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USAF MSC Association
NEWSLETTER
_____________________________________________________ AUGUST 2012
FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Mark your calendars to “Meet Me in St. Louis” for our 2013 Reunion 19 – 22
September. Col Randy Borg and his committee are busy making all of the
arrangements. Watch our Newsletter and website for more details.
In July I had the pleasure of attending the retirement ceremony of Brigadier General
Michael Miller at The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas. On behalf of the
Association I presented him with a Medical Service Corps flag. General Miller was
very appreciative of the Association’s gift and will display the flag proudly.
Congratulations to Chuck Potter on his promotion. Brigadier General Potter is the
19th
Chief of the Air Force Medical Service Corps.
The Association needs your nominations for the Commitment to Excellence (Retired)
Award. The application and criteria are detailed in this issue. If you know any
member eligible for this award, please submit your nominee to Col Kevin O’Shea, our
secretary, not later than 15 January 2013.
Summer in South Texas has been blessed with much needed rain. Yet our lakes are
still well below their normal levels. However, much of our nation has experienced
drought and extreme heat. Western states have been affected by wild fires with the
greatest of these being in Colorado. The Air Force Academy felt the threat of these
fires while some 350 homes were destroyed in the Colorado Springs area. Although the weather plays a big part
in our activities, this is the time of year when we get together with family and friends, have backyard BBQs, swim,
fish, golf, play tennis, and simply enjoy the great outdoors and our loved ones. Wherever you are, and whatever
your plans may be, I hope you are experiencing a safe and enjoyable summer.
Happy Trails.
Joe Vocks, Chairman of the Air Force MSC Association Board of Directors
Officers and Key Contacts
Col Joe Vocks
Chairperson
Col Debra Cavanaugh
President
Col Randy Borg
Vice President
Col Kevin O’Shea
Secretary
Col Al Obuchowski
Treasurer
Lt Col Sam Bowker
Director
Col Charlie Brown III
Director
Col Bob Hauser
Director
Col Denise Lew
Director
Col Tim Morgan
Director
Col Jim Pearce
Director
Maj Wayne G. Terry
Newsletter Editor
Capt Wm. M. Copeland
General Counsel
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PRESIDENT’S LETTER
What a world we live in. Recent world events make you really stop to think how short and precious life is. I have
recently been given an opportunity to get off the merry-go-round and give serious thought to the next phase of my
life. Not sure where it will lead me, but my family will be my focus. They have all gathered in San Antonio and
Dennis and I just bought our retirement home there. It just isn’t in my nature to be unemployed but I’ll give it a
try. Retirement actually scares the bajeebers out of me though I know many of you have navigated it very
successfully. I look forward to your advice and guidance.
We now have the dates and location of our 2013 reunion. Thanks to Randy Borg for making those arrangements
for us. Please look for additional details regarding the reunion in this newsletter!!
See you in Saint Louis!
Debra,
Debra Cavanaugh, President of the Air Force MSC Association Board of Directors
___________________________________________________________________________________________
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE
COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE (Retired) AWARD
Annually, the board selects an individual from your nominations for the Commitment to Excellence (Retired)
Award. If you know any member eligible for this award please submit your nominee to the Association Secretary
not later than 15 January 2013. Email to [email protected] and attach using Word Document or mail to
USAF MSC Association, 4008 Plantation House Road, Summerville, SC 29485-6239
The purpose of the Commitment to Excellence (Retired) Award is to recognize outstanding service by a retired
Medical Service Corps officer who has contributed to the advancement of the Association, the Air Force Medical
Service Corps or to the Air Force Medical Service. The period of consideration for this award is the member's
service following retirement from active duty.
Candidates for the Commitment to Excellence Award must:
Be a member in good standing in the Association;
Be nominated by an active member of the Association;
Be a recognized leader among Association members;
Have made significant contribution to the advancement of the Association, the Air Force Medical Service
Corps and/or the Air Force Medical Service after retiring from the Air Force; and,
Be a consummate team player and role model for others in the Association and the Air Force Medical
Service Corps.
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USAF MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS ASSOCIATION’S COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE
(Retired) AWARD NOMINATION FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2013
Use continuation sheets as necessary (put the nominee’s rank and name at the top center of each continuation
page and number them).
Use only one nomination for each person. Letters of support from other Association members should be included
in lieu of duplicate nominations. If letters of support are used, the individual nominating the candidate should
compile the entire package and submit it at one time.
Please note: The period for this award is for service AFTER the person’s retirement from active duty/Guard or
Reserve, so please focus your narrative accordingly.
Name of Person Submitting Nomination: _________________________________
Phone number (include area code): _______________________________________
Date joined the MSC Association: ______________
Nominee Information:
Rank: _______ Last Name: _________________________________________
First Name: ________________________ Middle Initial: ___
Date joined the MSC Association: _______________ (if you don’t know, the information will be entered by the
Association Secretary).
Describe the nominee’s contributions after he/she retired from the Air Force, including Guard/Reserve, in one or
more of the following areas:
MSC Association (offices held, committee membership, etc – be specific):
USAF Medical Service Corps:
USAF Medical Service:
Military Service Members or Veterans:
Describe how the nominee is a consummate team player, and role model for others in the Association and Medical
Service Corps:
Describe the individual’s community and public service following retirement:
____________________________________________________________________________________
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MEET ME IN SAINT LOUIS – 2013 REUNION
Plans are well underway for our next reunion. Mark your calendars and make
plans to join us for what is sure to be a wonderful event. Our Board has
selected the Millennium Hotel in Saint Louis as the location for the reunion,
which is scheduled for 19-22 September 2013. The Millennium offers an
attractive location in downtown Saint Louis near many dining and
entertainment venues. It provides beautiful views of the Arch, which is within
walking distance, including those from its rotating restaurant atop one of its
two towers. You will soon be hearing much more as plans unfold, but for now,
be sure to save the dates!
Randy Borg, Vice President of the Air Force MSC Association and Chairman of the 2013 Reunion Planning
Committee.
___________________________________________________________________________________
AIRPLANE TROUBLES
This is an old one, but it’s a good one. A little humor to make you smile.
A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane.
Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot the plane started to go down.
Finally the pilot grabbed a parachute, yelled to the passengers that they had better jump, and bailed out.
Unfortunately there were only three parachutes remaining.
The doctor grabbed one and said "I'm a doctor, I save lives, so I must live," and jumped out.
The lawyer then said, "I'm a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world, I deserve to live!" He
grabbed a parachute and jumped.
The priest looked at the little boy and said, "My son, I've lived a long and full life. You are young and have your
whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace." The little boy handed the parachute back to
the priest and said, "Not to worry, Father. The 'smartest man in the world' just jumped out with my back pack.”
___________________________________________________________________________________
“TO REACH A GREAT HEIGHT A PERSON NEEDS TO HAVE GREAT DEPTH.”
You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and
achievement. You are here to enrich the world.”
~ Woodrow Wilson ~
___________________________________________________________________________________
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Join in on the trend in support of MSC license
plates. These pictures show that Virginia and
Florida are already setting the trend. If you
have an MSC license plate, send a picture to
the editor so we can set up a collage of them in
our December MSC Newsletter. Let’s see how
many states are represented. As Clint
Eastwood would say, “Make my Day.”
Address contributions to W. G. Terry, 2081
Germantown Road, Farmville, Virginia, 23901,
or send as an email attachment to
Virginia – Wayne Terry Florida – Fred Graves
__________________________________________________________________________________
A WANT AD FROM THE EDITOR
I continue to search high and low for items of interest to our Association members. Up until recently, I had a
storehouse of nuggets provided by members. But, my storehouse needs to be replenished with more gems from
you all. Help me to continue providing items of real interest to our friends and colleagues. Help me to fill up the
storehouse in time for me to brighten up our friends and colleagues during the holy month of December. More
than that, consider it a holiday gift by sharing some of the great untold stories you’ve gathered over the years.
_________________________________________________________________________________
OBSERVATION IN PAST GOVERNANCE -- PLAN
FOR FUTURE MILITARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
By Tom Philpott │ 20 March 2012
DoD has unveiled a new governance plan for the military health care system. It is
more modest than efficiency hawks on Capitol Hill wanted, so congressional
approval is uncertain.
Rather than moving to a joint medical command, a plan the House endorsed in
2011 but one the Air Force strongly has opposed, a DoD task force has recommended what Dr. Jonathan
Woodson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, calls a “70-percent solution.”
The plan would upgrade the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) into a Defense Health Agency (DHA) that
would have new authorities to make military medicine more efficient through use of common clinical and
businesses processes across the health care system and particularly where more than one service operates base
medical facilities.
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Woodson briefed several journalists, including Observation Post columnist Tom Philpott, on details of the plan
March 2, the day it was delivered to Congress. The following Observation Post presents portions of that briefing,
edited for length and, in some cases, clarity.
Woodson: Within the department, for some time we have known we needed to develop a set of strategies on
governance to achieve certain efficiencies on “shared services.” We are at a transformative period in our history.
We are coming to the end of kinetic wars. A lot has changed in health care. And we’re in a national fiscal crisis.
So it was time to think about change.
In health care, there are many things between the services nowadays [that are] more alike than different —
information technology, administration of health systems, the TRICARE insurance program and what we spend
on purchased care, and medical education. These things look more alike than different.
The strengths of the services happen to be in their operational efforts. We want to protect Navy capabilities afloat
in delivery of medicine, the Air Force and aerial platforms, the Army and land-based platforms. So the idea is not
to throw the baby out with the bathwater but to design a system that creates [the] best in health care quality [and]
access [while preserving] the unique features that individual service cultures bring to the fight.
The decision to construct a [DHA] is an important step in that path. You have heard about the issue of the unified
medical command. Let me just say the [DHA] will be an important pillar of any unified health command if that
indeed were considered down the line. The DHA allows us to get maximum effort and efficiency of shared services
and creates the 70-percent solution without having to tear the services apart in reorganizing what would be a
cumbersome and probably more expensive [command] at a time when we’re fighting kinetic wars.
The department feels DHA is essential to making the military health care system stronger, more efficient, and
better for service to the beneficiaries.
Several years back, organizations like the Defense Business Board recommended moving to a unified medical
command. The Air Force opposed it; the Navy and Army were on board. When that idea was rejected, the
services were going to do the next best thing and combine functions like purchasing. Did that not happen? Is that
why this is required now?
Dating back even 50 years, we’ve been slowly moving to a more unified approach. It’s important to note the 70-
percent solution proposed here represents the important things in delivering quality care that is efficient and cost-
effective.
Years ago when it was simpler to deliver care, the return on investment of establishing a unified medical
command was clearly not there. In 2012, when so much of technology is applied to delivery of care, duplication of
many things in the various services no longer makes the return on investment the same. We have to make sure we
have a shared vision, shared acquisition structure, [and] shared logistics structure to be good stewards of
taxpayers’ dollars.
Were earlier efforts false starts, and is this more of a commitment?
Over time, we did see commitments perhaps to [streamline] medical logistics. They did comprehensive work on
collaborating on graduate medical education and some training programs. But we’re at a tipping point after 10
years of war where we fought as a joint medical service. It’s time to look more comprehensively at these issues.
7
[In 2011] we successfully opened the medical education training campus in San Antonio, which has been an
enormous success. Members from every service are training right next to each other to be superb medics or
pharmacists. We looked at medical logistics [and] at establishing common clinic business processes. All of this just
moved us more and more to the need to create a governance structure that allows us to drive these issues.
The other thing I want to impress on you is that health care has become more expensive, including the technology
and the emphasis on specialties. Most of our money is spent in the direct-care and purchased-care system.
Essentially, we’re paying for two types of health care systems. So we need a governance structure that can drive a
set of business plans that optimize taxpayers’ dollars.
One major feature of this governing structure will be the ability to create joint multiservice market business plans
to optimize investments we’re making into the direct-care system, even as we try to optimize what we pay for in
the purchased-care environment. It’s about driving change in structure and creating efficiency in the
administration process to make sure we spend those other dollars wisely.
Management activities only represent about 2 percent of our budget. So as we restructure management
governance, we’ll be able to drive out maybe $50 million to $100 million per year in administrative waste.
But what we really will do is have an efficient decision-making process that will drive a cohesive collaborative
strategy for the two buckets where all of the money is going — purchased-care contracts and the direct-care
system.
When the House Armed Services Committee placed in the defense bill last year a directive to create a unified
medical command, it referred to a study done two or three years ago that found this alternative would produce
the greatest amount in savings, almost a half billion dollars a year. If your primary goal is to be good stewards of
tax dollars, why not go with the single-health-command structure?
It’s a good question. One of the metrics used in an earlier study by the naval analysis group was flawed. So the
amount of money they envisioned saving, when comparing apples to apples, was probably not as great.
Also, many of the things folks have been talking about [to achieve savings] we have been slowly implementing, so
some of the savings touted a few years ago have already been achieved. For example, there has been a joint-first
approach to health information technology. Some strategies for medical research have more of a joint connection.
[Establishing the DHA] was the natural next step and provided the easiest reorganization without Also, many of
the things folks have been talking about [to achieve savings] we have been slowly disrupting the services.
But you agree it’s more cost-effective to go with a joint health command?
At this time, no. When you read the report to Congress, you’ll see an analysis of the size of headquarters staff you
would stand up if you put a four-star command there. Depending on what you’re describing, the unified medical
command could have 2,000 to 5,000 people at headquarters. So it’s not necessarily cheaper or a less bureaucratic
structure.
I would point out that the joint-medical-command model proposed in the House version of the National Defense
Authorization Act had a DHA in it. So what we propose is a makes-sense way of achieving a majority of the
efficiencies, and it doesn’t preclude us [from moving] into the next stage in the out-years.
8
Can this argument be made: Why bother with moving to a DHA if you only save $50 million against a $50 billion
health care budget? Why move the chairs around?
Remember the reorganization has three focuses: One is create the DHA to give an administrative process to
shared services. Another is to establish a multiservice market business plan, a structure that allows you to develop
and tackle processes and clinical plans that really drive savings. If we do this right, we can capture much more
than $50 million.
If we have an administrative structure that allows the services to decide which platforms they want to establish,
where they want the technology, without duplicating all of that, the savings can be enormous.
And then, if we’ve got a strategy that optimizes the patient flow and care into the direct care system and optimizes
how much we buy in the purchased care sector, the savings can be enormous. The new administrative structure
will allow us to collaboratively and effectively make these decisions.
Can you explain multiservice market management and what it will do?
In a place like San Antonio, you’ve got both Air Force and Army medical facilities and a large beneficiary
population. We are spending money to support the direct-care system and the purchased-care system with some
individuals going, say, to the University of Texas for their care. Well, if we don’t have a collaborative strategy
between the services to optimize use of military-owned facilities like Brooke Army Medical Center, they could sit
empty. We are paying for those facilities even as we pay premium dollar in purchased care for individuals to go
get care at the University of Texas.
What we need to do in these multiservice market areas is rapidly get agreement between services on incentives to
ensure individuals optimize the direct-care system. It not only is an issue of managing cost and optimizing
resources but also an issue of readiness. Our doctors, nurses, and medics will be called on when it’s time to go to
war. They should be practicing their professions fully. So if hospitals are empty, it becomes an issue of readiness
and waste and cost.
So we need to establish appropriate business plans in these multiservice markets that are collaborative and not at
the whim of every new commander that comes along every two years. That’s what a multiservice market business
plan will do.
What’s the third focus of the new governance plan?
We had to figure out what to do with the national capital region. During the BRAC [base-realignment-and-
closure] process, we stood up the Joint Task Force National Capitol Region Medical (JTF CapMed). It was an
understandable administrative vehicle for a complex multiservice market.
BRAC ended, and so we no longer needed BRAC functions to be part of JTF CapMed, but we still needed a
governance structure for two joint entities: the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center [in Bethesda,
Md.] and the Fort Belvoir [Va.] Community Hospital.
So the proposal now is just to downsize — or appropriately size — it to a directorate which will report to the
[DHA].
That brings everything in line in terms of the multiservice markets.
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Under the DHA, would you be changing the name of the TMA in Falls Church, Va., and then beefing it up with
new authorities?
The [TMA] has evolved over the years but not necessarily with logical forethought. Originally, it was an insurance
plan. Then there was this need to drive some collaborative effort on the support contracts and how they were
administered, so that was added on. When health IT became so important, that was added.
Now the issue is to create an administrative structure that can develop appropriate business plans for all of these
things. So the [DHA] will not just be TMA on steroids. It will be a functional, thoughtful redesign with the focus
on activities common to the services.
Now that you have reported to Congress, do you still need the Government Accountability Office to verify your
cost-savings figures?
GAO has 180 days from March 2 to review our report. It already has been looking at the whole issue of [military
health care system] governance. Then Congress has 120 days after that to decide [whether DoD can implement its
plan.]
What would be the effect on Army, Navy, and Air Force medical commands, particularly the authority of the
surgeons general? Do they lose certain authorities to the health agency?
My opinion is their authorities and influence is enhanced.
A lot in health care has changed. There is more common across the services than there are differences. But
developing these business plans requires a significant amount of focus.
If you look back at studies that favor a combined medical command, there has always been a tension between the
operational focus of the surgeon general and administrative focus of delivering garrison care or retiree care.
Under the new plan, I think the position of the surgeons general is in exactly the right place. They can concentrate
on the operational issues but at the same time are poised to be the best advocates for the development of garrison
care. That other three-star officer [leading DHA] will now own some of these business processes, and they can say,
“Hey, you’re not doing it right!” Right now, they own it, but they own it in a silo. Their ability to tweak the system
and to reduce inefficiencies, without authority to reach into other services, is very limited.
They are looking, I think, for easier opportunities to collaborate without an encumbering bureaucracy. … We can
no longer afford to view defense health care spending as being funneled out to silos, which are not connected.
How are surgeons general to handle operations in light of demands for care at home? For example, during the
war more pharmacists were required in theater. As a result, more beneficiaries have prescriptions filled off-base
to avoid delays on base. If a surgeon general says he needs the following support in theater, how does he work
with the DHA on resources?
You’ve hit the nail on the head. As we look back at 10 years of war and the operational requirements, without a
coordinated strategy that reaches across services, we get a local solution to the long-term consequences of my
orthopedist suddenly being gone. So send beneficiaries out to the private sector. And we know from our data that,
once you send them out to the private sector, they don’t come back.
10
But if we’ve got business plans and we know what our operational requirements are, we can look across the
services for all sorts of possibilities for solutions to maintaining our commitment to the beneficiaries for on-base
care. If it’s an Army hospital, we could take a Navy orthopedist and backfill. We could take a reservist and put
him in there. The DHA would develop the requirement and then go to the surgeons general and say, “Here, fill it.”
When will all this happen?
We’ve given you the timeline for Congress, a total of about 300 days. We would hope to execute on the plan
shortly after that. We want to make sure Congress understands what our intent is and why we think this is
important at this time. We are hopeful we will get the OK to go ahead.
SOURCE: Tom Philpott is a freelance writer and syndicated news columnist. His column "Military Update"
appears in 48 daily newspapers throughout the U.S. and overseas. And, Tom Philpott graciously granted
permission to reprint this article. [Editor]
___________________________________________________________________________________
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Emmet asked Willard "Do you remember that stuff they used to put in
our coffee during the war to make us forget about women?"
"I think you mean salt peter!"
"Yeap, that's the stuff..."
"I think it's beginning to work!!” Is this just another sign that we are getting old or just another War
Story. Enjoy.
Contributed by Joe Curley, Col, USAF, MSC & Association Member
____________________________________________________________________________________
HAPPILY MARRIED?
Overheard at last year’s MSC Reunion from a group of spouses talking in the lobby…
My husband bought me a “Mood Ring” to help identify whether I was in a good mood or not. What he
quickly discovered was that when I am in a good mood, the ring turns green. When I am in a bad mood,
it leaves an ugly red mark in the middle of his forehead!
Furnished anonymously for fear of “his” personal safety and ending up with one of those red marks on
his forehead!
11
TEAM SCOTT SAYS GOODBYE TO OLD 375th
AES BUILDING
Posted & Updated 4/3/2012
By Staff Sgt. Stephanie Wade, 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs, Scott AFB, Illinois.
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Demolition began 2 April 2012 on Building T-505, the old home of the 375th
Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and after a short ceremony, Team Scott members participated in part of the
demolition.
For more than 63 years the building has stood on the corner of Hanger Road and South Drive and served as a
visible reminder of the early days of "Scott Field's" history as the first home to an AE mission.
The building was first built in 1939 with the intention of it being temporary housing barracks for Scott Field
members. During the years, the building had been subject to many expansions and renovations and eventually
became the home of the 375 AES in the 1970s.
"[AE] all began on this base and this building is part of that history," said Col. Kevin Webb, 375th Air Mobility
Wing vice commander, during the beginning of the ceremony. "The AES began on Scott Field and since then has
moved more than 81, 000 patients and 14,000 injured warriors."
A lot of memories took place in this building according to Webb. For instance, Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsey, the 18th Air
Force Commander and his wife, Patricia, met in this building. She was a nurse and he was a young captain.
Retired Senior Master Sgt. Bob Emery served as first sergeant for the 375 AES in1985. He worked with Captain
Ramsey back in the day.
"It was easy being a first sergeant for the AES," he recalled. "The assignment was a special duty so it consisted of
the best of the best. We had great espirit de corps and we enjoyed some fun events together." But even he said he's
glad to see the new building and said that it would continue to raise morale.
The new building is home to the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and opened 6 February 2012 to replace
the 70-year-old, condemned building "famous for its mold and basement swimming pool after a hard rain.
For Capt. Jennifer Idell, 375th AES operations officer, the new building is a welcomed relief.
"[The old building] lacked storage for the $5 million in medical equipment the AE missions required. It
inadequately supported training, and required 40 space heaters and 35 window air conditioners due to
malfunctioning heat, cooling and roofing,” she said.
The new building represents where the Air Force is headed with new construction, meaning that it's designed under
a LEED certification process, which stands for Leadership, Energy and Environmental Design. This provides a
framework for designers to work toward sustainable buildings that uses less energy and is eco-friendly. The Air
Force designs toward a "silver" certification – one of four ratings – but with this building it's hoping to score a
"gold" certification.
Furnished by Joe Curley, Col, USAF, MSC (Ret) and Association Member
_____________________________________________________________________________________
12
USE OF THE MSC ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
Several Association members recently voiced their concern about receiving unsolicited email from other members.
The emails ranged from political jabs to religious jokes that could certainly be offensive to some. The MSC
Association Membership Roster is an awesome networking tool and a great way to stay in touch with friends and
even to establish contact with new friends. After some discussion, the Board feels strongly that the Roster should
not be used for unsolicited mass mailings, especially those containing views that may offend others. This is not a
freedom of speech issue and the Board does not intend to dictate any further, what members communicate to other
members. But if you receive unwanted email, the Board strongly encourages you to let the author know you did not
appreciate it and asked to be removed from his or her distribution list. What we want to avoid, is an increase in the
number of people who “opt out” of having their contact information published in the roster because they got
unwanted, unsolicited email from other members. For similar reasons, when you dispose of your old rosters, please
consider shredding or burning them.
Furnished by Jim Moreland, Col, USAF, MSC (Ret) Association Member
____________________________________________________________________________________
JOKE OF THE QUARTER
To settle a disagreement, two guys decided a week-long ice fishing competition seemed the
sportsmanlike way to settle things. The one who caught the most fish at the end of the
week would win.
The contest would take place on a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota. There were
to be no observers present, and both men were to be sent out separately on this isolated
lake and return at 5 pm with their catch to be counted and verified by a team of neutral
parties.
At the end of the day the first guy returned to the starting line with 10 fish. Soon the second guy returned with no
fish. Everyone assumed he was just having a bad day and would, hopefully, catch up the next day. At the end of
the second day, the first guy came in with 20 fish and the second guy came in again with none.
That evening the second guy's friends got together secretly and said, "I think the first guy is a low-life, cheat'n son-
of-a-gun. Tomorrow doesn’t bother fishing – just spy on him and see just how he is cheating."
The next night (after the first guy returns with 50 fish) the second guy's friends got together for the report of how
the first guy was cheating. The second guy said, "You are not going to believe this – he's cutting holes in the ice!"
_________________________________________________________________________ “There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied, and which; therefore, more needs
elucidation, than the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.”
~ James Madison to James Monroe – October 5, 1786 ~
13
SOUNDING TAPS
*Lt Col Tomas B. Gibble 02 April 2012
Colonel Harold W. Grinstaff 12 May 2012
Lt Col James Ross Jeffrey 13 April 2012
*Colonel Gordon F. Loebig 10 June 2012
*Denotes Life Member Status
___________________________________________________________________________
IN MEMORIAM
Received notification from Steve Goodyear, son of Lt Col David Goodyear (deceased) and Ruth Goodyear, that
his mother Ruth had passed away on 6 January 2010. He wanted to share the information relating to his
mother’s passing, stating that “...she really loved the military life.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
HELPFUL AIR FORCE MILITARY ADDRESS CHANGE LIST
1) Update address with DEERS.
https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/address/index.jsp
2) Update “Correspondence Address” on MyPay.
https://mypay.dfas.mil/afsso.htm. (If the link doesn’t work, sign on via the link at AF portal)
3) Update mailing address with DMV for registrations & your license in the state where you’re licensed. This
website is a good resource to find out what you need to do: http://www.dmv.org/
4) Update with post office. (Can do this online at this link for $1)
https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/icoa-main-flow.do?execution=e1s1
5) Notify the USAF MSC Association by email at [email protected].
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2013 TRICARE PRIME FEES
In early July 2012, the Department of Defense announced how much TRICARE Prime enrollees will pay in
enrollment fees for FY2013.
The fees for the New Year were limited by a MOAA-championed provision in the FY2012 Defense Authorization
Act that capped annual Prime fee adjustments at the retired pay COLA percentage. The new law limited the
Prime fee hike for next year to 3.6% – the same rate as the 2012 COLA.
The new fees for retirees and family members under 65 will be as follows. Effective 1 October 2012.
Annual Quarterly Monthly
Individual $269.28 $67.32 $22.44
Family $538.56 $134.64 $44.88
All Prime enrollees paying fees (active duty enrollees pay no fee) will pay the FY 2013 rates EXCEPT that the
following categories will be kept at the same rate they paid in FY2012:
Survivors of members who died on active duty
Retirees who received a medical (chapter 61) retirement from their parent service
The above exceptions apply only to the listed beneficiaries who were already paying fees before 1 October 2012.
Beneficiaries in these categories who enroll in Prime for the first time after 30 September 2012 will pay the new
FY 2013 rate, and then their fees will be frozen at that rate for future years.
These exceptions are not specified in the law, but are being made as a matter of DoD policy.
MOAA already has pointed out the inequity of excluding from the rate freeze other categories of survivors and
disabled retirees whose circumstances may be equally deserving of rate protection.
SOURCE: 6 July 2012 MOAA Legislative update.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Dictionaries are but the depositories of works already legitimated by usage. Society is the workshop in which new
ones are elaborated. When an individual uses a new word, if it is ill-formed, it is rejected in society, if well
formed, adopted, and, after due time, laid up in the depository of dictionaries.
~ Thomas Jefferson to John Adams – August 15, 1820 ~
15
HE'S BACK IN UNIFORM – AGAIN?
Having started his military service as a Navy
Corpsman, he then transferred over to the Air Force
where he was commissioned as a Medical Service
Corps officer. After a full career as an MSC, he
retired from the Air Force in 1975. He then joined
the New York Guard where he completed yet another
service career, reaching the grade of Brigadier
General, and once again retiring in 1997.
It has just recently come to our attention that he has
now been reassigned to Saint Augustine, Florida, and has now become a member of the Cannon
Gun Crew at the National Park Service at Castillo De San Marcus in Saint Augustine. It appears
he is now in the Spanish Army. Please note he now has reverted back to enlisted status and is on
Guard duty in his new capacity as a Cannon Gun Crew member. What a proud pose he strikes.
He certainly is a man for all the ages.
Friends, believe it or not, depicted above, is our very own Art Small, Lt Col, USAF, MSC (Ret),
and former Board Chair of the USAF MSC Association. Simply unbelievable, is it not? We can
all feel confident that Saint Augustine is secure. Well done Art! [Editor]
___________________________________________________________________________
ANDY ROONEY ROONEYISMS
I’ve learned that –
The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
That when you're in love, it shows.
That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day.
That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
That being kind is more important than being right.
That you should never say no to a gift from a child.
That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for
me as an adult.
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That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
That money doesn’t buy class.
That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
That under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
That love, not time, heals all wounds.
That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
That life is tough, but I'm tougher.
That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
That I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.
That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
That when you’re newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're
climbing it.
That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
This was recently published during National Friendship Week. Regrettably, the MSC Association Newsletter was
unable to accommodate the publication during that specific time-period. However, within the Medical Service
Corps Association, there are always National Bonding days, weeks, months, years and forever. So, let us use Andy
Rooney’s sage advice. These are words to live by. [Editor]
17
AN OLD MAN, A CORVETTE AND INTERSTATE I-90
A Montana senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership.
Taking off down the road, he pushed it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left.
"Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-90, pushing the pedal even more.
Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a Montana State Trooper, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored
it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120. Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I’m too old for this!” and pulled over to
await the trooper’s arrival.
Pulling in behind him, the trooper got out of his vehicle and walked up to the Corvette. He looked at his watch, and
then said, “Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a new reason for speeding – a
reason I’ve never before heard – I’ll let you go.”
The old gentleman then said: "Three years ago, my wife ran off with a Montana State Trooper. I thought you were
bringing her back.”
"Have a good day, Sir," replied the trooper.
Once again, don’t mess with senior citizens.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
DIVORCE VS. MURDER
A nice, calm and respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked up to the pharmacist, looked straight into his
eyes, and said, "I’d like to buy some cyanide." The pharmacist asked “Why in the world do you need cyanide?”
he replied. “I need it to poison my husband.”The lady responded.
The pharmacist's eyes got big and he explained, “Lord have mercy! I can’t give you cyanide to kill your husband,
that’s against the law. I’ll lose my licence! They’ll throw both of us in jail! All kinds of bad things will happen.
Absolutely not! You CANNOT have any cyanide!”
The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife. The
pharmacist looked at the picture and said, “You didn’t tell me you had a prescription!”
___________________________________________________________________________________
Experience has taught us that neither the pacific disposition of the American people or the pacific character of
their political institutions can altogether exempt them from that strife which appears beyond the ordinary lot of
nations to be incident to the actual period of the world and the same faithful monitor demonstrates that a certain
degree of preparation for war is not only indispensable to avert disaster, but affords also the best security fir the
continuance of peace.
~ James Madison speech to the House and Senate – February 18, 1815
18
EDITOR’S OBSERVATIONS
A number of you are aware that following retirement, I spent the next 20 years in the Middle East – primarily in
Saudi Arabia – commissioning, operationalizing and managing healthcare facilities. In those 20 years, I made a
number of close friends while there. But, after several years, I finally became aware that I would not ever be
totally accepted within the Middle East culture because of what Rudyard Kipling meant when he wrote “East is
East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Before proceeding on further, let me now refer you to
the very thought provoking article that follows that was published by Major General Jerry Curry, USA (Ret),
that illustrates my point much more clearly. [Editor Wayne Terry].
___________________________________________________________________________________
EAST IS EAST, AND WEST IS WEST
By Major General Jerry Curry
USA, Retired. Published
The great British poet Rudyard Kipling, understanding today’s situation in Afghanistan better than our State
Department wrote, “I have eaten your bread and salt. I have drunk your water and wine. The deaths ye died I
have watched beside. And the lives ye led were mine.”
There are two points the President and the secretaries of State and Defense may want to keep in mind as they
evaluate future problems in the Middle East and how to successfully address them. Both are easiest illustrated by
real life happenings.
Point One: Many years ago I attended the infantry officers Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Probably ten percent of the students attending the ten month course of instruction were from foreign countries.
For about half of the course my table mate was an Arab. We studied together, completed homework assignments
together, got to know each other’s families and generally enjoyed each other’s company.
Part of the time we students were immersed in reading about, researching and discussing wars and problems of
the Middle East. By this time my Arab classmate and I had, I thought, become close friends. A question popped
into my mind and without evaluating it I said, “I have a question to ask you, but you may find it a little
impertinent or, perhaps, offensive.”
“That’s alright,” he replied. “We know each other well enough to be honest with each other. So, go ahead and
ask your question.”
“Well,” I began. “Each time you Arabs start a war with Israel, they beat your socks off. Why don’t you learn
your lesson and quit making war with them?”
The words passed my lips before I knew that I shouldn’t have asked that particular question. But, I was wrong.
My Arab officer friend didn’t get angry. He didn’t even think before replying.
“My dear friend”, he said in his British accent, “you’re absolutely right. Each time we attack the Israeli’s they
whip us. But, have you noticed that with each loss we get better? We get whipped, but not as badly as in the war
before.” Then, he got a faraway look in his eyes, pounded on the table and said, “Sometime in the next thousand
years we will win.”
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Up until then I had never thought in terms of a thousand years, and I don’t think I’m very good at it today. But
for those formulating foreign and defense policy for the nation, it is worth making the effort. For it is difficult to
think in terms of the immediate future while negotiating with a nation whose leaders are thinking in terms of
hundreds or thousands of years.
Point two: During the first Gulf War, U.S. and Arab forces fought side by side and some of the officers became
close friends. When the war ended in victory there was a celebration in the officer’s club with everyone
congratulating each other. A lot of handshaking and hugging was going on. It was a time of displaying real
brotherly love. Seeing this, one of the senior Arab generals felt the need to set the record straight. “Look,” he said
to a group of American generals, “we have fought together and some of us have died together. I know you feel
that makes us brothers. But, that is not the way it is in my world.”
He looked around the circle making eye contact with all of them. “I don’t want to see you hurt so I need to share
this with you. There will be no tomorrow for us jointly. No matter how much you have helped my country and
you came to help us when we desperately needed your help and no matter how friendly you feel toward us, we are
still Muslims and you are still Christians. That means that in our eyes, we can never be brothers. I’m sorry. But,
to us, you will always be infidels!”
And so we infidels have liberated Iraq and Afghanistan, but we have not made their countries or their people
depositories of freedom and liberty. No matter how hard we work to rebuild their governments, infrastructure,
educational and medical institutions, and no matter how desperately they need our help as the Arab general
pointedly noted, we can never be brothers to each other.
Also, I learned what Kipling meant when he wrote “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall
meet.”
He was pointing out to the western world that to Muslims, we Christians will always be Infidels!
____________________________________________________________________________________
WHAT TIME IS IT?
HAVE YOU HEARD: On some bases the Air Force is on one side of the field and civilian aircraft use the other
side of the field, with the control tower located in the middle of the field. One day the tower received a call from a
pilot of an aircraft asking, “What time is it?”
The tower responded, “Who is calling?”
The pilot replied, “What difference does it make?”
The tower replied, “It makes a lot of difference........”
“If it is an American Airlines flight, it is 3 o'clock.
“If it is an Air Force aircraft, it is 1500 hours.
“If it is a Navy aircraft, it is 6 bells.
“If it is an Army plane, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. And,
“If it is a Marine Corps aircraft, it's Thursday afternoon and 120 minutes to 'Happy Hour.”
20
...it takes 26 muscles to smile?
And 62 muscles to frown?!
So SMILE!!! ___________________________________________________________________________________
Well folks, that’s another take! We didn’t have a lot of hot items this Newsletter, so we provided a little
entertainment to insure we provided you with something to smile about. It’s been our pleasure to serve you!
[Editor Wayne Terry]
