MOAA: Chapter Activities (Field Reports)

Time to Act

It’s an election year, and the issue of our military retiree health care benefits is coming down to the wire — again. The health care dilemma for military retirees is real. The plan to increase TRICARE fees and copayments almost threefold is no idle threat. We seem to have won at least a temporary deferral, but DoD hasn’t given up. It’s a “pocketbook issue” with potentially grave consequences for the health benefits we fought so hard to earn.

In March, MOAA’s state council presidents came to Washington to urge their elected representatives to reject this ill-timed, ill-conceived DoD proposal. They did their part. Meanwhile, the Government Relations staff here at headquarters has been working almost nonstop for the past several months with congressional leaders, The Military Coalition, and MOAA state leaders to garner as much support as they can to beat back this DoD effort.

MOAA surveys indicate your level of concern over this proposal is at an all-time high. We have tried to read the tea leaves as best we can in evaluating what Congress will do to solve this growing crisis. We’re fully aware that money is a key factor in any congressional assessment of an appropriate solution, and we’re working within the fiscal parameters.

In the final analysis, because it is an election year and almost everyone wants to be re-elected, MOAA members have a golden opportunity to alert legislators to their health care concerns. Share your thoughts with an incumbent representative, a challenger, or both, maybe at a chapter function. But the time to act is now. This year, especially, they will listen to you!

Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret.
Director, Council and Chapter Affairs

Field Reports

Georgia Members Storm the Gold Dome

Members of the Georgia Federal-Military Retiree Coalition (GFMRC) and Georgia MOAA Inc. (GMOAA) joined forces Feb. 23 to lobby the state legislature in Atlanta during their second annual “Storming the Gold Dome” session.

During the one-day lobbying blitz, patterned after national MOAA’s annual Storming the Hill effort, members lobbied on behalf of the 162,000 retired military and federal civilian employees who live in the state.

MOAA chapter members in Georgia have strong ties to the GFMRC. Longtime Atlanta Chapter member Lt. Col. Mel Wilkerson, USA-Ret., currently is president of the GFMRC, and 11 more MOAA members serve on the board of directors.

“The relationship between the GFMRC, GMOAA, and the Georgia NARFE [National Association of Retired Federal Employees] is great,” says Wilkerson. “By working together, we’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit.”

During this year’s lobbying effort, members visited both the state House and Senate and called their legislators off the floor to brief them on their 2006 legislative goals. Members also spoke with several other key state legislators, including Rep. John Yates (R), who chairs the House Defense and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Sen. John Douglas (R), a GFMRC member and chair of the Senate Veterans’ and Military Affairs Committee.

Lt. Col. Joe Barto Jr., USAR-Ret., GMOAA’s legislative chair and a member of the Atlanta Chapter, developed a point paper to distribute to legislators that summarized the coalition’s goals for 2006. These goals include:

“I think it went very well,” says GMOAA President Col. Frank Valentine, USA-Ret. “This is only the second year we’ve been doing this, and I think we get a little bit better every year.”

Great Plains (S.D.) Chapter Chartered

More than 50 people turned out March 16 to see MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., charter the Great Plains (S.D.) Chapter. Among those in attendance were key staff members for U.S. Sens. John Thune (R) and Tim Johnson (D), and Dave Munson, mayor of Sioux Falls, S.D.

The ceremony marked the culmination of a two-year effort to start a new chapter to serve national MOAA members living in the southeastern part of the state. Lt. Col. Don Liebsch, USAR-Ret., who chairs the membership committee, led the charge to establish the chapter along with Lt. Col. Art Wilbur, USA-Ret.; Col. Russ Fleming, USA-Ret.; Lt. Col. Bill Wright, USA-Ret.; and Col. Robert Black, USAF-Ret., who now is the chapter’s president.

Black thinks the chapter will continue to add more members in the coming months, including guardmembers from the Army National Guard facility in Sioux Falls. In fact, the chapter picked up four new members at the chartering ceremony, raising the total to 134.

While Ryan was in Sioux Falls, a TV news reporter from KSFY, a local ABC affiliate, interviewed him. Footage from the interview ran in two nightly news segments, which generated some publicity for the chapter. Ryan said during the interview that frequent volunteer activations, including the one for South Dakota’s 147th Field Artillery at the beginning of March 2006, show there’s a need for family and troop support from organizations such as MOAA.

“What we need to do is get on a steadier tempo,” Ryan said, “so these men and women aren’t going away so frequently, so they have some time with their families before they have to go back over.” Ryan added that the Great Plains Chapter couldn’t have formed at a better time, because of the stress that South Dakota’s Guard and Reserve members and their families are facing.

Liebsch agrees. In fact, one of the chapter’s first major projects involves helping the surviving spouses of military members who live in the area. “We’ve already provided assistance
to four or five families,” says Liebsch.

Although the Great Plains Chapter is centered in the Sioux Falls, S.D., area, members plan to hold meetings around the region. The new chapter is one of two MOAA chapters in South Dakota, with the Black Hills Chapter serving members who live in the Rapid City area.

Greater St. Louis Chapter Revitalizes

A state representative, a U.S. representative, and a member of national MOAA’s board of directors addressed members from the Greater St. Louis Chapter and the Military Order of the World Wars during a joint meeting March 18. State Rep. Jack Jackson (R) briefed the group about several veterans’ affairs issues pending in the statehouse, while U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) spoke about a bill he’s sponsoring that would authorize the secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Soldiers’ Memorial Military Museum in St. Louis as a federal monument.

Next, Col. Jerry Bowen, USA-Ret., a member of the Northeast Arkansas Chapter and national MOAA’s board of directors, gave members some recruiting tips they could use during the 2006 Give Me 10! recruiting campaign, which challenges each of MOAA’s 415 chapters to recruit 10 new members. During last year’s Give Me 10! campaign, the Northeast Arkansas Chapter recruited 63 members — more than any other chapter that participated.

While in St. Louis, Bowen also participated in a meeting of the Missouri Council of Chapters, which was led by President CWO4 Harold Fales, USN-Ret. The meeting brought together council members, including several officers from the Greater St. Louis Chapter, and the leaders of several other military and veterans’ organizations and gave them an opportunity to meet Maj. Gen. King Sidwell, USA, adjutant general for Missouri.

“Most of our discussions revolved around the Guard and Reserve and what we could do to get them more involved in our organization,” says Greater St. Louis Chapter Vice President Robert Coolidge, USMC-Ret.

Like many other MOAA chapters, Greater St. Louis is facing some significant challenges, including an aging membership, a lack of interest in holding an office in the chapter, and decreasing member participation. Despite these challenges, it received a five-star Level of Excellence award last year, indicating it is one of the association’s top-notch chapters.

In the past two years, the chapter has improved its newsletter and Web site (www.stlouismoaa.com), stepped up its political activism, and expanded its personal affairs committee. Members also support 12 Junior ROTC units and five ROTC units and contribute to national MOAA’s scholarship fund and local United Service Organizations.

The 319-member Greater St. Louis Chapter has auxiliary members who are active as well. Currently, five auxiliary members either hold an elected office or have been appointed to head one of the chapter’s 12 committees.

Rattlesnake (Idaho) Chapter Reaches Out

MOAA’s Chief Financial Officer Col. Glenn Zauber, USAF-Ret., and his wife, June, were guests of honor at the Rattlesnake (Idaho) Chapter’s quarterly banquet, held March 9.

During his speech, Zauber outlined pending legislative issues that could affect military members and their families. He also encouraged members to contact their congressional representatives and voice their opposition to a proposed TRICARE fee hike that would raise health care costs.

The Rattlesnake Chapter, near Mountain Home AFB and formerly called the Mountain Home Chapter, has 40 members. According to chapter President Lt. Col. Roger Fogleman, USAF-Ret., the chapter is working hard to recruit new members and is participating in the 2006 Give Me 10! recruiting campaign.

“We’re trying as much as possible to get active duty members from Mountain Home AFB to join the chapter, but it’s difficult right now due to the high ops tempo,” notes Fogelman.

Two years ago, chapter members began reaching out to active duty members at the base by presenting one company grade officer with the MOAA Rattlesnake Chapter Officer of the Year award. Capt. Andrea Vinyard, USAF, received last year’s award, beating out seven other nominees from the 366th Fighter Wing.

Earlier this year, chapter members hosted a banquet that brought together the leaders of every military organization in the area. The event marked the first time these organizations had met as a group, and chapter members are planning to host another banquet next year.

Contributors are Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret., Director, and Col. Jim Pauls, USAF-Ret., Council and Chapter Affairs, and Kris Ann Hegle