FRAtoday October 2022
comMunicaTIons
FROM THE BRIDGE	3
SHIPMATE FORUM	4
On & Off captol hill	7
FEATURE  STORies	
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS18
SHIPMATE NEWS19
TAPS20
AUXILIARY OF THE FRA21
FINANCE MATTERS22

COMMUNICATIONS

The FRA 2023 Calendar

Each October, the FRA produces and distributes a calendar that is designed to reflect the three branches of our membership — the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. The pages within highlight specific days each month as well as other information that has been requested by Shipmates. One example is the date June 8, which now has the USS LIBERTY incident noted. Media use the word “incident” instead of “attack”, much like the “Vietnam Conflict” references were used to try to stay away from the term “war”.
Some other important events such as Central Liaison Committee meeting dates, the lunar cycles and even some very significant religious dates or time frames are listed each month. Although we cannot include everything on every day each month, we do enjoy the feedback from our Shipmates. One year, a fellow staffer at HQ suggested we list National Navajo Code Talkers Day, which is Aug. 14. This day is associated with United States service members during the world wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis for transmitting coded messages. I think the several recent movies may have brought this to the attention of Americans, particularly the 2002 movie “Windtalkers” with the cast including Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo and Christian Slater.
If you have any important dates that you think should be added to the calendar, send your suggestions to me and we can consider the dates for the next calendar. Always feel comfortable sending in your comments — criticism and compliments are also welcome. One year, a Shipmate pointed out a mistake: in one month, there were two days marked the 14th. We made a sticker to place over the wrong week. It was available for free online and also from HQ. 
The calendar fundraiser is a successful campaign we conduct each year. It is a very fun and meaningful project to complete. Please consider donating a few dollars to cover the printing and distribution of this year’s calendar.        FRA

In Loyalty, Protection and Service, 
William D. Stevenson, Editor-in-Chief

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FROM THE bridge

SBP-DIC Offset Ends; Changes to Concurrent Receipt Next?
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which was signed into law on Dec. 20, 2019, repealed the dollar-for-dollar offset of Survivor Benefit Plan payments from the Department of Defense by the amount of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The SBP-DIC offset repeal was phased in over three years beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, (paid as of Feb. 1, 2021) with full elimination of the offset scheduled for Jan. 1, 2023. So, next year on Jan. 1, SBP payments will no longer be reduced by DIC. Spouses will receive their full SBP payment issued by DFAS and their full DIC from the VA.
This was a major victory for surviving spouses.  
One of the FRA’s longtime goals has been to eliminate the reduction of military retirement pay by the amount of VA disability compensation received for all disabled military retirees. During the early 2000s, the FRA led initiatives that eliminated this offset for military retirees with VA disability ratings of 50% or greater.
The FRA has worked with congressional leaders to introduce legislation that would eliminate the reduction of retired pay for military retirees with VA disability ratings lower than 50% (H.R.303, S.1147 and H.R.333), but these bills have stalled in committee.
One bill that has moved forward focuses on combat-injured veterans forced into early retirement due to their injuries and not receiving their vested longevity pay. The Major Richard Star Act (H.R.1282, S.344) would allow a veteran with a combat-related disability and fewer than 20 years of creditable service to receive retirement pay, without reduction, concurrent with disability compensation.
The House version of the bill currently has 303 co-sponsors. House rules allow a member of Congress to file a motion with the house clerk to place their legislation on the Consensus Calendar once their legislation has accumulated 290 co-sponsors. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), who introduced the bill, took this step on Aug. 12. Having the bill placed on the Consensus Calendar allows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring legislation to the House floor for a vote. The Senate version of the bill has 62 co-sponsors.
Another bill moving forward toward passage is the FY2023 NDAA (S.4543), which has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee and sent back to the Senate. Although the Senate’s version of the NDAA does not currently include a provision on expanding concurrent receipt, Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Michael Crapo (Idaho) plan to file a floor amendment to add one when the NDAA goes to the Senate floor for approval.
The FRA believes that retired pay is for years of arduous military service paid by the Department of Defense while disability pay is for lifelong injury paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. To reduce retirement pay because of a disability is an injustice.
The hopes of the FRA are that the Major Richard Star Act or an amendment to this year’s NDAA will help to relieve this unnecessary offset for injured military retirees, especially combat-injured veterans. The FRA will continue to work with Congress to find solutions to ensure that all retirees receive the compensation for their years of service and injuries incurred in that service.       FRA
I remain in Loyalty, Protection and Service, 
Chris Slawinski
Chris is the national executive director of the Fleet Reserve Association and may be reached at: NED@FRA.org.

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sHIPMATE FORUM

FRAtoday July Issue
The feature article about the Blackall racing family is a great article and shows the military and the VA need to do better in treating the mental aspect of our veterans. Are the Blackall’s members of the FRA? If not, they should be. No mention of our organization anywhere in the article.  
In Loyalty, Protection and Service
JrPRPNW Danny Hunt
President, Gem State Branch 382

Women Members of the FRA 
Gentlemen: 
I think it would have been nice if you had included a picture of Admiral Linda Fagan when announcing her selection to be Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard! (July 2022 issue) As the first woman to command a military group, I think she deserves a bit of fanfare! You could even have used the same picture from the June FRAtoday — announcing Adm Fagan’s nomination for the post.
You may not realize it, but there are a number of us women who read your publication, and we are or have been in the military and we do like to see our ‘sisters’ finally starting to receive recognition for our contribution to our nation’s military.
I would also like to ask women members of the FRA — If you are going to wear the hat designating your rank in the organization — PUHLEEZ wear it properly!!!  It does not get shoved onto the back of the head - so as not to spoil the coiffure!!! And it does not sit on top of the pouf of hair on either the side, or the top of the head. If I had stood for inspection with my Navy hat in any of the ridiculous positions I see in photographs in the magazine — I would have been thoroughly reprimanded by my CO!!!! In fact, I never would have gotten beyond Boot Camp trying to disgrace my uniform if I thought that was an acceptable way to wear it. Rethink your hairdo, Ladies — uniforms worn properly make a person look very professional!!!!
AC2 Margaret L. Mangan, USN (Ret.)

Advertisements
To the Editor,
Too often in FRAtoday there are letters disparaging ads presented in our magazine. Let’s just face the fact that society is polarized. These letters to the editor will only increase that polarization — if that is even possible — and pay more mind to the articles presented in it. 
What is it that the letter writers want? Our magazine to become another right or left rag that all the other media has become or a magazine which presents articles for the enjoyment of our sailors & shipmates throughout the country and in the services? They are only ads which are trying to sell something, and they raise funds which support our fine publication.
Do what I do — don’t read the ads unless by its nature you would like to purchase the item.
ETC(SS) Paul Anderson, USN (Ret.)

Offended Shipmates
Dear Editor,  
Recently, a few of our Shipmates have been offended by some advertisements in our magazine from conservative organizations. One Shipmate even threatened to leave our organization if the practice continued. This demonstrated behavior is most disheartening.  
It would be more understandable if it was coming from some of our young, inexperienced, civilian population. The senior petty officers/Chief Petty Officers that guided/taught and raised me would be surprised by these circumstances. Those old salts would be amused that some of our Shipmates would feel threatened or uncomfortable with other people expressing their own opinions.  
I started reading our magazine, Naval Affairs, back in the 1960s. It has only gotten better over the years. When a magazine can inform and entertain then that is the best of both worlds.  
Thank you to you and your Staff. 
T. R. “Joe” Kemp, USN (Ret.)

You Do Not Discuss “The Big Three”
I have been following for the past year or so with great interest the letters submitted to Shipmate Forum concerning the FRA, and other VSO’s, remaining apolitical and ‘above the fray.’ In the August FRAtoday Forum Shipmates Smith and Margolis’s input were spot on, as were other Shipmates submissions in previous months that raised their concerns over what appears to be a deliberate trend — promoting only Right Wing views.
Shipmate Margolis’s concerns over advertisements for products spreading at best half-truths, and usually outright falsehoods, were correct. It is nice to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Over the years I too have been concerned with the now routine inclusion of paid advertisements for products from widely discredited conservative provocateurs (one of my less than-favorites was the one urging me to buy their product “before I’m rounded up and put in a FEMA camp”) and have submitted letters to FRA stating so. I received letters back promising a better vetting process; one that clearly hasn’t happened.
The dangers of believing the kind of flotsam touted by these paid advertisements were manifested in the events of 6 January 2021. I will clearly state that I believe the participation in, support of, or the denial of, the violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow our democracy on the basis of the baseless “Big Lie” by any member of the FRA, any member of the Armed Services active or retired, or any veteran, is a disgrace to the oath we all took. ANY participation, in whatever form, no matter how small, in that event is an indelible stain to that oath.
I was taught as a matter of decorum that you didn't discuss “The Big Three” — one of them being politics — in public. Like Shipmate Margolis I consider myself an independent, a secular middle of the road voter who votes issues not party, and I recommend that the FRA make a course correction to return to being apolitical. Please take a look at the photos of FRA events, FRA membership isn't getting any younger. The FRA and other VSO’s are hemorrhaging members and can’t get younger vets to join, and as Shipmate Smith observed if that course correction isn't immediately made I too will end my affiliation with the FRA.
SKCS Paul Rump, USN (Ret.)

FRA Calendar
Dear FRA
I am writing to you about your calendar that I have been receiving for the past couple of years. You have left one very important date without a notation in your calendar. You observe such things as “First Day of Summer” and “Rosh Hashanah Ends at Sunset”.
However, you do not have a notation of June 8, which should have “USS Liberty Attacked by Israel.” Their attack lasted two hours, the same as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. War crimes were committed by Israel. All the ship’s operating and international distress frequencies were jammed, they were attacked by unmarked jets, motor torpedo boats shot up life rafts as they were being lowered.
It is important to keep this historical attack on an American ship in our history and not hidden from the American people and veterans. It is the only incident of this type which has not had a congressional investigation due to the influence of the Jewish lobby. I pray the Jewish lobby is not preventing you from publishing this important date.
Sincerely yours,
RMCM(SS) Myron L. LeAnna, USN (Ret.)

FRAtoday: Thank you for your letter and indeed that event should be included in the next calendar we produce. That suggestion was sent at the best time, since we had not yet sent the project off to print. A copy of that calendar was mailed to all FRA members with this edition of the magazine.    

Letters published in Shipmate Forum reflect the opinions and views of individual FRA members. They do not reflect the position of the FRA. The FRA is not responsible for the accuracy of letter content. To submit letters to FRAtoday for consideration, please send them to: 125 N. West St., Alexandria, VA 22314 or to fratoday@fra.org.

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ON AND OFF CAPITOL HILL

Now Is the Time to Use the FRA Action Center
As FRAtoday goes to press, the House has passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act and the Senate is preparing to pass its version. The FRA expects this year’s NDAA to undergo the usual process after passing both chambers of Congress, with a conference committee being appointed to resolve the differences between the two bills and to submit a final bill to both chambers of Congress for a vote. If approved by the House and Senate, the final bill would then be sent to the president to be signed into law or vetoed. 
The FRA is supporting numerous legislative initiatives in the Senate and House versions of the NDAA that are associated with the FRA’s 2022 Legislative Agenda, including expanded concurrent receipt, and will work to make sure these initiatives are included in the final version of the bill. The FRA is currently working to get a vote on concurrent receipt in both chambers of Congress. Members are urged to go to the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to weigh in on these issues.
The FRA wants to remind all Shipmates that democracy is not a spectator sport. We urge the membership to stay informed on issues impacting them, the sea services and their nation so they can make an informed vote for members of Congress. Many will have an opportunity to vote for a candidate running for one of the 33 Senate seats up for election this year. 

Concurrent Receipt Action in House and Senate 
As FRAtoday goes to press, the Major Richard Star Act (H.R.1282), a concurrent receipt bill, has 299 co-sponsors in the House. House rules allow a member of Congress to file a motion with the House Clerk to place their legislation on the Consensus Calendar once their legislation has accumulated 290 co-sponsors. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), who introduced the bill, took this step on Aug. 12. Having the bill placed on the Consensus Calendar allows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote.  
Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committees has approved the Senate version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (S.4543), which will go to the Senate floor for approval. Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Mike Crapo (Idaho) will file a Senate floor amendment to add a provision to this must-pass bill that would expand concurrent receipt. 
The FRA argues that retired pay is for years of arduous military service paid by the Department of Defense while disability pay is for lifelong injury paid by the VA. To reduce retirement pay because of a disability is an injustice. Members can go to the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to weigh in on this issue. 

VA Is Ready to Implement Veterans’ Toxic Exposure Act
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough issued a statement after a comprehensive veterans’ toxic exposure bill known as the Honoring Our PACT Act (S.3373) was signed into law. 
“We at VA are ready to implement the PACT Act and deliver for toxic-exposed Veterans and their survivors,” McDonough wrote. “Thank you to all of the Veterans, survivors and family members who fought tirelessly to make this day possible, and thank you to President Biden for keeping our nation’s promise to those who served.”
McDonough noted that those who think they might be eligible for PACT Act benefits can file a claim with the VA now to apply for those benefits. He also stated that the 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers named in the bill were added to the presumptive conditions list the day the bill was signed. 
Although the VA is encouraging eligible veterans and survivors to apply now, it should be noted that due to the time it will take to obtain funding approval and set up the processing infrastructure, the VA’s website states that it does not plan to begin processing PACT Act-related claims until January 2023. According to the website, this delay will “likely” be offset by backdating benefits to the date of the PACT Act’s signing, Aug. 10.

The FRA-supported PACT Act establishes a presumption of service connection for 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to the inhalation of smoke from burn pits. Further, the law provides new benefits for veterans who faced radiation exposure during deployments throughout the Cold War. It also adds hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy to the list of illnesses linked to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War, expands the eligibility timeline for Gulf War medical claims, and requires new medical exams for all veterans with toxic exposure claims. Additionally, veterans who served in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, American Samoa, the Johnston Atoll and Guam during the Vietnam War era are now covered under the same Agent Orange presumptive condition policies as those who served in Vietnam itself.
Shipmates can learn more about the PACT Act, including eligibility criteria and the application process, by going to: www.VA.gov/PACT or calling 1-800-MyVA411.

FRA Commemorative Coin Bill
At the request of the FRA, Reps. Gus Bilirakis (Fla.) and John Garamendi (Calif.) proudly introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation (H.R.6663) that would direct the Department of the Treasury to create a set of 100th anniversary commemorative coins for the Fleet Reserve Association. At no cost to taxpayers, this bill would mint $5, $1 and half-dollar coins to commemorate the centennial of the FRA’s foundation and charter in 1924. 
“For one century, the FRA has served as a strong voice in Washington,” said Bilirakis. “The organization has been instrumental in advocating for Sea Service Members and their families, including successfully fighting back against proposed cuts to benefits and supporting enhanced eligibility and benefits for Veterans. The organization has been a valued partner in my fight to rectify the injustice of concurrent receipt. Together, I am optimistic that we will be able to ensure all Veterans finally receive the full benefits they’ve earned and deserve. I am honored to help commemorate this prestigious organization’s tireless work and legacy of success.”
The bill has picked up some additional co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services for further consideration. Members are strongly urged to ask their representatives to co-sponsor this legislation by going to the FRA Action Center located on the website at www.fra.org.   

HVAC Subcommittee Reviews EHR Modernization Progress
The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization held a hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Electronic Health Record Modernization program. Subcommittee Chairman Frank Mrvan (Ind.) noted that this is the 10th hearing in this session of Congress on this issue. He said that employee training is substandard, management is ineffective and the system does not work well when it works at all. The nearly three-hour hearing included testimony from the executive director of the EHR Modernization program, VA medical center directors, officials from the VA Office of the Inspector General and vice presidents from Oracle Cerner, the contractor responsible for the HER software.
In June, the VA Electronic Health Record Transparency Act (P.L.117-154) was signed into law, requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress quarterly reports that evaluate the costs and performance of the VA’s EHR Modernization program. The first of these reports was due Sept. 21.
The FRA wants to ensure adequate funding for Department of Defense and VA health care resource sharing to deliver seamless, cost-effective, quality services to personnel wounded in combat and other veterans and their families. Some members of Congress have expressed concern about the cost and length of time to fully implement the new EHR system. The cost and the long time for implementation notwithstanding, the FRA believes there is a tremendous opportunity for improved care with the two departments using the same EHR.  

SVAC Hearing on Nominees to Fill Critical Positions at VA
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing to consider the nominations of Anjali Chaturvedi for the position of Department of Veterans Affairs general counsel and Jaime Areizaga-Soto for the position of chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. The VA’s general counsel serves as the department’s in-house counsel responsible for providing legal advice and representation to the VA, among many other duties. The chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals leads and executes the board’s mission of conducting hearings and deciding appeals for benefits and services for veterans and their families. Both positions require Senate confirmation. 
Anjali Chaturvedi left Northrop Grumman in February after more than seven years of service as assistant general counsel to join the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division as deputy assistant attorney general. She has previously served as assistant general counsel at BP (formerly British Petroleum) and was a partner at the Washington, D.C., location of the law firm Nixon Peabody, LLP. Between 1994 and 2006, she worked for the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the Northern District of California and the District of Columbia. As an adjunct professor, Chaturvedi taught criminal procedure at the University of California Hastings College of the Law and trial advocacy at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Jaime Areizaga-Soto is a brigadier general in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps who has served in the Army National Guard since 1997. At the time of his nomination, he was serving on active duty as the National Guard Bureau’s principal deputy general counsel, assisting the NGB general counsel in managing over 100 attorneys across service branches. Prior to that, Areizaga-Soto served as the deputy secretary for Veterans and Defense Affairs in Virginia, advising state governors on military matters for over seven years. He also practiced international law for 12 years at various firms. Areizaga-Soto grew up in Puerto Rico and has been active in the Hispanic community. He has served as the president of the Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia, the Democratic National Committee’s deputy director for Hispanic affairs, the president of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and the Hispanic National Bar Association's vice president for membership. After the hearing, the SVAC approved his nomination and the Senate approved the appointment.  

Military Veterans in Congress
Veterans currently make up 17% of Congress with 91 serving (63 Republicans and 28 Democrats) in the 117th Congress (2021-2022). Veterans made up less than 18% of Congress in the previous session, with 96 serving. The number of veterans serving in Congress has been declining since the 1970s. In 1973, almost 3 out of every 4 members of Congress had served in the military. In 2018, veterans serving in Congress created the bipartisan For Country Caucus for these veteran legislators to promote policies that put issues of national defense, veteran well-being and national service opportunities above political party. The caucus is currently co-chaired by Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Don Bacon (Neb.).

Legislation Passed to Simplify GI Bill Reporting for Schools
The president recently signed into law the Ensuring the Best Schools for Veterans Act (P.L.117-174). The legislation sponsored by the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees, Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), Rep. Mike Bost (Ill.), Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (Kan.), will simplify the reporting process for colleges and universities to make GI Bill paperwork requirements easier and more straightforward. This will allow schools to focus on ensuring student veterans get the education they have earned without additional red tape.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, enacted in 2008, has made it possible for thousands of veterans to pursue a college degree after their military service. This legislation will make it easier for colleges and universities that serve student veterans to have a standard and simplified process for enrolling students using the GI Bill to help them get their earned benefits.

Legislative Update: AIR Commission Confirmation Blocked
A bipartisan group of senators, including a majority of Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee members, blocked the confirmation of the nine-member Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission that would have considered closing or eliminating services at a variety of VA facilities nationwide. 
As reported in the May 2022 issue of FRAtoday, the Department of Veterans Affairs has released a reorganization plan called the Asset and Infrastructure Review report, which would have closed three medical centers in Northampton, Massachusetts; Chillicothe, Ohio; and the borough of Brooklyn in New York, as well as several other VA facilities. The VA has stated that the reorganization is needed to reflect the changing needs of modern health care and to close aging offices and centers that are no longer near where large numbers of veterans live. The plan also provided for the construction of dozens of new health care and community living facilities. The VA reported that the reorganization would have put nearly 200,000 more veterans within a 30-minute drive of mental health care. 
Overall, the plan called for 35 VA medical centers in 21 states to be closed or completely rebuilt, while 14 new VA hospitals and 140 new multi-specialty outpatient clinics would have been added to the system. Seven of the 17 sites listed for closure are in the Northeast. VA officials said this reflected the fact that more of the veteran population has moved out of that region to resettle in the Midwest and Southwest. Opponents of the plan have argued that the data used by the VA to determine facility usage was too old to be reliable.
In related news, the Honoring Our PACT Act (P.L.117-168), a comprehensive piece of veterans’ toxic exposure legislation, provides for the setup of 31 VA medical clinics across America and the hiring of thousands more claims processors and health care staff members. 

Accessing Abortion in the Military
The House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel met to discuss how access to reproductive health services impacts service members’ readiness. The hearing comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Pentagon released a memorandum in June stating that DOD medical facilities will continue to perform abortions when the life of the mother is in danger or the pregnancy results from rape or incest. Federal law continues to cover those services. 

The memorandum also made clear that active-duty service members and civilian employees can continue to receive emergency sick leave to obtain an abortion for themselves or a loved one. Such leave may be used to travel to obtain those services. The DOD will continue to pay for travel related to obtaining an abortion that is life-threatening for the mother or the result of rape or incest; all other abortion travel must be done at the service member’s own expense.

PDBR Review of Disability Claims Continues
The Physical Disability Board of Review was created by an FRA-supported provision in the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act to reassess the accuracy and fairness of combined disability ratings of 20% or less for service members who were separated from service, rather than medically retired, because of medical conditions. The board is still accepting applications from veterans who have not yet applied for review.
To be eligible for a PDBR review, service members must have been medically separated between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2009, with a combined disability rating of 20% or less and found ineligible for retirement. The Department of Defense has estimated that more than 77,000 service members are eligible to request a review of their disability rating. The PDBR has reported that a significant portion of the disability ratings reviewed have been upgraded to 30% or more. 
The review panel is authorized to recommend an increase in a disability rating, uphold the previous finding or issue a disability rating when the previous board did not assign one. The board, however, is not able to recommend a lower rating. Eligible veterans can request a board review by submitting a Department of Defense Form 294, Application for a Review by the Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) of the Rating Awarded Accompanying a Medical Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States, which is at: esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/forms/dd/dd0294.pdf. More information about eligibility and the application process can be found at: afrba-portal.cce.af.mil/#board-info/pdbr

Join the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry
The FRA wants to encourage all veterans who served in eligible areas to join the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry on the VA website. Those who need assistance registering can call the help desk at 1-877-470-5947. Participation in the registry is very important as it will allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to track burn pit exposure and collect data regarding associated adverse health effects. 
Exposure to burn pits may be linked to respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The VA recently added asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis, as well as the respiratory illnesses and cancers named in the Honoring Our PACT Act, to the list of presumptive conditions related to particulate matter exposure. Shipmates can learn more about the registry and participate at: www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/registry.asp

Veteran Business Acceleration Act Introduced
Reps. Byron Donalds (Fla.), Young Kim (Calif.) and Rob Wittman (Va.) have introduced the Post-9/11 Veteran Business Acceleration Act (H.R.8660), which would amend the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program to establish a joint pilot program between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration that would allow eligible individuals to receive financial assistance for business operations instead of educational aid. The financial assistance would last for three years and could be used to begin a new business or continue operating a current business. The Post-9/11 Veteran Business Acceleration Act would give veterans more flexibility to direct their own paths toward either business ownership or higher education. The bill has been referred to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee for further consideration.  
FEATURE  STORY

Operation Deep Freeze
Antarctic Discoveries

The Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vessel Program
The Long Journey to Sailorless Ships

By Elise M. Howard

Imagine the gray hull of a 250-foot U.S. Navy ship slicing through the waters of the Pacific Ocean, marking off another day in a monthslong patrol for maritime threats. Although it remains ready to rapidly identify and fire upon an approaching enemy, the ship is eerily silent. There is no clatter of dishes in the galley, no small talk in the berthings, no showers running in the head. In fact, there is not a soul on board. The sailors who would have been on this tedious deployment are instead home in Southern California, supervising this large unmanned surface vessel from a shore-based control center. If a conflict were to occur — even if the ship were lost to enemy action — these men and women would go home to their families with nothing more than a headache.

Although the Navy remains years away from ships operating with this level of autonomy, this is the vision of the U.S. Navy’s unmanned surface vessel program, operated by the Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office as the Ghost Fleet Overlord program until March. The Navy dreams of a fleet that combines both manned and unmanned vessels to reduce shipbuilding costs and risks to sailors while increasing overall fleet capability. In the short term, while the technology for autonomous operation is still being developed, the Navy foresees unmanned vessels operating with a small crew alongside traditional ships, directed by unmanned operations centers ashore or aboard nearby vessels.

Although both of its unmanned surface vessels are being designed to accommodate various payloads for maximum utility, the Navy’s initial plans are to use large unmanned surface vessels, or LUSVs, as auxiliary magazines holding up to 32 vertical launch system missile tubes, while medium unmanned surface vessels, or MUSVs, serve as forward sensor suites for intelligence gathering and electronic warfare. All aspects of the program seem subject to change, however, as the Navy does a delicate dance between the budgetary pressures of Congress, the advancements of rival nations and the actual capabilities of current technology.

The Unmanned Advantage
Over the past seven years, the Navy has worked hard to sell the advantages of unmanned surface vessels to Congress and the public. Ships without sailors could take on more dangerous missions, as well as extremely dull missions that reduce morale. Without a human crew to feed or keep happy, they could stay out at sea longer, operate in uninhabitable environments, and avoid using fuel for creature comforts like lights, stoves and washing machines. Using artificial intelligence, the Navy believes unmanned ships could more quickly identify and fire upon targets than traditional vessels, and could make better decisions than humans in the face of overwhelming data. In a battle group, unmanned surface vessels could extend the firing range and battlefield awareness of their allies with no additional risk to sailors.

In the big picture, USVs are a key component of the Navy’s vision for Distributed Maritime Operations, meaning a more even spreading of capabilities across the Navy’s assets. Unmanned ships are also part of the Navy’s strategy for keeping pace with China. As the DOD informed Congress in its report “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” last year, China has more ships in its navy than the United States and is “the top ship-producing nation in the world by tonnage.” The DOD also reported that, like the United States, China sees unmanned systems as a key future capability and has been working toward greater autonomy for its own unmanned aerial, surface and undersea assets.

Getting Hulls in the Water
Responding with urgency to this heightened competition from China and others, the DOD has rapidly procured USV prototypes and awarded design contracts — some have argued, too rapidly. From 2014 to 2021, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research developed, acquired and tested two medium USV prototypes, SEA HUNTER and SEAHAWK. Almost simultaneously, the DOD’s Ghost Fleet Overlord program outfitted two commercial fast supply vessels with the latest autonomous technology to create the large USV prototypes RANGER and NOMAD.

In both cases, the DOD began soliciting offers for design work before the final prototypes were even delivered to the Navy. In July 2020, the Navy announced that it had awarded a $35 million “detail design and fabrication” contract to L3Harris Technologies for the next MUSV prototype, with the option of adding eight additional MUSVs to the order. In September of that year, the DOD spread another $42 million across six companies for studies to determine the specifications and requirements of a future LUSV design contract. The Navy also ordered another two Ghost Fleet Overlord prototypes in 2020 to be delivered by the end of fiscal year 2023. The first to be completed was christened MARINER in late August.

Beginning in 2019, lawmakers began to express concern that the Navy’s prototyping and acquisition efforts were moving too quickly, failing to provide enough time for adequate testing, technology maturation and concept of operations development. In the National Defense Authorization acts for fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022, Congress intentionally slowed the pace of USV acquisition by requiring, among other things, land-based testing of propulsion equipment, an analysis of alternatives for the LUSV program and a Government Accountability Office investigation of the Navy’s management of its unmanned programs. In response, the Navy has reluctantly adjusted its acquisition schedule and shifted its focus toward the underlying technologies that will make unmanned surface vessels possible.

Making Crewless Ships a Reality
Although the Navy has been using unmanned aerial and undersea vehicles since the 1990s, developing surface vessels intended for long-term crewless missions has presented unique challenges. One of the most significant hurdles for the Navy has been creating a hull, electrical system and mechanical system that can operate without human maintenance or observation for months at a time. As the Navy learned the hard way with its littoral combat ships, which were designed to operate with a minimal crew, removing people from a ship means that minor issues can go unnoticed until they become major problems. On a USV, the electrical and cooling systems present the particular difficulty of sustaining the very computers that will be monitoring them for problems. The Navy is currently working with industry partners to develop a seaworthy power generation system that can operate for at least 4,000 hours — about 5 1/2 months — without human maintenance. Work is also underway on automated lubrication and refueling systems, advanced computer monitoring, and other technologies that will allow USVs to remain at sea without human crews.

In addition to these physical systems of unprecedented complexity, the Navy must also develop the unseen digital infrastructure for USVs. One of the service’s major digital challenges has been to create its Common Control System, a single set of software that can be used across unmanned systems, as well as across the various ships and shore-based control centers commanding them. Thus far, development and acquisition efforts have been platform-specific for each of the Navy’s unmanned aerial, undersea and surface assets.

“The requirements folks have always just said, ‘We need it to be an open-systems architecture,’” Steve Olson, then-deputy branch head of the Navy’s Mine Warfare Program Office, explained to Defense News in September 2019. “So industry brings us their version, and the problem is I’ve got 10 different open-systems architectures and none of them work together. … I need a system that can go out, tow sonar or drop [an unmanned undersea vehicle] and also be able to utilize what assets we have in the air to increase situational awareness.”

In May, the director of the Navy’s Unmanned Task Force confirmed that the Common Control System is still in progress. To update and integrate its current USV software, the Navy plans to officially establish its Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab, which began as a pilot program in 2020. For upcoming projects, the Navy has created a more stringent set of digital standards that new programs must adhere to, known as the Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture. The service plans to test all incoming autonomy software for compatibility in simulators at the RAIL before installation on actual ships.
           	
Proving Their Worth
Although it has a long way to go with many of these enabling technologies, the Navy has taken many opportunities to demonstrate the progress that has been made on USVs and the role that they could play in the future fleet. In 2020 and 2021, the large USV prototypes RANGER and NOMAD showed off their navigational abilities as they transited over 4,400 nautical miles from the Gulf coast to California, using autonomous mode at least 97% of the way. This year, the Navy has sent USVs to several high-profile international exercises, including the International Maritime Exercise held in the Middle East in February, which served as a proving ground for 14 different concepts of operation for unmanned surface vessels. In late June, the recently established Unmanned Surface Vessel Division 1 brought SEA HUNTER, SEAHAWK, NOMAD and RANGER to the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, where the ships were among 30 unmanned systems from around the world participating in five weeks of war games near Hawaii and Southern California.

While no one knows how many more tests and exercises it will take for the Navy to prove the USV concept to Congress and the public, the service’s determination is clear. With flexibility and persistence, the Navy is overcoming fiscal, political and technical challenges one at a time on its long journey to an unprecedented technology.         

FEATURE STORY

Writing as a Healing Art 
Programs New and Old Use Writing to Treat PTSD

By Ann Norvell Gray

The human brain is a glorious mystery. It is both exquisitely fragile and remarkably resilient. When it is injured, either by physical damage or by unbearable sensory or emotional trauma, consciousness and the ability to perceive and react appropriately to circumstances can be profoundly affected. Mercifully, our understanding of how this 3-pound organ of soft, convoluted tissue inside our heads does what it does has been growing at speeds unimaginable only two or three generations ago. Veterans of the First and Second World Wars who came home scrambled by what was then called “shell shock” and “battle fatigue” had very little support as they readjusted to civilian life, not because no one cared about them, but because no one knew how to treat them.
All that is changing now. PTSD, the acronym for post-traumatic stress disorder, is familiar to most people, whether they have experienced combat or not. For many years, it was thought that the solution was found at the pharmacy. In 1987, the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, were introduced as antidepressants, and were almost immediately popular because they were so much safer than the addictive opioids and amphetamines prescribed in earlier decades. For some service members with trauma symptoms, a carefully monitored course of antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication or both was expected to be effective, but that turned out not to be universally true. 
More therapeutic models have been tried, and because every service member affected by trauma is different, many more veterans have been helped. Now, the Department of Veterans Affairs backs a wide variety of therapeutic interventions and supports for veterans affected by PTSD and their families. Some benefit from programs addressing grief and moral injury, finding self-forgiveness for actions taken — or not taken — during a traumatic event. Traditional talk therapy can be effective, and many are helped by meditative physical disciplines like yoga and tai chi. Still, too many returning service members, veterans and the people who love them continue to struggle.

Hearing Veterans’ Voices
For those of us who are not medical doctors, trained social workers, psychologists, licensed therapists or survivors of armed conflict, a deep dive into the PTSD research literature can be a little like deciphering hieroglyphics. Still, whether or not we grasp the intricacy of the research, the artists and writers among us are not at all surprised that drawing, painting and writing have found a significant place in the treatment of trauma. We may not know why certain paintings move us, but we sense that they are communications from an inner life. Similarly, truth in the words on a page connects us directly with the human depths of the person who put it there. We may not be injured in the same way, but we know in our bones that there is healing in self-expression.
Shortly after World War II ended, a group of enterprising women in Chicago recognized the value of getting wartime experiences down in writing, and developed an outreach program for returning veterans in hospitals. Their Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project, now the Veterans Voices Writing Project, has continued ever since to give service members a place to get their stories on paper, and to get them published. The program now operates out of Kansas City, Missouri, where a volunteer staff produces the Veterans’ Voices magazine three times a year. 
A contributor named Rich Wangard expressed the value of their mission on the organization’s website, writing: “I can paint pictures. Nothing on canvas but using words to paint them — words that my fellow veterans can see and understand; words that provide me with an emotional outlet that gets me by day to day. … Am I any good? I don’t know! All I do know is the outlet I receive every time I use thought, experience and patience to write something that I hope relates to my brothers and sisters.”

Operation Homecoming
The value of writing as a healing art reached into the Department of Defense, and in 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts created Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience in partnership with both the DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The project was also supported by a substantial grant from Boeing. The result was that more than 60 writing workshops aimed at improving service member well-being were set up on more than 30 military bases around the world and led by established writers and teachers.
The idea was not without its critics, some of whom believed the project to have shanghaied active military members into producing work that provided public relations cover for unpopular actions abroad. Nevertheless, the work produced in those workshops was helpful for its intended purpose, and was widely praised.
In the summer of 2006, excerpts from more than 10,000 pages of work that had been submitted to the NEA by 6,000 service members in 50 of the workshops were published in The New Yorker magazine’s June 12, 2006, issue. The magazine noted that participants “were told to write freely, without fear of official constraints or oversight.” What follows are brief excerpts from three of those submissions.
From Cmdr. Edward Jewel, M.D., on the hospital ship USNS COMFORT:
“March 28. … The doctors are all bored from under-utilization, but the surgeons seem particularly restless. There are so many of them and not enough cases to fill the time. ... 
“March 29. The old Navy jargon ‘belay my last,’ meaning disregard my last statement, applies to my commentary from yesterday. We got creamed with fresh casualties last night, thirty new patients, both sides, all needing immediate and significant intervention. … 
“… Our patients are mostly Iraqis. Along with their combat wounds, they are dirty, undernourished, and dehydrated. … As medical people we are trained to care for the sick; it is difficult to stay mindful that these patients are the enemy and could fight back against us.”
From Army Sgt. Tina Beller to her parents from the Green Zone, Baghdad:
“I am just writing to let you know that physically I remain unharmed. Emotionally and mentally is a different story. … I was the first responder to a building within our compound that was hit by a rocket. … 
“I made it back to my room after a long heaving cry and began to dress in my uniform. They found me in my room cleaning my weapon, yet I was shaking so bad I couldn’t assemble my bolt and charging handle together correctly. I realized I needed to chill before I was going to defend us anywhere. … 
“… The veterans I spoke to last night told me I will probably smell paint sometime in the future, and it will remind me of this day, this horrible event. They also told me it wasn’t my fault, and I couldn’t have saved them since their injuries were far too great for my little hands. From what they had heard, I had done the right thing, the honorable thing.”
From the journal of Capt. Ed Hrivnak, serving with a medevac crew in Iraq:
“I told the nurse to toss me a syringe of morphine and I would take care of him myself. … A battle buddy was holding his hand and talking softly to him. Their hands were locked like they were ready to arm-wrestle. I quickly pushed the morphine into his vein. … His buddy stayed with him, talking to him, consoling him, until the pain medicine took effect and the soldier’s hand relaxed. These two were not in the same unit. … They were brought together and bonded by their wounds. Their injuries made them part of a fraternity, a private brotherhood I felt privileged to witness.”
Much of what they describe is graphic and painful to read and has been edited out here, but it is clear that they are thinking deeply about how to process what they have seen and what has happened to them. When such narratives are published, their frankness can support veterans who may not be ready to talk about their own experiences, but can feel less alone through the generosity of strangers.

Incorporating Writing Into Therapy
Operation Homecoming was so successful that it was integrated into the creative arts therapy program at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2012. Writing has also been incorporated into several talk therapy treatment methods for PTSD, often as a means of revisiting a trauma experience with new coping skills or a fresh perspective. In one variation of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, the usual eight to 12 weekly sessions with the therapist are interspersed with educational reading and guided writing assignments. The goal is to identify and alter the trauma-based beliefs that create anxiety and avoidance in daily life. 
Each week’s assignment is explained during time with the therapist, and asks very specific questions aimed at a particular step in the process of ameliorating the effects of trauma. The freedom to take all the time needed between sessions to really think about what the questions ask, to consider how to answer them, and then to write thoughtful answers at whatever length feels right lowers the pressure on the client’s response. During the appointment times, the therapist reviews the work, discusses what it might mean and gauges symptom improvement. Far fewer expensive hours are spent in the company of the therapist, and those hours are structured by the process and informed by the client’s work, which ensures the client is a safely guided, but active participant in his or her own healing.
It would take far more space than we have here to fully describe this approach. For Shipmates who are interested in learning more about this kind of therapy, there is a study by Jennifer Wild and Anke Ehlers published in 2010 by the European Journal of Psychotraumatology that explains the reasons for its design and presents a long, fully described case study involving a fellow who perceived during an automobile accident that his back had been broken and his daughter and grandson had been killed, none of which had happened. Although this is not a military story, the relative simplicity of this situation made it an excellent choice for explaining the process and its effects on the client’s recovery. A link to the study is listed in the Resources section following the article. The case study begins on the second page.
Thus, it seems that writing as a means of relieving PTSD symptoms is here to stay, whether as part of a larger therapeutic plan or as a stand-alone form of self-healing. What the ladies of Chicago knew by instinct in 1946, we are beginning to rediscover through science today. As the creative arts therapy partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts, the DOD and the VA continues at Walter Reed and other clinical sites throughout the country, we will continue to grow our knowledge of just how mighty the pen — or the keyboard — can be.        

Resources
1. An online gallery of writing and art created by service members in the NEA’s Creative Forces program: https://www.creativeforcesnrc.arts.gov/exhibition/creative-forces-healing-the-invisible-wounds-of-war.
2. Wild and Ehlers' Trauma-focused CBT case study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3189692/pdf/EJPT-1-5599.pdf.
3. The 2006 New Yorker article featuring stories from Operation Homecoming: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/12/soldiers-stories
Book Reviews for the anthology created from Operation Homecoming submissions:
1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24440.Operation_Homecoming
2. https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Homecoming-Afghanistan-Troops-Families/product-reviews/1400065623

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MEMBERHSIP MATTERS

There was no Membership Matters editorial this month.

Christina is the director of membership development and may be reached at ChristinaH@FRA.org
Shipmate News

1. Branch 251, Mt. Home, Ark.
On May 25, ATC Fred D. Stufflebeam (R) received his 50-Year Continuous Membership Certificate and Pin from Branch President David E. Butts (L). Stufflebeam’s wife Ursula and a 
Shipmate participated.

2. Branch 57, South Jersey, N.J.
Branch 57 installed their new officers on June 15 during their monthly meeting. 
The new officers are (L to R) Treasurer Spencer Link, Secretary Michael Filinuk, Vice President Donald Burkhard and President Mary Rauch; and the installing officer was Chester Hoffman.

3. Branch 261, Lemoore, Calif.
Shipmate Jackie L. Fielder (L) was presented with his 50-Year Continuous Membership Certificate and Pin. The presentation was conducted by Branch President Doug McCann (R).

4. Branch 13, Atlantic City, N.J.
On March 29, a donation of 12 walkie- talkies was given to Meadowview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Atlantic County, New Jersey. (L to R) Director of Nursing Stacie Bates, Branch President Kim Yoder-Notaro, Assistant Nursing Home Administrator Iris Baker and Branch Secretary PRPNE/NEng. Albert Davenport.

5. Branch 32, Gravois Mills, Mo.
The branch officer installation and banquet was held at VFW Post 5178. (Front, L to R) Jerry Harvey and  RPNC Maria Behm. (Back, L to R) David King, Clifford Dyer, Ronald Grapes, Mat Wood, Curtis Spickler, Bob Behm, James Paczkowski, Richard Musgrave, PRPNC Jerry Lickteig, LA FRA RPNC PNP Doris Fri.

6. Branch 112, Birmingham, Ala.
On Saturday, June 26, Branch 112 along with Daniel Dunning of Humana presented seven of 14 students with their essay contest certificates and monetary awards. The winning students (L to R) Seth Walker, Abby McCracken, Mariah Mason, Saraya Henderson, Gabrialle Grady, Andrew Monson and Alexander Monson.
7. Branch 29, Bremerton, WASH.
A Flag Retirement Ceremony was held on Flag Day, June 14. (L to R) Past Branch President Kenny Barrett, Branch Vice President Gary Reed, Branch President Rick St. Denis, Kenny Nail, Bob Choate and Larry Daley. It is important for people to know that these flags are being properly retired.

8. 
Branch 302, Carson, Calif.
Branch officers were installed on June 12. Branch President Ed Labao, Installing Officer RPSW Roger Bacud and PRPSW John Quesnel were present. Mayor of Carson Lula Davis-Holmes and California State Assembly member Mike Gipson also attended as special guests.

9. Branch 261, Lemoore, Calif.
Branch President Doug McCann (L) visited the home of Shipmate Charles R. Pressley (R) and presented him with his 50-Year Continuous Membership Certificate and Pin.

10. Branch 104, Puyallup, Wash.
Branch members gathered to recognize the branch’s 75th anniversary. (Seated, L to R) Tom Schriver, then Branch President PNP John Johnson and Branch Secretary and Treasurer Rex Faubion. (Back row, L to R) Con Felthouse, Mike Batnick, Jim McInerney, Russell Peters, Jim Wallace, Alvie Robbins, Ernie LaChapelle and Jim Jones.

11. Branch 146, Johnsville, Pa.
Branch 146 joined the 2022 Warminster, Pennsylvania Memorial Day parade with two decorated pickup trucks. (L to R) Branch President Bob Opett, Dave Mullins, Guy Hurrell, Carroll Hamilton, Dick Murphy, Tom Svenningsen and Rod Zimmerman.

12. Branch 38, Spokane, Wash.
Shipmate Richard Peterschick (L) received his 50-Years Continuous Membership Certificate and Pin during the monthly branch meeting. The presentation was made by RPNW Michelle Davis (center) and Branch President Robert Bean (R).

13. Branch 238, Plover, Wisc.
Central Wisconsin Branch 238 attended the Fourth of July parade held in Manawa, Wisconsin. There were more than 90 participants in the parade. (L to R) Larry Field, Branch Secretary Mark Melton, Branch President Allen Langteau and Joyce Elter.

TAPS

Name	Rating	Branch
Aarlie, Herb	USN	61
Aldridge, James D.	AME1, USN	MAL
Allender, Edwin L.	CWO3, USN	MAL
Allison, Norman R.	CWO2, USN 	276
Amburn, Gerald G.	SH1, USN 	MAL

Baptista, John	SKG2, USN	08
Barlow, Phillip S.	BT1, USN	MAL
Bateman, Carlisle A.	QMC, USN 	MAL
Bennett, Robert J.	MMCM, USN	70
Benson, Harvey G.	MMCM, USN 	MAL
Biggs, Robert F.	ADC, USN	24
Bowen, Don A.	YN1, USN	11
Broussard, Joseph R.	SN, USN	201
Brower, John M.	ATC, USN 	MAL
Brown, Randy L.	MR2, USN	01
Burnett, Thomas R.	CWO4, USN	367

Calloway, Elliott W.	YNCS, USN	MAL
Connelly, Leon	RM1, USN	MAL
Cram, David H.	ADR1, USN	MAL

Daniels, Paul R.	CTC, USN	309
Dowdy, Victor L.	GMTC, USN	290

Eaton, Glenman B.	HMCM, USN	22
Ekleberry, William J.	BTCMUSN	298
Ellingson, Charles R.	HMC, USN 	MAL
Emerson, Kenneth E.	CPO, USN	91

Farrar, Samuel F.	CS3, USNR	61

Hacker, Patrick	TMCM, USN	60
Harsha, Thomas G.	BUC, USN 	MAL
Huerstel, Gerald J.,	ADRC, USN 	MAL
Hurdle, Robert T.	AMS1, USN	86

PNP, Johnson, Marvin W.	
	AEC(AC), USN	104

Kirby, Daniel P.	AOC, USN	101
Koenig, Frederick R.	ICC(SS), USN	269

Mangel, Edward L.	CWO4, USN	70
Martin, Billy D.	SHCS, USN 	MAL
Maynard, Mark J.	LT, USN	MAL
McAnany, William E.	HMC, USN	MAL
McCoy, Henry N.	POC, USN	01
McGinty, Raymond T.	   AT1, USN	307
McKaig, Jesse F.	SHCM, USN	301
McNamee, Edward J.	  GMCS, USN	207
Meyer, Omar L.	RM1(SS), USN	44
Moore, John E.	FCCM, USN	367
Moore, Robert	LTC, USN	24
Morton, George H.	MA1, USN	MAL
Murtomaki, Charles	CWO4, USN	61

Nastali, Robert J.	ADRC, USN	MAL
Nowak, John P.	SK1, USN	23
Nowalski, Alexander M.	
	ETC, USN	MAL

Phillips, Robert H.	DK2, USN	MAL

Ricardo, Deodarto R.	BMCM, USN	60
Roy, Gene P.	ATCS, USN	11
Rutledge, William F.	MM1, USN	01

Sadler, Kenneth R.	AMH1, USN	210
Sera, Michael H.	USN	04
Shehane, Robert T.	RMC, USN	MAL
Sisti, Frank A.	SKC, USN	MAL
Smith, Paul R.	CTR1, USN	292
Sneed, Chester S.	TMC(SS), USN 	MAL
Spears, Herschell R.	PNC, USN	11
Stanley, David B.	AMCS, USN	289
Sterrett, Arthur M.	AOC, USN	22
Stratton, Donald	MUCM, USN	67
Suitor, Billy R.	ET1, USN	11

Thomas, Abraham	SD2, USN	37
Toothman, Francis J.	ADRC, USN	22
Torres, Fernando M.	CPO, USN	86

Urquijo, Mike M.	HTC, USN	163

Weber, Ron	RDC, USCG	14
Williams, Charles R.	USMC	44
Wofford, Earl J.	BM1, USN	11
Woods, Arthur W.	ADJC, USN	70

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LA FRA Auxiliary

A Message from the North Central Regional President

It is once again, my pleasure to serve the North Central Region, as the regional president. Even the title PNP does not take away the pride of being RPNC. This is my eighth time since 1983, and I am here to serve for the benefit of the LA FRA, the FRA, our members and their families.

The North Central Region of the LA FRA is at an all-time low. Not only in membership, but also in active units. Currently, we only have three units but are organizing a fourth. This is saddening when I compare the number of units to the more than 19 branches in the region. 

I would like to challenge Shipmates and auxiliary members to sign up their family members and at least help our membership grow. 

I would like to mention two Shipmates of Branch 161 who have done a phenomenal recruiting auxiliary members over the past couple of years. A big THANK YOU to PRPNC Jerry Lickteig and PRPNC Norm Combs. These Shipmates are amazing. They carry LA FRA applications with them, along with FRA applications, and will stop and talk to strangers in public places. They tell them about the FRA and LA FRA. I experienced this firsthand while traveling with them and with Ernestene Combs. We went from Spokane Valley, Washington, to the Kansas City, Missouri, area.

A Very Active Few
The auxiliary members of the North Central Region may be few, but they are actively assisting the veterans, elderly people, homeless individuals and children in their communities. It is hard to get them to brag about themselves so I will do it for them. They bake cakes for the veterans who are in the nursing care unit during the bingo games our Shipmates play there. They donate food items to local food pantries, wrap hundreds of Christmas gifts at Christmastime and attend Christmas parties at local children’s homes.

They are busy volunteering at local hospitals, making items for patients, collecting aluminum cans and pop tabs for charity, and playing piano at a nursing home each month.  The units also sponsor the Special Olympics, scouting and more. We have auxiliary members in the region who are representatives and deputies for the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement, formerly VAVS. Members also distribute hygiene kits to homeless individuals that contain a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a washcloth and deodorant. They donate clothing and other appropriate items to the tiny homes community in their areas.

The 2022 North Central Regional Convention was a success. We took care of the business of the region and elected new regional officers for the 2022-2023 term. Donna Lickteig and Barbara White, both of Unit 61, were elected regional president and vice president, respectively. The members also found time to have lots of fun!

I look forward to attending the FRA and LA FRA National Conventions in Birmingham, Alabama, this month. I shall be taking care of business, seeing old friends, making new friends and having lots of fun!    
I remain yours, in Loyalty, Protection and Service.
PNP Doris Fri, RPNC

Doris is the North Central regional president of the LA FRA.
FINANCE MATTERS

Why Do You Need a Health Care Directive?
A health care directive is a legal document that lets you express your health care preferences and, if you wish, designate someone who will have the authority to make care decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. Some may think this is needed only near the end of life, but that’s not its only use. It can also prove useful:
• Any time you become severely ill or incapacitated — even if for just a short time period.
• If you are a young adult who is over 18 and heading to college. 
Health care directives generally do three things: 
• One part, often referred to as a living will, lets you express your preferences about end-of-life care if you become unable to make decisions yourself.  
• A power of attorney for health care, also known as a durable POA for health care or health care proxy, lets you designate a trusted person to make decisions for you when you are unable to communicate or make them yourself.
• A privacy authorization under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, makes it possible for health care providers to share private medical information with the agent you designate.

Short-Term Incapacitation
While the coronavirus is top of mind right now, other serious illnesses or limiting medical conditions could create incapacitation. Examples include surgery that will require a longer-than-usual recovery period, cancer treatments, side effects from specific medications, and mental health issues. 
During such times, it may give you peace of mind to have someone you trust who will be able to communicate with medical professionals, share that information with you later and even make decisions for you if necessary.
The potential benefits of having a health care directive include: 
• Helping to ensure that doctors communicate important medical information to your agent, who can keep other family members or caregivers informed.
• Allowing an authorized person to communicate with insurance companies, billing departments and pharmacies, and to schedule appointments on your behalf. 
This documentation can be especially important for unmarried individuals. Designating someone in advance is important — not just for you, but also for children, parents, partners, friends, or others who care about you who might otherwise be left powerless to help.

Health Care Directive for an Adult Child
If your child is age 18 or older, you may want to make sure he or she executes a health care directive and names an agent, either you or a trusted friend or relation, who can make decisions. 
This is important to ensure that you, if named as agent, retain the ability to talk with doctors and hospitals and make health care decisions if your child is unable to communicate or incapable of making decisions on their own. It’s a scenario a parent never wants to consider, but you will be thankful for this document if you ever need it. 
You may also want to consider the need for you to communicate with your child’s doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and insurance companies. HIPAA prevents medical care providers and insurance companies from releasing information about a person’s medical records or current condition unless authorization has been given. In many families, young adults understand why it’s beneficial to ensure that parents can help in the event of a serious illness or medical emergency.  

Protecting Yourself Just Makes Sense
Creating a health care directive can be part of a wider conversation about estate planning strategies. You will want to consult trusted professionals, including your financial adviser, estate planning attorney, and accountant. They know which questions to ask and can help you avoid potential pitfalls.     FRA

Wells Fargo Advisors does not provide legal or tax advice. Any estate plan should be reviewed by an attorney who specializes in estate planning and is licensed to practice law in your state.

This article was written by/for Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Carl M. Trevisan, Managing Director-Investments and Stephen M. Bearce, First Vice President- Investments in Alexandria, VA at 800-247-8602.

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• Not Insured by the FDIC or Any Federal Government Agency
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