Flying High for 60 Years

The Blue Angels have been entertaining crowds and inspiring new generations of fliers with their amazing maneuvers for 60 years. The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron will begin its 60th season at Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif., March 11, and will conclude Nov. 11 at NAS Pensacola, Fla. The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 70 demonstrations at 36 air show sites throughout the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands during the 2006 season. They fly the F/A-18A Hornet and perform approximately 30 maneuvers during a one-hour aerial demonstration.

Officials say performances help Navy and Marine Corps recruiting and retention goals, enhance esprit de corps among servicemembers, and demonstrate the professional skills and capabilities of the armed forces to the American public.

“The Blue Angels are fired up and ready for a safe and exhilarating 60th anniversary show season,” says Cmdr. Steve Foley, Blue Angels flight leader and CO.

The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration in June 1946 after Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, chief of Naval Operations, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team at the end of World War II to keep the public interested in naval aviation. Since then, they have flown for more than 260 million spectators.

Let’s Get Together

MOAA will hold its 2006 Annual Meeting Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, VA 22202-2891. Members will receive reports on the condition of the association and other matters of current interest. Watch this space for more details as they become available.

After the Storm

Because the New Orleans, La.-based National D-Day Museum anticipates a lengthy closure during the city’s recovery, it will continue the museum’s mission by offering two one-week “Victory in Europe” tours from June 1–16, 2006, led by museum historians, military history scholars, and guest lecturers. Travelers can choose tours that follow the Allies from the beginning of the D-Day invasion plans in London through the final days of the war at Adolf Hitler’s famed Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany.

“Our ‘Victory in Europe’ travel series enables us to offer a one-of-a-kind experience to today’s generations while continuing the expansion of our campus and the programs as planned prior to the hurricane,” says museum President and CEO Gordon H. Mueller.

Travelers can hear personal recollections from World War II veterans as well as French resistance fighters and may choose either week or both. Costs for the all-inclusive tours begin at $3,990 a person for the London–Paris tour and $4,490 a person for the Paris–Berchtesgaden tour. The combined tour begins at $7,990 a person.

In Review

By Duty Bound: Survival and Redemption in a Time of War By Ezell Ware Jr. and Joe Engel. Dutton, 2005. $23.95. ISBN 0-525-94861-9.

Unlike his angst-ridden peers, retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Ezell Ware Jr. is unashamed of his Vietnam service, believing the Vietnam War was the right war at the right time. In this colorful autobiography, Ware admits his view of the war was limited as a junior officer helicopter pilot and says he was lucky to survive.

Ware focuses on the days he and his pilot wandered the jungles of the Central Highlands after being shot down in 1971. The pilot was wounded, and both men relied on Ware’s skill and initiative to avoid capture. The twist here is that Ware is black and the pilot was a Southern racist. The tension between the two men made their ordeal even more challenging and dangerous.

The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 By Richard Zacks. Hyperion Books, 2005. $25.95. ISBN 1-4013-0003-0.

Richard Zacks’ fourth book is a rousing and revealing tale of espionage, piracy, disgraceful diplomacy, and high-stakes North African adventure during the Barbary Wars of 1801–1805. With great detail and dramatic narrative, Zacks describes the fledgling United States’ bumbling war with the Barbary pirates, President Jefferson’s curious foreign policy, hesitant U.S. Navy operations in the Mediterranean, and Gen. William Eaton’s remarkable journey across the Sahara desert with eight U.S. Marines and a mutinous mercenary army to attack the coastal city of Derna, Libya.

Zacks’ story reveals that the brash and arrogant Eaton was successful in battle, but later betrayed by a perfidious American consul and an indifferent Jefferson. Zacks also reveals that the Barbary Wars were not the resounding success American history trumpets, but a shameful series of conspiracies, missed opportunities, and selfish decisions.

— William D. Bushnell

Laying Your Nest Egg

Are you saving enough for retirement? A recent retirement survey by Fidelity Investments revealed the typical American family is on track to replace less than 60 percent of its preretirement income. If your other New Year’s resolutions have fallen by the wayside, resolve to increase your retirement savings in 2006 to ensure a secure retirement for you and your family.

Those using defined-contribution plans, such as 401(k), 403(b), and 457(k), may now contribute up to $15,000 annually through salary deferral. If you are age 50 or older, you can contribute up to $5,000 more, for a total of $20,000 in salary deferral each year. The Thrift Savings Plan’s (TSP’s) “percent of salary” cap has been removed for both uniformed service personnel and federal employees, allowing the TSP to conform to the contribution limits above.

Some employers now offer the Roth 401(k) option, allowing employees to contribute after-tax dollars, which will then grow tax-deferred and be withdrawn income-tax free, just like the Roth IRA.

The Right Prescription

Tens of thousands of veterans now receive their prescription drug refills from the VA with greater convenience, speed, and security, thanks to a new online service available to veterans. More than 70,000 prescriptions have been refilled using the latest service added to the VA’s “MyHealtheVet,” a personal online health record system for veterans. The prescription refill service began Aug. 31, 2005.

The secure online prescription refill service has quickly emerged as one of the more popular features in the MyHealtheVet system, which connects with the VA’s electronic records system. It eliminates the need for a trip to the pharmacy and a wait in line.

By last fall, more than 100,000 veterans had signed up to use MyHealtheVet. Other services include the ability to track health conditions; enter readings such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels; and record medications, allergies, military health, history, medical events, and tests. Veterans also can include personal information such as emergency contacts, names of medical providers, and health insurance information. Future expansion of MyHealtheVet will allow VA patients to view appointments and copayment balances, access portions of their medical records, and give access to their records to doctors, family members, and others.

Ice Cream and Politics

Calling themselves the conservative alternative to Ben & Jerry’s, the makers of Star Spangled Ice Cream say their pro-military ice cream is now for sale in stores on selected U.S. Army, Marine, Navy, and Air Force bases. The ice cream comes in such flavors as Navy BattleCHIP, Fightin’ Marine Tough Cookies & Cream, G.I. Love Chocolate, and Air Force PLANE Vanilla. The company has plans to expand its line with such flavors as Cookie CommanDough.

Star Spangled Ice Cream donates 10 percent of its profits to pro-military charities, including the Navy League and Oliver North’s Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund. The ice cream also is available in Virginia Farm Fresh Supermarkets and participating 7-Eleven stores. It can be ordered online at www.starspangledicecream.com and delivered frozen to your front door.

Get in the Swing

Grab your golf clubs and head to the 23rd annual National Retired Military Golf Classic, held in Myrtle Beach, S.C., May 30 – June 3. The tournament will be played on five courses at Myrtle Beach National and Wildwing Plantation golf clubs.

This is one of the largest retired military events in the world (if you count spectators), with 872 men and 132 women accepted for the event. More than $150,000 in prizes and cash will be awarded.

Golfers who are on the tournament’s mailing list already have received applications; other golfers can find them at most military golf courses across the country. As of Feb. 1, acceptance has been on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call (800) 255-4763 or write to National Retired Military Golf Classic, PO Box 3608, Myrtle Beach, SC 29578.

Miscellany: Cooking Up Some Fun

1. Travel tips
Discovery Cruise Lines offers a free day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Grand Bahama Island to all military personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan during 2005. Visit
www.discoverycruiseline.com.

2. Nutrition Notes
Celebrate Valentine’s Day this year by sharing a heart-healthy meal with your Valentine. For a complete menu, visit MOAA’s Web Base at www.moaa.org and click on Health and Wellness under Services.

3. Professional reading
Want to keep up with the latest military read? Looking for classic military literature to inspire your thinking? Visit MOAA’s Web site at www.moaa.org and click on Professional Reading List under Active Duty for a compilation of new releases and classics put together by MOAA’s reviewer William Bushnell.

4. Photo contest
Submit your photos by March 15 for the Military Officer patriotic photo contest in four categories: camaraderie, military family, on duty, and vintage. First-place winners receive $500. Download an entry form and rules at www.moaa.org/magazine/photocontest.pdf.

Write Your Romance

Why not try something new this Valentine’s Day to heat up your romance — a personalized romance novel from yournovel.com. The customized adventure-romance novels come in both mild and wild versions and find the couple battling a variety of bad guys. Each book is personalized with more than 20 details about the starring couple crafted from an online questionnaire, such as their names, hometowns, places of work, eye and hair color, and friends.

The company offers 17 novels in settings from exotic Caribbean islands and cruise ships to dude ranches or ski lodges. The paperback books are 150 to 190 pages and cost $49.95 plus $6 shipping and handling.

Spouse Spotlight

Angela Sportelli-Rehak, mother of three and wife of a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, has written a series of books to help children cope with deployments and family moves.

Where did the idea for When Duty Calls come from? When our kids were little I couldn’t find a book that addressed the unique challenges they face when the family has to move or a parent deploys. After Sept. 11, I felt the time was right.

What is a child’s main concern when a mom or dad deploys? Whether or not they’ll still be a family. It’s very important to make sure that daily routines are put in place — you have to go on as normally as possible, and that’s a big challenge.

You also wrote Moving Again Mom, a book about how military families are often uprooted. How does moving disrupt kids’ lives? They’re often afraid they won’t be able to make new friends. Their school and extracurricular life is their whole world, so there can be a sense of loss — even anger.

It sounds like you’re writing from experience. Yes, we’ve moved about a dozen times for various deployments. I remember one particularly memorable move where my 9-year-old son flew into a rage, yanked pictures off the wall, and tore off the bedspread.

How do you handle that kind of situation? You have to let kids know they’re not alone, that they’ll still be able to make friends at the next base. Convey a positive message: “You should be proud that you’re Uncle Sam’s kids. This is what you’re doing to support your country: helping to hold down the fort at home when mom or dad has to take off.”

 — Mark Cantrell

Attention!

Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.

The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier’s Account of the War in Iraq (Riverhead Hardcover, 2005): John Crawford, a National Guard member, describes his experience in Iraq, equipped with shoddy equipment, led by incompetent officers, and abusing pharmaceuticals.

Why We Fight (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006): This award-winning film from Eugene Jarecki looks at the anatomy of the American war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a “who’s who” of military and beltway insiders, including Sen. John McCain, William Kristol, Gore Vidal, Richard Perle, and others.

Dirty Jobs (Discovery Channel): Mike Rowe takes his show, which features hardworking men and women who overcome fear, danger, and sometimes stench and overall dirtiness to accomplish their tasks, to the 22nd Maintenance Group airmen at McConnell AFB, Kan. The episode that looks at McConnell’s fuel cell maintainers will air during the new season, which begins in February.

One Stop for Jobs

Military personnel and veterans will receive wallet-sized cards and key charms with critical employment and job-training information in the next few months, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The card will be attached to a brochure for demobilizing and transitioning servicemembers as they go through the joint Labor Department, VA, and DoD Transition Assistance Program. For veterans who already have made the transition, additional information and professional staff guidance will be available at the nearly 3,500 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide.