Military Officer - January 2007 - (Page 41)

washingtonscene performed. Today, the Reserve Component Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) only pays about 29 percent of active duty program beneﬁts (versus nearly 50 percent when ﬁrst enacted), and beneﬁts can only be used during service — even though frequent activations often preclude student-reservists from using them. Unlike their active duty counterparts, Guard and Reserve servicemembers returning from deployment and completing their service obligations lose all MGIB entitlements once they leave service. MGIB coverage must be upgraded to fulﬁll congressionally intended recruitment, reenlistment, and readjustment purposes. by military children, promote reciprocity for graduation and transfer of credit requirements for military children, enhance spousal education/employment initiatives and incentives, and promote in-state college tuition eligibility in the state of military assignment. Additional issues Veterans’ claims Veterans of the war on terrorism are adding to the backlog of VA disability claims. Other underlying problems are causing the VA claims system to again spiral out of control, including inadequate resources, inconsistencies between VA networks, and botched claims. The VA estimated that as many as 900,000 total claims would be in the system in 2006. MOAA supports an infusion of resources and improvements in training, quality control, and information management to put the VA claims system on ﬁrm footing. Commissary benefits Protect against privatization efforts or reductions in commissary funding support to ensure retention of this important beneﬁt for all service beneﬁciaries, including active, reserve, and retired servicemembers, as well as families and survivors. Resist consolidation of commissary and exchange facilities (which has the secondary effect of increasing prices on some commissary items) except as necessary to avoid loss of commissary facilities at base realignment and closure locations. Flag amendment Support passage of a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. ﬂag. MOAA thinks Congress should pass this amendment, so it can be referred to the states, where the people can decide the issue. (This requires ratiﬁcation by at least 38 states.) Inactive duty training points Remove the current cap that bars Selected Reserve personnel from crediting more than 90 inactive duty training points per year toward retirement, even if they actually earned additional points above the cap. All points earned in a 12month period should be credited for retirement purposes. Social Security and Medicare reform Resist initiatives that impose disproportionate penalties on particular segments of the beneﬁciary or taxpayer population or fail to protect long-lived beneﬁciaries’ income from the ravages of inﬂation. MO — Contributors are Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF-Ret., director; Col. Mike Hayden, USAFRet.; Col. Bob Norton, USA-Ret.; Cmdr. René Campos, USN-Ret.; Cmdr. John Class, USN-Ret.; Col. Ana Smythe, USMC-Ret.; Cass Vreeland; and Bret Shea, MOAA’s Government Relations Department. JANUARY 2007 Education enhancements Seek legislative and policy changes to provide education enhancements for servicemembers and families, protect DoD dependent schools, sustain impact aid funding for public schools attended MILITARY OFFICER 41

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - January 2007

Military Officer - January 2007 Contents From the Editor From the Chairman Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Osprey Rising? Battlefields of the Great War I Resolve ... New Mission Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Scholarship Donors MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Member Books Encore

Military Officer - January 2007

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