Military Officer - May 2006 - (Page 20)

rapidfire he VA and the National Guard Bureau have teamed up to improve the coordination of veterans’ beneﬁts at the state level by training newly established state beneﬁts advisors (SBAs) to help ensure a smooth and seamless transition for guardmembers returning from active duty deployments. The National Guard’s 54 new SBAs, being hired in each of the states and territories, are recently returned veterans who have received training to increase their knowledge of VA services and beneﬁts. The training enables them to assist returning combat veterans and create coalitions between state veterans’ affairs ofﬁces, veterans’ service organizations, the VA, and community groups. The SBAs will provide advice to guardmembers, their families, the family program ofﬁce, employer support groups, and military personnel. SBAs will participate in the Reserve and National Guard mobilization and demobilization process and provide materials on VA beneﬁts, compensation, education, vocational rehabilitation, life insurance, home loans, and burial beneﬁts. Benefits Advisors In Review Where Hell Freezes Over: A Story of Amazing Bravery and Survival By David A. Kearns. Thomas Dunne Books, 2005. ISBN 0-312-34205-5. $24.95. T TRICAREUPDATE RATE INCREASE: Effective Oct. 1, 2005, the daily cost of inpatient care in civilian hospitals for active duty family members under TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra increased from $13.90 to $14.35 per day or $25, whichever is greater. For example, if a family member of an active duty servicemember is an inpatient for one day, he or she will pay $25. For inpatient stays that are two days or more, the cost will be $14.35 a day. The TRICARE Standard diagnosis-related group (DRG) daily rate for most civilian nonmental health hospital admissions increased to $535, from $512 last year. This rate increase applies only to retirees, their families, and their survivors who use TRICARE Standard. They must pay either $535 a day or a cost share of 25 percent of the hospital’s billed charges, whichever is less. There is no DRG rate increase for beneficiaries who use a civilian TRICARE network facility under TRICARE Extra. 20 MILITARY OFFICER M AY 2 0 0 6 From 1946-1947, the U.S. Navy was deeply involved in the survey and exploration of Antarctica. During this operation, a Navy seaplane crashed in the frozen wasteland Dec. 30, 1946, killing three men and stranding six survivors. This is a dramatic story of courage, leadership, and resourcefulness, as six injured naval aviators struggled to stay alive in the crash wreckage for 13 days before being rescued by their shipmates. Kearns, the son of the plane’s copilot, tells a gripping tale of South Pole adventure, set within the backdrop of international competition to claim Antarctic territory. Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda By Sean Naylor. Berkley Books, 2005. ISBN 0-425-19609-7. $25.95. Army Times journalist Naylor offers high praise for courageous soldiers and harsh criticism for clueless higher headquarters in his dramatic story of a major U.S. battle in Afghanistan in February and March 2002. Operation Anaconda was supposed to trap and destroy al-Qaida and Taliban ﬁghters hiding in the rugged Shahikot Valley, but inaccurate intelligence, faulty command relationships, overconﬁdence, and poor planning resulted in U.S. forces being outnumbered, outgunned, and chewed up by an enemy everyone thought would run away. Fortunately, the outcome of the battle was decided by the initiative and determination of the soldiers on the ground, a true “sergeant’s ﬁght” of ﬁre teams, squads, and platoons, despite the meddling of generals and staff ofﬁcers a thousand miles away. This action-packed tale is a stark portrayal of strong and effective smallunit battleﬁeld leadership in a merciless war against an elusive, resourceful, and hardened enemy. — William D. Bushnell PHOTOS: STEVE BARRETT

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Military Officer - May 2006 Contents From the Editor President's Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Raising Iraq Dogfight Fun Caring For Our Own Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - May 2006

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