New Mexico couNcil of chapters

Newsletter Published by Ray Von Husen June 2014

Council of Chapters Officers

President – Col (Ret) Royce Taylor Roadrunner Chapter Tel: 505-662-3079 Email: taylor.royce@comcast.net Vice President - LTC (Ret) Jim Harbison Mesilla Valley Chapter Tel: 575-522-3909 Email: jharbison@usa.net Treasurer – LCDR (Ret) Neal Harris Roadrunner Chapter Tel: 505-466-0523 Email: elpuerto@aol.com Secretary – Capt (Ret) Ray von Husen Tularosa Basin Chapter Tel: 575-437-6456 Email: rvonhusen@tularosa.net Auxiliary Member Representative – Vacant Immediate Past President – LTC (Ret) Bob Worthington Mesilla Valley Chapter Tel: 575-522-6785 Email:rworthin@q.com

President’s Comments Our strategic vision focuses our energies and defines our engagement tactics at the local and national level. That strategic vision is: 1. Protect and defend the rights of all who serve(d) 2. Continue to serve retirees 3. Better engage currently serving and families 4. Develop partnerships.

We will be discussing this vision at our subsequent CoC meetings and how the council and local chapters can marshal its resources to benefit those who serve(d).

Secretary’s Comments I’m back! After a two year break to refresh myself, the decision to resume the work of Secretary again wasn’t too hard. Six years of fun and frustration, followed by a 2-year break and I think I’m ready to go. There was and is a lot of work to do. The minutes of the May meeting went out in a timely manner. This newsletter was prepared. The Council Handbook is being rebuilt. And, preparation and development of a method for Email voting on time critical issues for presentation at the next Council meeting is underway. On some of these tasks I’ve received some critical help. Also, any future articles or ideas for the Council newsletter would be greatly appreciated.

Ray

Meeting Schedule The next scheduled meeting of the New Mexico Council of Chapters will be held in Albuquerque on September 25 and 26, 2014.

The Llano Grande Chapter in Clovis, NM has volunteered to host the meeting in May 2015

Council of Chapters Meeting Activities

The Council of Chapters held its spring meeting in Las Cruces on May 2, 3, 2014. We had a very pleasant social gathering on Friday evening at the home of Scott and Fran Witt. The rest of the activities; (1) the Saturday luncheon, (2) the business meeting and (3) the evening banquet took place at the Holiday Inn Express.

1. The luncheon Speaker was Donna Deason, Assistant Administrator for the New Mexico Veterans’ Home in Truth or Consequences. She described the overall facility and the admissions policy.

2. Besides the many business items discussed and acted on, Council President Royce Taylor reported on his trip to Washington D.C. to attend the yearly “Storming the Hill”.

3. At the evening banquet, Col Antonio Pimentel USAF (Ret) a member of the MOAA National Board of Directors discussed a number of issues that MOAA National is working on in trying to slow or prevent the severe cuts in earned military pay and benefits

Friday Evening Social Scott and Fran Witt were our very gracious host and hostess for the evening social. The Mesilla Valley Chapter did an outstanding job in holding this event.

The back yard of the beautiful home of the Witts

Saturday Luncheon

Donna Deason, Assistant Administrator for the New Mexico Veterans’ Home, speaking to the luncheon group.

Mike McCormick, President of the Mesilla Valley Chapter, presenting a check for $250.00 to Donna for use at the veterans’ home.

Business Meeting Several important items were discussed: Membership recruiting, Legislative activities both at State and National levels, Recruiting an Auxiliary Chairperson, Website operation and cost, and Council Financial Planning. We had reports on “Storming the Hill”, the MOAA National Conference in Colorado Springs and the work of the New Mexico Veterans Integration Center. Col Tony Pimentel provided information on the importance of electronic communications in recruiting new members. Evening Banquet The evening banquet was a change to make new friends and renew acquaintances with old friends

Council members, Mesilla Valley Chapter member and guests socializing before dinner.

Council President Royce Taylor (Note: a 2-fisted drinker) making a point about something?

Col Antonio Pimentel, USAF (Ret) addressing the attendees about the actions that MOAA National is taking in regards to the severe budget cuts imposed by sequestration.

Tony Pimentel presenting a challenge coin to Frank Geisel for all his support to the Mesilla Valley Chapter and the Council of Chapters.

Legislative Affairs State Action and Issues The action to create a State exemption for or credit on Military Retirement Pay income tax, the PIT proposal, did not make it into committee review. A personal conversation at a Chapter meeting in Alamogordo with State Senator Bill Burt the sponsor of this legislation indicated that improper wording had to be corrected and upon completion of this correction the bill lost its place for consideration in the committee queue. Sen Burt said the bill will be submitted again at the next session of the State Legislation.

The bill to create four new State veterans Cemeteries passed and was signed into law.

And, the bill that prevents attacks on a servicemembers custody rights during the servicemembers deployment also passed.

It is important that each and every MOAA member in the State of New Mexico maintain contact with their State Legislators and keep them informed of the importance of the bill that affect Veterans and Retirees.

MOAA National Some of the information in this section is taken from the MOAA National Website. Over the past two years, the Pentagon has adopted a new budget-cutting catchphrase “Slow the Growth”. And that Train has left the station and is rolling hard and fast toward us! Uniformed and civilian leaders have created a perfect storm, providing political top cover to slash pay and benefits with repeated, alarming – and noticeably misleading – statements on personnel cost growth. This ongoing rhetoric about personnel costs” spiraling out of control” has emboldened many in Congress.

Yet the facts don’t bear this out – The following two charts show the falsehood in these statements

MOAA National is fighting hard to stop this Out Of Control Train. They have a major push to counteract this wrongful thinking: ©

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked MOAA to address a number of discrepancies between testimony provided by MOAA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff at a May 6 hearing. This week MOAA responded to the committee and addressed three key areas.

1. Personnel Cost Share of the Services Budget When asked during the May 6 hearing, the Service Chiefs indicated that personnel costs consume anywhere from 63 (Marine Corps) to 33 (Navy) percent of their service budgets. MOAA maintains that military personnel costs across all services have hovered near 33 percent for the past three decades. After review, it became clear that the services were not using uniform standards to measure personnel costs. Some of the services use different factors when calculating personnel costs. The services added budget lines such as child care and youth programs, warfighter and family programs, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, tuition assistance, other voluntary education programs, the commissary subsidy, family housing, unemployment compensation, and military construction. MOAA believes procurement and construction as well as family readiness programs should not be included in the equation. But if they are, the services should compare this share of the budget over the past 30 years to identify any growth. ©

2. Future Forecast DoD and service leaders repeatedly state that personnel costs are unsustainable based on the current rate of growth. But DoD and other analysts use the growth rate of the past decade to forecast the growth rate for the next two or three decades which is very misleading.

MOAA suggested the committee ask DoD exactly how it projects future growth. If they are using the last decade’s cost growth as the inflation factor for future growth, MOAA believes that is an invalid approach. Beginning in 2000, Congress worked for ten straight years to restore military pay comparability, repeal retirement cuts, zero-out housing costs for currently serving and their families, and restore promised healthcare coverage for older retirees. These fixes cost money, but they were needed to fix retention and readiness problems. Personnel and health care costs experienced an average rate of growth of approximately 7.8% annually from 2000-2010. From 2011 to 2014, cost growth has slowed and actually declined at an average rate of 1.5% per year.

With no need for further restoration of compensation, MOAA explained that personnel costs will continue to consume the same share of the budget, and may drop further based on planned end strength reductions. ©

3. Lost Purchasing Power MOAA analysis shows a sergeant (E-5) with a family of four would lose an average of $5,000 in purchasing power if the FY 2015 budget proposal is fully enacted.

During the hearing the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Jonathan Greenert (USN), asserted that analysis of “literal pay” reflects a 4 percent loss of purchasing power or $2,500. But follow up analysis shows the CNO included only pay caps and changes to the housing allowance. The comparison ignores the impact of cuts to the commissary subsidy and new out-of-pocket health care costs for active duty military families.

MOAA remains concerned that the Pentagon is repeating some of the very same mistakes that led to significant recruiting and retention problems in the late 90s and would negate the needed compensation improvements Congress implemented since 2000 to match the extraordinary demands and sacrifices of military service and a military career. What’s needed is to sustain pay and benefits for the men and women in uniform and their families as well as those that have faithfully served two decades or more.

Help MOAA deliver this message to the Hill by sending a MOAA-suggested message to your legislators asking them to reject the short-sighted, budget-driven cuts to pay and benefits included in the administration’s FY 2015 budget. ©

Besides pay and allowances for active duty; TriCare - including TriCare for life, Retired pay cost of living adjustments, and even Commissary benefits are in the cross hairs of the big cost cutting guns. Therefore, it is imperative that you contact your Senators ASAP and let them know how you feel about these cuts. MOAA has made it easy to contact the legislators through their Web Site. AND another very fast way to get to the pre-developed messages is to use the following link http://capwiz.com/moaa/home/. If desired, you can also modify these pre-developed messages to add your own thoughts or inputs.

Chapter Reports The Chapter Reports from the different chapters are included as attachments to this newsletter. The Totah Chapter did not submit a report.

Food for Thought Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.