RAO BULLETIN 15 January 2018

[boardman]

RAO
BULLETIN
15 January 2018

HTML/PDF Edition

THIS RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES

Pg Article Subject
. * DOD * .

05 == DARPA Sensor Program ---- (Goal | Increased Maritime Awareness)
05 == Pentagon Financial Audit ---- (Will Cost $367 Million In FY18)
06 == Navy Forward Deployed Ships ---- (Rotation For Maintenance Policy)
07 == Transgender Lawsuits [06] ---- (Administration Drops Legal Fight)
08 == DoD Fraud, Waste, & Abuse ---- (Reported 01 thru 15 JAN 2018)
08 == POW/MIA [98] ---- (DPAA-Hosted Family Updates)
09 == POW/MIA Recoveries ---- (Reported 01 thru 15 JAN 2018 | Seven)

. * VA * .

10 == VA Benefits Eligibility [06 ---- (A Few You May Have Overlooked)
11 == VA Health Care Access [60] ---- (Same-Day Services)
11 == VA Dental Benefits ---- (Who's Eligible)
12 == VA Blue Water Claims [43] ---- (Taking The Fight to The Courts)
13 == Opioid Use ---- (VA Prescribing Rate Disclosures)
14 == VA Mental Health Care [36] --- (Joint Action Plan)
15 == VA Acupuncture ---- (Chronic Pain Therapy)
17 == VA Physician License Revocations ---- (Congress Demands Action)
18 == VA Firing Authority [01] ---- (Firings Spiked After New Law Signed)
19 == VA Community Provider Payments ---- (Timeliness Improvement Actions)
20 == VA National Vet Wheelchair Games ----(2018 Applications Being Accepted)
20 == VA Emergency Room Care [03] ---- (Follow-Up Treatment)
21 == VA Hospital Admission Policy ---- (Limiting High Risk Patients
24 == VA Hospital Admission Policy [01] ---- (Roseburg VAHCS Response)
25 == VA Medical Marijuana [39] ---- (California Legalization Impact on Vets)
26 == VA Medical Marijuana [40] ---- (Attorney General Memo Vet Impact)
27 == VA Fraud, Waste & Abuse ---- (Reported 01 thru 15 JAN 2018)
28 == Emergency Medical Bill Claims [02] ---- (VA 9 JAN Revised Rule Impact)
30 == VA Compensation & Benefits ---- (Problem Solving Program Q&A -- 26 & 27)
31 == VAMC Baltimore MD ---- (Mobility Boost for Seniors)
32 == VAMC Durham NC [02] ---- (Self-Referral Scheduling)
33 == VAMC Bay Pines FL [02] ---- (Homeless Vet Care)
33 == VA HCS Puget Sound [01] ---- (Delayed Surgery Lawsuit)

. * VETS * .

34 == DNA Testing == (Wanted | South Korea In-Country Vets)
36 == Vet Deportations [15] ----- (VA Establishes Tijuana Clinic)
37 == Burn Pit Toxic Exposure [46] ---- (Impact on Former VP Joe Biden)
38 == Student Vets ---- (Six Keys to Success)
39 == Stolen Valor [108] ---- (Reported 180101 thru 180115)
41 == Obit: Jerry Yellin ---- (21 DEC 2017)
42 == Obit: John Young ---- (5 JAN 2018)
44 == Obit: Anna Mae Hays ---- (7 JAN 2018)
46 == WWII VETS 153 ---- (Amado Ante | Bataan Death March Survivor)
47 == WWII VETS 154 ---- (Stan Dube | Saipan Survivor and Sketcher)
48 == AFL Q&A 14 ---- (Procuring Dental Care if not 100% VA Rated)
48 == Retiree Appreciation Days ---- (Scheduled As of 15 JAN 2018)
49 == Vet Hiring Fairs ---- (Scheduled As of 15 JAN 2018)
50 == Veteran's State Benefits & Discounts ---- (Oklahoma | JAN 2018)

. * VET LEGISLATION* .

51 == VA Telehealth [13] ---- (S.395/H.R.2123 | Vets Act)

. * MILITARY* .

52 == Fort Polk Horses ---- (Concerns Over Escalating Roundups)
53 == Entrenching Tool ---- (Weapon of Last Resort)
54 == Air Force Family Planning Services ---- (Air Force Regulation AFI 44-102)
56 == Military Sexual Assault [04] ---- (#MeToo Movement)
57 == Body Armor [01] ---- (New Modular Scalable Vest)
57 == Body Armor [02] ---- (Diamene | Ultra-Light Diamond Hard Flexible Material)
57 == Navy Cruisers ---- (Replacements Might Not Be Cruisers)
58 == Ode to the Infantry Assaultman ---- (MOS Elimination)
58 == USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) ---- (After 30 Years Riding High)
60 == Fiery Cross Reef ---- (Transformed Into 2.8 sq km Fortified Airbase by China)
61 == Navy Jack ---- (Flown to Honor Sailors Killed in Collisions)
62 == Burial At Sea [06] ---- (Under The Sea Burials)
64 == Nebraska National Guard ---- (LIB753 Education Entitlement)
64 == Vermont National Guard ---- (Free Tuition Legislation Proposed)
65 == Warships That Will Change The Future ---- (HMS Defender)
65 == Overseas Troops ---- (Sgt. Tyler Holcomb)

. * MILITARY HISTORY* .

66 == Nazi Germany Luftwaffe [01] ---- (Lethal Kamikazes)
69 == WWI | Over There, Before 1917
69 == WWI Commemorative Coin [01] ---- (Available 17 JAN 2018)
70 == Civil War Memorials ---- (Memphis Defies State Ban on Removal)
70 == Military History ---- (WWII | Rise and Fall of German Gen. Stemme)
72 == Battle of Khe Sanh ---- (Was America Duped?)
74 == Battle of New Orleans ---- (America’s Second War for Independence)
75 == Military History Anniversaries ---- (16 thru 31 JAN)
75== Medal of Honor Citations ---- (Joe Gandara | WWII)

. * HEALTH CARE* .

76 == Medicare Reimbursement Rates 2018 ---- (Beneficiary Cost Increases)
77 == PTSD [236] ---- (Impact on End-of-Life Care)
79 == PTSD [237] ---- (MDMA Breakthrough Therapy Research Funding)
80 == Sexual Function [01] ---- (Ibuprofen Impact)
80 == Hospice Care [06] ---- (Patient Neglect Reports)
81 == Prescription Drug Epidemic ---- (Polypharmacy Problem)
84 == Drug Price Gouging [02] ---- (Daranide Was Free. Now it’s $109,500 a year)
85 == Drug Price Gouging [03] ---- (Who Decides What you Pay | Finger Pointing)
87 == Hypertension ---- (DASH | Best Diet to Reduce It)
89 == Thyroid Disease ---- (More Common In Women Than Men)
90 == Sleep [05] ---- (Older Adults)
92 == TRICARE Select [02] ---- (Copay Reduction on New Plan)
92 == Tricare Pharmacy Copay [17] ---- (Fee Change 1 FEB 2018)
93 == TRICARE Changes 2018 [17] ---- (Call Center/Website Delays)
94 == TRICARE Prime [38] ---- (Urgent Care Visits
95 == TRICARE Podcast 431 ---- (PI Provider Network - Group A & B - Pharmacy Copayments)
96 == TRICARE Podcast 432 ---- (Identity Theft & Fraud - TRICARE Pubs - Thyroid Disease)

. * FINANCIAL * .

97 == Savings [01] ---- (401k Required Minimum Distributions)
98 == Prescription Drug Costs ---- (Tips For Slashing)
100 == State Retirement Income Tax [02] ---- (Arkansas Military Pay Exempted
101 == Tax Plan 2017 [04] ---- (Q & A)
102 == Check Cashing [01] ---- (Uncashed Old Checks)
103 == Saving Money ---- (Bug Control | Thrifty Ways to Keep them Away)
105 == VA Home Loans [52] ---- (Foreclosure-Prevention Programs)
105 == VA Home Loans [53] ---- (Other Vet Assistance Programs)
106 == Home Renting ---- (Tips for Military Short Term Renters)
107 == Refinancing Scam ---- (New Home Buyers Beware)
107 == Gift Card Resale Scam ---- (Tips On How To Avoid)
108 == Bitcoin Sales Scam ---- (Phony Investments)
109 == Phony Conference Scam ---- (Double Check Before You Book)
110 == Bitcoins [01] ---- (Coin of the Realm)
111 == Tax Burden for Alabama Retired Vets ---- As of JAN 2018

. * GENERAL INTEREST * .

112 == Notes of Interest ---- (01 thru 15 JAN 2017)
113 == U.S. Embassy Cuba [03] ---- (Sonic Attacks | Three Possible Answers)
114 == Undersea Cables ---- (Achilles’ Heel in Lead-Up to New Cold War)
116 == Satellite News ---- (Zuma Apparent Failure)
117 == Nuclear Button ---- (Explained)
118 == Nuclear Button [01] ---- (Legislation Proposed)
119 == National Civil Emergency Force ---- (U.S. Catastrophic Attack Response Need)
121 == Self Driving Car ---- (Suicide Bomber Replacement)
122 == Law & Order ---- (Officer Comments)
123 == Drug Carrying Drones ---- (No Interdiction Policy | Cartel Use Increasing
124 == Border Wall ---- (Latest Plans | Length Decrease w/Cost Increase)
125 == Brain Teaser ---- (Should You Be Institutionalized?)
125 == Think You Need New Glasses ---- (Does the Rod in the Middle Exist?)
125 == Where There's a Will, There's a Way ---- (08)
126 == Brain Teaser Answer ---- (Should You Be Institutionalized?)
126 == Have You Heard? --- (Home Schooled)
127 == Have You Heard? ---- (Adult Learning Center for Women)

Note:
1. The page number on which an article can be found is provided to the left of each article’s title
2. Numbers contained within brackets [ ] indicate the number of articles written on the subject. To obtain previous articles send a request to raoemo@sbcglobal.net.

. * ATTACHMENTS * .

Attachment - RAO Bulletin 15 January 2018
Attachment - Oklahoma Vet State Benefits & Discounts JAN 2018
Attachment - Military History Anniversaries 16 thru 31 JAN
Attachment - Over There, Before 1917

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RAO Bulletin Editor/Publisher:
Lt. James (EMO) Tichacek, USN (Ret) Tel: (858) 842-1111 Email: raoemo@sbcglobal.net
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http://veteraninformationlinksasa.com/emos-rao.html [PDF & HTML Editions w/ATTACHMENTS]

RAO Baguio Director:
SSgt Terrance (Terry) Parker, USAF (Ret), PSC 517 Box 4036, FPO AP 96517-1000, Tel: Smart 0921824728 or Globe 09454073380, Email: rao.dir.baguio@gmail.com

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