Author: Kat Lehman

Communicator, designer, artist, photographer, friend.

Rest in Peace, MG George K. Hastings

MG Vavala sent this out on the Delaware National Guard news list and we are printing it in its entirety.

MG Vavala sent this out the the Delaware National Guard community so I am sharing it in its entirety- Kat Lehman

To my Delaware National Guard family,

It is with a great deal of sorrow that I join all members of the Delaware National Guard in expressing our condolences and sincere sympathy on the passing of one of our beloved leaders, an architect of our modern Delaware National Guard, a mentor, advisor, colleague, friend, and former Adjutant General, MG (Ret) George K. Hastings.

He lived his life dedicated to our organization and to the principles on which our National Guard was founded. He will be remembered for his institutional knowledge and modernization of our force structure.

MG Hastings was a patriotic American Soldier and leader who served his country, state, and community willingly and without reservation. His death is a loss to all of us in the Delaware National Guard, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Rose Ann, his daughters Joanna and Jaime, and the rest of his family.

Francis D. Vavala
Major General
The Adjutant General, Delaware

Funeral services are as follows:

Visitation: Friday, November 1, 12-2 p.m.
Hannigan, Short, Disharoon Funeral Home
700 West Street
Laurel, DE
(302) 875-3637

Funeral service: Friday, November 1, 2 p.m.
Hannigan, Short, Disharoon Funeral Home

Interment:
Odd Fellows Cemetery
West Street
Laurel, DE

You may send condolences to Mrs. Hastings at 32616 Hastings Drive, Laurel,
DE 19956.

www.hsdfuneralhome.com/obituaries/George-Hastings/#!/Obituary

Delaware World War II Memorial Dedication

Please plan to attend a special dedication ceremony of Delaware’s World War II memorial on November 9th, twelve o’clock noon at Legislative Hall, Dover DE.

If you are a WWII veteran and would like to attend, please RSVP at (302) 739-2792 for special seating.

If you know someone who is a WWII veteran, please pass this information on to them.

Delaware Veterans Stand Down

Delaware 2013 Veterans Stand Down will be held Friday, 4 October 2013 from 9:00am-3:00pm at the Walter L Fox Post # 2, American Legion Post, 835 Bay Road, Dover, DE 19901.

Veterans’ Stand Down is an event to showcase community & VA services for ALL veterans.  This includes housing, medical, dental, flu shots, behavioral health, VA eligibility & benefits, haircuts, legal service, hot lunch & warm clothing. Transportation provided at key pick up locations.

For more information contact Liz Byers-Jiron: (302) 349-4898 or lbjnavcret@hotmail.com.

New Family Program Updates

The Association of the U.S. Army Director of Family Programs recently distributed an update on their family activities.

Here are a few items that you might find helpful:

1.       Blue Star Families 2013 Lifestyle Survey on what military families say is most important to them: http://bluestarfam.s3.amazonaws.com/42/6b/b/1583/OnePager2013.pdf

2.      Upcoming locations of Hiring our Heroes Job Fairs: http://www.uschamber.com/hiringourheroes/events  Note: there are three pages that run all the way through March of 2014 so don’t forget to scroll through all of them

3.      Military Family Research Institute provided the newest information on what research is showing us about military children:  See http://blog.militaryfamily.org/2013/06/26/how-are-military-families-doing-what-researchers-are-discovering/

4.      AUSA is launching a Spouse membership initiative.   It is scheduled for a soft launch in late September/ early October! How will it work?

a.      Spouses will click on to a spouse membership link that will take them to a page explaining the new membership category

b.      Spouses will be asked if their spouse is currently an AUSA member

i.      If “yes”, spouse will type in their spouses email for verification and then will be taken to a page that allows them to join at the $14.oo rate (sans magazine)

ii.      If “no” spouses will be able to join at the rate equivalent to their husbands rank or DA civilian position

c.       FIRST 100 spouses to receive FREE Ann Hand AUSA membership pin (see photo)

5.   The AUSA Family Programs Directorate represented the association in the following meetings since the last Update (Links to the events have been included:

a.      OSD-Military Family Research Institute Launch of “How to Help Military & Veteran Families” materials: (FREE for download: https://www.mfri.purdue.edu/publications/how-to-help.aspx )

b.      “Celebration of Our Military Kids’ Star Power” http://www.ourmilitarykids.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Star-Power-Press-Release-2013.pdf

c.       Military Family Readiness Council (NMFA is a sitting council member- their report here: http://www.militaryfamily.org/feature-articles/military-family-readiness.html )

d.      Presented at AWAG in Germany: http://www.awagonline.org/Seminar-Speakers.html

e.      Blue Star Families Lifestyle Survey launch

f.       Exhibited at TAPS National Military Survivor Seminarhttp://www.taps.org/

g.      United through Reading Senior Spouse Roundtable: http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/

h.     Military Families Research Institute Symposium: https://www.mfri.purdue.edu/newsroom/view-news.aspx?newsitemid=95

i.      National Child Traumatic Stress Network Advisory Council Meeting (I represent not only AUSA but I am the military family rep) http://www.nctsn.org/

Delaware National Guard Golf Tournament

Save the date! September 16th is the Delaware National Guard Golf Tournament. This event will be held at the Deerfield Golf Club and has a shotgun start at 9:00 AM. The event is open to all current and retired Delaware Army and Air National Guard members, their families or friends of the Delaware National Guard. For more details check out the attached flyer.

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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Informational Meeting and Discussion July 10th

The Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs, The Brain Injury Association of Delaware, and the Vietnam Veterans of America – Delaware State Council,  invites Veterans, Family Members , and all interested  Delawareans to an Informational Meeting & Discussion TBI Traumatic Brain Injury – the SIGNATURE WOUND of the Iraq/ Afghanistan War.  Date: 10 July 2013, Time: 1PM – 3PM, Location:  Easter Seals Building, 22317 Du Pont Highway, Georgetown, Delaware 19947.  Info contact: ROBERT CORSA, 302 933 0119, USMC TBI SURVIVOR

An End to the Doc Fix for Medicare and TRICARE?

Working with the House Committee on Ways and Means, leaders from the House Energy and Commerce Committee have unveiled draft legislation that would repeal the current Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system and replace it with a fair and stable system of physician payments in the Medicare program.  Enacted in 1997 as part of the “Balanced Budget Act,” the SGR is a continued concern for physicians who serve Medicare beneficiaries and for the beneficiaries themselves.  Because payments to doctors who treat TRICARE beneficiaries are tied to Medicare, it also affects active duty, reserve, and retired military personnel and their families.  Congress had implemented a temporary “doc fix” to prevent substantial Medicare reimbursement rate cuts, which could result in fewer physicians willing to serve Medicare/TRICARE patients.  This draft legislation would replace the current SGR with an enhanced fee-for-service.  Although the draft legislation provides a clearer picture of the proposed new payment system, it does not address how to pay for the cost of repealing the current payment system.  What’s next:  Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts, R-Penn., plans to hold a markup of the legislation next month.

Army Announces Restructure of the Force

After the Army announced that it is reducing end-strength and reorganizing brigade combat teams, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., said, “As damaging as they are, these cuts don’t begin to reflect the crippling damage sequestration will do to our Armed Forces and National Security.  The Committee will carefully examine the implications of this initial restructuring, but we all must understand that this is only the tip of the iceberg, much deeper cuts are still to come.  America learned the hard way that our pre- 9/11 military was too small.  Now, even before sequestration, we are reducing the force to that same size and foolishly expecting history to teach us a different lesson.  What lessons will we learn when sequester doubles these cuts in just a few months’ time?”

The Army plans to reduce the authorized end-strength of the Active Army from 570,000 to 490,000 and the Army National Guard from 358,000 to 350,000 and will inactivate a total of 12 BCTs.  In a press conference last week, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said, “The reduction of 80,000 Soldiers or 14% from the Active Component will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2017.  Let me be clear, we are taking these actions as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011.  This end-strength and force structure reduction predates sequestration.  If sequestration continues into Fiscal Year 2014, Army reductions to end-strength, force structure and basing announced today will be only the first step.”  Later in the press conference, Odierno reiterated, “I want to emphasize that these reductions do not reflect reductions due to sequestration.  Full sequestration could require another significant reduction in Active, Guard, and Reserve force structure as much as 100,000 combined.”

AUSA President Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan said that “Congress must quickly find an alternative to sequestration.  Everyone needs to be reminded of history’s lessons, of the dangers of a hollow Army that is called to fight the first battle of the next war – but without enough manpower, training or weaponry to do the job – of an Army which then pays the price in the blood of too many Soldiers killed or wounded while they train the hard way – during war, not before it.”