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Commander's Comments
We really had a great time with Brigadier .Stoneman as our guest speaker for January. It's not often that ones
finds an accomplished yarn teller wrapped up in a test pilot's uniform. He has about as many adventures to tell as
Scheherazade had stories. We'll have to have him again for certain.
Our youth outreach programs are currently being organized in an effort to match both our outstanding 2003 Reserve Officers Training
Corps awards program and our outstanding Youth Leadership Conference student selection process and scholarships. Mr.
Ross Perot has
agreed to subsidize 50% of all Region VIII scholarships. In light of his benevolence, in order to match last year's effort, we have to raise
approximately $1,700 for YLC scholarships and an additional $350 for the 31 Junior and Senior Reserve Officers Training Corps medals and
certificates that we provide to those programs in the greater Austin area. Up to now the fund raising has not been the difficult part of the
operation. The time and Companion power necessary to administer and make the award presentations, and the selection, administration
| | and transportation of our YLC scholarship recipients to their conference sites has been the hard part.
Through coordination with the Dallas MOWW Chapters, as they send their students south to the USS Lexington and the Texas
Military Institute, and the National Sojourner Chapters, we have accomplished our Youth Leadership Conference program in
good order. Again, your time, talents and/or funds are the reason for our success, and it is to each of you
that we owe a debt of gratitude. Many thanks!
Companion Sinclair Balch died last Thursday, 15 January. I joined Companion Phillips and Mrs. Phillips and Companion
Anderson at the First Baptist Church of Austin on Sunday for his memorial service. We will miss him.
Companions, keep your eye on the glass ball. We need a steady flow of new members to maintain a viable Chapter. Each of
us must make a concerted effort to bring one new member into our Chapter every two years. Some of us have fallen behind in this very vital
mission. So, keep your eyes open and be sensitive to our needs. Thanks again for your hard work! |
| Meeting. 12 February 2004
Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183) The cost for the evening is $18.00. If you are not called by 8 February,
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
Old Fashioned Meatloaf/Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Speaker
Sheriff Margo L. Frasier - The subject might be "Sanctuary City" problems and what are some
solutions in light of security issues. | |
Chaplains Selection
"I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have
been called, with all humility and gentleness."
- Ephesians 4:2
Chapter Officers |
Commander - | COL McVeigh | | Senior Vice Cmdr. - | COL Hefford | |
Junior Vice Cmdr. - | CAPT Burrill | | Adjutant - | COL Szendrey | |
Treasurer - | LTC Kelso | | Chaplain - | CDR Cochran | | Surgeon - | MG Bernstein | |
Judge Advocate - | COL Philips | | Public Information - | Ervalyn McVeigh | |
Membership - | Vacant | | Historian - | Vacant |
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Legislation
H.R. 1 - "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003", was signed December 8th 2003.
The big question for military beneficiaries is "How does this new drug benefit affect the TRICARE pharmacy benefit".
DOD leadership has stated that the new Medicare pharmacy program will not affect the TRICARE pharmacy benefit.
For the latest information on the new law and its effect on TRICARE, see the fact sheet available on the
TRICARE home page:
H.R. 2297 (Public Law 108-183) allowed survivors of members who died of service-connected causes to retain Dependency and
Indemnity Compensation (DIC) if they remarry after attaining age 57. Those who have already remarried (and were age 57 or
older when they did so) have until December 16, 2004 to apply for reinstatement of their DIC benefits. The application form
is VA form 21-686c (available on the Web )
Items of Interest
The Office of Management and Budget (0MB) was pushing a budget proposal that envisioned significantly increasing retiree cost
shares for the TRICARE pharmacy benefit, and initiating retiree copays for drugs obtained in military hospitals and clinics. | |
Faced with resistance, 0MB has elected to shelve the proposal. In return, the Pentagon has agreed to study the copay
issue, and then make any recommendations on this subject next year for the FY 2006 budget. Such a study will face
budget pressures to increase copays, so the issue is not likely to go away for
the longer term.
Based on clinical research, the following diseases are now on VA's Agent Orange list:
chloracne, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, porphyria cutanea tarda, respiratory cancers
(lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea), soft-tissue sarcoma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, prostate and
adult-onset diabetes. In addition, monetary benefits, health care and vocational rehabilitation services are provided
to Vietnam veterans' offspring with spina bifida, a congenital birth defect of the spine. VA presumes that all military
personnel who served in Vietnam and who have one of the listed diseases were exposed to
Agent Orange.
PBS series, Innovation, focuses on military and is in three parts - Spy Catcher
(Feb. 24), Future Combat (Mar. 2) and Air Safety (Apr. 6) |
Jordan
Jordan's imminent demise has been predicted time and again only to be
defied by its seemingly extraordinary capacity to endure and remain one of the roost stable states in the Middle East.
There are, of course, a variety of explanations for Jordan's longevity, not the least of which is the
political astuteness, acumen, and courage of its monarchs. The death of King Hussein, therefore, gave
rise to renewed doubt and speculation about Jordan's stability, yet these apprehensions were dispelled by the
smooth transition from Hussein to Abdullah II. A variety of other factors have contributed to the unexpected longevity
of the Jordan. One such factor is the kingdom's geopolitical centrality. As Jordan is situated at
the "strategic core" of the Fertile Crescent-between Israel and Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and at the heart of the
Palestinian question-its destabilization could nave potentially horrendous consequences for the region as a whole.
But more often than not, Jordan's geopolitical centrality has proven an asset rather than a liability to its own
interests and is thus a central facet of, and explanation for, the kingdom's remarkable longevity. References by
Jordanian leaders to the kingdom being located in a "killing zone," or to its "geopolitically thankless
position," reflect Jordan's encirclement by neighbors that are relatively more powerful and capable of
inflicting a wide array of extremely damaging penalties on the vulnerable kingdom. Jordan, therefore, depends on
the development of strong political and economic ties with an external power, and always with at least some of its
neighbors, to ensure its survival. Yet this very same geopolitical centrality, as an asset rather than a liability,
has afforded Jordan the essential room to maneuver to secure its interests. Its long border with Israel lends the kingdom
crucial importance to its Arab neighbors during both peace and war. Jordan's Arab neighbors tend to see the | |
kingdom as a potential bridge to Israeli penetration of the Arab world or as an Arab asset in promoting Israeli
isolation. The Arab-Israeli conflict and the struggle for Palestine reaffirmed the kingdom's pivotal role
for additional reasons. For instance, Jordan's utility to Israel as a cordon sanitaire was almost
equaled by the importance that Israel's adversaries in the Arab world attached to the kingdom as a platform for
the invasion of Israel or, alternatively, as an indirect approach for an Israeli attack on Syria.
Although Jordan's military is not the most powerful in the region by a wide margin, it is certainly the most highly respected and
professional military force in the Arab world. The strategic importance of Jordanian territory, together with its military power,
have therefore been almost as crucial to Syria as they have been to Israel, albeit for diametrically opposing reasons.
Considering the historical record, the inherent vagaries and volatility of regional politics, and the dependence of
external states on the area's resources, it is quite likely that Jordanian stability will continue to be of paramount
interest to major powers both inside and outside the region. The kingdom's role as regional stabilizer among the Fertile
Crescent states and between Arabs and Israelis remains as crucial as ever. In light of the historical record,
the smooth transition from Hussein to 'Abdallah II should come as no surprise. External interest in Jordan's continued
stability, the cohesion of the country's ruling elite, and the loyalty of the security establishment and armed forces to
the existing political order have been prime factors ensuring more than just success in the transition of power.
They explain the overall historical longevity and stability of Jordan. - Washington
Institute for Near East Policy |
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Timeless Truism
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket
and trying to lift himself up by the handle." -
Winston Churchill
Trivia
During the air war in Southeast Asia what was the "Barrel Roll" sector?
1. A Laotian section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
2. A Cambodian section of the Ho Chi Mmh Trail.
3. A North Vietnamese section of the Ho Chi Minh trail
. (See answer at the end) | |
Quote to Ponder
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius. -
Arthur Conan Doyle, Complete Sherlock Holmes, Valley of Fear
Staff Meeting
The next staff meeting Camp Mabry will be at the call of the Commanders.
Answer: # 1 - "Barrel Roll" was the most heavily defended section of the Trail in Laos. Elsewhere in Laos were the less
heavily defended "Steel Tiger" and "Tiger Hound" sectors. |
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