Montgomery County, MD Chapter

Post Office Box 34127West Bethesda, MD 20827

MOAA05@verizon.net

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

4th Monday of Each Month -- Regularly scheduled meetingof the chapter executive group. The chapter meets for dinnerat 1815 hours on the fourth Monday of the month. Thebusiness meeting starts at 1900. The meeting currently isbeing held at the Urban Burger in Rock Creek VillageShopping Center (Bauer Drive just off Norbeck Road/MD 28)in Rockville. The meetings are open to any member whowould like to participate in chapter deliberations – or justsocialize. Contact a chapter officer prior to attending toconfirm the date and location.

Luncheons --2010 -- Recentluncheonshave been jointevents with afederal retiree group. The luncheons are held at the ManorCountry Club off Norbeck Road (Rt. 28), just west of GeorgiaAvenue. They are regularly scheduled for the third

Wednesday of the month. All luncheon meetings are at noon, with a lunch buffet at12:30 PM. The price of the luncheon is $20. Please RSVP with name(s) and number ofparticipants to: John Lass at 301-871-6734, or Jim Dittbrenner at 301-460-9611, or jimditt@verizon.net.

Chapter News

The Chapter President’s Corner - Greetings to everyone.

It gives me great pride to share with all of our members the fact that our Chapter has been selected asone of a handful of MOAA “Five Star Level of Excellence” Award Chapters within our category of chapters

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OFFICERSPresident

Col Harvey Kaplan

USA Ret

Past President

LCDR Art Glover

USN Ret

1st VP

LCDR Art Glover

USN Ret

2nd VP

CAPT David H. Peterson

NOAA (Ret.)

Secretary

Col G. R. Surman

AUS

Treasurer

CAPT Tony Mitchell

USN Ret

Manor Country Club Carrolton Road,

Rockville, MD 20853 • (301) 929-1700

Dining Style: Casual Elegant

Cuisine: American

Website http://www.manorcc.org/

with 120-199 members. I have been invited to represent our members at MOAA’s Annual Meeting on 15November in Arlington, VA, where our streamer will be presented by MOAA’s Chairman, General Richard I.Neal, USMC (Ret.). Admiral Norb Ryan, MOAA President, recently sent me a congratulatory letter statingthat “your chapter stands out as one of the best chapters in MOAA’s system of over 400 chapters. You andthe members of your chapter can be proud of this accomplishment.” I’d like to thank all of our membersfor making this accomplishment possible by enabling us to provide a range of valuable services to ourcommunity while, at the same time, participating in a broad spectrum of enjoyable, meaningful, and

educational activities that have proven to be of great benefit to our membership.

In the area of community services, the chapter is about to embark on a new effort to expand our “GoldBars Program” for college ROTC graduates to a series of Open Houses for local Officer Basic Course(OBC) classes for commissioned corps members of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). Weplan to operate an MOAA informational “booth” at Open Houses in Gaithersburg for junior USPHS officersenrolled in OBC and, at the same time, offer them the benefit of free initial-year memberships in bothMOAA National and the Montgomery County Chapter within the scope of the “Give Me 10” Program of ourAssociation. In brief, National will waive their first year dues and will reimburse our Chapter for the localdues that we are not collecting. The “Give Me 10” program applies to all active duty or participating

reserve component officers and warrant officers in any of the seven uniformed services!

One other highlight I’d like to share is the fact that in September our Chapter hosted our final “WoundedWarriors” event at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in DC. We furnished MOAA mementosand small gifts to all the “wounded warriors” in attendance and provided a complete and appetizing delibuffet with assorted pastry desserts and soft drinks to everyone (including family members and hospitalstaff personnel supporting these military members). The proponent agency at WRAMC for this effort wasthe Army Community Services. Its staff assisted our members in making this an enjoyable experience forthe participants. Future programs will be held at Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center (to be

renamed the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center).

All members are encouraged to contact our Board members if you have any questions or matters thatyou’d like to share. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if you wish: kaplan@starpower.net or

301-460-1883. Sincerely, Colonel USA (Ret)

May 19 Luncheon - Our guest speaker was John S. Glaser, MBA, MSW, GrassrootsManager for the “National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.” Mr.

Glaser stated that the organization has the mission of preservingand enhancing the entitlements for seniors. The organization hasthree million members. Mr. Glaser enthusiastically presentedsocial security as a well-run trust. He also presented theAdministration’s points on the developing medical legislation thathas since become law. For information on the organization go to

http://www.ncpssm.org/ .

June 16 Luncheon - The June guest speaker was Mr. EricLachica, who is a Partnership Specialist for the UnitedStates Census Bureau. He works out of the Bureau’s localoffice in Rockville in support of operations in the District ofColumbia as well as Prince Georges and MontgomeryCounties in Maryland.

Mr. Lachica described the canvassing operation. The

canvassers are resident in that ZIP code. At the time of Mr.Lachica’s presentation Montgomery County was leading in

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the mailed returns with 78% returned. Fairfax was at 76% as compared with thenational average of 72%. For non-responding citizens, the canvassers are required tomake as many as 3 visits to each address in their area of responsibility. LockheedMartin has the contract to process the surveys. The local processing center is atBaltimore, one of the three processing centers in the US. The per capita cost of thecensus is about $1400. Political pressure is to have the processing done by the end ofthis year.

July 21 Luncheon - The special guest this month was Captain W. G. “Bud”Schneeweis, USCG(ret). “Bud” is the Director of MOAA’s Benefits InformationDepartment. He travels extensively to share important information with members

throughout the country. Captain Schneeweis described the direHill environment that is central to obtaining benefits, or evenmaintaining current benefits. A skyrocketing budget with increasedentitlements has fostered projected cuts. Cuts are in order forMedicare Advantage and rural hospital support; and the usualdecrease in fraud and abuse. Hoped-for benefits in reducing costsare investments in new technologies.

Captain Schneeweis presented defensive actions that an individual can take to preparefor retirement. For example, to provide a $30,000 a year income, the individual will needat least a $750,000 portfolio. In answer to a question on the recommended distributionof assets in retirement, the Captain responded that one should utilize Interest incomefirst, followed by liquidation of interest-bearing accounts, dividends, thentax-advantaged IRA and 401k accounts, and finally ROTH accounts.

August 18 Luncheon - Commander Jon M. Cecchetti, USN (Ret.), in a stimulatingdiscussion, gave his audience a sense of what the design and construction of aircraftcarriers entails. CDR Cecchetti has worked on the design andengineering for the new FORD Class aircraft carrier design andshipbuilding program over the past two and a half years. On thisday, fortified with graphic pictures, the commander explained theenormity of the effort to all of those in attendance.

The Ford class carrier required 6 years of design effort, followedby another 6 years of construction. The cost of the first ship is about $11 billion.Subsequent models will be about $7 billion.

The 4.5 acre carrier had several top-level design requirements to meet. The criteriaincluded: 1) improved propulsion, 2) a clean flight deck, 3) no rotating equipment {e.g.,RADAR}, 4) 45-second launch times, and a reduction in required operations personnel.

Construction of the various ship segments was done in a modular fashion that reducedconstruction costs and the time for completion.

September 15 Luncheon - Our September speaker was Commander Jeffrey R.Macris, USN, Ph.D. Professor, United States Naval Academy. CDR Macris is a

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Permanent Military Professor in the History Department at USNA in Annapolis,Maryland. He teaches the midshipmen in areas related toMiddle Eastern History, Ethics, and Western Civilization. Histalk on this day was on modern Persian Gulf history and therole of the Great Powers in it.

Britain was the first western power to project influence intothe Gulf region. Their interest was to quell the intertribalconflicts that were spilling out into the Gulf, therebyendangering commerce. Oil became the concern during theFirst World War, with the fear that Germany and Turkey had designs on the commodity.The United States’ interest in the area was zero up to the Second World War, but theuse of the region as a supply route to the Soviet Union created the same interest asBritain’s earlier entry in the area, that is to protect trade routes. After the war the US

military developed tight relationships with Iran and the Saudis with training programs forthe military of both nations. Both Britain and the US lost interest in the region during the70s. The US, in the 1980s, became involved with the provision of escorts to the oiltankers, but at the end of the Iraq-Iran war the US reduced its involvement once again.

Commander Jeffrey R. Macris, is the author of a new book, entitled: The Politics andSecurity of the Gulf: Anglo-American Hegemony and the Shaping of a Region (London,Routledge Press, 2010). It is an historical narrative that examines two centuries ofPersian Gulf history, along with the role of U.S. and Britain roles in shaping it. The bookexamines how Anglo-American leaders fulfilled three enduring missions in the PersianGulf area: (1) maintaining interstate order, (2) protecting trade, and (3) keeping outother Great Powers. According to CDR Macris’ explanation, understanding thisrelationship since Britain’s departure (nearly 40 years ago) and America’s rolethereafter is key to understanding why the United States remains represented in theGulf area today. Commander Macris is a chapter member.

Chapter Initiative on Seamlessly Reintegrating Veterans into their Families,Communities, and Jobs, - Citizens inducted into the military are essentially giving theUnited States a “blank check,” which can be payable with their lives and/or theirphysical integrity and emotional well-being. Physical mutilation is readily apparent; theinvisible deleterious impact on emotional health is not. Fortunately, this invisibleepidemic has recently been acknowledged by the military and the VA. Not all veteranshave been treated in a timely fashion however, and there is a paucity of treatmentprograms.

An innovative program which is a multi-discipline evaluation of an individual veteran’sneeds has been implemented in Buffalo, NY. The successful treatment and subsequentreintegration of veterans into their families and local society has been extraordinary withvirtually no recidivism.

This integrated team approach has been introduced in Congress entitled, “Services,Education, Rehabilitation, and Veterans” (SERV) Act. The Chapter officers have votedto introduce to the “Maryland Council of Chapters” the following recommendation:

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The Maryland Council of Chapters, MOAA, to recommend that National MOAA

add the SERV Act to its legislative agenda and actively champion itsenactment.

The Chapter recommends that all Maryland chapters 1) Contact Senators Mikulskiand Cardin plus their members of the House of Representatives and ask them tocosponsor this legislation, 2) Contact the Maryland Secretary of Veterans Affairsand emphasize the need for Veterans Treatment Courts, 3) Contact their StateSenators and Delegates and ask them to introduce and cosponsor legislationmodeled after SERV, and 4) All Maryland chapters contact their local and countygovernments to emphasize the desirability for Veterans Treatment Courts.

Chapter Honors Wounded Warriors -- The Montgomery County Chapter sponsored abuffet for the wounded warriors and their families on the 21st of September at WalterReed Hospital. The invitees enjoyed the buffet and the camaraderie evident at theevent. Thanks to gift donations by the National Headquarters of MOAA, Capitol Steps,and DRS - Defense Solutions, the warriors also have something lasting to rememberthe occasion. This was our final program at that facility before the WRAMC staffrelocates to the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda in 2011.

New Members -- We welcome the following new members to the Chapter:2Lt Johnathan Scott; Ltc Samuel Cook USA; 2Lt Andrew Vimini USA; 2Lt Justin Weis USA;

2Lt Jay Kyler USA; 2Lt Justin Rusk USA; 2Lt KyunghunWoo USA; 2Lt Edmund Curry USA;

2Lt Nicholas Morton USA; 2Lt Jeff Braden USA; CAPT Stephen Goldhammer USCG;

LTC Gary Barone NOAA; Laura Hawley- Jarvis; Col Maitin Duke USA; Col Dennis Duggan

USA; CW4 Mary Barone USA; LTC Vincent Rigdon USAFR; CAPT Patricia Kenney USN;

Col Dan Burnett USAF; Ltc Harold Axelrod USAR; CAPT Michael Herman USNR; LCDR

DonaldKaider USN; Maj F Scarpinato USMC; Col Ben Daughtry USAF; Col Sumitra Parekh

USA; CAPT Lawrence Eldridge USPHS; Col Fred Brand USA; CAPT Charles Stahl USN; LT

Jacinta Smith USPHS; LT Jeremy Peacock USPHS; LCDR Mindy Golatt USPHS; LT William

Harris USPHS; LT Shane Nye USPHS; LT Jemekia Thornton USPHS; LCDR Jonathan Chiang

USPHS; LT Hillary Volsteadt USPHS; LT Burt Tamashiro USPHS; LTjg Kiri Nevin USPHS; LTjg

Craig Thompson USPHS; LT Saomony Cheam USPHS; CDR Jeffrey Macris USN; LT Brian Paull

USPHS; LT Timothy Cunningham USPHS; LTjg Devin Kramer USPHS; LT Eric Metterhausen

USPHS; LT Monica Orsborn USPHS; LT Kristine Scherbring USPHS; LT Erin Ressler USPHS; LT

Alfred Murphy USPHS; LT Robert Banta USPHS; Ensign Amy Moore USPHS; 2Lt Oluwaseyi

Gbade-Alabi USAR; LT Linzi Allen USPHS; Ltjg Tykeytra Dale USPHS; LT Indira Harris USPHS;

LT Cassandra Metu USPHS; LTjg Kelsey Quealy USPHS

MOAA InformationWhere Do Your Legislators Stand? - Want to know where your legislators stand onkey MOAA issues? Page 37 of the October issue of Military Officer Magazine contains asummary that shows the positions of your senators and representative on a number ofkey issues important to MOAA members. Find a summary on: http://tinyurl.com/28efgo2

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Of Interest

Maryland and Absentee Ballots - Maryland initially indicated that it is unable to adhereto the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act) but on August 26threquested to be removed from the US Justice Department’s waiver list. Maryland,however, will only send the federal election portion of the ballot in September inaccordance to the MOVE Act. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington, DC, and the US

Virgin Islands have indicated that they cannot meet the required deadline to mailabsentee ballots to oversees military personnel.

According to the MOVE Act, ballots had to be mailed by Saturday, September 18, 45days before the election. This would allow ballots to reach GIs as far as the mountainsof Afghanistan, and to be returned by election day.

Additionally, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington havealready received waivers from the requirement. Washington got a waiver despite itsAugust 17 primary which gave it plenty of time to transmit military ballots. Delawareapplied for a waiver “just in case” problems arose. Rhode Island asked for and receiveda waiver since there might be a hypothetical recount

Missed deadlines and other administrative snafus reportedly disenfranchised some17,000 military voters in 2008. Those ballots might have determined close elections,

LINKS

Current Major Issues for MOAA - A summary at: http://tinyurl.com/29htfw9

INSIGHT

“[W]e ought to deprecate the hazard attending ardent and susceptible minds, frombeing too strongly, and too early prepossessed in favor of other political systems,

before they are capable of appreciating their own.” --George Washington, letter to theCommissioners of the District of Columbia, 1795

Military Humor

If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in the combat zone.

When you have secured the area, make sure the enemy knows it too

No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.

No inspection ready unit has ever passed combat..

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