Military Officer - July 2006 - (Page 24) rapidfire You’ve Got Mail Feeling Down? Military personnel and their family members can take advantage of the new Mental Health Self-Assessment Program (MHSAP) available online. This program, funded by DoD, provides free, anonymous mental health and alcohol use screening and referrals. The program offers screenings for a range of common emotional situations that often go undiagnosed, such as M ail from home is a wonderful morale booster for troops fighting overseas. Here are some interesting facts about the mail we send to Iraq that you may not have known, with thanks to 1st Lt. Agata Tyson, USA, former operations officer with the Joint Military Mail Terminal (JMMT), Baghdad: ■ Number of locations in Iraq that mail flies into: 7, including 2 joint military mail terminals (Baghdad and Balad). ■ Average number of planes carrying mail that arrive in Baghdad daily: 1 to 2, depending on the weather and other factors. Mail is transported aboard commercial DHL planes. ■ Average length of time for a letter to go from the United States to the receiving servicemember: 12 days. ■ Average number of stops along the mail route: 7 (home post office, gateway airport, Bahrain, JMMT or APO with an airfield, APO, unit mail room, soldier). ■ Average amount of mail processed monthly at the Baghdad JMMT: 1.5 million pounds. ■ Weight of each pallet containing incoming mail: between 1,200 and 2,200 pounds. ■ Busiest mail month: December. — Don Vaughan Protecting Your Retirement T he FDIC has increased the deposit insurance protection for certain retirement accounts from $100,000 to $250,000 effective April 1, 2006. This increase, the first in more than 25 years, covers traditional IRAs; rollover IRAs; Roth IRAs; spousal IRAs; and self-directed Keogh, 457(k), and 401(k) accounts. MILITARY OFFICER The coverage level for non-retirement accounts, such as individual or joint savings or checking accounts and CDs, remains at the current $100,000. This means that a married couple could hold approximately $800,000 in FDICinsured assets at the same banking or savings institution, as follows: ■ non-retirement account: up to $100,000 in the husband’s name, up to $100,000 in the wife’s name, and up to $100,000 in joint ownership; and ■ qualified retirement account: up to $250,000 in the husband’s name and up to $250,000 in the wife’s name. ON THE WEB ■ For more information, visit www.fdic.gov/consumers/con sumer/news/special/index.html. depression, anxiety disorder, and PTSD, as well as alcohol use. Some questions include: ■ Have you lost pleasure in things you used to enjoy? ■ Do you have trouble sleeping or eating? ■ Does your mood fluctuate between overly high and hopeless? ■ Are you keyed up and anxious all the time? ■ Do you suffer from aches and pains? Visit www.militarymen talhealth.org. 24 J U LY 2 0 0 6 PHOTOS: LEFT, PUNCHSTOCK; ABOVE, ERIK S. LESSER/GETTY IMAGES http://www.militarymentalhealth.org http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/special/index.html http://www.militarymentalhealth.org http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/special/index.html
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.