the receipt of veteransDependency and Indemnity Compensation.Companion Bill: S. 260 – (50 Cosponsors),Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), 2/2/11 - Referredto Senate Armed Services Committee.

S. 1852 – (1-Cosponsor), Sen. JeffMerkley (D-OR), 11/10/11 – Referred toHouse Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.“Spouses of Heroes Education Act.” Expandthe Marine Gunnery Sergeant John DavidFry scholarship to include spouses ofmembers of the Armed Forces who diein the line of duty

Pay & CompensationH.R. 303 - (87 Cosponsors), Rep. Gus

Bilirakis (R-FL), 01/18/11 – Referred toHouse Veterans’ Affairs and ArmedServices Committees. e Retired PayRestoration Act would permit additionalretired members of the Armed Forceswho have a service-connected disabilityto receive both disability compensationfrom the Department of Veterans Affairsfor their disability and either retired payby reason of their years of military serviceor Combat-Related Special Compensationand to eliminate the phase-in periodunder current law with respect to suchconcurrent receipt. Companion Bill: S.344 – (28 Cosponsors), Sen. Harry Reid(D-NV), 2/14/11 – Referred to SenateCommittee on Armed Services.

H.R. 333 – (155 Cosponsors), Rep.Sanford Bishop (R-GA), 01/19/11 – Referred to House Armed Services andVeterans’ Affairs Committees. e Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Actwould permit retired members of theArmed Forces who have a service-connected disability rated less than 50percent to receive concurrent paymentof both retired pay and veterans’ disabilitycompensation, to eliminate the phase-inperiod for concurrent receipt and to extendeligibility for concurrent receipt to chapter61 disability retirees with less than 20years of service.

H.R. 4114 – (10 Cosponsors), Rep. JonRunyan (R-NJ), 2/29/12- Referred to theHouse Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee

on Disability Assistance and MemorialAffairs. Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012. Toincrease, effective as of December 1, 2012,the rates of compensation for veteranswith service-connected disabilities andthe rates of dependency and indemnitycompensation for the survivors of certaindisabled veterans, and for other purposes.Companion Bill: S. 2259 – (13 Cospon-sors), Sen. John Tester (D-MT), 3/29/12– Referred to Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

S. 696 – (5 Cosponsors), Sen. JonTester (D-MT) – 03/31/11 – Referred toSenate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.Treat Vet Centers as Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for purposes ofpayments or allowances for beneficiarytravel to Department facilities.

MiscellaneousH.R. 1775 – (52 Cosponsors), Rep.

Joseph Heck (R-NV), 05/05/11 – Referredto House Judiciary Subcommittee onCrime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.Amend title 18, United States Code, toestablish a criminal offense relating tofraudulent claims about military service.Companion Bill: S. 1728 – (2 Cosponsors),Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), 10/18/11 –Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary. “e Stolen Valor Act of 2011.”Establish a criminal offense relating tofraudulent claims about military service.



H.R. 186 –(27 Cosponsors),Rep. Joe Wilson(R-SC), 01/05/11 –Referred to HouseCommittees onArmed Services,Veterans’ Affairsand Budget. Expand the eligibilityfor concurrent receipt of militaryretired pay and veterans’ disabilitycompensation to include all membersof the uniformed services who areretired under chapter 61 of such titlefor disability, regardless of themembers’ disability rating percentage.


112th Congress

NAUS President Jack Klimp calls on Congress to stop "war" on TRICARE benefits in news release issued

Monday, April 16.


No military personnel issues are more critical thanpay and benefits, which is why health care is sucha sensitive subject. It and the immediate receipt of

retirement pay are the primary incentives DoD can offer toentice someone to volunteer 20 or more years of theiryouth to the nation just to be eligible.

Yet, despite acknowledging this long-term commitment,the department again reintroduced plans—rejected byCongress in the past—to force military dependents and retirees to either pay more fortheir healthcare coverage or toopt out of TRICARE entirely.

We regard all efforts toforce those who serve andsacrifice the most, to sacrificeeven more, as a supremebreach of faith. It denigratesthe years of upfront serviceand sacrifice required ofcareer military and theirfamilies, plus these anti-people proposals will be perceived very negatively byfuture generations, who mayconsider civilian employmentfar more rewarding and saferthan military service.

NAUS, and a number of major military associations reject:• e three-tiered TRICARE Prime fee proposal that

is linked to an unexplained, escalator equation that Congress rejected in 2007. DOD last year proposed to link annual increases to medical inflation for working age retirees, but Congress rejected that proposal and instead tied future increases to annual

cost-of-living adjustments. DoD must follow the law.• e proposed creation of TRICARE Standard/Extra

enrollment fees and unexplained escalator equation, as well as unexplained double-digit increases to TRICARE Standard/Extra deductibles.

• e three-tiered TRICARE for Life fee proposal linked again to the unexplained, escalator equation for senior retirees age 65 and older, who already must pay at minimum $1,200 annually for mandatory

Medicare Part B coverage.• Unexplained pharma-ceutical copay increases on military dependents and retirees that would raise within five years the cost of a 30-day supplyof brand-name medica-tions purchased off-base by 283 percent and a 90-day supply of the same prescription from mail-order by 377 percent.

Very few join the militaryintent on making it a career,which involves multiple movesand hazardous deployments,

children constantly uprooted from schools and spouses fromcareer opportunities, virtually zero in home ownershipequity, and upon military retirement, potential age discrim-ination entering the civilian marketplace. In fact, only 8.5percent of those who serve in the military ever reach retire-ment, a percentage derived by dividing DOD’s 1.9 millionretirees by the VA’s 22.2 million veterans—a percentagethat is even less if medical retirees are excluded.

NAUS Rejects the Proposed Changes in Military Pay and Benefits


NAUS President and CEO Jack Klimp (front r) and Legislative Director Rick Jones (r)conference on TRICARE related issues with Health Net representatives: Sue Mandry,Vice President of Government Affairs (front l), and Health Care Consultants Steve Lillie(l) and Brigadier General James M. Lariviere. Health Net is the managed care supportcontractor for the TRICARE North Region, assisting nearly three million beneficiariesincluding active duty, retired, National Guard and Reserve, and family members.

To NAUS and a number of keyveterans associations, perhaps ourgreatest concern is that the continuederosion of pay and benefits couldlead to the end of a professionally-led, all-volunteer military that for39 years and more than a decade ofnonstop war has served the Americanpublic extremely well.

We encourage readers to call,email or write your representatives.Tell them that you too, reject thePentagon plan to raise TRICAREfees, copays and deductibles.

Congress Holds Hearings toAddress the DoD BudgetAt the start of the year, the President

recommended a $525.4 billion fiscal year2013 base budget for the Departmentof Defense with an added $88.5 billionto support the war efforts.

e budget request is approximately$45 billion below what was anticipatedunder last year’s budget plan, as requiredunder the Budget Control Act passedlast year.

e Budget Control Act also aimsfor lower defense spending over thenext decade, $259 billion less thanplanned over the next five years, anda total $487 billion over the next ten.

The Pentagon’s proposal would hackexisting manpower, equipment, researchand retirement contracts. e slash in

manpower would reduce the Army by72,000 and the Marines by 20,000. Cutsinclude the termination of six tacticalfighter squadrons and the purchase offewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. eNavy would decommission seven cruisersand delay new ship construction.

According to Secretary Panetta,“is decline is roughly consistent withthe size of the drawdowns aer Vietnamand the Cold War – although we aredetermined to implement these reductionsin a manner that avoids a hollow forceand other mistakes of the past.”

While key Members of Congress workwith NAUS to assure the investment innational defense remains clear-eyed andfully sufficient to meet present andpotential risks and threats to our nationalsecurity, the outcome of congressionaldebate remains uncertain.

For some in Congress, the Pentagonreductions are hardly enough. Earlierthis year, for example, RepresentativesBarney Frank (D-MA), Barbara Lee(D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) andRush Holt (D-NJ) wrote the Presidentasking him to “take even bolder lead-ership.” ey want to double the cuts,“e Cold War is long over, and no remotely comparable adversary hasemerged or is likely to emerge …. savings of around $900 billion over the next 10 years can be realized.”

NAUS believes strongly that defense of the nation is the first andprimary responsibility of govern-ment. e President’s budget request seems more budget driventhan strategy driven, more on cuttingdefense spending than on bringingforward a clear evaluation of the resources needed to guard againstany and all threats.

NAUS remains deeply concerned,as well, that the entire debate standsin the dark shadow of nearly $600billion of additional military spendingcuts mandated by the failure of the“Super Committee” to agree on $1.2 trillion of reductions in overallgovernment spending.

NAUS supports key lawmakers

working to offset the directive, calleda sequester, which if it goes forwardwould cause severe damage to ournational defense and the promisesmade to career uniformed service.Please see the article on page 14about the House and Senate efforts to avoid an ugly sequester process.

Outline ofTRICARE Increases

Under the Defense Departmentplan higher health premiums wouldall be phased in over a period of fiveyears affecting TRICARE beneficiaries,although survivors of military memberswho died while on active duty wouldbe exempt from the fees.

Enrollment fees would be enforcedfor participation of TRICARE Standard,TRICARE Prime, and TRICARE forLife. For TRICARE Standard andTRICARE for Life, a new enrollmentfee would be a first. Deductibles underthose plans would go up as well.

For TRICARE Prime, fees wouldincrease from $520 per year for familycoverage to $850 in 2016 in the lowestpay tier, which includes retirees who earnless than $22,589 per year in retired pay.e fees would be much steeper forthose with larger pensions. In thehighest tier, made up of retirees whoearn more than $45,179, the annual


Assault on Military RetireesSimply stated, NAUS does not

believe that defense spending, whichaccounts for approximately 18 percentof total federal expenditures, shouldbe expected to pay for 50 percentof the major reduction plan aimedto reign in the costs of government.

Moreover, NAUS does not agreewith the Pentagon’s push to makethe TRICARE programs more likecivilian plans. Pentagon ComptrollerRobert Hale essentially dismissed the20 to 30 years of service and sacrificegiven to earn the benefit comparingincreasing costs to beneficiaries asmoving to market rates.

Legislative Director Rick Jones (c) stands with House Veterans’Affairs Committee Chairman, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), and hiswife, Vicki Miller, at a morning Capitol Hill event. ChairmanMiller is a strong supporter of our uniformed services and hasdemonstrated superb leadership in promoting efforts to find jobsfor returning veterans. Chairman Miller is also a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.

fee would rise to $1,950. While we support our national

executive leadership, our confidenceis shaken when we hear top officialsseeming to say to those who wore theuniform only a few years ago now haveto pay more for the promises made forserving a career in uniform. It is especially hurtful now that their job isdone and they are out of our military.

Key Lawmakers OpposePentagon Steep Increases

In a recent Senate hearing, Defenseofficials compared their plan to thosein the private sector. “If you look atparticularly the private sector, over thecourse of the last decade or so, premiumscosts in health care have gone up 168percent,” said Jonathan Woodson theassistant secretary for defense health care.

In response, Senator Kelly Ayotte(R-NH) reflected the long-held NAUSview, “With all due respect to the privatesector, I don’t find the comparison thesame. … Our military has done a lot.ey’ve sacrificed. And for us to targetthem first, I think, is the wrong thingto do.”

House Armed Services CommitteeChairman, Buck McKeon (R-CA), said,“We can’t keep asking those who have

given so much to give that much more.”e Chairman added, “When our troopsmade a decision to volunteer for service,they entered a sacred agreement with thisgovernment. Part of that agreement wasthat their medical needs would be met …we cannot and we must not break it.”

Armed Services Personnel Chairman,Joe Wilson (R-SC) said, “e most dis-turbing budget proposals are the increasesin health care premiums.” And Wilsoncalled the Pentagon plan “wrongheaded.”

Chairman of the Senate ArmedServices Personnel Subcommittee,Jim Webb (D-VA), put it succinctly:“We are talking about an obligation wemade to people to provide them medicalcare for the rest of their life, based on acompensation package that begins the daythat they enlist. . . You can’t renegotiatethe front end once the back end isdone. is is an obligation that wasmade to people whose military careersare now done.”

And Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) calledthe Pentagon proposed TRICARE feeincreases “unjust and immoral.”

In pre-hearing briefs, staff on theArmed Services Committees reportthat DoD officials said their proposalwould drive certain military retireesout of the retirement programs. Infact, the Congressional Budget Officeforecasts that 60 percent of DoD“savings” results from beneficiariesleaving TRICARE. “ey did mentionthe option of healthcare exchanges underObamacare,” said a congressional aide.

NAUS Members RespondLast year, when we had this same

fight, NAUS reached out to membershipin a TRICARE Cost Survey. Membersresponded with appeals to hold the lineon TRICARE fees for retirees and activeduty families. More than half—62%—said they were not willing to pay even a“modest” TRICARE cost increase,though 25 percent said they might bewilling to pay more.

A vast majority of members—84%—agreed that TRICARE is an earned

benefit and no fee or cost increasesshould be expected from those whocompleted a career in uniform. Andpractically all members—93%—saidkeeping costs as they are is a way forthe government to honor its promisesof lifetime health care, particularlywhen the country is at War.

is year, NAUS asked members totell us what it would be like if theywere hit with the Defense Departmentpackage to raise fees on working-ageretirees using TRICARE Standard,Extra or Prime, to increase fees for thefirst time on TRICARE for Life and to push costs higher for life-savingprescriptions. NAUS flooded with response to request for comments.

One member told us to hold the line,“I served for over 30 years in the US Navyretiring in 1984. I served in some haz-ardous situations during my 30 year career, and I’m fortunate to be able toreceive my hard earned retirement pay.When I first enlisted, we were paid verylow wages, and told also that wages werelow because some monies were being heldback and we would get it back duringretirement. … I cannot see how anyonecould compare what we went through inthe military with civilian life.”

On TRICARE increases, anothermember said, “My family is on a very fixed


Brigadier General W. Bryan Gamble (l), Deputy Director,TRICARE Management Activity, at a recent briefing to NAUSand major military and veterans associations on develop-ments in TRICARE. The Army Brig. Gen. briefly discussedthe multibillion-dollar contract to UnitedHealth Military &Veterans Services to manage TRICARE’s West region, a contractcurrently held by TriWest Healthcare Alliance but declinedto answer questions about the decision. Assistant DeputyDirector Mary Kaye Justis is also pictured.

Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Chairman ofthe House Armed Services Committee, and NAUS LegislativeDirector Rick Jones (r) at a recent meeting on Capitol Hill.Chairman McKeon said, “We can’t keep asking those whohave given so much to give that much more.” He toldNAUS that the Pentagon plan had gone too far.

income and outgo. Any additional moniesout of pocket for additional premiumswould cut deeply into our budget andtotally affect what we can eat and anyextra monies we might have form timeto time to live on.”

And on the Administration’s state-ment that it is keeping faith with thosewho serve, a member wrote, “I see thepromise broken and have lost faith. Myadvise to my Grandson may soon be:‘Don’t trust the system.’”

Comments continued, “I wonder whyour Service Chiefs and the Chairman seemto have supported the Defense Departmentplan. Is this the time for ‘Yes, Sir’ and sitdown, or is it time to fight for us.”

“I’m incensed over the scope andmagnitude of the proposal,” said another.“I find ironic that all the service leadershave publicly spoken in favor of the in-creases. I suppose if I was a retired generallooking at a 6 figure check, I wouldprobably not have a hard time with it either. But for those of us not fortunateenough to have that income, I know if Iwas a young troop on active duty, I’dhave to seriously reconsider making acareer seeing how the government livesup to its commitments.”

“I am a Colonel,” a member said,“and you know my retirement income. Ishould survive. I worry, however, aboutthe impact on some darn good NCOs who

did their time and also believed thepromise. Why are we targeted to ‘fix’ theproblem. We did not cause the problem.We earned benefits.”

Our members tell us that it is hard toimagine anything being said with morecallousness as a declaration from top-government officials that the benefitsearned in honorable military servicethreaten our national security or arecomparable to civilian plans. Not toolong ago, one Pentagon undersecretarysaid that the costs of earned benefits“have gotten to the point where they arehurtful. ey are taking away from thenation’s ability to defend itself.”

And that’s what the debate is all about.It matters to those who served honorablyand faithfully. Individuals and theirfamilies were made certain promises.Nothing was written in law but it washeld and spoken as a moral contract inexchange for their career service.

Now these patriots face the possibility,having done their service and made adifference in giving youth to service,that they will, having completed theirend of the contract, have to fight againat home for the promises they weregiven for answering the call to arms.

NAUS calls on its members to keepthe stories coming. And we ask thatyou share your feelings with thosewho represent you in the nation’sCapitol. We need to ensure our voicebreaks through. With theeconomy in difficulty andcosts for fuel and food rising,the broken promise couldnot come at a worse time.

e next step in the leg-islative process is mark up ofthe House and Senate Na-tional Defense AuthorizationAct for Fiscal 2013. It all be-gins in late April in the Mili-tary PersonnelSubcommittee under thechairmanship of Rep. Joe Wilson in theHouse and Sen. Jim Webb inthe Senate.

DoD Should FixInefficiencies, Not

Punish BeneficiariesAs a member of e Military

Coalition (TMC), a group of more than30 uniformed services and veteransorganizations, NAUS fully supportsrecent written testimony delivered tothe House and Senate Armed ServicesCommittee regarding the fiscal year2013 defense budget.

The following excerpt comesfrom TMC testimony and centers onPentagon responsibility to focus firston delivering cost efficient care ratherthan squeezing retirees and theirfamilies to pay for the benefits theyearned in a service career.

NAUS completely agrees with TMCtestimony that “strongly rejects Defenseleaders’ efforts to seek dramatic benefi-ciary cost increases as a first cost-containment option rather than meetingtheir own responsibilities to managemilitary healthcare programs in amore cost-effective manner.”

“Instead of imposing higher fees onbeneficiaries as the first budget option,”TMC testimony asserts, “DoD leadersshould be held accountable for fixing theirown management and oversight failuresthat add billions to defense health costs.”

e written testimony also providesa number of examples for defense

Representative Larry Kissell (D-NC), a member of the HouseArmed Services Committee, met with NAUS LegislativeDirector Rick Jones (r) to discuss defense related issues.Rep. Kissell told NAUS, " I'm focused on continued fundingfor advancements in research and to ensure both the pro-tection of our troops and the protection of our economy."

NAUS Legislative Assistant Tony Kennedy (r) ran into Rep. Tim Waltz (D-MN)and his Legislative Assistant, Brendon Gehrke (l) during a recent House ofRepresentatives National Guard & Reserve Components Caucus Breakfast.Rep. Waltz served 24 years in the National Guard retiring as a CommandSergeant Major and is the highest ranking enlisted Soldier ever elected to Congress.


healthcare reorganization that could,if followed, dramatically reduce DoDhealth costs.

• Decades of Government Accountability Office and related studies clearly demonstrateDoD cost accounting systems are broken and fail to meet any generally accepted standard of financial audit.

• More than a dozen reports recommend consolidated over-sight of three separate service medical systems, four major contractors, and innumerablesubcontractors that now compete for budget share in counterproductive ways.

• A number of DoD-sponsored reviews indicate more efficient organization could cut health costs 30 percent without affectingcare or beneficiary costs.

• Pentagon failure to partner with associations to expand mail-order pharmacy above the currentlow level has cost hundreds of millions per year (a single prescription switched from retail to mail saves DoD $125).

• Improve and expand focus on management of chronic diseases.

• Reduce inappropriate and costly emergency room use by expanding clinic hours, urgent care venues, open access appointing, and phone/web-based access to providers aer hours.

• Reform the broken TRICARE contracting and acquisition process.

• Base incentives to providers on quality-driven clinical outcomes that reward efficiency and value.

• Eliminate referral requirements that add complexity and inhibit timely delivery of needed care and fix the unreliable appointmentsystem that inhibits access to care.

e testimony concludes, “eCoalition urges the Subcommittee tohold Defense leaders accountable fortheir own management, oversight, andefficiency failures before seeking to shi

more costs to beneficiaries. Congressshould direct DoD to pursue any andall options to constrain the growth ofhealth care spending in ways that donot disadvantage beneficiaries.”

Bill Signed to Extend “Doc Fix” Ten MonthsIn late February, President Obama

signed H.R. 3630, the "Middle ClassTax Relief and Job Creation Act."

is legislation extends throughDec. 31, 2012:

• A reduction in employment tax rates for employees and the self-employed.

• An initial eligibility for emergencyunemployment compensation and 100 percent federal funding for extended unemployment insurance benefits.

• A Medicare physician payment update delaying a rate reduction for physician services - the so-called “Doc Fix.”

Congress Brings StrongFocus on Avoiding Damaging

Military Sequester Cutse Down Payment to Protect

National Security Act (H.R. 3662), intro-duced by Armed Services CommitteeChairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeonto reverse damaging sequestration cutsscheduled aer the Super Committee

failure, is up to 71 cosponsors in theHouse of Representatives, gaining 30since our March-April USJ.

As readers know, the defense budgetalready faces a steep reduction of morethan $460 billion over the next ten years.e Down Payment to Protect NationalSecurity Act aims to prevent a furtherround of cuts that would prevent theprospect of more than $600 millionadditional reductions in defense begin-ning next January. One of the majorattractions of the bill, H.R. 3662, is usingcivilian work force attrition of 10 percentover ten years to reduce federal spending.

Unless repealed or revised, the sched-uled sequester calls for an “automatic”spending cutback. In total, defensespending would be reduced by a stag-gering cut of more than $1 Trillion overthe next ten years, $450 billion in alreadyrequired budget cuts with an additionalnearly $600 billion under sequestration.

Defense Secretary Leon Panettacomments on the risks inherent in

sequester. e Secretary has said thatunder the large reductions of seques-tration, “We would have to reduce thesize of the military sharply. Rough es-timates suggest aer ten years of thesecuts, we would have the smallestground force since 1940, the smallestnumber of ships since 1915, and thesmallest Air Force in its history.”


Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Deputy Legislative DirectorMike Plumer (r) after a meeting where Rep. Forbes stressedhis support of the NAUS position on opposing the DoD proposed massive TRICARE cost increases.

NAUS President Jack Klimp (r) greets an old friend, MinnesotaRepresentative John Kline, at a morning Capitol Hill ceremonyhonoring the Congressman with the prestigious AMVETS“Silver Helmet Award” for his loyalty and dedication toAmerica’s veterans. Kline, retired from the U.S. Marinesat the rank of Colonel, flew helicopters in Vietnam andserved briefly with Lt. Gen Klimp.

e Senate is also moving forward onlegislation to repeal or replace the $600billlion of sequester cuts. Senators JohnMcCain, Jon Kyl, Lindsay Graham, JohnCornyn, Marco Rubio and Kelly Ayottehave also introduced legislation (S. 2065,the “Down Payment to Protect NationalSecurity Act”) to replace the devastatingcuts under sequester with more respon-sible, lower priority expenditures.

e bill, S. 2065, specifically extendsthe federal employee pay freeze – firstimplemented by President BarackObama – though June 2014, and restrictsfederal hiring to only two employeesfor every three leaving, until the sizeof the federal government workforceis reduced by five percent.

According to a January 30 reportfrom the nonpartisan CongressionalBudget Office, federal employees arecompensated 16 percent higher thantheir private sector counterparts, andenjoy a 48 percent advantage in benefits.

In a press release announcing theintroduction of the bill the Senatorssaid, “During a time of persistent un-employment, stagnant economic growth,and record deficits, it’s inexcusable thatfederal employees are being compensatedso much more than the taxpayers inthe private sector who subsidize thosefederal benefits.”

NAUS agrees that the sequestershould be avoided, and we supportresponsible members of Congressworking to revise or repeal the sequester.ere is no credible voice in Americanpolitics that suggests the impact of themaximum sequestration would beanything other than devastating for ourdefense posture and starkly threateningto our national security.

Protecting VeteransHealth Care

NAUS also supports legislation introduce in the House and Senate toprotect veterans health care. We firmlybelieve that there are lower priorityfederal government spending programsother the costs of healing sick and disabled veterans that can be reduced.

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and NAUSfavorite, Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL)have introduced legislation to exemptveterans healthcare spending from se-quester cuts. e respective bills, called“e Protecting Veterans Health CareAct of 2012,” are S. 2128 and HR 3895.

New Governance for Military Health Systeme Defense Department has sub-

mitted a report to Congress calling forthe formation of a new organizationto share medical functions commonto Department healthcare operations.

Under the outline of the report,TRICARE Management Activity (TMA)would be folded into a larger DefenseHealth Agency (DHA), which wouldtake under its wing the general respon-sibilities for the administration ofPentagon run health care, includingdoctors, nurses and clinicians forTRICARE and the Services. e DHAwould assume responsibility for thefunctions currently undertaken by TMA.

Unlike the current TRICAREManagement Activity managed from aone-star rank, administration of DHA,the new organization, would comeunder a three-star general or admiral.

e Pentagon plan results from thedirection of the 2012 Defense Author-ization Act. ough the managementof TRICARE would fall under a larger

departmental organization, accordingto the report benefits under TRICAREwould not be affected.

According to DoD, the plan is seen asthe appropriate next step in establishinga number of overdue efficiencies in thegovernance of the Military HealthSystem (MHS) allowing improvedmanagement of healthcare costs. eplan is under congressional review asthe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs andthe Undersecretary of Defense forPersonnel assigns staff to develop animplementation plan.

During testimony before the HouseDefense Appropriations Subcommittee,Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) askedDr. Jonathan Woodson, the assistantsecretary for health affairs, why thePentagon chose the plan they did insteadof the approach recommended in the 2006Defense Business Board (DBB) report.

Dr. Woodson replied that the chosenmilitary governance approach wouldbe an easier transition in wartimethan a unified medical command toreplace separate commands operatedby the Army, Navy and Air Force asrecommended by the Business Board.

Under the DBB plan, the Pentagoncould have eliminated more than 1,500positions for an annual savings of $239million. e plan selected requires a newthree-star and would cut 150 personnelfor yearly savings of an estimated$21.4 million.

Woodson told the hearing the De-fense Health Agency will not go intobusiness for at least 300 days -- 180 daysfor the Government AccountabilityOffice to produce a report and another120 days for Defense to complete its reorganization.

Update on Coast Guard Authorization and Fiscal

2013 Budget Request As previously reported, Congress

has yet to approve a united bill thatauthorizes a level of spending to carryout Coast Guard missions in fiscalyear 2013. e House has acted on a


NAUS President Jack Klimp (l) and NAUS Legislative DirectorRick Jones (r) met with Rep. Allen West (R-FL) at his officein the Longworth Building on Capitol Hill. Rep. West, amember of the House Armed Services Committee, is astaunch supporter of military and veterans issues. At aMarch hearing, Rep. West described the proposed TRICAREincreases as ill-advised, “escalating cost of the programto a small percentage of the population who’ve alreadygiven so much.” These are the Americans, West said,who gave their entire lives to defend our freedoms andprotect this democracy.

Coast Guard authorization, passing itsversion of bill, H.R. 2838, but the Sen-ate bill, S. 1665, lingers awaiting fur-ther consideration.

Despite lack of a final authorizationbill, the legislative appropriations processis underway with a hopeful completionset for 1 October, 2012, which is the startof fiscal year 2013. e congressionalappropriations process is requiredunder Article 1, Section 9, of theUnited States Constitution and defineshow financial resources are dividedamong competing demands.

e problem facing appropriations isthat the House and Senate Committeesdo not have in hand an authorization,nor a budget, to work from. And forthe first time in over a decade, theadministration recommended a budget

reduction for the Coast Guard in itsfiscal year 2013 request to Congress.

NAUS recognizes that Coast Guardauthorization has had difficulty movingthrough Congress in past years. Withpassage of the House authorization bill,HR 2838, prospects for this year, how-ever, are greatly improved. We applaudchairman of the Coast Guard Sub-committee Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)and full Committee Chairman JohnMica (R-FL) for their dedicated workto conclude their bill.

At this point in the year, our Senatechampions, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK),chairman of the Coast Guard Sub-committee, and Sen. John Rockefeller(D-WV), chairman of the full Com-mittee, need to press their bill, S. 1665,forward for full Senate consideration.Once approved, we need a speedyconference with the House to workout a final measure.

NAUS remains upbeat that short-falls in Coast Guard spending willbe addressed and the process willassure that resources are in place to carry out critical Coast Guardmissions. We will press forward.

Passage is important. e admin-istration’s lowered budget requestthreatens the ability of the CoastGuard to protect lives and property,defend our borders and secure ourports, waterways and coasts. Andthough we are concerned, things lookgood at the moment, but time ispassing and only time will tell.

Update on NAUS Support ofAntibiotics Bill to Combat

Drug Resistant “Super Bugs”NAUS is working to attract congres-

sional attention to legislation (HR 2182and S. 1734) known as the GeneratingAntibiotics Incentives Now (GAIN Act)that would help fight a growing fre-quency of bacterial infections that havehit our wounded men and womenand spread to civilian hospitals.

Traditional medicines and a host ofcommon antibiotic drugs are proving

less effective and in too many casesineffective at battling these infections. Intoo many instances, the bacterial infec-tions are resistant to known antibiotics.

e GAIN Act is bipartisan legislation.Representatives Phil Gingrey (R-GA), a medical doctor, and GeneGreen (D-TX) introduced the Housebill (HR 2182), which at press time had39 cosponsors. Senators Bob Corker(R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)have introduced a companion bill in theSenate (S.1734) with 10 cosponsors.

In summary, the bill seeks to spurdevelopment of new antibiotics, withoutputting federal dollars at stake, yetproviding a number of market-drivenincentives to advance innovation anddevelopment. It would encourage com-panies in an area that needs research,development and manufacture,granting extended short term marketexclusivity to drugmakers that succeedin developing antibiotics for preventing,treating, detecting or identifyingdangerous pathogens.

NAUS agrees with House sponsorof HR 2182 Representative Phil Gingrey(R-GA) who said, “With this legisla-tion, we hope to ensure that new drugswill be available to combat the risingnumbers of antibiotic-resistant bugsthat threaten Americans in hospitals,on the battlefield, in their homes, andin our schools. Health professionalshave been sounding the alarm on thisproblem for over a decade – a solutionto this problem is long overdue.”

e bill’s main cosponsor Rep.Gene Green (D-TX) said, “e GAINAct, by providing innovators with additional data exclusivity, seeks to responsibly spur innovation and increasethe number of new antibiotics in the FDAapproval pipeline. e growing threatof antibiotic resistance is very discon-certing and an issue Congress musttake steps to address before it becomesa full blown public health crisis.”

ose in military combat medicinehave repeatedly adapted and developednew ways to improve the survivability

Congressman Howard Coble (R-NC) and NAUS LegislativeAssistant Tony Kennedy (l) get ready to hear Acting AssistantSecretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, the Honorable Mr.David McGinnis, deliver the Keynote Address during the annual National Guard and Reserve Components CaucusBreakfast. Coble is a 27-year veteran of the Coast Guardand a long-time friend of NAUS.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member of the HouseArmed Service Committee, and NAUS Legislative DirectorRick Jones (r) met briefly to discuss defense related programs.Rep. Smith indicated that damage could be in store if sequestration came into play. The Washington Represen-tative said we must do a better job of carefully examiningour policies, requirements, and acquisition programs toimprove efficiencies and eliminate waste, fraud andabuse in the Department of Defense.


of those they serve. New antibioticsare needed to ensure we do not losepatients to an emerging, deadly bugfor which no treatment is available.

It’s a real-life race against thesebacterial infections, oen called“super bugs,” and we don’t want to lose.We must engage America’s scientistsand engineers to discover innovativesolutions to win the challenge andthe GAIN Act moves us forward.

NAUS encourages members toexpress support for the GAIN Actto their elected representatives.

NAUS Urges the Administration and Congress

to “Fight Fraud First!”NAUS continues its work in the

Fight Fraud First! Coalition to developcommonsense solutions to target andeliminate fraudulent and abusivespending in Medicare before theMedicare program is eaten by fraud.

As members of the Fight FraudFirst! Coalition, NAUS is dedicatedto solutions that strengthen America’svital health care programs. Our part-nership with leading health care, senior,veteran and patient groups from acrossAmerica’s healthcare system recognizesthat nearly ten percent of Medicare andMedicaid funding is lost to improperpayments, fraud and abuse each year.

It is our hope that together we canstanch a more than $60-billion-a-yearfraud of taxpayers money, so importantto getting our financial house in order.

Together we are working on theAdministration and Congress to makethis matter a top priority and recover themoney that flows into criminal hands.We believe that policy solutions can beachieved that strengthen program in-tegrity while saving money and ensuring beneficiary access to qualityhealth care services.

Already, bipartisan members ofCongress have introduced legislationthat would deploy increased penalties,novel technologies, and pre-paymentreview policies to combat fraud. Likewise,

some in the provider community havecraed proposals that target abusivebehaviors and could generate savingswithout harming the millions of seniorswho depend on Medicare and Medicaid.

New computer technology, for instance, can help detect fraud beforeit happens. If properly employed thenew systems can stop bogus paymentsbefore the claim is paid and end what’scalled “pay and chase.” Under currentprocedure, federal payments are madeautomatically once the claim is receivedand not reviewed weeks aer the ex-change when the fraud is recognizedand pursued. e delay allows fraud-sters to stay a step-ahead of enforcement,changing addresses or fleeing to relocatetheir criminal activity.

Earlier this year, Health and HumanServices Secretary Kathleen Sebeliusheaped praise on the new computersystem announcing a record recaptureof $4 billion of fraud. While the agency’srecapture is only a drop in the bucket,it demonstrates the possibility of im-plementing a program and makingmore progress toward improved financial management.

With a staggering 10 percent of allMedicare and Medicaid and TRICAREdollars lost year-aer-year to waste, fraudand abuse, NAUS and the Fight FraudFirst! group overwhelmingly agree thatour government needs to make programintegrity improvement a top priority.And when it comes to reducing thedeficit, criminals should be targetedfirst. We need and stop paying crooks.

Fighting fraud first is the right approach, and it’s what Americantaxpayers and American voters andUniformed Services members expectWashington to do.

Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB)

NAUS worked with its partners inthe National Military and VeteransAlliance (NMVA) on legislation(H.R. 452, the Medicare DecisionsAccountability Act) to repeal provisionsof the Independent Payment Advisory

Board (IPAB), a panel of 15 unelected,executive branch officials with powerto make fundamental decisions aboutprices and care for Medicare andTRICARE for Life patients.

Under the Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act (PPAC), also calledObama Care, the appointed 15-memberIPAB would control Medicare costs,essentially by rationing care. Between2013 and 2020, the PPAC directs the IPABto achieve its spending targets throughpayment cuts to physicians who treatpatients under Medicare/TRICARE,reductions Part D prescription drugs,and related areas of health care.

NAUS concerns about the IPABrelate to efforts over the past severalyears to extend the formula undercurrent law for paying doctors

Air Force General Craig R. McKinley (r), Chief of the NationalGuard Bureau, greets NAUS Legislative Assistant Tony Kennedyfollowing the Guard and Reserve Caucus Breakfast on CapitolHill. NAUS and several other military and veterans associationsco-sponsored this year’s breakfast. It allows the Guard andReserve Service chiefs to express their requirements for thecoming year in a more relaxed and informal setting than theformal budget hearing process.

NAUS Legislative Director Rick Jones (l) with House MajorityLeader Eric Cantor (R-VA), after a meeting on Capitol Hillconcerning the proposed DoD budget increases.


providing Medicare and TRICAREtreatments. Fortunately, our electedrepresentatives have acted to avoidsteep reductions in physician pay-ments, called “the doc fix.” NAUSknows the Medicare reimbursementsystem is broken. But putting anunelected assortment of “experts” incharge is not the solution.

Almost one third of our nation's 24million veterans are over the age of 65,and the vast majority of them live inhouseholds in which at least one personreceives Medicare benefits. us theimpact of any change in Medicareservices is felt both immediately anddirectly by them.

Moreover, because Medicare re-imbursement rates and coverage determinations are standard measuresfor some provisions of TRICARE, NAUShas real concerns about the IPAB in-direct impact upon military retireesnow and particularly in the future asits scope of authority expands.

As created, IPAB price fixing andrationing recommendations wouldbecome federal law unless Congressadopted other means to match or exceed IPAB spending cuts—and itwould take 60 Senators, a super majority, to refuse IPAB advice.

NAUS is most troubled by the way inwhich Medicare/TRICARE beneficiaries,patient advocates, and the Americanpeople have no recourse to its actions.We are sensitive to the economic pressuresthat government health care faces, butwe strongly believe that this is not the

correct way to address the problem.On March 22, the House of Rep-

resentatives incorporated the IPAB repealbill into a larger measure, HR 5, andpassed it with provisions for malpracticereform by a vote 223 to 181. e measureis pending consideration in the Senate,where if faces an uncertain future.

Social Security Under the Social Security program,

Congress collects about $785 billion inSocial Security taxes from about 163million workers to send out $585 billionto 50 million Social Security recipients.

According to Social Security law, thesurplus of taxes over benefit paymentgoes into a $2.3 trillion trust fund tomeet future obligations.

However, these surplus funds donot last long in trust, at least as realcash. e difference between SocialSecurity collections and disbursementspaid out is spent on other governmentprograms in exchange for what Congresscalls non-marketable "special issuegovernment securities," which are simplyIOUs listed in the Trust system asbookkeeping entries.

e Social Security trustees say thatthese surpluses will disappear in 2016,at which time payment of Social Securitybenefits will exceed taxes collected.at means the system will start payingout more than it takes in.

When this imbalance occurs, Con-gress will have to raise taxes and/orreduce promised Social Security benefits.e trustees report says that each year

the situation will get worse since thenumber of retirees is predicted to increaserelative to the number in the work-force paying taxes. When the programbegan in 1940, there were 42 workersper retiree, in 1950 there were 16, todaythere are 3 and in 20 or 30 years therewill be 2 or fewer workers per retiree.

Oh, do not forget the Social Securitytrust fund. Aer all, it is filled withIOUs and related government paper.But the simple fact is that these IOUsrepresent a promise from one part ofthe federal government to providemoney to another part of the samegovernment—take from one pocketand give to the other.

At this point, Social Security be-comes for all intents and purposes justanother government spending program.Simply stated, it does not reconcile andthe numbers are staggering. e realmoney to cover the costs of Social Secu-rity will have to be taxed or borrowed.

NAUS will continue its strong mes-sage to guard Social Security benefitsagainst cuts. Fixing Social Securitywith cuts is the wrong way to go. is isespecially true since Congress has spentmore than $2.3 Trillion from theTrust Fund, since 1968, to financecurrent spending and to pay forpork barrel spending.

Mail your change of address to:NAUS • 5535 Hempstead WaySpringfield, VA 22151-4094

email: [email protected]: (703) 354-4380 Call: 1-800-842-3451

or log on to www.NAUS.organd update your profile online.

Avoid interruption in your membership send us your CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Name: _______________________________________________________________

Member #:____________________ New Telephone #: _______________________

Old Address: __________________________________________________________

New Address: _________________________________________________________

Email Address: ________________________________________________________

®



The Flag Protection AmendmentPermit Elected Congress to Prohibit Flag Desecration

House Joint Resolution 13 (H.J.Res.13) • Senate Joint Resolution 19 (S.J.Res. 19)

The American Flag is the emblem of a great Nation. It waves as the ultimate expression of Freedom.

• In 1989, a Supreme Court decision took away a fundamental right of the people, exercised from the beginnings as a Nation, to protect our flag.

• All fifty State legislatures have passed resolutions asking Congress to return that fundamental right and allow the States to ratify appropriate conduct worthy of our flag.

• A flag protection amendment is supported by over 80 percent of the American people.

• If someone desecrated the Halls of Congress, the Lincoln Memorial, or another of our national monuments lawful action would be taken against the offenders – we ask nothing more for our Flag.

• If speech is obscene, there are laws in place to protect the public from obscenity – we ask nothing more for our Flag.

• The American Flag reminds friend and foe alike that the United States stands for freedom and asa united people we are willing to defend our country and her ideals with courage and determination.

• Whatever the differences of party, race, religion, or social status, the Flag reminds us that we are united as one people, bonded in a common faith to our nation and freedom.

• Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) sponsors H.J.Res. 13 with 82 cosponsors.

• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sponsors S.J.Res. 19 with 33 cosponsors.

• Help the American people protect our Flag. Answer the call and meet an obligation paid for by the blood of our countrymen.

Respect our Flag. Let the People Decide America’s Freedom to Protect our Flag

Your 2012 NAUS election survey and NAUS Political Action Committee(NAUS PAC) contribution form will be mailed in mid-June.

We hope you will respond and thank you in advance for your generous contributions.

The nonpartisan NAUS Political Action Committee provides a way forNAUS members to collectively contribute to the campaigns for members of Congress. NAUS PAC contributes to congressional members who advocatemaintaining a strong national defense and support of our uniformed servicespersonnel, our retirees and other veterans, and their families and survivors.

With DoD’s continuing verbal attacks on TRICARE costs, defense programcutbacks and deficit reduction pressures that are likely to affect service-members and retirees, we must use every tool we have to remind our government leaders that the promises made in return for uniformed service to our country must be kept. Your generous contributions to theNAUS PAC are another effective way to help us win.

Whether you can send $100, or just $5 or $10,or anything in between, please reply to the NAUSPAC mailing or use the coupon below to send yourdonation to NAUS PAC.

THANK YOU!

NAUS PAC5535 Hempstead WaySpringfield, VA 22151

Remember, ONLY NAUS MEMBERS can make donations tothe PAC. Federal Election Law requires that we ask you forthe following information:

Name: NAUS Membership # (optional):Occupation: Place of Employment:

Make your check payable to NAUS PACContributions to the NAUS PAC are not tax-deductible.

! Detach here and return with your contribution.

ACTIVE DUTYDOWNLOADEarly Retirement Option –

It’s Baack…(maybe)The 2012 National Defense

Authorization Act, allows the Servicesto offer retirement to some personnelupon completion of 15 years, insteadof the regular 20 - an option thathasn't been available since 2002. "TheTemporary Early Retirement Authorityprovides another option for the Services'force shaping toolkits," a Defense Department spokeswoman wrote ina statement. "Use of this, and other authorities, is up to the Service secre-taries, as they manage their end

strength." The Army, which has already announced plans to shed 57,000 active duty soldiers by 2017 due tobudget cuts, has not announced when or if it will implement the early retirement option. Navy CNO ADM JohnGreenert did say the Navy plans to allow a certain number of enlisted sailors to apply for it – including those eligible who have been selected for involuntary early separation by the Enlisted Retention Board (see storybelow). The 20-year active duty retiring servicemember gets a pension equal to 50 percent of the average basicpay earned during his or her last three years of service. Those retiring early under this program would get 2.5percent less for each year of service short of 20. They'd also incur a one percent “penalty” for each year of service less than 20. For example, a soldier retiring early with 15 years of service, would receive retired pay of32.5 percent of his last three years’ average basic pay. Other than the reduced retirement pay, all other retireebenefits are the same as retirees who do not retire early (COLAs, exchange/commissary, TRICARE, etc.).

Good Sailors Fired – What’s up with That?Enlisted Retention Board “layoffs” are hanging over the head of thousands of sailors who will be forced out of

the Navy early, and not for performance issues. According to the Navy, the nearly 3,000 enlisted retention boardlayoffs are not about budget cutting or reducing military spending, but about balancing the force. Because ofrecord retention rates, 31 of the Navy's 85 enlisted fields have become badly overcrowded, slowing promotionsand swelling midcareer grades. Recruiting fewer sailors into these fieldsand offering voluntary early-outs haven’t solved the problem. Since 2003,the Navy has used the "Perform to Serve" program, which essentially re-quires competition for sailors in certain popular rates when they’re up forreenlistment. Even though nearly 7,000 sailors were not allowed to reen-list in 2011 under the Perform to Serve program, it still wasn’t enough.

So last August, the Navy convened its Enlisted Retention Board whichreviewed the records of roughly 15,000 sailors, selecting about 3,000 forinvoluntary, early discharge (following a preliminary round which identified

1.7% Pay Raise Proposed for 2013

The 1.7 percent raise in basic pay for servicemembersrequested in the President's FY2013 budget does not ap-pear to be a target for budget cutters at this point. NAUShas not heard any talk of reducing this percentage, but it’sstill early in the budget cycle. As we reported before, long-term pay raise plans announced by Secretary of DefenseLeon Panetta would have military pay keep pace with pri-vate-sector wage growth but only until 2015 – after whichmilitary pay raises would be lower.


U S A U S N U S A F U S M C U S C G U S P H S N O A A

about 300 sailors with disciplinary or performance shortcomings for discharge) basedon quotas targeting the most overcrowded ratings. About 125 were able to switch intoone of the few understaffed fields, but the rest – mostly first and second class petty of-ficers in aircraft maintenance, radar, navigation and communications equipment opera-tion, and shipboard machinery and electrical maintenance – will be out of the Navy bythe end of the summer, and have no opportunity to appeal the decision. Apparently there is at leastone lawsuit, and obviously the process has angered a lot of enlisted sailors, even thosenot directly affected.

The Navy has tried to soften the blow. About 300 of those selected for early dis-charge will be eligible to apply for the reinstated temporary early retirement program(see story above), and a $5 million contract with the Chicago-based outplacement andconsulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, offers those sailors being discharged byBoard action one-on-one outplacement counseling. There are no plans for another enlisted retention board this year or next, either – little comfort for those good-performing sailors being let go.

First of Coast Guard’s Fast Response Cutter Fleet Commissioned The USCGC BERNARD C. WEBBER (WPC 1101) was commissioned in Miami in

April. The new 154-foot fast response cutters (FRC), the SentinelClass, are part of the Coast Guard’s recapitalization plan and will be

replacing the 110-foot Island Class patrol boat fleet. The FRCsprovide larger, more stable platforms fromwhich to conduct operations, safer smallboat launch and recovery in heavy seas via

a stern ramp, the ability to detect threats atlonger range, remotely operated weapons to

help protect the crew, and the capacity to remain at sea forlonger periods of time. The Coast Guard plans to build 58 FRCs,and each will be named for Coast Guard enlisted heroes. Initially, the cutters will be homeported in Miami and Key West, Florida.

SAT/ACT Test Prep Software for Military FamilieseKnowledge™ has introduced the next generation of advanced Test Prep and multi-

media eLearning programs and donates the test prep software free to families of servicemembers – except for a nominal charge of $17.55 per program to cover materials,streaming, support and shipping costs. The test prep software includes more than 11hours of video instruction, thousands of sample questions, and practice tests, andeKnowledge claims results including improved learning performance and superior testachievement. For more information, check out www.eknowledge.com/NAUS or call 951-256-4076.


Scan this QR code to watch a video of the USCGC Bernard C. Webber

underway being buzzed by CG aricraft

BACK TO HIS FUTURE: NAUS MEMBER RETURNS TO HIS ACADEMIC PASSION, AND

CAREER AMBITION, THROUGH EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP WITH EXCELSIOR COLLEGE

For Darin Montierth

, a veteran who

works as a proj

ect engineer for

the Veterans

Administration in th

e Fresno, Califo

rnia area, membership

in NAUS has br

ought some

surprising and

welcome benefits: an a

ffordable oppor

tunity to complete hi

s college degre

e,

and a new-foun

d voice as an ad

vocate for other

disabled vetera

ns and servicem

embers.

Darin, 46, is at

a professional c

rossroads: He w

orks as a projec

t engineer for V

A,

ensuring that th

e VA’s capital co

nstruction proj

ects are completed a

ccording to pla

n and

on time. He oversees w

ork on medical fa

cility construct

ion, HVAC instal

lations, equipment up-

grades and a m

yriad of other b

rick and mortar pr

ojects for the VA

. However, he’d

like to return t

o his area

of professional

passion – the fi

eld of physics an

d nuclear scienc

e -- and he’s tak

ing major steps to m

ake it happen.

A veteran of the

U.S. Navy and i

ts Navy Nuclea

r Program – he se

rved from 1988-1

996 –

Darin has had a

lifelong talent n

atural talent fo

r math and science

, and in his ear

ly years at

Weber State Uni

versity was a st

raight-A studen

t who caught th

e attention of th

e U.S. Navy.

The Navy recrui

ted him, and he

signed up. The

n, last year he b

egan exploring

how he might

revisit his areas

of interest and

finish that unfin

ished bachelor’s

degree. He had

an eye toward

nuclear enginee

ring technology

.

“I see a change

in the wind with

the government gett

ing more involved wit

h this, and I’m

interested in someday wo

rking with the N

uclear Regulator

y Commission or the De

partment of

Energy,” he sai

d. “This degree

will definitely i

mprove my prospe

cts.”

Last year, when

Darin turned h

is sights to colle

ge, his veterans

’ education ben

efits had

already been us

ed up, so he’d b

e paying his own

tuition. When

he learned abou

t Excelsior

College’s vetera

n-friendly onlin

e technology deg

ree program – in pa

rticular, a bach

elor’s in

nuclear enginee

ring technology

– he also learn

ed other good ne

ws: If he joined t

he National

Association for

Uniformed Serv

ices, he would b

e eligible for red

uced tuition an

d fees at

Excelsior. NAUS

in 2011 signed

a special educat

ion partnership

with Excelsior,

giving

NAUS members acc

ess to reduced

tuition and fees

, which, surpris

ingly, would als

o be

available to his

wife as an NAU

S spouse.

Darin learned th

at the vast majority o

f his credits – fr

om Weber State Uni

versity in

Utah, where he f

irst attended co

llege decades ag

o – plus his cre

dits from the Nav

y

Nuclear Power S

chool and other

sources, would

transfer to Exce

lsior. He was su

r-

prised to learn

that he was clos

er to his bachelo

r’s degree than

he ever would h

ave

imagined: He need

ed 19 credits to

graduate, and

as of March 2012, is co

mpleting

his final course

in Integrated Te

chnology Asses

sment.

As a working ad

ult, husband an

d father of thre

e, Darin’s option

s for finalizing a

degree in his fi

eld of choice wer

e limited. Attending

a traditional br

ick and mortar

college would b

e nearly impossible

with his sched

ule, so Excelsior

’s online course

format work for him

. In addition, Ex

celsior’s bachelo

r’s degree prog

rams in both

electrical and n

uclear engineer

ing technology a

re accredited by

the Technology

Accrediting Com

mission of ABET,

a specialized a

ccrediting agen

cy focused on

technology educ

ation

“Another reason

I wanted to fini

sh this degree

is because of my kids,”

said

Darin, whose so

ns are 21, 19 an

d 16. “I wanted

them to know that wh

atever age you a

re, you can go

back to school.

One of my sons w

as trying to figu

re out his way w

ith school, and

when he saw me do

it, he decided he

was going back

to school, too.”

As a NAUS member, he’s

also become more awa

re of issues faci

ng veterans and

servicemembers.

He’s been suppo

rtive of NAUS a

dvocacy efforts

on behalf of military a

nd veterans, len

ding his

voice by writing

letters and oth

er outreach. It’s

a new endeavor

, he said.

“Before, I’d nev

er really written

letters and got

ten involved, bu

t now I am,” he sai

d.

“And I am nearly

done with my degree

.”

Darin Montierth,

Student and NAUS Member


Are you sociallynetworked?

Become a NAUS Facebook fanand follow NAUS on Twitter!

NAUS uses Facebook and Twitterto keep interested members and others up-to-speed on what we’redoing in a less formal and more interactive way than our news sectionson our website or our popular NAUSWeekly Update e-newsletter.

You can find our Facebook andTwitter feeds and links on the NAUSwebsite (Member News and the othernews sections), and we include them inthe Weekly Update occasionally as well.

If you haven’t checked us out onlineyet, here’s how:

Name: _____________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________

City: ______________________________________________________

State: _____________________ Zip: ____________________________

Phone #: ___________________________________________________

Email: _____________________________________________________

Branch of Service: _______________ Rank/Grade: ________________

Status: o Retired o Active o Veteran o Reserve o National Guard oWidow

Date of Birth: ____/____/____ Required for Life Membershipmm dd yy

Spouse Name: ______________________________________________Required for Member and Spouse Membership

Please Check: o This is a Gift Membership from:o New Membero Former Membero This is a Membership renewal

DUES Member Member & Dependent/Only Spouse Widow

One Year $25 $45 $19Three Years $65 $105 $49Five Years $95 $160 $69

Life Membership50 and under $400 $600 $35051-55 $370 $550 $33556-60 $335 $500 $30561-65 $315 $450 $30066-69 $300 $375 $29070 and above $230 $310 $210

PAYMENT INFORMATIONo Enclosed is my check for $ _______ made payable to: NAUS

ORo Charge my dues of $ _______ to my credit card:

o Visa o Master Card o Discover o American Express

Acct. #: ________________________________________________

Expiration Date: __________________________________________

Name on Credit Card: ______________________________________

Signature (Required): _____________________________________

Remit Application and Payment to:NAUS • 5535 Hempstead Way • Springfield, VA 22151

®

Or Join Online At: www.NAUS.org

Member Name

Member Number

USJ212NAUS MembershipApplication/Renewal Form

Dues Total: $________

NAUS Contribution: $________

NAUSScholarshipFund: $________

Total: $________

Please Circle YourMembership Type

BACK TO HIS FUTURE: NAUS MEMBER RETURNS TO HIS ACADEMIC PASSION, AND

CAREER AMBITION, THROUGH EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP WITH EXCELSIOR COLLEGE

For Darin Montierth

, a veteran who

works as a proj

ect engineer for

the Veterans

Administration in th

e Fresno, Califo

rnia area, membership

in NAUS has br

ought some

surprising and

welcome benefits: an a

ffordable oppor

tunity to complete hi

s college degre

e,

and a new-foun

d voice as an ad

vocate for other

disabled vetera

ns and servicem

embers.

Darin, 46, is at

a professional c

rossroads: He w

orks as a projec

t engineer for V

A,

ensuring that th

e VA’s capital co

nstruction proj

ects are completed a

ccording to pla

n and

on time. He oversees w

ork on medical fa

cility construct

ion, HVAC instal

lations, equipment up-

grades and a m

yriad of other b

rick and mortar pr

ojects for the VA

. However, he’d

like to return t

o his area

of professional

passion – the fi

eld of physics an

d nuclear scienc

e -- and he’s tak

ing major steps to m

ake it happen.

A veteran of the

U.S. Navy and i

ts Navy Nuclea

r Program – he se

rved from 1988-1

996 –

Darin has had a

lifelong talent n

atural talent fo

r math and science

, and in his ear

ly years at

Weber State Uni

versity was a st

raight-A studen

t who caught th

e attention of th

e U.S. Navy.

The Navy recrui

ted him, and he

signed up. The

n, last year he b

egan exploring

how he might

revisit his areas

of interest and

finish that unfin

ished bachelor’s

degree. He had

an eye toward

nuclear enginee

ring technology

.

“I see a change

in the wind with

the government gett

ing more involved wit

h this, and I’m

interested in someday wo

rking with the N

uclear Regulator

y Commission or the De

partment of

Energy,” he sai

d. “This degree

will definitely i

mprove my prospe

cts.”

Last year, when

Darin turned h

is sights to colle

ge, his veterans

’ education ben

efits had

already been us

ed up, so he’d b

e paying his own

tuition. When

he learned abou

t Excelsior

College’s vetera

n-friendly onlin

e technology deg

ree program – in pa

rticular, a bach

elor’s in

nuclear enginee

ring technology

– he also learn

ed other good ne

ws: If he joined t

he National

Association for

Uniformed Serv

ices, he would b

e eligible for red

uced tuition an

d fees at

Excelsior. NAUS

in 2011 signed

a special educat

ion partnership

with Excelsior,

giving

NAUS members acc

ess to reduced

tuition and fees

, which, surpris

ingly, would als

o be

available to his

wife as an NAU

S spouse.

Darin learned th

at the vast majority o

f his credits – fr

om Weber State Uni

versity in

Utah, where he f

irst attended co

llege decades ag

o – plus his cre

dits from the Nav

y

Nuclear Power S

chool and other

sources, would

transfer to Exce

lsior. He was su

r-

prised to learn

that he was clos

er to his bachelo

r’s degree than

he ever would h

ave

imagined: He need

ed 19 credits to

graduate, and

as of March 2012, is co

mpleting

his final course

in Integrated Te

chnology Asses

sment.

As a working ad

ult, husband an

d father of thre

e, Darin’s option

s for finalizing a

degree in his fi

eld of choice wer

e limited. Attending

a traditional br

ick and mortar

college would b

e nearly impossible

with his sched

ule, so Excelsior

’s online course

format work for him

. In addition, Ex

celsior’s bachelo

r’s degree prog

rams in both

electrical and n

uclear engineer

ing technology a

re accredited by

the Technology

Accrediting Com

mission of ABET,

a specialized a

ccrediting agen

cy focused on

technology educ

ation

“Another reason

I wanted to fini

sh this degree

is because of my kids,”

said

Darin, whose so

ns are 21, 19 an

d 16. “I wanted

them to know that wh

atever age you a

re, you can go

back to school.

One of my sons w

as trying to figu

re out his way w

ith school, and

when he saw me do

it, he decided he

was going back

to school, too.”

As a NAUS member, he’s

also become more awa

re of issues faci

ng veterans and

servicemembers.

He’s been suppo

rtive of NAUS a

dvocacy efforts

on behalf of military a

nd veterans, len

ding his

voice by writing

letters and oth

er outreach. It’s

a new endeavor

, he said.

“Before, I’d nev

er really written

letters and got

ten involved, bu

t now I am,” he sai

d.

“And I am nearly

done with my degree

.”

Subscribe to NAUS Weekly Update:

www.NAUS.orgNAUS Facebook Page: Search on our name or NAUS, or go towww.facebook.com/pages/National-Association-for-Uniformed-Services-NAUS/52500848293

Follow NAUS on Twitter: twitter.com/NAUSHQ

may june 2012 uniformed services journal

Documents

usaf retcapt robert

usa retcol michael harris

usa retltcol nancy

usaf retcol dan dennison

usa retcapt thomas doss

usaf retmorris harvey

uniformed services journal

usa retsma jack tilley