Austin, Texas Chapter

 The Association for all Military Officers            Companion Bulletin-September 2016
Words from the Commander:

Greetings Fellow Companions, Our vacation is almost over and it is time to start our 2016-2017 season. Due to circumstances partially outlined below, we will not meet this month. Please stay tuned for plans for the year which will be announced in our next month's newsletter.

I trust all had a very pleasant summer. As you know, you have given me the honor to serve as your Commander for the past several years. The time is overdue for me to pass on the baton. I wish to thank Companions, McVeigh, Howard and Rudy for conducting an extensive search for someone for me to pass on the baton. Unfortunately, the search continues and September is upon us. So I have agreed to continue to serve on an interim basis until we have a resolution.

Before proceeding, we learned today of the passing of our dear companion, Tom Anderson. Please see additional information elsewhere in this newsletter concerning his memorial service later this month.

Also, earlier this summer, Chaplain Dean regrettably submitted his resignation as our Chaplain due to health issues. We will certainly miss reading his inspiring and very meaning and timely articles. However, we do hope to continue to see The Deans at some of our gatherings this season.

This season, we have real challenges ahead recruiting new members and keeping our chapter viable. I am sure by all of us working together and doing what we can collectively, we will remain an Active Chapter.

Finally, I look forward to sharing with you my experience attempting to attend the National convention in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I did not make it, but our Regional Commander provided an excellent overview, which I will share you next month.

---Leon Holland, COL (R), USA

Next Meeting:October 2016

Smart Home VA researchers are doing amazing things to improve the lives of Veterans. One example is the the Smart Home. This unique project uses advanced technology to help patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) independently plan, organize and complete everyday activities. Some Veterans with TBI have lost the ability to manage basic tasks like doing the laundry or taking out the trash. VA’s Smart Home helps them relearn those skills by tracking their movements around their house and then sending them text or video prompts when they get off track. The remarkable indoor tracking technology can pinpoint the Veterans’ location to within six inches. The Tampa VA Medical Center has installed the high tech equipment in five apartments housing 10 Veterans. It has a system that not only tracks their locations but has sensors that monitor the use of appliances. For example, the washing machine sensors determine when the Veteran puts soap in the machine and also shows when he or she empties the machine after the load is completed. If the user forgets to do either, a nearby screen prompts them to complete those steps. The Smart Home can also notify a caregiver if an activity is not completed. Other sensors in the bathroom determine how long a patient has been shaving and if they are taking too long, they are prompted to finish that task and move on. The technology promotes Veterans’ independence by providing reminders for the management of other daily activities such as medication, meal planning, and other necessary tasks.
Some of the nation’s largest veterans and military organizations sent letters in mid-MAY to the Veterans Affairs Department asking it to crack down on colleges that prey on veterans by charging exorbitant fees for degrees that mostly fail to deliver promised skills and jobs. The letters were signed by top officials at the American Legion, the National Military Family Association, the Military Officers Association of America and nearly 20 other groups.

 

 

MOWW SCRIPTURE AND COMMENTARY
(Chaplain Ernie Dean)

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Praise the Lord, all peoples!
God's love for us is strong
And God's faithfulness is eternal.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117

This is strong faith language. We are not hearing words here coming from some minor piece of advice or some incidental impulse. No, this admonition strikes at the very heart of who we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do.
It is clear that the plight of the human condition is born in false worship and misguided praise. When we bow to the lesser gods, we receive unsatisfactory, even destructive, results. For too long, humans, especially Americans, have catered to issues of darkness, all the while giving little attention to the God of Light.
We should not be surprised, then that there is someone, or a lot of someone's, ready to lead us astray. There is not a strong attempt at civility, humility, responsibility, and love on the part of business, education, political or church leaders. 
God is a God of giving and we find ourselves corralled by a group of folks who are "takers."
Join me in prayer for a world that reveres God and holds to the teachings of God. As scripture tells us:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it, love your neighbor as you love yourself. The whole law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40

When all people busy themselves in actions of love directed toward God and one another, then we will live the quality of life God created at the very beginning, before humans became enamored with themselves more than they desired to please God.

Fraud
At first glance, the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation is a roaring success. According to its tax filings, the charity has received more than $29 million in donations from generous Americans from 2010 to 2014 for what it calls on its website http://nationalvietnamveteransfoundation.org "aiding, supporting and benefiting America's veterans and their families." But look a little closer on those same filings and you can see that nearly all of those donations have been cycled back to telemarketers, leaving less than 2 percent for actual veterans and veterans' charitable causes. That's why Charity Navigator, one of the nation's largest and most influential charity watchdog organizations, has given the charity a "zero" out of four stars for those same four years.
At last count, around 48,000 veterans still struggled with homelessness nationwide. That’s down more than one third from 2010, but not close to the zero figure officials have been targeting for the last five-plus years A Marine veteran's attempt to remember his fallen comrades has reportedly cost him his job. Allen Thornwell, who identifies himself as a former sergeant on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ajthornwell, was fired by Time Warner Cable on 31 MAY after lowering his workplace's American flag to half-staff in honor of Memorial Day,
Kaiser Permanente and TRICARE received the highest customer experience rankings of any health plan, according to the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S consumers. Of the 16 health plans examines, Kaiser Permanente earned the highest score with a rating of 57%, placing it 182nd overall out of 294 companies across 20 industries. TRICARE ranked second in the industry with a rating of 55% and an overall ranking of 199th. Kaiser Permanente and TRICARE have been jockeying for the highest health plan score since the Ratings began in 2011.[Source: NAUS Weekly Update | May 27, 2016 ++]
I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

She was only a whisky-maker, but he loved her still.