Military families and retirees receiving care through 38 military hospitals nationwide will soon be forced to go off-base instead, and some pharmacies at those hospitals will stop providing drugs to those not on active duty, Military.com has learned.
A 12-page memo, reviewed by Military.com, was sent to the commanders of 50 military treatment facilities, or MTFs, targeted for changes. It details for commanders the impacts of a planned MTF restructuring, the subject of an upcoming report to Congress. It also includes a letter to commanders explaining upcoming changes, signed by Lt. Gen. Ronald Pace, who directs the Defense Health Agency, and provides communications guidance to public affairs personnel.
From the Air Force Magazine website
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2021 budget request increases spending on nuclear modernization, space, cyberspace, and multi-domain operations in preparation for great power competition, while proposing to cut dozens of aircraft from the fleet and reducing overseas contingency operations funding for the wars in the Middle East.
Many of these cuts will hit Air Force flight lines directly, with the service requesting authority to cut 17 B-1B Lancers, 21 RQ-4s and three EQ-4 Global Hawk variants, 44 A-10s from both the Guard and Reserve, and 24 C-130Hs from the Air National Guard.
The Pentagon’s total request is for $705.4 billion, including $636.4 billion in base funding and $53 billion in overseas contingency operations funding. An additional $35.1 billion for the Department of Energy and other agencies brings the total national defense spending to $740.5 billion. In fiscal 2020, the Pentagon received $712.6 billion, including $633.3 in base, $71.3 billion in OCO, and $8 billion in emergency funding.
If the budget passes as written, several Guard flying wings will be looking for new missions.
Russell Timothy Kwan Tim Wong, 73, of Hilo, died January 23 at Hilo Medical Center. Born in Honolulu, he was a retired Hawaii Air National Guard 291st Combat Communications Squadron technical sergeant, had also served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was a hunter and fisherman.
Visitation 9-10 a.m. Tuesday, February 18, at Dodo Mortuary Chapel. Funeral service at 10 a.m. Burial noon at Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2. Casual attire; flowers welcome.
Survived by wife, Nanette Wong of Hilo; children, Alana (Bryan) Grace of Keaau, Andrea Wong of Puyallup, Washington, Andrew (Melissa) Wong of Waimea and Heidi Wong of Hilo; sister, Dorinda (Ronald) Choy of Des Moines, Wash.; mother-in-law, Nancy Van Cleave of Kurtistown; brothers-in-law, John (Deborah) Van Cleave of Eugene, Oregon, Timothy (Robin) Van Cleave and Donald Jeff Van Cleave of Kurtistown; sister-in-law, Jennifer Van Cleave of Kurtistown; four grandchildren; nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Arrangements by Dodo Mortuary.
Retiree News extends heartfelt sympathy to Russel’s family and friends.
Special thanks to Athena (Atiz) Benevides and Harvey Motomura for forward Russel’s full obituary. Both served in the 291 CBCS.
The Hawaii National Guard Association (HNGA) held its 71st Annual State Conference at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Lieutenant Governor Josh Green was the conference guest speaker. Besides the annual meeting, attendees had the opportunity to meet their supporting industry members.
Off the Hawaii Air National Guard Facebook page
Launa‘ole – a Hawaiian phrase meaning “beyond comparison” or “without peer.” It describes our vision for the Hawaii Air National Guard to be a professional fore that is second to none, or simply the best.
Congratulations to the recipients of the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 2019 Launa‘ole Awards.
Airman of the Year Full Time
SrA Nathan I. Barboza
154th Civil Engineering Squadron (154 CES)
Airman of the Year Part Time
SSgt Nicolas S. Bakos
292nd Combat Communications Squadron (292 CBCS)
Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Full Time
TSgt Sharon M. Pasion
HQ Hawaii Air National Guard (HQ HIANG)
Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Part Time
SSgt Jason F. Camarillo
169th Air Defense Squadron (169 ADS)
Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Full Time
SMSgt Angel L. Umiamaka
298th Support Squadron (298 SS)
Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Part Time
MSgt Garrett M. Nishida
292nd Combat Communications Squadron (292 CBCS)
First Sergeant of the Year
SMSgt Daniel T. Hiyama
154th Wing (154 WG)
Company Grade Officer of the Year Full Time
Capt Evan S. Kurosu
204th Airlift Squadron (204 AS)
Company Grade Officer of the Year Part Time
Capt Jack K. Munechika
292nd Combat Communications Squadron (292 CBCS)
Field Grade Officer of the Year Full Time
Maj Britton J. Komine
201st Air Mobility Operations Squadron (201 AMOS)
Field Grade Officer of the Year Part Time
Maj Koani G. Lau
203rd Air Refueling Squadron (203 ARS)
Winning Team of the Year
Hawaii Air National Guard Recruiting Team
Service Team Award
154th Force Support Squadron (154 FSS)
Outstanding Unit of the Year
199th Fighter Squadron (199 FS) (to include 19th FS partners)
Kaleo Nui Award
154th Medical Group (154 MDG)
CMSgt Carol C. Orr serves as the Command Chief for the HQ 154th Wing, Hawaii Air National Guard, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
She is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Wing Commander on all issues regarding the wartime readiness, morale, welfare, professional development and proper utilization of more than 1900 Airmen. She manages the Chiefs’ Council to improve and inform the enlisted force, is the functional manager for subordinate units’ Group Superintendents and First Sergeants advocating enlisted issues through the State Command Chief Master Sergeant.
Off the 117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment Facebook page
The Hawaii Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 189th General Support Aviation Battalion aircraft conducted hoist operation training on February 8, 2020 at Wheeler Army Airfield, Wahiawa Hawaii. The model M, Blackhawk MEDEVAC helicopters train in hoist operations in preparation for national and state emergency support.
Feedback: Last week, Retiree News posted a Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum video featuring a F-102 Delta Dagger #53-366 with its 154th Wing tail flash and “Col John “Saigon” Lee” on the canopy.
Former HIANG Commander, Col (Ret) Clinton “Church” Churchill, emailed the following comments:
Kudos in particular to Maj. Gen. Peter Pawling for trusting that the museum would take good care of the 154th Wing “gate guards” previously displayed outdoors and for which there was no budget to maintain nor restore.
Church is correct. Skipper faced some opposition when he agreed to move the F-102, and the F-4 Phantom to the museum. With no budget to maintain static display aircraft, the planes condition was deteriorating over the years. As you can see from the video, the planes received more care at the museum. Some of those working on these planes were retired 154th Wing maintenance personnel who knew these aircraft well.
Although he is too modest to mention it, Church was the president of museum’s board of directors for several years.
Retiree News would like to thank Skipper, Church and everyone else who worked to restore these aircraft. Great work by everyone.
Elections – an opportunity for change: Recently, we saw this comment under an article about a national issue on news website.
America, please stop referring to the President or the members of the Senate or House of Representatives as our “leaders”.
We do NOT answer to them.
They are our elected representatives and should constantly be reminded of that fact.
Elections are your opportunity to make changes to who represents you. In Hawaii, the primary election is on Saturday, August 8, 2020 with the general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
As a local saying goes, “No vote – no grumble.”
Meat jun is a uniquely local dish found throughout Hawai‘i. It’s Korean, but it doesn’t exist in Korea or anywhere else Korean immigrants have settled. It seems no one has a clear answer on how this dish came to be: thin, marinated slices of beef dipped in flour and egg batter and pan-fried. Usually served with a shoyu and vinegar-based sauce, meat jun is piled high on the plate lunch, a succulent, meaty-eggy feast.
From the Wired Magazine website
Richard Dolbeer was once the man to call if millions of blackbirds or fruit bats were ravaging your fields. When he joined the US Department of Agriculture in 1972, Dolbeer chose to specialize in handling what he and his fellow biologists term “human-wildlife conflicts”—situations in which animals wreak havoc in places that Homo sapiens have claimed as their own. Though based at a research station in northern Ohio, Dolbeer spent much of his early career on the road, teaching farmers from the Dakotas to the Maldives how to repel vertebrate pests by altering harvest schedules, erecting mesh nets, or broadcasting bursts of intolerable noise.
In the waning months of the 1980s, Dolbeer was surprised to receive a sudden influx of inquiries from American airports. None of the calls had anything to do with crops: The aviation officials were panicked about the geese, ospreys, and egrets gathering by their runways in unprecedented numbers.
Various surveys of older Americans have found that between 33% and 43% of them are lonely. But we wanted to find out how lonely, what makes them feel lonely, when they feel lonely and, most important, what they do to feel less lonely. So, we surveyed our readers to find out.
In our online survey on loneliness and isolation, we heard from over 5,600 Next Avenue readers, virtually all over 55, mostly women (81%) and across the income spectrum. (Loneliness is typically about a lack of time spent with friends and family; isolation is more about living alone and not having close relatives.
From the Task and Purpose website
A new video produced by the Air Force will have you standing to salute Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, a 100-year-old retired fighter pilot, who, along with his fellow Tuskegee Airmen, helped liberate Europe in World War II and bolster the cause of civil rights at home.
From the Task and Purpose website
It’s been nearly 20 years since the most recent F-15 fighter jet rolled off an assembly line for the U.S. Air Force, and the service is officially looking to add a fresh variant of the aircraft to its inventory.
On Tuesday, a pair of twin pre-solicitation notices posted to the U.S. government’s contract opportunities hub announced the Air Force’s intent to procure both upgraded Boeing-made F-15EX fighters and fresh General Electric F110 jet engines associated with the new aircraft.
Medicine has made remarkable progress in battling many diseases that were once a certain death sentence. Conditions like HIV, heart disease and many types of cancer are now treated as chronic conditions — with patients living 20 or 30 years, or longer, after diagnosis.
However, there’s an ongoing financial toll to these long-term diseases that often surprises patients and makes saving for retirement much more challenging.
Retiree News 