The Observation Post
Volume 2017-3 September 2017
VVA Capitol of Texas President: Roy McCrary
Chapter 915 – Austin Vice President: Charlie Grant
P.O. Box 1364 Secretary: John Miterko
Bastrop, Texas 78602 Treasurer: Harold Leung
website: https://www.texvet.org/resources/vva-vietnam-veterans-america-chapter-915
Chapter meetings are held at VFW Post 856 located at 406 E. Alpine Road in Austin 78704. Directions: The VFW Post is located on the east side of South Congress Avenue. Look for the Expose Gentlemen's Club on the corner of South Congress and E Alpine. Turn onto E Alpine and go to the end of the street (~ 1/2 mile). VFW Post 856 is the last building on the left. Meetings are held on the 4th Thursday of the month. The post is handicap accessible.
Please note new meeting time for chapter meetings is 10:30 AM
Membership: Chapter Members (74) --- AVVA members (3)
Harold Leung’s pictures. www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210673654501079&set=a.10210672048380927.1073742060.1339839035&type=3&theater
A video taken by Kerry Orr of the HeyLusKa War Dance Society Native American blessing ceremony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdIkw3VCevE
DoD Appropriations Act Update 03 ► CR Damage to the Military
On 5 APR, the House Armed Services Committee heard from the Service Chiefs on the"Damage to the Military from a Continuing Resolution." Below are excerpts from some of the stories identifying critical readiness shortfalls:
· Congress' failure to budget is "malpractice":Warning that the "world is more dangerous by the day," the Army Chief of Staff said Congress' failure to pass a budget is "professional malpractice." He also used a smoking analogy to describe the deadly collective impact of stopgap funding on the military, saying, "One cigarette's not going to kill. But you do that for eight, 10, 20 years, 30 years, you're eventually going to die of lung cancer."(AP)
· CR and no Supplemental increase risk to troops:Army's top general warned that the "lack of 2017 appropriations and no supplemental increase in funding will significantly impact readiness and increase the risk to our force."(Defense News)
· Ships will stay home, Navy pilots won’t fly, pay could be cut:Unless the 2017 spending bill and the $30 billion supplemental is approved, the Chief of Naval Operations said, "three ships
scheduled to deploy to Europe and the Middle East will stay home, our pilots will not fly and their jets will sit on the ramp needing maintenance, (and) we may lose skilled sailors because we cannot fund their bonuses." He also warned munitions remain too low and known vulnerabilities to cyber attacks will go unrepaired.AP
· Troops could die on the battlefield:The Army's top general said more troops will unnecessarily die on the battlefield if Congress decides to pass another stop-gap budget measure this month. Washington Examiner
· Threats grow, Army shrinks:“We've reduced the Army by 80,000 or 90,000 soldiers in -- in the last eight years. We've taken out 17 brigade combat teams…still have 180,000 soldiers today deployed in under 40 countries around the world. We're still actively engaged the terms of op tempo and common operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Central Africa, West Africa and several other places.” General Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army
· Air Force will stop flying:"We'll stop flying in late June when the money runs out," said the Air Forces top General.Washington Examiner
· Marine Corps will stop flying:“Under a full year CR, flight operations within the continental U.S. will cease and hard fought gains in Marine Corps aviation readiness will stall or be reversed.” General Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the Marine Corps
· 15 Years of War and stress is getting worse due to budget:“The Eisenhower Strike Group was deployed five times in the last seven years. Contrast that level of effort with eight years of continuing resolutions and five years of budget restrictions imposed by the Budget Control Act and the Balanced Budget Acts (sic). This gap creates years of stress over and above the inherent stress of deployed operations. And the Navy team -- in fact, the Joint Service Team -- the Joint Force Team; sailors, civilians and their families, have been absorbing that stress.” Admiral John Richardson, CNO, U.S. Navy
· Cannot afford maintenance or gas for Navy ships: The Chief of Naval Operations outlined the lack of funding for ship and aircraft maintenance, for fuel, saying, “in many ways this is irreversible. You can't get lost training time back, we will be less proficient when we do go to sea.
· 4 of 9 Navy carrier air wings shut down entirely:"Four of the nine carrier air wings that aren’t already deployed would be shut down entirely, and about a third of the Navy’s newest pilots wouldn’t be able to finish their initial training. That would leave squadrons undermanned by 20-to-30 percent by the end of the year, causing shortages that the Navy said would have ripple effects for the next several years.” Admiral John Richardson, CNO, U.S. NAVY
· Air Force Pilots who don't fly, maintainers who don't maintain, air traffic controllers that don't control, leave:"Chairman, it takes approximately 10 years and $10 million to train a fighter pilot. One thousand short equates to $10 billion of capital investment that walked out the door and it will take us 101 years to replace that experience. Of all the things that we can do to
retain pilots the most important is to get them airborne.” General David Goldfein, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force.
· America squabbles, competitors make big gains:“Risks are getting worse as other nations grow their fleet and operate them in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic oceans. As they
extend their influence over trade routes that are the lifeblood of the international economy, including ours.” Admiral John Richardson, CNO, U.S. Navy
VA SPECIAL MONTHLY COMPENSATION UPDATE 01 – Are You Eligible?
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) is an additional tax-free benefit that can be paid to Veterans, their spouses, surviving spouses and parents. For Veterans, Special Monthly Compensation is a higher rate of compensation paid due to special circumstances such as the need of aid and attendance by another person or a specific disability, such as loss of use of one hand or leg. For spouses and surviving spouses, this benefit is commonly referred to as aid and attendance and is paid based on the need of aid and attendance by another person. Learn about special monthly compensation benefit rates
The majority of service-connected disabilities are defined by a percentage ranging from 0 to 100 percent to reflect the severity of the condition(s) and the disabling effects they have on the veteran. These percentages are explicitly defined by Federal Regulations under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities and are assigned a monetary compensation award based on the vocational limitations that these injuries or disorders cause and subsequently the effect they may have on monetary earnings.
Some injuries and disorders are more severe in nature and result in several additional debilitating residual conditions that can have additional adverse affects on an individual’s socioeconomic state. To better assist with meeting the specialized needs of these individuals, additional benefits are available under Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) ratings provided under Title 38 of U.S.C. 1114. These ratings are in addition to the numerical ratings established under the standard rating schedule and are identified by letters such as SMC (k), SMC (l), SMC (m), SMC (n), SMC (o), SMC(p), SMC (r), SMC (s),
and SMC (t). These rates are simply named after the subsections of the Code of Federal Regulations that outline the required eligibility requirements for each level of SMC.
SMC provides additional monetary compensation awards and where applicable can establish entitlement to additional ancillary benefits such as the VA’s Specially Adapted Housing Grant and the Automobile and Adaptive Equipment Grants. The basic elements of Special Monthly Compensation Ratings include anatomical (or physical) loss or the loss of use of limbs, hands, feet and/or reproductive organs; aphonia; deafness; blindness; loss of bowel and bladder control; being permanently housebound; and a need for regular aid and attendance with activities of daily living or a higher level of care–all of which must be a result of the veteran’s service-connected disabilities. Each level of SMC ratings are successive and are preceded by an entitlement to certain conditions included under SMC level (k).
To see the extensive list of ratings see the web-site below. Please allow time for it to load up as it is rather lengthy.
http://www.vetsfirst.org/special-monthly-compensation-ratings-are-you-eligible
U.S. VETERAN COMPENSATION PROGRAMS
Agent Orange Missions
Phase 1 Research specialists have worked tirelessly for months putting together the most intricate Agent Orange database ever contrived. They have compiled many of the herbicide spraying missions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from May 15, 1960 – May 4, 1971. Phase 1 of the Agent Orange Missions release lists 82% of all missions, consisting of 10.3 gallons of herbicides sprayed in Southeast Asia. The database consists of dates of spraying missions, the mission numbers, the amount of herbicide sprayed and the location of each spraying mission. Also, towns and villages where the spraying mission took place.
Any veteran looking for information to corroborate their disability claim with regard to herbicide exposure may find the database helpful. This database is 270 pages so please allow time for the download. www.veteranprograms.com/id1966.html
Veteran Resources
Travis County Veterans Service Office
100 N IH 35
Austin, TX 78701
512-854-9340
Texas Veterans Land Board
Stephen F Austin Bldg
1700 N Congress
Austin, TX
512-463-5060
800-252-8387
Veterans Administration Medical Centers
Temple VAMC
1901 S 1st
Temple, TX 76504
800-423-2111
Waco VAMC
888-827-6988
Dallas VAMC
214-742-8387
Houston VAMC
713-791-1414
San Antonio VAMC
210-617-5300
Austin VA Outpatient Clinic
7901 Metropolis Drive
Austin, TX 78741
512-823-4000
Cedar Park VA Outpatient Clinic
701 E Whitestone Blvd
Cedar Park, TX 78613
512-260-1368
Vet Center
South Park Plaza
1110 W Wm Cannon Ste # 301
Austin, TX 78745
512-416-1314
VA Internet Address
http://www/va/gov
VA Enrollment Address
877-222-VETS
http://www.va.gov/health/elig.
www.myhealth.va.gov
For medical appointments and prescription refills - 24/7 800-244-2912
Agent Orange Clinic—Temple
800-423-2111 ext 40440
Inspector General’s Office (IG)
214-253-3360 Dallas
713-565-7702 Houston
202-565-7702 HQ Wash., DC
202-565-8305 Central Op Wash., DC
Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
US Senators
John Cornyn 517 Hart Building, Washington, DC 20510
Austin, TX 469-6034
Wash, DC 202-224-2934 Fax 202-228-2856
Ted Cruz B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510
Austin, TX 916-5834
Wash, DC 202-224-5922 FAX 202-224-0776
House of Representatives, Cannon House, Washington, DC 20515
Roger Williams, Dist. 25 (Austin) 916-5921
Cleburn, TX Office
Washington DC 202-225-9896 FAX 202-225-3018
Michael McCaul, (Dist. 10) 473-2357
Washington DC 202-225-2401
Ron Paul, (Dist 14) 202-225-2831 FAX 202-226-4871
Lamar Smith, (Dist. 21) 402-9743 FAX 512-402-9867
Washington DC 202-225-4236 FAX 202-225-8628
John Carter (Dist. 31)
Washington D.C. 202-225-3864 FAX 202-225-5886
Lloyd Doggett (Dist. 35) 202-225-4865
Governor and Lt Governor, Capitol Station, Austin, 78711
Greg Abbot 463-2000 FAX 463-1849
Daniel Patrick 463-0001 FAX 936-6700
State Senators, Box 12068, Capitol Station, Austin 78711
Donna Campbell (R25) 463-0125
Kirk Watson (D-14) 463-0114
Senate Committee On Vet Affairs&Mil Instlns
463-0126 Fax 512-463-2114
Jose Menendez (D-26) Defense Affairs & State Federal Relations
463-0126
Troy Fraser (D-24) 463-0124
State House of Representatives, Box 2910, Capitol Station, Austin 78768
Donna Howard (D-48) 463-0631
Jason Isaac (R-45) 463-0647
Paul Workman (D-47) 463-0652
Celia Israel (D-50) 463-0821
Elliot Naishtat (D-49) 463-0668
Dawnna Dukes (D-46) 463-0506
Eddie Rodriguez (D-51) 463-0674
Larry Gonzalez (R-52) 463-0670
City Council – Austin, PO Box 1088, Austin 78767
Mayor Seve Adler 978-2100
Ora Houston D1 978-2101
Delia Garza D2 978-2102
Sabino Renteria D3 978-2103
Gregorio Casar D4 978-2104
Ann Kitchen D5 978-2105
Don Zimmerman D6 978-2106
Leslie Pool D7 978-2107
Ellen Troxclair D8 978-2108
Mayor Pro Tem & D9 Kathie Tovo 978-2109
Sheri Gallo D10 978-2110
Allen Bergeron Vet Liaison
Travis County Commissioner’s Court, PO Box 1748, Austin 78767
Judge Sarah Eckhardt 854-9555
Comm. Pct 1 Ron Davis 854-9111
Comm. Pct 2 Brigid Shea 854-9222
Comm. Pct 3 Gerald Daugherty 854-9333
Comm. Pct 4 Margaret Gomez 854-9444
Membership is open to U.S. armed forces veterans who served on active duty (for other than training purposes) in the Republic of Vietnam between February 28, 1961 and
May 7, 1975, or in any duty location between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975.
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
ATTENTION: New members and new life members
You must submit a copy of your DD Form-214 form along with this application and
dues payment.
Address: ______
City: ______State: ______Zip: ______
Home Phone: ______Work Phone: ______
Mailing Address: ______
Date of Birth: ______Sex: ______
Optional:
Chapter ______Sponsor: ______
____ I am already a VVA member and want to become a life member
My VVA Member number is ______
Type of Membership:
____ Individual Member – 1 year $20
____ Individual Member – 3 years $50
_____ Life Member – all ages $100
Payment Method:
_____ Check
_____ Money Order
_____ Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)
Credit Card Number: ______
Expiration Date: ______
Signature: ______
Return your completed application, payment and a copy of your DD Form-214 to:
Vietnam Veterans of America
P.O. Box 64299
Baltimore, MD 21264-4299
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