P r e s i d e n t ’ s M e s s a g e

O F F I C E R SO F F I C E R SO F F I C E R SO F F I C E R S

♦ President

LTC Bobbie Williams

USA, (Ret)

540-429-2057

♦ 1st VP

Col David Rubinstein

(772) 463-1607

USAAF (Ret)

♦ 2nd VP

CDR Dayne Clemmer

USNR, (Ret)

772-225-6491

Secretary

Sally Clemmer

Marjorie Armstrong,

Treasurer

CDR Anthony DePaul USN, (Ret)

772-341-0205

Board of Directors

MAJ Hal Davis

USA (Ret)

LT O’neil Estrala

USN (Ret)

CWO2 Jack Irvin

USA (Former)

Immediate Past President

CWO2 William Armstrong

USA (Ret)

772-464-8532

T R E A S U R E C O A S T C H A P T E RT R E A S U R E C O A S T C H A P T E RT R E A S U R E C O A S T C H A P T E RT R E A S U R E C O A S T C H A P T E R

AAAA 5 S T A R C H A P T E RS T A R C H A P T E RS T A R C H A P T E RS T A R C H A P T E R

July/August 2018

MOAA and the

Treasure Coast Chapter are independent, nonprofit and

politically nonpartisan organiza-tions.

Truly the Dog Days of Summer has come with the traditional mix of heat, rain and thunder storms. Please take advantage of the summer months to vacation and spend quality time with friends, family and loved ones. Pauline and I attended our friends daughters wedding in Arlington Virginia mid month June and took the family and youngest granddaughter on a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas for her 10th Birthday. The end of month June and July culminated with me hosting a 170 family mem-bers for our 41st Family Reunion, our Annual Picnic and my wife’s Pauline’s 35th High School class reunion. Yes...our summer has been very demanding and taxing; however we got a chance to spend some quality time with family and friends! We were able to check off a number of our bucket list items; to include visiting the new African American Museum in Washington DC. As well, I was able to moderate a Veterans TownHall in the Traditions for Congressional Candidates competing for FL District-18. Our 2nd Vice President and Program Chairman have one major event planned for August. August 16, 11:30 AM we will visit Archie’s Sea Breeze and the historic beaches of Fort Pierce. As well, we have an official visit from MOAA National. Terri Coles will provide the Chapter an update from HQs National perspective. I am encouraging your attendance and we hope you are able to bring a family member or friend. Our summer events provide us an opportunity to relax, have fun, fellowship and enjoy each others company. Moreover, our members gain personal insight into the history of our area. Although we are getting towards the end of Dog Days of Summer, we must be mindful that we are in the middle of hurricane season and must make necessary preparations. Here are some helpful tips to follow and remember: Enter the season prepared; know all evacuation routes if you live close to the coast; make sure your home meets building codes for withstanding hurricanes; make sure you have storm shutters; have proper tools, supplies, and a first aid kit; have plenty of batteries and flashlights and always have plenty of non-perishable foods on hand. Again, I look forward to seeing everyone at August 16, off-site at Archie’s Sea Breeze. Enjoy the rest of your summer and avoid the extreme weather changes here on the Treasure Coast of Florida. Bobbie

August 16, 2017

11:30

Archie's Seabreeze www.archiesftpierce.com

401 S Ocean Dr, Fort Pierce, FL 34949

Reservation Deadline – August 12, 2018

Call, or email Reservations to: CDR Anthony DePaul, USN, Ret.

tonydepaul@comcast.net 772-336-6854

Dress: Casual

Special Guest Speaker

COL Terri Coles, USA (ret) Sr. Director, Council & Chapter Affairs

National MOAA

Trump to Continue Push for Military Spouse Employment: Official President Donald Trump plans to continue to push both the federal government and private sector to hire more military spouses, a White House official said today. "I believe the federal government and private sector separately but together have a very important role," Kellyanne Conway, a special advisor to the Trump said at a Washington D.C. spouse employment event. "If we are going to again make sure that our military and military families are properly resourced and respected, then part of that must include the employment opportunities to help those military spouses who wish to work." Related: Army Spouse joins MOAA through Hiring Our Heroes

Conway spoke at the 2018 Military Spouse Employment Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The event was attended by several hundred military spouses, government officials and private sector employers. Military spouse unemployment currently hovers at about 16 percent, about four times the national average, said officials with the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Hiring Our Heroes program. A new Executive Order signed by Trump in May reminded agencies about a military spouse non-competitive federal hiring authority they can use to place spouses in government jobs, while also newly requiring agencies to report back on how many military spouses have been hired. At about the same time, the Defense Department announced an upcoming overhaul to a military spouse federal hiring preference pro-gram known as PPP-S, for Priority Placement Program-Spouse. Currently, PPP-S requires spouses to register for the preference in person at each duty station. In the future, applications will be done through the USAJobs website, officials said. That change may take place in the next several months. Conway said the administration views hiring military spouses as both a non-partisan and a bipartisan issue. For those outside the politi-cal system, it is non-partisan, she said. But inside the White House, it is bipartisan. "The non-partisan solutions are in this room," she told the summit's attendees. "But bi-partisan ... we need to look at this without the red-

and-blue eyeglasses on." “Now it's time to renew our commitment to solving another pressing problem,” Dr. Jill Biden, spouse of former Vice President Joe Biden, said at the event. “Military spouses now need our focus and we need to direct our energy … to their cause.”

Military spouse employment first became a topic discussed by the White House under the Obama administration, when Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama spearheaded a program known as Joining Forces. It helped highlight spouse and veteran employment needs, among other military life topics. The Department of Defense has also long promoted military spouse employment programs through its Military OneSource section. During the event the Chamber foundation and Starbucks rolled out a new push to work with private businesses to hire 100,000 spouses nationwide. Starbucks has previously committed to hiring 25,000 military spouses and veterans by 2025. The company says they have already made 17,000 hires towards that goal. The Chamber foundation has also recently launched a series of "economic empowerment zones" in cities nationwide, including San Antonio, Texas and Seattle, Washington, where they work with both local government officials and businesses to encourage the hiring of military spouses stationed in the area. One outstanding spouse employment barrier that can't be fixed by federal officials impacts military spouses who hold professional licenses. Professional licenses are issued by individual states, so the federal government cannot create a blanket change. And although each state has passed a law to make transferring some licenses between states easier, each rule is different and no state has a blanket policy on al-lowing professional licenses to cross state lines. For example, a spouse with a nursing license issued by one state may be able to use it in another, but one with a teaching license may still need to seek a new certification. The Chamber also used the event to highlight a new study that examines potential career fields for spouses that do not require a professional licensure or advanced degree. Career fields like software development and human resources specialist are both in high demand, officials said, and uniquely suited to military spouse pro-fessionals.

VA Cancer Treatment Update 57 ► NAVIGATE Program | Access to Clinical Trials Veterans battling cancer could have easier access to cutting-edge treatments and experimental trials under a new partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and National Cancer Institute announced 10 JUL. Department officials say the arrangement will not only provide better health care options to veterans but also hopefully provide new advancements for researchers working on cancer treatment breakthroughs. “By increasing enrollment in these trials, VA and Veterans will contribute to important cancer research,” acting VA Sec-retary Peter O’Rourke said in a statement. “This will not only help our veterans, but also advance cancer care for all Americans and peo-ple around the world.” Initial work will start at VA facilities in 12 different states spread across the country. Officials from the institute will establish an infra-structure for the federal sites to participate in their clinical trials, while VA officials will make changes to its operational rules and goals to bring them in line with the trial work. Department officials noted that the VA health care system already conducts significant research on cancer prevention and treatment, but face challenges linking that work to externally funded trials. Organizers are optimistic that the collaboration will help highlight particular challenges that veterans face, and whether there are specific treatments that are more beneficial to that population. They also pledged that special attention will be given to minority veteran patients, who “often have less access to new treatments and are not as well represented in clinical trials” across the country. The new NCI and VA Interagency Group to Accelerate Trials Enrollment — dubbed NAVIGATE — is a threeyear agreement that will also establish practices and to help additional VA medical centers enroll more veterans in cancer trials. The NAVIGATE network will also establish best practices and share insights to help other VA Medical Centers nationwide enroll more Veterans in cancer clinical trials. Special attention is being given to minority patients, who often have less access to new treatments and are not as well represented in clinical trials in the U.S. While VA has a robust research program — including clinical trials on cancer and other diseases — at more than 100 sites nationwide, VA facilities often face challenges initiating and completing trials, including ones conducted through the NCI National Clinical Trials Network. Local VA research staff, for example, may lack adequate support to handle certain regulatory and ad-ministrative tasks involved in these studies. NAVIGATE will help remove those barriers. NAVIGATE will also seek to enroll Veterans in trials sponsored by NCI’s Community Oncology Research Program, which focuses on cancer prevention and symptom management. VA’s involvement in NAVIGATE is being 16 managed through the Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) part of VA’s Office of Research and Development. CSP has a long history of running impactful clinical trials focused on Veterans’ health needs. To learn more about CSP and VA Research, visi www.research.va.gov. [Source: MilitaryTimes | Leo Shane III | July 10, 2018 ++]

West Point Welcomes First Black Superintendent In Its 216 Year History

Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, who graduat-ed from the U.S. Military Academy 35 years ago, returned this week to serve as the first black superintendent in West Point's 216-year history. “I'm honored to command such a group of outstanding Americans,” Wil-liams told the crowd gathered at the academy in West Point, New York, for his assumption of command ceremony on Monday.

Williams, a native of Alexandria, Va., and member of the Military Officers Association of America, is the academy's 60th superintendent. He replaces Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, who retired after serving in the position since 2013. As Williams was taking command on Monday, about 1,200 cadets from the class of 2022 entered the academy. In his new role, Williams will help shape this next generation of military leaders. Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, over-saw the ceremony. “He is a man of integrity,” Milley said. “He's not afraid to speak through power, but he does it in a professional way. Darryl understands where he came from and how far he has come. … He's exactly what we need in the next superintendent of West Point.” Williams has 111 months of commanding time, Milley said. Most recently, Williams served as the commander of NATO's Allied Land Command in Turkey. Among other as-signments, has served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Unit-ed States Army in Europe, Deputy Commanding General for Support for the 2nd Infantry Division in the Republic of Ko-rea, Commanding General for the United States Army Warrior Transition Command and Assistant Surgeon General for War-rior Care and Transition. Williams has been awarded the Defense Distinguished Ser-vice Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, among other awards. Williams will draw from his experience to teach and mentor the cadets at West Point. “I'm ready to lead America's sons and daughters,” he said. “Over the next several weeks … I'll develop refined leadership priorities.”

New cadets complete six weeks of Cadet Basic Training to learn the basic skills of being an Army officer. They face rig-orous physical training, small-unit tactical training and rifle marksmanship, as well as learning to respond quickly and ac-curately to their commanders under mental and physical stress. “I know first-hand the importance of having smart, tough, thoughtful, innovative leaders with character who can lead and operate in some very complex environments - the kind of lead-ers this great institution develops,” Williams said. “I know how important good leadership is to the Army so we can defend our nation and win on the battlefield, so the work we do here to train and develop leaders is crucial to that end.”

SEPTEMBER Meeting

September 20, 2018 6:00 PM

19th Hole at Saints Golf Course

Port St Lucie

Program: ADM Bill Jenkins, USCG (Ret)

“My Coast Guard Aviation Journey”

Senate Approves Big Changes to VA Health Care

By Amanda Dolasinski With overwhelming support, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to streamline the VA health care system, which could reduce veter-ans' wait times and allow more of them to seek out their own phy-sicians. The VA Mission Act was easily approved by the Senate with a vote of 92-5 on Wednesday. The bill, which previously passed the House by a vote of 347-70, will next go to President Donald Trump to become law just ahead of Memorial Day. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-

Ga., lauded the bipartisan effort to get the legislation approved. He worked with Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the committee's rank-ing member, to push the bill through the Senate. “On Monday of next week, we celebrate Memorial Day, where we honor t hose who have sacri-ficed their life so we could all be here today,” Isakson said. “There is nothing less we need

to ask of ourselves than to see it they have the health care benefits we've promised veterans for so long.”

The bill had garnered support of more than 30 veterans service

organizations, including the Military Officers Association of America. The VA Mission Act will transform the health system by consoli-dating seven existing community care programs into one, elimi-nating the Choice Act, and integrating providers into a broader network that will expand veterans' access to care. It will also extend the VA caregiver program to veterans of all eras who were seriously disabled, rather than limiting to those who fought in the post-9/11 conflicts. The legislation establishes a process to review and develop a plan to optimize and modernize VA medical care facilities where there is a demand. It also includes tools to recruit and retain physicians. The bill prevents a gap in care for veterans who use the VA Choice program, which runs out of funding on May 31. The $51 billion in the

bill includes about $5 billion for Choice, which allows veterans to seek care in the private sector if they're facing long wait times or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility. That $5 billion will keep Choice funded for about a year until it was replaced. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said seeing the bill en-dorsed by 38 veteran organizations is testament to the strength of the VA Mission Act. “It's not merely our duty, but our privilege to improve and en-hance the care available to those who have given so much,” he said. Representatives from MOAA, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and American Legion backed the bill. René Campos, MOAA's senior director of Government Relations for veterans-wounded warrior care, lauded lawmakers, the administration, and VA leadership for moving the legislation through Congress. “Our country and Congress have remained committed to caring for those who serve their country through the decades,” Campos said. “Not only is it the right thing to do, but MOAA believes the institution must remain strong and committed because at the end of the day, Americans will judge the value of service to the coun-try by how well the government supports and cares for those will-ing to put their lives on the line for their country.”

MOAA President to Congress: Remove TRICARE Fee Increases from NDAA

Dear Messrs. Chairmen and Ranking Members, On behalf of the 350,000 members of the Military Officers As-sociation of America, I wanted to thank you for the strong lead-ership and support you and your committees have provided in the past for our military personnel, re-tirees, veterans and their families. This same commitment is again visible in the recently passed House and Senate versions of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act. I greatly appreciate in particular, your committee's commitment and efforts to protect the interests and quality of life for military personnel and their families by supporting the 2.6% pay raise at ECI and maintaining current calculations for basic allowance for housing. We also strongly support your further commitment to not only sustain, but to increase military personnel strengths in both the active and reserve components of the services in order to meet national security strategy requirements and dwell-time needs as our forces prepare for and respond to security challenges around the globe. As you now move forward in your deliberations to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate passed versions in conference, I wanted to address an area of concern regarding the potential raising of TRICARE fees. We strongly disagree with Section 701 in the Senate version of the NDAA. This provision eliminates the grandfathering for beneficiaries enrolled in TRICARE prior to January 1, 2018 with the intent to establish a single co-payment structure for all beneficiaries to "correct an inequity." This provision not only disregards the intent of the FY17 NDAA, which fully appreciat-ed the difference between the many years of service as com-pared with new entrants, it patently results in yet another round of significant increases on that select population-affecting those who served a full military career and endured increases last year when the Defense Health Agency unilaterally implemented changes to the fee tables resulting in those net increases. These new out of pocket cost increases, if approved, would be achieved through higher enrollment fees, new non-network de-ductibles, higher catastrophic caps and pharmacy fee increases-

all of which significantly erode the military health care. It is also apparent to us additional fees collected are not being used to maintain or improve the military health care system - but are instead being used to fund readiness or other un-specified programs. For these reasons, and for the sake of all those current benefi-ciaries who have faithfully served all of us, I respectfully ask you to not include section 701 in the final bill and to honor Con-gress' earlier commitment to our service members. The demands on your time come from many angles so I am per-sonally appreciative of your consideration of these concerns which are of great importance to our membership and those whom we serve. Thank you for your continued support of our military personnel, retirees, veterans and their families. We look forward to continuing to work with you.

Sincerely, Dana T. Atkins

6 Military Vacation Discounts Check out these six military discounts that could make you summer just a little better. 1. TENTS FOR TROOPS

Camping is a great way to vacation on the cheap, but campground fees can still add up, especially if you're using an RV. But privately owned campgrounds and RV parks offer free camping space to active duty military ID card holders through a program known as Tents for Troops. The web site features a list of participat-ing campgrounds as well as their contact information. It notes that the campgrounds may observe blackout dates or be full. As with any discount offered by a business, the best rule of thumb for military families looking to use the discount is to be polite and flexible. Don't have an RV or any camping supplies, but still want to try your hand at camping? Your base MWR likely has camping rentals in-cluding RVs and even camp stoves. Rent an RV or borrow a tent from a friend and grab sleeping bags or a stack of blankets and you're well on your way. 2. MILITARY CAMPGROUNDS AND RECREATION SITES

Many military bases host campgrounds that are a perfect place for military families to crash during a summer vacation. And even better, many bases also run recreation areas in popular va-cation destinations. In Alaska, for example, popular tourist spots Seward and Valdez both have military recreation areas. In Washing-ton State the Navy operates several resorts, including one on the beach. At Fort Benning, Georgia, the Army operates a cabin and camping recreation area adjacent to the base. And in Virginia, the Navy rents beachfront homes. 3. NATIONAL PARKS OR STATE PASSES

The National Parks service offers a free America the Beautiful Pass to active duty military or Guard and Reserve members, and disabled veterans can get the even better free Access Pass. Those passes can really cut down on costs at National Parks that have entrance or ex-hibit fees and, in the case of the Access Pass, even some amenity fees. But don't stop with National Parks. Veterans and troops should look into state parks discounts, too. Although every state is different, many offer discounts or special passes for military members. In Alas-ka, for example, disabled veterans can get a free state park camping pass. In Florida, active duty families can receive a discounted state parks pass, while most service connected disabled veterans can get one for free. 4. VETTIX

Fueled by donated tickets or tickets bought with donated funds, VetTix connects active duty military families and veterans with tick-ets to concerts or other events in their area. But users can also apply to get tickets for places they are visiting. That makes the service perfect for someone looking to fund a cheap destination vacation. You could even pick where you are headed based on where you can get tickets. 5. THEME PARKS DISCOUNTS

Theme parks across the U.S. have generous programs that offer heav-ily discounted or free entrance to military families. While rules vary by company, one thing is consistent: big price cuts on theme parks can take a vacation from impossible to within reach. Check out this complete list of the best amusement park military dis-counts. 6. BLUE STAR MUSEUMS

If theme parks aren't your jam or you're in the mood for indoor fun, the Blue Star Museums program is a great way to experience some local culture during your travels. With over 2,000 museums nationwide, the program gives active duty ID card holders free entrance each year between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Plot out a museum or two to visit during a road trip, and you've just scheduled a car break in a place with interesting infor-mation and clean bathrooms. Win. CHEAP MILITARY VACATION BONUS TIP

Feeling extra brave? Check out the Space-A flight program. Most military family travelers will need their service member with them, and a flexible travel schedule is key to making Space-A work.

MEMBERSHIP

Want a FREE Dinner?

TCC MOAA is offering a free meal for any member who brings a potential member to a meeting and joins our chapter.

Proposed 2019 NDAA Erodes Earned Health Care Benefits

The House and Senate have both passed their respective 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposals. The Senate's version shows currently serving TRICARE beneficiaries would experience zero to minimal relief on their existing higher cost shares. Even worse, retirees and their families under age 65 are targeted for another round of excessive increases to their TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Select enrollment fees. These proposed fee increases are set to be implemented just as a large percentage of currently serving members - those who have served their entire careers during wartime - become eligible for retirement. MOAA viewed last year's large fee increases as a break in faith with currently serving families and those who have served full careers - this proposal by the Senate expedites the erosion of the service-earned health care benefit. These TRICARE fee increases amount to taking real money right off the top of servicemembers' retirements. Most of those servicemembers have endured multiple deployments to war zones. This Congress has the fewest number of veterans in decades, causing a misunderstanding of what life has been like for these servicemembers and their families for the past 17 years. Reflect-ing on these members' service might be more appropriate than placing an additional tax on benefits earned through sacrifice. Let that sink in. MOAA's key concerns are: The proposal will result in zero to minimal reductions in cost shares for most beneficiaries. Grandfathered Prime retirees are already paying higher copays that match those of new entrants due to the increases which the Defense Health Agency imple-mented Jan. Unfortunately this proposal does NOT address one of MOAA's objections to the current copayment structure. That is the extraor-dinarily high copays for outpatient therapies requiring recurring appointments. For example physical/speech/occupational therapy and mental health visits are considered specialty care and are associated with much higher copays. These high costs would run unabated for many beneficiaries and serves as a barrier for bene-ficiary adherence to treatment plans. The proposal targets retirees under age 65 for steep increases to grandfathered retiree enrollment fees. For example, TRICARE Prime enrollment fees increase 21 percent and TRICARE Select families would confront an unprecedented (and unexpected) fee of $450 for individuals and $900 on families. Creates a new non-network deductible for TRICARE Select retirees. Select retirees would have to pay the first $300 (individual) or $600 (family) in medical expenses when using non-network providers even though at least 15 percent of benefi-ciaries don't have the option of choosing network providers be-cause TRICARE Select was designed to cover only 85 percent of the beneficiary population. And the existing provider network has not yet reached this contractual requirement. Last year's TRICARE fee increases were disproportionately high and broke faith with currently serving families and those who have served full careers. The addition of these new Senate-

proposed fee increases do nothing but place a more dispropor-tionate burden on military beneficiaries with the sole intent of raising revenues for defense programs unrelated to the costs of health care.

Veterans Affected by Burn Pits Applaud New Bill to Track Exposure

Nearly every day during her 2003 deploy-ment to Iraq, Christina Thundathil was tasked with cleaning burn pits - a duty that required her to light a fire in a large metal drum and stir waste for disposal. She has no doubts the job made her ill, in-cluding her recent lung disease diagnosis.

As more veterans have come forward, two Army combat veterans serving in Congress - bolstered by support from MOAA and other members of the Military Coalition - are pushing a bill that would track servicemembers' exposure to burn pits or toxic airborne chemicals and share that information with Veterans Affairs facili-ties. “I'm excited something can be done,” Thundathil said. “I want to leave the military in a better place than how I found it.”

On Thursday, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Brian Mast, R-Mich., both Army combat veterans, came together to push Con-gress to unite to pass the Burn Pits Accountability Act. The burn pits issue has been compared to the Vietnam era's Agent-Orange crisis. Agent Orange, an herbicide chemical sprayed by aerial troops to destroy vegetation used for enemy cover in Vietnam, has caused illness to more than 3 million, according to govern-ment data. The proposed burn pit bill is supported by 32 organizations that represent more than 5 million servicemembers and their families. Retired Army Col. Mike Barron, MOAA's director of Government Relations for cur-rently serving and retired affairs, said the proposed legislation is a significant step since it would track known issues before a servicemember leaves the military - unlike past years when veterans exposed to Agent Orange struggled to get help. “This bill incorporates lessons learned from past failures and would enable DoD to move forward with additional support for currently serving military and veterans who develop service-related health issues,” Barron said. Requiring a mandatory tracking system will allow the VA to take better care of veterans, Gabbard said. “This legislation is important, it's urgent and it affects almost every single post-9/11 veteran,” Gabbard said. “I can't think of a single one of my fellow veterans who I deployed with that they didn't have some exposure to burn pits. "They're everywhere - Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan. Burn pits were a part of every life."

Although not as visible as other dangers such as jumping out of aircraft or walking through minefields, Mast said exposure to tox-ic chemicals is just as perilous. “This is the Agent Orange of our generation and we can't allow it to be manifesting itself in the same way that it has in the time since Vietnam where we're limping along, year after year, not doing what it takes, not fully recognizing the hazards out there for our veterans, not giving it the seriousness it deserves,” Mast said. “To not recognize those hazards is not doing justice to that ser-vicemember."

When she was deployed, Thundathil said she'd often report to the medic station for problems with her breathing. She said she was diagnosed with bronchitis, given antibiotics and sent back to carry out her duties. She suffered injuries from a blast in 2003 - an injury the VA fixat-ed on, she said. She left the Army in 2004 and continued to re-ceive treatment through the VA. Doctors were focused on her head injury and didn't pay attention to her breathing issues, she said. Confusion over her discharge halted treatment for two years, but it was picked back up in 2012. She was diagnosed with lung disease about four years later. There was no doubt in her mind the diagnosis was related to the burn pit details, Thundathil said. The proposed bill is one step closer to getting help for all servicemembers, she added.

Top 5 Things You Should Know Before Choosing the Military Blended Retirement System

We are in the homestretch to decide whether to opt-in to the new Blended Retirement System or stay with the traditional retirement program. During this session you will learn: • Why lifetime earnings matter • How to identify the pitfalls of the Blended Retirement

System

• The difference between match or higher retired pay

• Whether or not you can benefit from both retirement programs

• How to maximize the Blended Retirement System ben-efit

Tune-in to the MOAA webinar on 8 August at 1400EDT to hear from our financial experts on the key issues that can impact your decision of a lifetime.

Red-White-=Blue Planting

Veterans Victory Corps...A horticulture program for Vet-erans and Family Members through a collaboration of the American Red Cross – Ser-vice to the Armed Forces, St. Lucie County Master Garden-ers, and the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens.

On Wednesday July 11, 2018 Judy Wade, Brenda, Angela, Bob Williams and support staff and Trustees from the St Lucie County Sheriffs office helped out at Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens.

We participated in the first community service project, the enhancement of the grounds around the American Flag in front of the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens Pavilion. Spe-cial thanks to our St. Lucie County Sheriff staff and Trus-tees for the hard trimming hedges, scrubs planted several junipers; built a small retaining wall around the flag area. Just a friendly reminder, All Veteran Victory Corps activi-ties are open to all Vets and their family members. No cost to participate. Please wear closed toe shoes and bring your own water for outside events. We are a seedling group – dig in and help us grow!

Member Picnic

The chapter will hold a picnic for its members and their families on Saturday, July 21. According to 2nd Vice President Dayne Clem-mer, “We hope to see families enjoying the Boat Ranp venue at Port St Lucie Veterans Memorial

Park . We will have a wonderful lunch spread catered by Sonny’s BBQ. We encourage our members to bring their Families and potential members. We are asking each member to bring a dessert to share. More information will be in the July Newsletter. APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE TREASURE

COAST CHAPTER OF THE

MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA

(Last Name) ___________________________________(First

Name) (MI) ______________________________(Rank)_________

(Branch of Service)_______________

(Mailing Address: Number and Street)

_________________________________________(Preferred Tele-

phone Number)___________________

(City)____________________ (State)_______________ (Zip)

_________ (Email Address) __________________

Birth date _______________

Spouse’s

name________________________________

Status: Re+red Ac+ve Duty Former Officer

Reserve Na+onal Guard Surviving Spouse

(Please fill in the above informa+on but show

Your deceased spouse’s rank and branch of service)

I am a member of Na+onal MOAA; my member # is

_______________ .

I am a Life Member

.

Please mail this applica�on to TC MOAA) to:

Treasure Coast Chapter MOAA

3309 Red Tailed Hawk Dr

Port St Lucie, FL 34952

Upcoming Events August Luncheon

Noon

Annual Archie’s Luncheon

Archie's Seabreeze

401 S Ocean Dr Ft. Pierce, FL 34949

September Dinner

6:00PM

19th Hole Port St Lucie

ADM Bill Jenkins, USCG Ret

Program—My Coast Guard Aviation Journey

Treasure Coast MOAA Support of Sarah’s Kitchen Mission of Feeding the Hungry

Members of Treasure Coast MOAA and Treasure Coast High School JROTC program came out to help feed and cloth those in need’

August Luncheon Meeting Fourth Thursday, August 16, 2018

11:30

401 S Ocean Dr, Fort Pierce, FL 34949

Program

Special Guest Speaker

COL Terri Coles, USA (ret) Sr. Director, Council & Chapter Affairs

National MOAA Reservation Deadline – August 12

Call, or email Reservations to: CDR Anthony DePaul, USN, Ret.

tonydepaul@comcast.net 772-336-6854

Treasure Coast Chapter MOAA

2860 Yates Rd

Fort Pierce, Fl 34981

WE NEVER STOP SERVING The treasure Coast Chapter of the Military Officers Associa-tion of America is a non-profit veterans association dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and to preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families and survivors. Membership is open to anyone who holds, or has ever held, a commission or warrant in any component of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and their surviving spouses. We strive to foster fraternal relations among active, reserve, National Guard, retired and former commissioned and warrant officers of the seven uniformed services. Our chapter adheres to the principles and goals of the Military Officers Association of America.