RAO BULLETIN 1 April 2019

[boardman]

RAO
BULLETIN
1 April 2019

HTML & PDF Editions

THIS RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES

Pg Article Subject
. * DOD * .

05 == DOD Deploy or Out Policy [02] ---- (About 21,000 Troops Booted So Far)
05 == DOD Missile Tests [01] ---- (First GMD GBI Salvo Test Against ICBM A Success)
06 == Transgender Troops [22] --- (Judge Says Trump Cannot Implement Military Policy)
07 == DOD Space Weapons ---- (Pentagon Wants to Test A Space-Based Weapon in 2023)
08 == DOD Missile Tests ---- (This year | INF Restrictions Anticipated to be Removed in AUG)
10 == Navy Carrier Fleet [03] ---- (Why Acting Defense Secretary Wants 10 Vice 11)
11 == DOD Recruitment Concerns [02] ---- (Recruiting Medical Standards)
12 == DOD Gifts Limits [02] ---- (Acceptance Regulations)
12 == DOD Expenditures FY 2017 ---- (Where the Money Was Spent)
13 == Navy Shipbuilding Plan [02] ---- (355-Ship Fleet Sooner Than Last Year’s Plan)
16 == PFAS Toxic Exposure [05] ---- (Pentagon Wants New Contamination Standards Set)
18 == Air Force Fire Fighting Foam ---- (PFAS Replacement May Be More Harmful
19 == DOD Lawsuit ~ Chaplain Promotions ---- (Religious Discrimination Claimed)
20 == DOD Fraud, Waste, & Abuse ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 Mar 2019)
22 == POW/MIA Recoveries & Burials ---- (Reported 16 thru 31 MAR 2019 | Nine)

. * VA * .

24 == Hidden VA Money ---- (VA Programs You May Be eligible For)
24 == VA Health Care Access [66] ---- (Wilkie on Privatization Concerns | Will Not Happen)
25 == VA Clinic Plano TX ---- (Near Capacity Enrollment Causing Vet Concerns)
26 == VA Incarcerated Vet Program [01] ---- (Michigan’s Program)
27 == VA Agent Orange Benefits [06] ---- (Hope for Blue Water Navy Vets)
28 == VA Disability System [02] ---- (Proposed Reform to Reduce Medical Exams/Time/ Money)
29 == VA Blue Water Claims [67] ---- (Vets Should Receive Long-Sought VA Benefits)
30 == VA Community Living Centers ---- (Health Care Inspection Reports)
30 == VA Disability Compensation System [06] ---- (Catastrophically Disabled Veterans)
31 == National Women Vets Hotline [02] ---- (Providing Outreach to Female Vets)
32 == VA Caregiver Program [53] ---- (Senators Concerned About VA Lack of Transparency)
34 == VA Heart Care [04] ---- (New Class of Biological Resilient Tissue Heart Valve in Use)
34 == VA Heart Care [05] ---- (Pacemaker Implants)
35 == VA Hepatitis C Care [19] ---- 96,654 of nearly 116,000 Vets Cured
36 == Depression [06] ---- (Spravato Nasal Spray VA Treatment Now Offered)
37 == PTSD Treatment | Adrenaline ---- (Sports and Exercise Beats than Self-Medicating)
38 == VA Overpayment Recoupment [02] ---- (Veteran Rodger Zink Situation)
39 == VAMC San Diego [02] ---- (Selected for HRO Program)
39 == VAMC Las Vegas [04] ---- (Tele-ICU Program Goes Live)

. * VETS * .

41 == GI Bill Colleges [01] ---- (Testimony | $101k in Debt with a Sketch Degree)
42 == GI Bill [282] ---- (Forever GI Bill Doomed From the Beginning)
43 == Arthritis [02] ---- (Vet Advocates Pushing for More Research/Treatment/Prevention Money)
44 == Tattoos That Tell a Story ---- (Turning Scars into Tattoos)
45 == Vet Unclaimed Remains | TX ---- (Unaccompanied Vet Program)
47 == Iraq War Vets 02 ---- (Matthew Rittner | Killed in Milwaukee Feb. 6, 2019 in LOD)
47 == WWII Vets 186 ---- (Kirk Douglas | Navy Communications Officer)
48 == WWII Vets 187 ---- (Helen-Louise Brooks | Served In WWII, Korea, & Vietnam
49 == WWII Vets 188 ---- (Denton W. Crocker Jr & Sr | One Came Home, The Other Didn’t)
50 == Vet Suicide [25] ---- (VA Report Touts ‘Positive Outcomes’ But Suicide Rates Haven’t Slowed)
51 == Vet Suicide [27] ---- (One is too Many but 6,000+ A Year is a BIG Problem)
52 == Vet Hiring Fairs ---- (Scheduled As of 1 APR 2019)
52 == Military Retirees & Veterans Events Schedule ---- (As of 1 APR 2019)
53 == Vet State Benefits ---- (Kentucky 2019)

. * VET LEGISLATION * .

53 == Base Housing [07] ---- (H.R. ___/S.703 | Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act)
54 == Vet Newborn Care ---- (S.835 | Newborn Care Improvement Act)
55 == VA Funding Needs [02] ---- (H.R.1721 | Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act)
55 == VA Facility Funding ---- [01] ---- (H.R.1722 | Build a Better VA Act)
56 == VA Overpayment Recoupment [01] ---- (S.805 | Veterans Debt Fairness Act)
56 == DOD Fertility Services [01] ---- (S.319 | DoD Pay to Freeze Troops Sperm, Eggs)
57 == VA Job Vacancies ---- (H.R 1271 | Vet HP Act Passed House and Sent to Senate)
59 == Vet Suicide [26] ---- (S.785 | The John Scott Hannon Act)

. * MILITARY* .

60 == USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) ---- (Effectively Quarantined At Sea for Over Two Months)
60 == Navy Uniform Changes [06] ---- (Gold Chevrons Plus 12 More)
61 == USS Zumwalt [10] ---- (Delivery 5 Year Late and 10 Years After Construction Began)
62 == Feres Doctrine [11] ---- (Military Malpractice Policy May Be Closer to Overturn Than Ever)
64 == Army Artillery ---- (Upgrades | M109A6 Paladin Self-Propelled 155 mm Artillery Cannon)
65 == USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) [21] ---- (Navy Enacts 91 of 103 Recommendations)
67 == PFAS Toxic Exposure [06] ---- (Army Wants ~$300K to Release Water Test Results)
68 == Air Force AGR ---- (Full-Time Reservist Program to Grow)
69 == Navy Cruisers [02] ---- (Plan Proposed to Decommission 6 to Save Money)
70 == SCRA [11] ---- (Improper Servicemember Evictions Cost Virginia Company $1.6M)
71 == U.S. Submarine Capabilities ---- (Present and Projected)
72 == Drones | Aerial [06] ---- (Russian CUAS Variant)
73 == Military Lodging [05] ---- (Navy Moving to Privatize All Lodging by DEC 2020)
74 == Base Housing [08] ---- (Officials Now Looking for Evidence of Fraud)
75 == M17/M18 Sidearm [01] ---- (Air Force Deploys New Handgun As It Modernizes Weapons)
76 == Navy Terminology, Jargon & Slang ---- (Bloggins thru Bogey)
77 == Warships That Will Change the Future ---- (USS Lassen (DDG-82)

. * MILITARY HISTORY * .

78 == Army Air Corps ---- (WWII Statistics)
80 == Battle for Hue Citadel ---- (TWS Battlefield Chronicles)
81 == Korean War Remembrances [04] ---- (Interesting Facts About the War)
83 == Night Fighter Team "George" ---- (Korea - Winter War)
86 == War Memorials ---- (World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Hawaii)
86 == Post WWII Photos ---- (G.I. Fraternization)
87 == Every Picture Tells A Story ---- (Stall)
87 == WWII Bomber Nose Art [27] ---- (The Ink Squirts)
88 == Military History Anniversaries ---- (01 thru 15 APR)
88 == Medal of Honor Citations ---- (Mikio Hasemoto | WWII)

. * HEALTH CARE * .

89 == Aging [02] ---- (5 Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp)
89 == Aging [03] ---- (Female Physical Activity)
92 == Insulin ---- (Seven Million Americans Need It to Live But Many Can no Longer Afford it)
94 == Prescription Drug Costs [26] ---- (1 in 10 U.S. Adults Ration Medicine to Lower Costs)
94 == Prescription Drug Costs [27] --- (Specialty Drugs | The Next Front in Cost War)
95 == TRICARE Use While Traveling [05] ---- (TRICARE Goes with you)
95 == TRICARE User Fees [105] ---- (Proposed 2020 DOD Budget Impact)
96 == TRICARE Prime [39] ---- (Know Your Prime Plan)
97 == Arterial Fibrillation ---- (Catheter ablation [Surgery] vs. Drug Therapy)
98 == COPD ---- (Causes Permanent Damage to the Lungs and Narrows the Airways)
100 == Postpartum Depression ---- (Bench-To-Bedside Journey for Treatment Drug)
102 == Fatty Liver Disease ---- (Estimated 100 Million People in the U.S. Are Impacted by the Disease)
103 == Macular Degeneration [03] --- (Calcium-Rich Diets Do Not Appear to Increase AMD Risk)
104 == Colon Cancer [06] ---- (Annual Deaths Exceed Total Vietnam War U.S. Combat Deaths)
105 == TRICARE Podcast 493 ---- (Coverage After Divorce – MilConnect site – Emergency/Urgent Care)
106 == TRICARE Podcast 494 ---- (TRICARE Prime – EOB – Getting Care When Traveling)
108 == TRICARE Podcast 495 ---- (TRICARE Webinar - Brain Injury Awareness Month - Provider Types)

. * FINANCES * .

109 == VA Loan Refinancing [03] ---- (New Regulations)
110 == Pensions ---- (Buyout Policy Change)
111 == Job Scam ---- (Voicemail from an 'Old Friend'?)
111 == Tech Support Scam 2 ---- (Compromised IP Address Alleged)
112 == Political Robocall Scam ---- (Hotly Debated Issue Use To Request Donations)
113 == State Taxation of Retirement Income ---- (SSA & Pension | 2018)
113 == Tax Burden for North Carolina Retired Vets ---- (As of MAR 2019)

. * GENERAL INTEREST * .

115 == Notes of Interest ---- (16 thru 31 MAR 2019)
116 == USS Cole Lawsuit ---- (Invalid | Supreme Court Rules Sudan Misnotification)
117 == Nuclear Weapons Arsenal [05] ---- (Modernization Need Fight Heats Up in Congress)
119 == Russia Missile Program [01] ---- (Burevestnik & Avangard Status)
119 == EMP Threat [01] ---- (Trump Signs Executive Order to Guard U.S. Infrastructure Weaknesses)
120 == Iran’s American Prisoners ---- (Navy Vet Sentenced to 10 Years)
121 == International Criminal Court ---- (Philippines Withdraws)
123 == International Criminal Court [01] ---- (Inquiry | Alleged Afghan U.S. War Crimes)
123 == U.S. Troop Host Charge [01] ---- (Cost + 50 Reporting by Bloomberg Erroneous)
124 == Nursing Homes [16] ---- (HHS Violation Fine Changes)
125 == Baby Powder ---- (Johnson & Johnson Lawsuit | 13,000 plaintiffs)
125 == Afghan Taliban [03] ---- (American Taliban Militant John Walker Lindh to be Freed in May)
127 == Interesting Ideas ---- (More Ketchup)
127 == One Word Essays ---- (Contentment)
127 == Not All Thieves Are Stupid ---- (Readers Take Heed)
128 == Have You Heard? ---- (Seven Days | Potato Family | Pun-ography)

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
3. Recipients of the Bulletin are authorized and encouraged to forward the Bulletin to other vets or veteran organizations.

. * ATTACHMENTS * .

Attachment – Kentucky Vet State Benefits
Attachment – Military History Anniversaries 01 thru 15 APR (Updated)
Attachment – State Taxation of Retirement Income 2018

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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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