Meeting. 14 September 2006   Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183) The cost for the evening is $18.00. If you are not called by 10 Sept., contact COL Szendrey (388-1005). Schedule: 1830-1900-Social 1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes 1905-1945-Dinner 1945-2000-Break 2000-2015 -Awards & Festivities 2015-2045-Speaker 2045-2100-Adjourn Menu Italian Lasagna w/ Garlic Bread Sticks, Fresh Vegetables Speaker YLC students

 

Legislation   *The most contentious issue this year in the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), S. 2766 and H.R. 5122, has been military health care. Both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees (SASC, HASC) blocked any increases in TRICARE Prime enrollment fees and Standard deductibles through December 2007, until more studies can be made on the appropriate level of any future increases. They did approve different changes for co-payments for the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy (TMOP) or the TRICARE Retail Pharmacy options. Detailed information for both bills can be found on the Congressional web site http://thomas.loc.gov.  * S. 2736 would create five VA-run amputation and prosthetic rehabilitation centers. It has been referred to the Senate VA Committee. Some 400 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have had limbs amputated since October 2001.  * H.R. 5835—the Veterans Identity and Credit Security Act of 2006 would improve VA's management of veteran's personal information and would require VA to provide specific methods of protection for vets who have their personal data stolen from VA databases. Specifically, that would be one year of free credit monitoring, access to fraud resolution services and $30,000 of identity theft insurance.

The bill also would create a new VA undersecretary of information services along with a staff of three new deputy undersecretaries—for security, operations and management, and policy and planning.   Items of Interest  The Senate defeated a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution June 27 that would have banned physical desecration of the U.S. flag. The proposal (Senate Joint Resolution 12) fell one vote short, 66-34, of the two-thirds majority needed to send the amendment to state legislatures for ratification. The House approved its version of the joint resolution on June 22 of last year. The Senate has rejected it five times since 1990.  *More than 25,000 Iraq and Afghanistan vets had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as of May 2006. That is an increase of more than 161% from the same time last year when the number was 9,688. "If the trend keeps up, by the end of fiscal year 2006 [Sept. 30] more than 30,000 service members and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will seek mental health services at VA due to an initial diagnosis of PTSD," said Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), who serves on the House VA Subcommittee on Health. On May 19, the House unanimously approved its version of the 2007 VA Appropriations Act (H.R. 5385), which includes $600 million for mental health programs during the 2007 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

 

Viewpoint  The debate is over: By any definition, Iraq is in a state of civil war. Indeed, the only thing standing between Iraq and a descent into total Bosnia-like devastation is 135,000 U.S. troops - and even they are merely slowing the fall. The internecine conflict could easily spiral into one that threatens not only Iraq but also its neighbors throughout the oil-rich Persian Gulf region with instability, turmoil and war.  The consequences of an all-out civil war in Iraq could be dire. Considering the experiences of recent such conflicts, hundreds of thousands of people may die. Refugees and displaced people could number in the millions. And with Iraqi insurgents, militias and organized crime rings wreaking havoc on Iraq's oil infrastructure, a full-scale civil war could send global oil prices soaring even higher.  However, the greatest threat that the United States would face from civil war in Iraq is from the spillover — the burdens, the instability, the copycat secession attempts and even the follow-on wars that could emerge in neighboring countries. Welcome to the new "new Middle East" - a region where civil wars could follow one after another, like so many Cold War dominoes. And unlike communism, these dominoes may actually fall.  With an all-out civil war looming in Iraq, Washington must decide how to deal with the most common and dangerous ways such conflicts spill across national boundaries.  Only by understanding the refugee crises, terrorism, radicalization of neighboring populations, copycat secessions and foreign interventions that such wars frequently spark can we begin to plan for how to cope with them in the months and years ahead. No country in recent history has successfully managed the spillovers from a full-blown civil war; in fact, most attempts have failed miserably. Syria spent at least eight years trying to end the Lebanese civil war before the 1989 Taif accords and the 1991 Persian Gulf War gave it the opportunity to finally do so. Israel's 1982 invasion was also a bid to end the Lebanese civil war after its previous efforts to contain it had failed, and when this also failed, Jerusalem tried to go back to managing spillover. By 2000, it was clear that this was again ineffective and so Israel pulled out of Lebanon altogether. Withdrawing from Lebanon was smart for Israel for many reasons, but it did not end its Lebanon problem — as the latest conflict showed all too clearly. In the Balkans, the United States and its NATO allies realized that it was impossible to manage the Bosnian or Kosovo civil wars and so in both cases they employed coercion — including the deployment of massive ground forces — to bring them to an end.       That point is critical: Ending an all-out civil war typically requires overwhelming military power to nail down a political settlement. It took 30,000 British troops to bring the Irish civil war to an end, 45,000 Syrian troops to conclude the Lebanese civil war, 50,000 NATO troops to stop the Bosnian civil war, and 60,000 to do the job in Kosovo. Considering Iraq's much larger population, it probably would require 450,000 troops to quash an all-out civil war there. Such an effort would require a commitment of enormous military and economic resources, far in excess of what the United States has already put forth. How Iraq got to this point is now an issue for historians; what matters today is how to move forward and prepare for the tremendous risks an Iraqi civil war poses for this critical region. The outbreak of a large-scale civil conflict would not relieve us of our responsibilities in Iraq; in fact, it could multiply them. Unfortunately, in the Middle East, one should never assume that the situation can't get worse. It always can — and usually does. - Excerpts, Washington Post Quote to Ponder When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murders, and for a time they may seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always. - Gandhi Austin Chapter Website Chaplain's Selection  "Wisdom is learning what to overlook." -Will James  Chapter Officers Commander - COL McVeigh Senior Vice Cmdr. - MAJ Bullard Junior Vice Cmdr. - COL Holland Adjutant - COL Szendrey Treasurer - LTC Kelso Chaplain - CDR Cochran Surgeon - MG Bernstein Judge Advocate - COL Philips   Austin Chapter Website   If you have items for the website contact LTC Howard (255- 2206 or email: jr99howard@austin.rr.com).  Staff Meeting The next staff meeting will be at the call of the Commander.

ATTENTION TRICARE MEMBERS
CALL 1-800-418-1934 TODAY

CONGRESS WILL BE VOTING SOON ON LEGISLATION  THAT COULD: REMOVE YOUR ABILITY TO COME TO YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY PHARMACY. RAISE YOUR CO-PAYS AT RETAIL PHARMACY. CONGRESS MAY VOTE ON THIS ISSUE AS EARLY AS SEPTEMBER. PLEASE ACT NOW! Why do you prefer to have your prescription filled at a retail pharmacy? You have the choice to visit the pharmacy that best meets your needs. You 're satisfied with the service and relationship at your local pharmacy. You 're able to get prescriptions immediately at a reasonable co-pay. You are able to meet with your Pharmacist to discuss your healthcare needs. LET YOUR U.S. CONGRESSPERSON KNOW THAT YOU ARE  A TRICARE MEMBER AND WOULD LIKE THEM TO: Vote AGAINST Mandatory Mail Order Vote FOR freezing the current co-payments. CALL 1-800-418-1934 TODAY TO SPEAK TO YOUR CONGRESSMAN LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.