National Military Family Assn. Government and You E-News

For March 10, 2009

1. Coalition Asks Treasury Secretary to Ease Financial Burden on Military Credit Unions:
The Military Coalition (TMC), a consortium of 34 nationally prominent military and veterans associations, sent a letter to the Honorable Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury Department, asking him to take immediate action to ease a significant financial burden being imposed on America’s military credit unions by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

A group of 28 "corporate" credit unions (the "credit unions for the 7800+ member-based credit unions") invested in mortgage-backed securities that ended up getting them into financial trouble. And now, the individual credit unions are being assessed billions of dollars to bail out the corporate ones.

The Coalition argues this poses an unfair penalty on military members and families by robbing essential resources from the roughly 90 military credit unions, including some of the world's largest, that provide low-cost financial services to military members and families around the world. Credit unions play a crucial role in the military community by giving hard-pressed families much-needed options for financial literacy and alternatives to usurious payday lenders.

The NCUA’s unfair requirement would force almost half of all military credit unions into the red, which would mean degraded services, reduced loan opportunities, reduced savings returns, and higher loan rates for millions of military families who depend on their local credit unions for essential financial services.

The Coalition asked Secretary Geithner to use the authority of his office to prevent imposing this unfair burden on blameless credit unions and their military family “owners”, who already have had to bear a grossly disproportional share of national wartime sacrifice. They should not be forced to assume this extra measure of financial sacrifice to bail out other institutions’ bad investments.

A further explanation of the dilemma can be found in Tom Philpott’s Military Update http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,184923,00.html.

2. DeCA and AAFES to Continue to Honor CertifiChecks Gift Certificates: Due to the current economic downturn, CertifiChecks, Inc., the third-party provider of commissary gift certificates has ceased operations. As a result, all sales of CertifiChecks have halted. The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) will accept outstanding CertifiCheck gift certificates from authorized customers through July 31, 2009. AAFES will also continue to honor CertifiChecks for the foreseeable future. In addition, customers with CertifiChecks can submit for potential reimbursement to: CertifiChecks, Inc., Attn: Redemption Dept., 1435 Shoup Mill Road, Dayton, Ohio, 45414.

When AAFES’ troop support initiative, “Gifts from the Homefront,” was initiated nearly six years ago, CertifiChecks allowed more flexibility than a traditional gift card due to the fact that they could be redeemed at other exchange systems, regardless of branch of service. Today, an AAFES gift card is also accepted at any Navy or Marine exchange, thus making it a more convenient option.

DeCA also entered into an agreement with CertifiChecks, Inc. to provide gift certificates redeemable in commissaries. Anyone could purchase the certificates which ranged from $5 to $100, but only authorized customers could use them. Since 2002, more than $17.5 million in gift certificates have been purchased for authorized customers. The certificates have also been a major part of commissary vendor giveaways at store grand openings and other customer outreach events.

DeCA says that they will look for an alternative solution to provide commissary gift certificates.

(Sources: http://www.commissaries.com/, DeCA news releases 20-09 & 23-09 and http://www.aafes.com/, AAFES news release 09-012).

3. Scholarships for Computer Literacy Courses: Operation Life Transformed and Military to Medicine are offering scholarships for introductory computer literacy courses to eligible military spouses, military members and caregivers caring for injured or wounded service members. All courses are offered online and are self-paced. For more information or to apply for a scholarship, please contact Operation Life Transformed at: students@lifetransformed.org or visit them online at http://lifetransformed.org/ to fill out an application.

4. VA Announces Pilot Programs to Address Claims Processing: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is piloting two new programs. The first program involves a comprehensive checklist that lays out information and evidence veterans and families need to support their disability compensation and pension benefits claims. Four regional offices were selected for the pilot. They are: Cleveland, OH; Boise, ID; Waco, TX; and Louisville, KY.

The second pilot program is designed to help reduce the claims processing time. The VA will accept certified, fully developed claims and place them into a separate process. This alternative process is expected to provide results within 90 days after the claim was submitted. According to the VA, the definition of “fully developed” is when the veteran submits a certified statement that he or she does not intend to submit any additional information or evidence in support of their claim, and it will not require any assistance. The 10 regional offices selected for the one-year pilot are: Montgomery, AL; Columbia, SC; Boston, MA; Manchester, NH; Providence, RI; Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Boise, ID; Denver CO; and Portland, OR.

5. Democratic Steering Committee Welcomes Veterans and Military Organizations: On March 4th in the Capitol, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) chaired a gathering of Senators and leadership from organizations representing Veterans, Service Members, Families and Survivors. Joined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and 16 other Democratic Senators, they spent an hour listening to the concerns of the joined organizations.

Organizations addressed the Post-9/11 GI Bill, VA healthcare funding, suicide prevention, improved screening processes at demobilization sites, and survivor benefits.

Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) spoke of ground breaking caregiver legislation that he is introducing. Joyce Raezer, Executive Director of the National Military Family Association, thanked Senator Durbin for introducing the legislation that provides training, compensation, and respite care for caregivers. She spoke of the sacrifices caregivers make and how this legislation recognizes all that they do. She asked that the VA create a broader definition of a family support network. There is a shared responsibility between DoD and VA to work the transition piece so families and vets don’t fall through the cracks. The wounded, ill, and injured need benefits through the entire spectrum of wounds and continued oversight by both DoD and VA. She also expressed hope the GI Bill transferability implementation will be consistent through the Services. There are still a lot of questions to be answered.

Our Association thanks the Democratic Steering Committee for creating the opportunity for organizations to elevate their concerns and issues in an informal forum.

6. First Lady Honors Women in the Military and Families: First Lady Michelle Obama addressed a gathering of women who had served and were still serving in the military to recognize the beginning of Women’s History Month on March 3rd. The event was held at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Mrs. Obama recognized the contributions of women serving in the military from the days of the Revolutionary War to today. She applauded their service to their country, securing our liberty and providing the security that allows us to live in peace and continue with our daily lives. Of special note to the National Military Family Association were her references to military families.

“Members of the military and their families have a special courage and strength” she said, reminding the group of President Obama’s remarks the week before, when, at Camp Lejeune, he said “Service doesn’t end with the person wearing the uniform.”

“And I have been honored and deeply moved to meet many military families over the past couple of years”, she continued. “They are mothers and fathers who have lost their beloved children to war. They are husbands and wives keeping the family on track while their wives and husbands are deployed, on duty. They are grandparents, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers who are taking care of children while single moms or dads in uniform are away”.

“See, military families have done their duty, and we as a grateful nation must do ours. We must do everything in our power to honor them by supporting them; not just by word but by deed”, Mrs. Obama concluded.

Our Association thanks Mrs. Obama for spotlighting the service of our military men and women, and especially the sacrifices and pride of their families who also serve.

For the full text of Mrs. Obama’s remarks visit:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/FLOTUS-Pool-Report-and-Remarks-from-Arlington-Natl-Cemetery-Womens-Memorial-Event/

7. Win Free Gasoline!: The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and ConAgra Foods, Inc., one of North America’s largest packaged foods companies, are putting military shoppers in the driver’s seat as they give away $20,000 in free fuel, March 13th-19th. Entry forms for AAFES’ ConAgra Foods, Inc. sweepstakes will be available at BXs and PXs worldwide. Prizes include one hundred and fifty $100 AAFES gift cards, as well as five $500 exchange gift cards to be awarded as “grand prizes”.

Prizes for the AAFES/ConAgra Foods, Inc. sweepstakes will be awarded on or about April 16, 2009. This contest is open to all authorized exchange shoppers including National Guard and Reserve personnel, active-duty Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines, military retirees and their families. Shoppers with exchange privileges can find the PX/BX nearest them by logging on to the “Store Locator” link at http://www.aafes.com/.

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