CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

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The February Flag Mess turned out to be an-other well attended Flag Mess with over 80 members and guests attending. Much of this success can be attributed to the work of Frank Mazur who is doing an outstanding job in get-ting interesting and informative speakers. I

am looking forward to the coming months where Frank has lined up some more great speakers. Thanks to all the regular attendees to the dinner and many newer members that attend-ed. It was great to see several of our newer members attend-ing the Flag Mess and I look forward to seeing you again.

The board is working hard at making improvements to the Chapter. Jon Shaffer has been appointed to work on getting the Chapter a website. You will access the website through the Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) who will be the host. The FCOC web master is assisting with developing our web-site. The website will include detailed information about the Chapter. Jon will notify the membership when it is available for use. A good thing about the website is there is no cost to the chapter. I hope that the website will be easily accessible to members and anyone else wanting to know about our Chap-ter.

As always at this time of year, I need to mention, although I would prefer not to, about membership renewals. This is al-ways a difficult subject to approach. At the end of 2015, the membership of the Chapter stood at 163 members. As usual, it is a slow and tedious process to get everyone to renew their membership. Presently 70% of the members have renewed. This is way below past performance and is a troubling situa-tion. Membership dues are the primary means that the Chap-ter pays for its operation including such things as printing and mailing the MUSTER and Handbook, paying for our P O Box, FCOC and CVCC yearly dues, the storage locker, and other miscellaneous expenses. If the Chapter is unable to sus-tain an adequate level of membership, we may not be able to accomplish everything that we would like to do. I encourage everyone to check the mailing label on the cover of your MUSTER to ensure that your dues are paid. Dues need to be paid no later than the end of March to ensure your continued membership in the Chapter and receipt of the MUSTER.

The Chapter is still in need of a Membership Secretary and a Surviving Spouse Committee Chair. These are im-portant and crucial positions in the Chapter that need filled. We will be pleased to train and assist you in perform-ing these jobs. If interested contact me.

Vol XXXVII Issue 3 MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA March 2016

PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS LT James Dundas USN (Ret)

1

Here are a few other reminders of upcoming events that I will address in future MUSTERS. The FCOC Con-vention will be in Lakeland on May 13-15. This is relatively close to Charlotte County so would be an op-portunity for you to attend an FCOC Convention. This is open to all members of MOAA Chapters.

May 16 will be the NJROTC Cadets medal awards and the scholarship awards dinner. This is a great oppor-tunity to see and meet many of our potentially future military leaders. Please plan to attend and be generous and contribute to the payment for the cadets’ and their family’s dinner costs when you send in your reserva-tions.

The primary elections will be coming up in the next months. Be sure to do your research and vote for indi-viduals that have strong support for our military and military members and their families.

REGARDS — JIM

http://www.moaa.org

(800) 234-6622

CHC MOAA — Join Now (pg 6)

Vietnam War Last U.S. Ground Troops Withdrawn

30 March 1973

ACTIVE - GUARD - RESERVE - RETIRED & FORMER UNIFORMED SERVICES OFFICERS

MUSTER Page

CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

THE MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Charlotte Harbor Chapter, Inc.

Post Office Box 511851 Punta Gorda, Florida 33951-1851

President

LT James Dundas USN (Ret)

1st Vice President

MAJ Jon Shaffer USA (Ret)

2nd Vice President

1LT Frank Mazur, USA

Secretary

CDR Gary Harrell USN (Ret)

Membership Secretary

VACANT Treasurer

CDR Ronald L. Olsen, USN (Ret)

Immediate Past President

COL Charlie Brox USAR (Ret)

Board of Directors

Term Expires 2016

LtCol Ennis J. Bisbano, USAF (Ret)

COL Earl R Chandler USA (Ret)

CAPT George A. Chamberlain Jr USN (Ret)

Term Expires 2017

COL Robert M. Dickinson, USA (Ret)

LTC Hugh D. Porter, USAR (Ret)

Capt Jean M. Carr, USAF

Director Emeritus

Lucy Newton ___________________________________________________

Chapter Committees

Auditor LCDR Christ Nielsen

Chaplain CW2 Charles Meyers

Alternate Chaplain Capt Jean M. Carr

Historian Maj Kim Foss

Legislative Affairs MAJ Jon Shaffer

Nominating Committee COL Robert Neitzke

Publicity Becky Mingle

Military Bands LtCol Ennis Bisbano

Military Ceremonies LTC Hugh Porter

NJROTC Naval Science Instructors

PCHS CDR Steven Davis USN (Ret)

CHS Capt Dean Krom USMC (Ret)

LBHS CDR Jon Baca USN (Ret)

Handbook LT James Dundas

Newsletter MAJ Jon Shaffer

Mailing LT James Dundas

Personal Affairs COL Robert M Dickinson

Surviving Spouse VACANT

TRICARE CAPT Gene Geronime

Scholarships CAPT Geo. A Chamberlain Jr.

Sunshine Mavis English

CC Veterans Council Capt Jean M. Carr

CCVC Alternate LT James Dundas

2

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

• Graphics — All Muster newsletter graphics contain embedded web links

• Board Meeting Notice — The next Board of Directors’ meetings are Thurs-day, March 10 and April 14, 2016 at 1700 hours (5 PM), at the Isles Yacht Club Board Room. Board members and committee chairs are requested to attend. Members are welcome.

• Membership — Know someone who was a military officer but not a mem-ber of CHCMOAA and MOAA? ASK THEM TO JOIN . Contact Jim Dundas with their name.

• Renewals — 2016 membership is now at 163 members. We have 1 new member, to date, in 2016. Thus far 114 members have renewed their 2016 memberships (70%). Please check your mailing labels. PD15 in red indicates dues not paid for 2016. PD16 in blue indicates dues paid for 2016. We would appreciate getting in the 2016 dues early so we can update and send out the Handbook as soon as possible. .

• CHCMOAA Nametags/Badges — If you would like a CHCMOAA Name-tag / Badge contact Jon Shaffer at 979-8278 or email him. The cost is $11.

• Military ID Card Information — MacDill AFB (Site ID 101435), Tele-phone: (813) 828-2278 or (813) 828-5118; Coast Guard Sector, St. Petersburg (Site ID 174794), Telephone (727) 824-7560. Use the RAPIDS Site Locator https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/appj/site, or use https://rapids-appointments.dmdc.osd.mil/(use Site IDs for online scheduling, address, & directions or call). APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED except Wednesdays at the St. Petersburg CG Sector.

• CHC MOAA Fund Help us raise funds at Bingo Trail (1700 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte – on US 41 between Cochran and Murdock). Our chapter volunteers have earned a significant amount of money for our Scholarship Pro-gram. We need volunteers to count cash for game winners 3 times per month. Volunteers can: get free nonalcoholic drinks; purchase food for half price dur-ing their shift; and return to play Bingo for half price. We need help as shown below and in the following months since this a year round project. If you have not done a turn already, please consider volunteering. Contact Jon Shaffer at (941) 979-8278, or chcmoaa@yahoo.com . The next few months dates are:

© 2016 CHC, Military Officers Association of America

SUNSHINE Do you know of anyone in need of “Sunshine”? Please Send Or Call The Infor-

mation To Mavis English at (941) 639-3268

FLAG MESS PROGRAM

Monday, March 28, 2016

Andrew Sekela, FBI Supervisory Special Agent

Fraud Committed Against the Elderly

Our population in Florida has many citizens who are mostly decent and responsible people. However, some are dishonest and uncaring persons who seek to take ad-vantage of individuals and families. Scam artists believe that senior citizens are an easy target, but informed seniors can protect themselves from these financial preda-tors. We frequently read about how elderly are scammed and the paper has reported incidences right here in Charlotte County.

With the information provided by these FBI special agents hopefully we will be fore-armed to recognize this behavior and protect our interest from these con artists. Agent in Charge of the Ft. Myer Office, James Rankine, will also be in attendance to answer any local questions MOAA members may have on Elder Fraud.

Wednesday Saturday 6:15 PM to 9:30 PM 11:45 AM to 2:00PM

Filled March 19

Filled June 25

Filled July 9 & 23

CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

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PERSONAL AFFAIRS REPORT

COL Robert M. Dickinson, USA-(Ret)

(941) 769-6185

pgaefa@aol.com

Community Service (Continued)

Last month I talked about community ser-vice at the national level, in terms of con-tacting your congressional representatives,

via email, snail mail, telephone, or even personal visits, to lob-by them regarding important military-related issues. This month I would like to carry that a little further by talking about what you might want to consider in our local area. Southwest Florida in general and Charlotte County in particular provide, as far as military community service activities and opportuni-ties are concerned, many chances for you to become involved.

After all, we live in what I believe is the closest thing to para-dise. We have great weather (except that on February 24, 2016 an EF1 tornado touched in my community of Deep Creek just 2 miles from my home), we have lots of entertaining, informa-tive, and life-enhancing things to see and do, we have great restaurants, and we have plenty of good people. So I encourage everyone not to just spend time in the pool, on the golf course, or in front of the TV, but to give back some of your time and your great wealth of experience and knowledge to your com-munity, focusing some of your resources on military-related opportunities - particularly our youth and our veterans. Here are some ideas:

The first that comes to mind, of course, is MOAA and its Bin-go involvement, which raises money for our NJROTC scholar-ships and our Band programs. Being a MOAA Bingo volunteer is fun, easy, and worthwhile. Details about this are elsewhere in the Muster newsletter.

Next, you might want to consider the wonderful Military Herit-age Museum in Fishermen’s Village. You might have a signifi-cant military item that you could donate to preserve it as your legacy, you could donate your time as a volunteer, you could donate money to help the Museum grow and improve, and you could make a bequest to the Museum in your estate plans.

Another idea is the Vietnam Memorial Wall being built in Laishley Park in Punta Gorda. Enough money has already been raised to build the wall. However, a significant amount of money will be needed to maintain the Wall and its surround-ings, to preserve it for present and future generations. You can get your name on a plaque for as little as $250, and of course, there are higher levels of sponsorships available.

There are many military-related and veterans organizations in Charlotte County that offer opportunities to help them raise money and provide services to the military, to their families, and to veterans. American Legion Posts, VFW Posts, Vietnam Veterans, the Navy League, and many other organizations would welcome your involvement and support. Moreover, their activities are fun and educational!

Please let me know if you need help in finding out more infor-mation about any or all of the above, or need help in getting in touch with a particular organization.

Let’s do it!!!..................Bob

MOAA’s Transition Services Department

http://www.moaa.org/career/

MOAA provides assistance to military officers leaving

the service or former officers who are in transition

between jobs.

Financial Frontlines® Blog

http://moaablogs.org/financial/

MOAA offers you timely advice on smart money moves, common pitfalls in retirement, college plan-ning for kids, estate and insurance planning, maximiz-ing your military benefits, and more!

Rumors & Scams

A MOAA site to verify the rumors or emails you re-ceive about people or events is http://www.moaablogs.org/battleofthebilge/about/.

State of Florida site is http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Consumer-Services/Little-Black-Book-of-Scams

SCHOLARSHIP FUND DONATIONS

The chapter would like to thank those members who made donations to the CHC MOAA Scholarship Fund at the last Flag Mess. Your donations allow the chapter to provide $1,500 scholarships to the Charlotte County High School graduates who are members of JNROTC, a child or grandchild of: (1) an Active Duty, Guard or Re-serve military parent; (2) a CHC MOAA member in good standing (or in good standing at time of death), (3) a military veteran parent, or (4) students who aspire to military service. Without your donations we would be unable to provide such generous scholarships to worthy students.

Robert & Marilyn Akers, John & Janet Anderson, Arthur & Sharon Andressen, Norm & Ann Ash-worth, Bick & Ginny Bicknell, Mary Lee & Lee

Chalifour, Chuck & Janice Dabrowski, Joe & Susan Della-Corte, Bob & Sharyn Dickinson, Kim Foss,

Cristel Gerdel, Gary & Sandy Harrell, Ray & Kay Kopczyk, Kel Matteson, Norm & Becky Mingle, Bet-

ty McClean, Charles Meyers, Bob & Barbara Neitzke, Diane Watson, Christopher & Marilyn

Wolf, Bill & Nancy Wyld

Thanks to all the members and guests for

purchasing 50/50 tickets at the dinner

Thank You For All Of Your Very Generous

Support

Publications.USA.gov

Find useful booklets on life’s everyday challenges at Publications.USA.gov.You can also download, Con-

sumer Action Handbook. or Visit USAGov / Explore also!

ACTIVE - GUARD - RESERVE - RETIRED & FORMER UNIFORMED SERVICES OFFICERS

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CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

age 65 on or after January 1, 2017. Additional concerns about the proposals, in addition to the disproportional fee hikes, include: * The focus on driving more care to military hospitals and clinics. These facilities are unable to accommodate current patient loads, as evidenced by appointment shortages and referral problems. * The failure to address the need of Guard and Reserve members and families for more consistent and rational health coverage. Military Pay: The budget asks for a four th consecutive year of capping the military pay raise below the Employ-ment Cost Index (ECI). This is .5 percent below the average American's 2.1 percent raise. This expands the pay gap be-tween the military and the private sector to 3.1 percent. Touted as “the largest raise in four years;” it as well as the last seven military raises have been lower than any raise during the previous 48 years. The budget proposal also proposes adjustments to the new, blended retirement system taking effect in 2018 for new entrants in 2018. This system cuts military retired pay for this group by 20 percent. It does this to provide up to a five percent government match to federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts held by military members. The government matching begins when a member reaches three years of service. DoD now proposes delaying the match until the fifth year of service. The proposal extends the government match, which now stops at 26 years, until retirement. Thus increasing the potential match to six (6) percent. Commissary: The budget slashes $221 million in com-missary funding This is a significant cut in value of this benefit. Last year, the administration proposed cutting $300 million as a step toward privatization. After Congress re-stored the funding, administration officials agreed they would accept any level of savings realized by business effi-ciencies. Why does Congress even consider imposing these additional penalties after imposing like penalties over the past four years? To send a message to your Congressional Representatives use this link Act Now to Block Harmful DoD Budget Pro-posals also use the postcard mailer s in the March 2016 “Military Officer Magazine”

“All Politics Is Local” Tip O’Neil 1. © 2016 MOAA

4

The administration's FY 2017 budget, once again, propos-es multiple cuts to military pay and benefits, aimed at shifting more costs to service members, retirees, and fam-ilies. Approximately 880,000 people in Florida will be negatively impacted if these proposals are enacted ac-cording to the MOAA FL Council of Chapters. The fol-lowing are some highlights of the budget proposal. Health Care: The budget would increase existing fees and add new ones, in effect raising costs 50-100% for typical families. The budget very specifically, detailed a wide variety of fee changes and increases: * Renames TRICARE Prime and Standard as TRICARE Select and Choice. * Changes most copays for network provider visits to flat fees (out-of-network care would continue to have copays of 20 percent for active duty family members and 25 per-cent for retirees and family members). * Establishes new annual “participation fees” for all re-tired members and families, under which those who did not pay the fee would be denied coverage for the year.

$350/$700 (single/family) for TRICARE Prime. $450/900 for TRICARE Standard. 0.5 percent to 2 percent of retired pay for a TFL-

eligible couple, phased in over 5 years, with a com-plicated system of separate caps for flag officers and lower grades.

* Establishing a zero deductible for Standard and Prime beneficiaries who use in-network providers, but a $300/$600 (single/family) annual deductible for care from out-of-network providers. * Raising the catastrophic cap (maximum out-of-pocket expenses) to $1,500 per year for currently serving fami-lies and $4,000 for retired families (vs. current $1,000 and $3,000). * Roughly doubling most pharmacy copays via a 10-year schedule of increases. This continues the effort to further increase pharmacy copays that have doubled and tripled over the past 5 years. * Increasing all flat-dollar fee amounts annually by medi-cal inflation (via a measure currently projected to increase at 6.2% per year). These fee increases would impose dis-proportionate financial penalties on retired military bene-ficiaries. * Exempting medical (Chapter 61) retirees and survivors whose sponsors died while on active duty from higher enrollment fees and copays paid by retired members * Implementing the means-tested TRICARE for Life en-rollment fee as of Jan. 2017, and the other changes as of Jan. 2018. This means subjecting TFL beneficiaries to a means-tested enrollment fee, based on a percentage of retired pay. Means testing TFL beneficiaries is unprece-dented and inappropriate. * The budget grandfathers current TFL beneficiaries. It applies means-tested enrollment fees to those attaining

Legislative Affairs

MAJ Jon Shaffer USA (Ret)

FY2017 — More Defense Budget Cuts Proposed1

Find Elected Representatives (state & federal) http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

MOAA Legislative Action Center: http://capwiz.com/moaa/home/

MOAA Top Issues: http://www.moaa.org/Main_Menu/Take_Action/Top_Issues/Top_Issues.html

Senator Bill Nelson: http://www.billnelson.senate.gov

Senator Marco Rubio: http://www.rubio.senate.gov

Representative Tom Rooney: http://www.rooney.house.gov

Florida Senators: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

Florida Representatives: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/myrepresentative.aspx

CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

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THE FLAG MESS

Monday, March 28, 2016

LOCATION

TWIN ISLES COUNTRY CLUB

301 Madrid Blvd.

Punta Gorda, FL 33950

MENU

Roast Pork Loin with Sausage and Apricots

Seafood Stuffed Butterfish with Orange Fennel

Turkey with Rosemary Turkey Gravy and Homemade Cranberry Shallot Relish

Sour cream and Onion Mashed Potatoes

Spinach, Apples and Sweet Potato

Garden Salad with Rolls & Butter

Coffee and Tea Service

Dessert: Brownie A La Mod

$26.00

Dress

Gentlemen and Ladies Informal Dress

Times

1800 (6:00 PM) Social

1830 (6:30 PM) Dinner

2000 (8:00 PM) Program

RESERVATIONS

(Reservations need to be received no later than Wednesday, March 23, 2016)

Name(s)______________________________________

CHOICES

Roast Pork______________________________

Seafood Stuffed Butter Fish________________

Turkey_________________________________

_______@ $26 per person _________________

Scholarship fund ________________________

Band fund ______________________________

TOTAL ENCLOSED $____________________

Mail to:

CHCMOAA Dinner

P.O. Box 511851

Punta Gorda, Florida 33951-1851

Please make all payments by checkPayable to CHCMOAA

Note: Food is ordered according to reservations. Without reservations, we may have difficulty in accommodating you. No guarantees for reservations after 12:00 PM on Wednesday March 23, 2016.

Note: For Late Reservations to the dinner after March 23, 2016 call: Jon Shaffer @ (941) 979-8278 or email Jon at chcmoaa@yahoo.com

Note: Persons with reservations, who are then unable to attend, should call Jon Shaffer @ (941) 979-8278 to cancel by Thursday Afternoon, March 24th (thus allowing time for adjustments and possible credit). The Twin Isles' CC policy is that we will have to pay for the total number of reservations that we call in on Thursday unless we make any cancellations prior to Friday afternoon

Useful Internet Links & Phone Numbers

MOAA Blogs at http://www1.moaa.org/blogs/

MOAA Florida Council of Chapters Newsletter: www.moaafl.org/Communique/Default.aspx Florida Department of Veteran Affairs www.floridavets.org/ (727) 518-3202

Veterans Administration: www.va.gov 1-(800) 827-1000

Charlotte County Veterans Services: http://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/services/veteran/ (941) 764-5579

Express Scripts Mail Order Pharmacy: www.express-scripts.com/tricare/ 1-(877) 363-1303 TRICARE: www.tricare.mil (South Region) 1-(800) 444-5445

TRICARE for Life www.tricare4u.com 1-(866) 773-0404

DEERS: www.tricare.mil/deers/ 1-(800) 538-9552

milConnect: https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/ DOD Benefits (Survivor Benefit Plan): http://militarypay.defense.gov/Benefits/SurvivorBenefitProgram.aspx Social Security http://ssa.gov 1-(800) 772-1213

Medicare: www.medicare.gov 1-(800) 633-4227

MacDill AFB: http://www.macdill.af.mil/ (813)828-1110

Service Links

The Muster is published, except for December, July, and August by the Charlotte Harbor Chapter of the Military Officer’s Association of America (MOAA) (FL31) Inc., P.O. Box 511851, Punta Gorda, Florida 33951-1851. Email: chcmoaa@comcast.net The chapter is an IRS 501(C)(19) non-profit, tax-exempt organization affiliated with National MOAA and the Florida Council of Chapters, MOAA, but not associated with the Department of Defense. The chapter is non-partisan and the contents of the Muster articles are the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the National MOAA, Florida Council of Chapters, the Charlotte Harbor Chapter (FL31), or the Department of Defense.

Upcoming Flag Mess Dates March 28th April 25th

May 16th — Scholarship & MOAA Medal Awards

ANNUAL CONFERENCE Florida MOAA Council of Chapters

May, 13-15 2016 (Hosted by Imperial Polk County Chapter) http://moaafl.org/Convention/Default.aspx

Gary@CPAlliance.com or 863-688-1725

© 2016 Charlotte Harbor Chapter, MOAA (FL31)

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Punta Gorda, FL 33951 Permit No. 144

2016 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION OR RENEWAL _______ NEW MEMBERSHIP or _______ RENEWAL

CHARLOTTE HARBOR CHAPTER

The Military Officers Association of America A local organization, comprised of retired, regular, reserve, and former officers of the uniformed services. Dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the best interests of Our Country, its uniformed services, our members, their dependents, and their survivors, in every proper manner. Chapter members are required to have and maintain a national MOAA membership.

Annual Dues are $15.00 ($7.50 for Surviving Spouse/Auxiliary Members) Chapter dues are payable in advance. Please enclose your check

Make Checks payable to: Charlotte Harbor Chapter, MOAA (CHCMOAA)

Please complete the following for our records and mail to : CHCMOAA Membership (For renewals please indicate any changed information.) P.O. Box 511851 Punta Gorda, Florida 33951-1851 ________________ _____________ _________ _______ ___________ __________________ ___________________ Last Name First Middle Int. Rank Service Your Birth Date Spouse’s Name (Ret. If applicable) ______ ______________________ ________ ____________________ _____ _________________ _________________ Number Street Apartment City State Zip Code (9-Digit) Telephone Chapter Dues (Reg-$15/Aux-$7.50) $_______________ ___________________________________________________ Signature Scholarship Donation $___________ ___________________________________________________ National MOAA Number For Band Fund $___________ ___________________________________________________ Email Address Total Enclosed $________________ PLEASE FILL IN ALL BLANKS. THIS IS HOW WE UPDATE THE MEMBERSHIP ROSTER AND THE CHAPTER HANDBOOK

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED