Military Officer - August 2008 - (Page 40)

chaptersinaction Personal Affairs Chapter-run personal affairs programs serve members in a time of need. Find out how some tailor their programs to meet members’ needs and have become valuable local resources for information and support. M OAA’s Beneﬁts Information and Financial Education (BIFE) Department provides members with answers to virtually any question they might have about military pay and beneﬁts and offers assistance to survivors of members during the transition to auxiliary membership. BIFE also supports a network of personal affairs ofﬁcers (PAOs) in MOAA chapters who help people at the chapter level in communities across America. As I was writing this column, I ﬁlled out the MOAA Personal Affairs Workbook, part of Help Your Survivors Now: A Guide to Planning Ahead, available to all MOAA members. Completing the handbook forced me to pull together all the information my wife and family will need, should something happen to me. Though it took a while to complete, a burden was lifted, because the important information my family needs now is in one place. Chapters will help you do this, too. Some 265 chapters have PAOs or committees that help members take care of each other. These PAOs sometimes act as family for chapter members who don’t have or aren’t near family members. They educate, remind, and sometimes nag members into making preparations for something no one likes to talk about. And PAOs support chapter members in a time of need. This role is important, so MOAA started inviting PAOs many years ago to one of the Council and Chapter Affairs Department’s signature events — the regional Chapter Presidents’ Symposium — where BIFE sponsors a workshop to train PAOs and provides them with resources to give their members the best support possible. PAOs also help members ﬁnd out about their beneﬁts and navigate through dealings with the government that sometimes are complex. A number of MOAA chapters also reach out to veterans and survivors in their communities who are not chapter members and might not even know they are entitled to beneﬁts earned by their service. Some chapters offer seminars for interested groups and even publish their own chapter-speciﬁc personal affairs guides. Read more about this important feature of MOAA’s chapter system — and discover one more reason to take a look at your nearest chapter. — Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret. Director, Council and Chapter Affairs Helping Members Be Prepared M ON THE ROAD: This month, Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret., director of MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs, will visit chapter members in Alameda, Calif. Go to MOAA Calendar, page 77, for dates. 40 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2008 * aj. Jim Walker, USARet., personal affairs ofﬁcer (PAO) for the Northeast Arkansas Chapter, was there to help and support Eula Davis when her husband, Lt. Col. Billy J. Davis, USA, died Feb. 17. “I had a stack of life insurance policies here, and I didn’t know how to cancel them,” Davis says. “I didn’t know how to get my SBP [Survivor Beneﬁt Plan payments] started, and there were all of these letters that I needed to write.” Walker and his wife, Gail, sat down with Davis and determined what needed to be done next and in what order. They also provided her with form letters she could sign and mail that notiﬁed the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2008

Military Officer - August 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Member Services Cover Story: A Stronger Voice Virtual Combat Mental Floss Steady as She Goes Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Scholarship Donors Encore

Military Officer - August 2008

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