OBSERVATION POST 1076
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
NOVEMBER 2017: 16 MILLION VETERANS TO SHOP MILITARYEXCHANGES ONLINE
POSTED BY: TOM PHILPOTT JANUARY 12, 2017
Peter K. Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, signed a memorandum Wednesday announcing the benefit expansion, effective Veterans’ Day Nov. 11, and giving Congress the required 30 days’ notice before actions begin to implement the plan.
Months of preparation are needed to make e-shopping portals more robust and to allow the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) time to create software for verifying veterans’ status using Department of Veterans Affairs records.
Several million vets already are eligible to shop in exchanges — on base or online — because they are active or reserve component retirees, or 100-percent disabled from service-connected injuries or ailments, or Medal of Honor recipients.
Thomas C. Shull, chief executive officer of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, led a three-year quest to expand online exchange shopping to all honorably-discharged veterans with access to computers. It cited two reasons.
One was to reward their service with exchange product savings that, on average, will be near to 20 percent versus commercial department store prices when military exemption from state and local sales tax are considered too.
Shull’s other purpose was to increase exchange revenues to help offset troubling declines due to the drawdown of active duty forces, base closures and the end of military tobacco discounts for the higher priority of healthier populations.
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard exchange services joined Shull and AAFES in pushing for the shopping benefit expansion. They worked with Levine’s office and with resale board executives in refining the proposal.
The online benefit does not extend to veterans’ dependents, although spouses and family members theoretically could use the authorized customer’s log-in credentials, given the nature of an online shopping benefit.
Exchange officials project that expanding online shopping will result in $1.8 million in added annual fixed costs to handle the larger customer base. However, they also project added sales and revenue, which will more than offset any added operating or order-fulfillment costs. Higher net earnings are seen boosting exchange dividends to support on-base morale, welfare and recreational activities.
With DMDC verifying shopper identifies electronically, the department will not have to produce special identification cards. DMDC estimates that 13 percent of eligible veterans, primarily those who served before 1981 might not be in their data base when the shopping benefit becomes available. Presumably guidance will be issued for veterans who might have access problems initially.
Defense officials believe they have mitigated concerns previously raised on expanding the exchange benefit. These included worries it would dilute the benefit for currently authorized patrons, increase appropriated funding costs, reduce state and local tax revenues for civilian communities and harm commercial retailers.
An audit of public comments to earlier news articles on the plan showed 90 percent support for veterans online shopping. Also, the online benefit should have no impact need for taxpayer support of certain exchange operations. Total sales are expected to climb annually by from $185 million to $525 million. But that range is viewed as insignificant against $300 billion in online sales reported across the retail industry, thus muting complaints retailers.
The four exchange services are to maintain independent websites and separate online portals to the selection of goods they offer. But for verifying eligibility to shop, online shoppers might have a “common landing page.”
The business case for expanding the online benefit calls it “a low-risk, low-cost opportunity” to better fund morale, welfare and recreation programs and quality of life activities. It also notes that smaller percentages of recently discharged veterans are serving until retirement to qualify for base shopping, yet a higher proportion of them probably had multiple tours deployed, often to war.
The Veterans Online Shopping Benefit will help to recognize the contributions of all who served, the business case argues, while strengthening the online benefit to better serve current patrons. The veterans are expected to at least double exchanges’ online presence, which will help attract better terms from vendors, more competitive merchandise assortments and improved efficiencies.
Exchanges project $18 million to $72 million in new annual earnings when the online operation is fully matured. Half of the added earnings typically would be distributed as higher dividends to MWR programs, which have come under budget pressure as the services divert funds to more immediate readiness needs.
The Veterans Canteen Service, which sells products to veterans under authority of VA, is weighing the idea of establishing its own online retail presence. AAFES had reached out to the canteen service about a joint venture online, but the VCS opted to “go it alone,” according to AAFES documents. That is not seen as impacting the future success of the Veterans Online Shopping Benefit.
The four exchange services reached agreement last year on how to divide revenue from the online purchases, in part by using zip codes of buyers to estimate their service affiliations. They have been eyeing a “soft launch” of the expanded online benefit to segments of vets by mid-2017 to gauge demand and test system capabilities including the process to verify veteran status before the full launch.
The more highly prized commissary benefit isn’t being opened to all veterans. Current exchange patrons won’t see more store traffic and discounts for exchange shopping on base are expected to remain higher than savings online. These factors helped to persuade major military associations to back the initiative.
Proponents were anxious to see the initiative approved before the Obama administration ends Jan. 20 to avoid having to reargue its merits to new leaders.
Military exchanges acknowledge that they are losing sales to popular online sites such as Amazon, particularly as military patrons grow increasingly comfortable with using smart phones and tablets to shop.
Send comments to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120, email milupdate@aol.com or twitter: Tom Philpott @Military_Update.
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Tom Philpott has been breaking news for and about military people since 1977. After service in the Coast Guard, and 17 years as a reporter and senior editor with Army Times Publishing Company, Tom launched “Military Update,” his syndicated weekly news column, in 1994. “Military Update” features timely news and analysis on issues affecting active duty members, reservists, retirees and their families.
Visit Tom Philpott’s Military Update Archive to view his past articles.
Tom also edits a reader reaction column, “Military Forum.” The online “home” for both features is Military.com.
His critically-acclaimed book, Glory Denied, on the extraordinary ordeal and heroism of Col. Floyd “Jim” Thompson, the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, is available in hardcover and paperback.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Department of Defense Announces Successful Micro-Drone Demonstration
Press Operations
Release No: NR-008-17
Jan. 9, 2017
In one of the most significant tests of autonomous systems under development by the Department of Defense, the Strategic Capabilities Office, partnering with Naval Air Systems Command, successfully demonstrated one of the world’s largest micro-drone swarms at China Lake, California. The test, conducted in October 2016 and documented on Sunday’s CBS News program “60 Minutes”, consisted of 103 Perdix drones launched from three F/A-18 Super Hornets. The micro-drones demonstrated advanced swarm behaviors such as collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying, and self-healing.
“I congratulate the Strategic Capabilities Office for this successful demonstration,” said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who created SCO in 2012. “This is the kind of cutting-edge innovation that will keep us a step ahead of our adversaries. This demonstration will advance our development of autonomous systems.”
“Due to the complex nature of combat, Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronized individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature,” said SCO Director William Roper. “Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team.”
The demonstration is one of the first examples of the Pentagon using teams of small, inexpensive, autonomous systems to perform missions once achieved only by large, expensive ones. Roper stressed the department’s conception of the future battle network is one where humans will always be in the loop. Machines and the autonomous systems being developed by the DoD, such as the micro-drones, will empower humans to make better decisions faster.
Originally designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineering students, the Perdix drone was modified for military use by the scientists and engineers of MIT Lincoln Laboratory starting in 2013. Drawing inspiration from the commercial smartphone industry, Perdix software and hardware has been continually updated in successive design generations. Now in its sixth generation, October's test confirmed the reliability of the current all-commercial-component design under potential deployment conditions—speeds of Mach 0.6, temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius, and large shocks—encountered during ejection from fighter flare dispensers.
The “60 Minutes” segment also featured other new technology from across the Department of Defense such as the Navy’s unmanned ocean-going vessel, the Sea Hunter, and the Marine Corps’ Unmanned Tactical Control and Collaboration program.
As SCO works with the military Services to transition Perdix into existing programs of record, it is also partnering with the Defense Industrial Unit-Experimental, or DIUx, to find companies capable of accurately replicating Perdix using the MIT Lincoln Laboratory design. Its goal is to produce Perdix at scale in batches of up to 1,000.
Editor’s Note:
A fact sheet about Perdix can be found here.
Perdix video footage:
Friday, January 6, 2017
Emailing: Announcement in RJ 6 Dec 2017.jpg
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Bob,
Please get the word out any way you can. This may be our best chance to let the Veteran community know what is going on with the Memorial Monument at the SNVMC.
Thanks.
Joel
Subject: Emailing: Announcement in RJ 6 Dec 2017.jpg
In today's RJ. It does state "Doors open at 8:30 AM for networking"! THEY WANT US TO NETWORK!
Joel
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Nevada Attorney General Office of Military Legal Assistance
2017 Vegas Flyer.pdf388 KB
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Subject: Nevada Attorney General Office of Military Legal AssistancePlease find the attached flyers and text below, which is being forwarded to you from one of the members of the State Commander’s Group; for the good of the whole.
Thank you,
D.C. Martinez
To all Veteran Organization Commanders:
Please disseminate to your veteran membership,
WHO: The Nevada Attorney General’s Office of Military Legal Assistance @EASE Program and Nevada Legal Services.
WHAT: Free civil legal assistance to Veterans and their families.
Free wills, medical/financial powers of attorney and legal advice pertaining to family law, bankruptcy, consumer issues, landlord/tenant and access/denial to public benefits. Veteran Service Officers will be on hand to assist with VA benefit questions.
WHERE: The January workshops will take place on 1/27 at the VA Hospital Auditorium located at 6900 N. Pecos Road, North Las Vegas, Nevada, and on Jan 28th at American Legion Post 40 located at 425 E. Van Wegenen Street, Henderson, Nevada.
WHEN: Attorneys will be available to assist veterans and family members from 10am to 2pm both days.
NOTES: Workshops will take place at least once per month throughout the State of Nevada. Please refer to our attached flyers. For more information or to receive email alerts on upcoming workshops, please email Hcooney@ag.nv.gov and we will add you to our email list. Also, please visit our site at: nvagomla.nv.gov.
Ryan McDonald | Outreach Director
State of Nevada | Office of the Attorney General | Office of Military Legal AssistanceT: (775) 684.1216 | F: (775) 684.1162 | E: rmcdonald@ag.nv.gov
From: Martinez, David C. (LV) [mailto:David.Martinez2@va.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2017 3:45 PM
To: Ryan J. McDonald <RMcDonald@ag.nv.gov>
Subject: OMLA Flyers - CorrectedIf this rendition is final, you can send over the message for the commanders and I’ll send it out. It will give them time to get the word out.
D.C. Martinez
From: Ryan J. McDonald [mailto:RMcDonald@ag.nv.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 3:23 PM
To: Martinez, David C. (LV)
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: OMLA Flyers - CorrectedYeah, couple of needed corrections. Thanks David. Ryan
Ryan McDonald | Outreach Director
State of Nevada | Office of the Attorney General | Office of Military Legal AssistanceT: (775) 684.1216 | F: (775) 684.1162 | E: rmcdonald@ag.nv.gov
Hi Ryan,
Here is the newest rendition.
D.C. Martinez
Attached.
Heather T. Cooney
Assistant to Nic Danna
Special Assistant Attorney General
Director Office of Military Legal Assistance
Nevada Office of the Attorney General
775-684-1202
Notice: This e-mail message and any attachments thereto may contain confidential, privileged or non-public information. Use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this information by unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies.
Len Yelinek
Commander, Las Vegas Chapter 711
Military Order of the Purple Heart
(702) 362-7673-H (702) 460-0769-C
5116 Longridge Ave, Las Vegas NV 89146
Monday, January 2, 2017
Subject: Vietnamese New Year Tết 2017 ( Year of The Rooster) invite
Dear VN Vets brothers,
We would love to have you and your spouse at our Tết 2017 celebration which will be held at Palace Station from 6:pm till 10pm on January 15, 2017.
Like last year, we will have free food, music, lion dance, raffle tickets with prizes such as TV's set, coffee machine, water dispenser etc...following by a dance with Vietnamese music and classic oldies American music of your time. Please forward this Invite to all your fellow brothers and your Henderson 1076 and Las Vegas 17 chapters.
Your presence will be a great honor to the Vietnamese-American Community of Las Vegas.
Please see attached flyer for more info. Thank you very much
RSVP.
Anthony Luu ( V.P VACLV ( Vietnamese-American Community of Las Vegas/ Prez. Association of ARVN Veterans Las Vegas)
--
Len Yelinek
Commander, Las Vegas Chapter 711
Military Order of the Purple Heart
(702) 362-7673-h (702) 460-0769-c
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Trump considering 'public-private option' for VA
President-elect Donald Trump is considering a "public-private option" for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a transition team official said Wednesday.
"We think we have to have kind of a ... public-private option because some vets love the VA ... some vets want to go to the VA," a senior transition official told reporters, according to pool reports.
"So, the idea is to come up with a solution that solves the problem. And it's not the easiest thing in the world because you've got all these little kingdoms out there, which is hard," the senior official continued.
"You know, in the federal government it's hard to break things up and start over. So, those are the types of things that people are talking about."
Trump spoke often about veterans and reforming the VA during his campaign.
In October, he outlined a plan to allow competition between VA facilities and non-VA hospitals, saying he would allow any veteran to see a doctor that accepts Medicare and receive care.
The senior official said Wednesday that the public-private idea is "one of the options on the table."
"Definitely an option on the table to have a system where potentially vets can choose either/or, or all private," the official said.
The senior official also said the president-elect is considering setting up an advisory committee to "help us navigate through what's a very complicated process, providing healthcare to veterans."
But the official said nothing has been formalized yet.
TAGS DONALD TRUMP
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday announced a plan to reform the veterans’ health system at a rally in Norfolk, Va.
“We’re going to take care of those wounded warriors and we’re going to take care of our vets better than anybody. “He said, speaking in front the USS Wisconsin — the same spot where now-Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was formally introduced as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012.
Trump promised that in his administration, veterans would receive better healthcare more quickly.
"The plan will ensure our veterans get the care they need, wherever and whenever they need it," he said.
Trump said that he would institute policies that would see Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities competing with non-VA hospitals. He said that under his plan, any veteran could go to a doctor that accepts Medicare and receive care.
In a winding indictment of the VA system, he targeted Veterans Health Administration hospitals that came under fire in the last year for keeping long wait lists of veterans who needed crucial care.
“Think about me going to my doctor’s office and waiting four days,” he said. "If I wait 15 minutes, I’m angry as hell at the doctor.”
Trump said the VA system needed to be maintained but reformed.
“I don’t want to get rid of it, I want to supplement it," he said.
He promised to fire "the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down" and update the VA's policies to meet the needs of the younger veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The fact that many VA hospitals don’t permanently staff OB-GYN doctors shows an utter lack of respect for the growing number of female veterans,” Trump said, pledging that under his leadership, every VA hospital would have doctors specializing in women's health.
Veterans hospitals would, he added, put in place technology that connect patients to doctors and allows them to manage their care.
Trump's campaign said Saturday in a plan posted on his website that he would also focus his efforts on building mental health programs for veterans.
He promised to increase the funding available "for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services."
"More funding will also support research on best practices and state of the art treatments to keep our veterans alive, healthy and whole," the campaign said.
"With these steps, the Trump plan will help the veteran community put the unnecessary stigma surrounding mental health behind them and instead encourage acceptance and treatment in our greater society."
Trump, who appeared to break from his extemporaneous remarks to consult a document while speaking about his policy proposal, said he would also invest in policies to help ease the transition from active duty to civilian life.
He pledged to institute programs to help veterans start businesses and find employment, including by incentivizing companies to hire veterans.
His administration would also partner with non-profit organizations working on veterans issues, he said.
- Updated at 4:52 p.m.
TAGS DONALD TRUMP
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