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NEWS YOU CAN USE

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This May, the National Park Service is planning on bulldozing the Marine Memorial at Pearl Harbor, HI.  For further information and suggestions on how you can help to save our memorial go to Marine Memorial, Pearl Harbor .

Thanks to Bob Steinheimer for the following:
S 604 - Military Retiree Health Care Protection Act
 
DOD Again Wants to Raise the Rates
If you want to protect your TRICARE insurance the following is an example message that you can send to your Senator:

As a career military retiree and your voting constituent, I urge you to cosponsor and actively support S. 604, the Military Health Care Protection Act, introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg, on February 15.
With the soon to expire provisions of the NDAA 2007 that held in abeyance the DoD proposal to double and triple Tricare fees and premiums for military retirees, the DoD has again announced similar proposals.
In short S. 604 would
• Recognize in law the unique role of military health benefits in offsetting the extraordinary demands inherent in a military career.
• Establish that, in addition to their cash cost-shares, military people pre-pay large up-front premiums for their lifetime health coverage through decades of service and sacrifice.
• Prohibit the TRICARE Prime enrollment fee and TRICARE pharmacy copays from being increased in any year by a percentage that exceeds the percentage increase in military retired pay.
• Prohibit TRICARE Reserve Select premiums from being increased by a percentage that exceeds the most recent basic pay increase.
• Prohibit any enrollment fee for TRICARE Standard or any increase in the TRICARE Standard inpatient copay.

Last year, a similar initiative was crucial in defeating large TRICARE fee hikes but that measure was effective only for one year. S. 604 has no time limits.
Thanks to Dave Odom for the following:
SOCIAL SECURITY - SPECIAL MILITARY EARNINGS CREDIT

There is a little known program/benefit for people who've served in the military prior to Jan 2002. In a nutshell it boils down to this:  Credit  for years of active duty through 2001 (the program was done away with in January 2002)  Up to $1200 per year of earnings credit (see below websites for more detail)
Credited at time of application
Bring in DD-214 to Social Security Office - you must ask for this benefit to receive it!
Soc Sec website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/military.htm
For those of you who do not have this info, it is something to put in your files for when you apply for Social Security down the road.  It is not just for retirees but anyone who has served on active duty prior to January 2002. Please feel free to forward this to all folks who have served on active duty who are entitled to this benefit but must ask for it!
Thanks to Bob Baer and Dave Odom for the following:
The following message is being forwarded from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation regarding the upcoming broadcast of "The Marines," 21 Feb on
PBS. Thought you might enjoy watching the program!
Thanks to the sponsorship of Founder Sal Alfiero and PBS, WNED - Buffalo-Toronto has produced a 90 minute HD documentary entitled "The
Marines". Under the direction of noted producer and writer John Grant, "The Marines" examines our unique warrior culture and includes a visit to the
National Museum of the Marine Corps. It Premiers Wednesday, February 21,  2007 at 9 PM Eastern Time on PBS. I hope that you will watch it.
Bob Baer
USMC (ret.)


Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association

Ken Cadran of the NCVA reports the following: "The twenty-ninth annual reunion of the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association will take place September 10-13,  2007 in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Website: www.usncva.org . Telephone:  603-881-7752. E-mail: aastonge@aol.com." Anyone interested should contact them for further details.

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RETIRE YOUR OLD AMERICAN FLAG
You can retire your tattered, worn out and frayed American flags without any cost to you.  Just send your flags to the Kitchen Table Gang Trust, 42922 Avenue 12, Madera, CA 93638-8866 and we will dispose of your flags in a proper and dignified manner with full honors and dignity pursuant to the United States Flag Code Section 8K (PL93-344).  We veterans have been doing this for he past seven years.  Our flag retirement ceremonies are held on Flag Day, June 14th each year and are conducted by an all volunteer U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard led by GySgt. Dan Kelley USMC (Ret.).  The Kitchen Table Gang also has a nationally recognized educational program for our young people and students, teaching them the history, traditions and respect for our national emblem.  This service is brought to you courtesy of Charles Taliaferro and the Kitchen Table Gang .


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Marine for Life program (article explaining the program)

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MMSB Stores Marine's Records (article explaining the program)
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  The old Marine Support Battalion which was co-located with CNSG has been redesignated Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, and we now have three Radio Battalion, 1st Radio has been moved to Southern California to Camp Pendleton, 2nd Radio Battalion remains at Camp Lejeune and 3rd Radio Battalion is now in K-Bay Hawaii. Marines receiving the MOS 2600 can plan to serve duties at both MCSB, and RADBN. The support battalion is made up of the following companies:
Company A, MCSB - Denver, CO.
Company B, MCSB - Ft. Meade, MD
Company D, MCSB - Ft. Gordon, GA
Company G, MCSB - Menwith Hill, UK
Company H, MCSB - San Antonio, TX
Company I, MCSB - Kunia, HI
Company L, MCSB - Suitland, MD
The old Companies, C, E, F all have been closed. Company K was redesignated a Training Command under Marine Corps Training and Education Command.
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Here is an item sent from Al Harvick.  Thanks for the info Al.  (I'm sure we all remember how great it was to receive a package!)
Hundreds of thousand of American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines will spend this holiday season away from their families, as they are deployed to locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Korea. I have been informed of a way that we can help brighten the holidays and show our appreciation to troops currently deployed. All you need to do is go to the website www.TreatsforTroops.com. There you can order gifts ranging from baked goods to clean socks to sunscreen, and send it to troops overseas. The website will let you choose a branch of service, home state, and deployed location, or if you know someone currently deployed you can send it directly to them. Gifts start under $10.  You can also send out gifts for birthdays or just anytime of the year.
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MILITARY RECORDS/DD-214 UPDATE:  All retirees and veterans need copies of their Report of Separation (DD Form 214 or equivalent) available and stored in a secure place known by their next of kin. The retained documents should be either the original or government certified true copies. If you do not have these they can be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) using a Request Pertaining to Military Records Standard Form 180 (Rev-2/02) which can be downloaded at  www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/standard-form-180.html.  The mailing address is listed on the form.  Your family will need at least three copies in the event of your demise to pursue their requests for benefits.

     To expedite the process NPRC has made it easier for military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents through their website vetrecs.archives.gov.   The next of kin can be a surviving spouse that has not remarried, father, mother, son, daughter, sister, or brother. Because the requester will be asked to supply all information essential for NPRC to process the request, delays that normally occur when NPRC has to ask veterans for additional information will be minimized. The new web-based application was designed to provide better service on these requests by eliminating the records center's mailroom processing time.  Users will be guided through a four step process and then will be required to print, sign and date the signature verification area of their customized form. This is necessary because the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires that all requests for records and information be submitted in writing and each request must be signed and dated by the veteran or next of kin. If you don't have a printer, have a pen and paper handy and NPRC will guide you through the process. Upon completion the signature verification form must be mailed or faxed to NPRC for processing within the first 20 days of entering the data, or the request will be removed from their system. [Source: e-Florida News 0 Apr 06 ++]