It’s been an exciting week for members of the 204th Airlift Squadron and 154th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who have been flying all over the mainland for exercise Southern Strike 19. Check out all the photos on our Facebook page https://t.co/gut9L2DpkQ pic.twitter.com/AsqRKb1r4M
— Hawaii Air National Guard (@HiAirGuard) January 18, 2019
From the Military Times website
On its way out the door, the 115th Congress passed a pair of bills aimed at improving education and other aspects of the transition from military to civilian life.
Now that President Trump’s signature has made them law, here’s what the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act and the Forever GI Bill Housing Payment Fulfillment Act mean for veterans and military families.
Health care is deeply personal — especially as we age and face serious illness. Although it may not feel like the easiest conversation to have with our loved ones, it’s critically important to think through and discuss the kind of care we want if we become incapacitated and unable to speak for ourselves. What will we want our doctors and nurses to know? How will we define what matters most?
Those are vital questions, and in fact they’re part of conversations that should start as early our 20s or 30s. That’s what we heard from clinicians and patients in a series of focus groups to inform our 2016 report, Conversation Starters: Research Insights from Clinicians and Patients on Conversations about End-of-Life Care and Wishes. Through this research, we also found that many early advance care planning conversations are happening with people’s lawyers and financial planners rather than with their health care providers.
From the Samantha Brown website
Known as the Beer Capital of the World, Portland, Oregon is a beer lover’s utopia, with tons of quality breweries offering an incredibly diverse range of beer. Remarkably walkable, bike-friendly and with excellent public transportation, this is a city built for experiencing beer.
People who have a few drinks a week tend to live a bit longer than teetotalers do — but even moderate drinking may raise the risk of certain cancers, a large, new study finds.
The research is the latest to look at the question: What level of drinking might be “healthy”?
President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a bill that guarantees about 350,000 furloughed federal employees back pay once the partial shutdown ends.
The House and Senate last week passed the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which ensures back pay for furloughed workers and mandates that the roughly 500,000 employees working without immediate pay during the shutdown are able to take previously scheduled leave without consequence. Governmentwide guidance had required agencies to cancel leave for those workers.
Nathan Iha photograph | click to enlarge
Robert Inouye sent this photograph to Retiree News. It was taken at Aloha Stadium at the end of the 1998 Great Aloha Run.
Bob’s comments:
Back Row (Left to Right) James Barros, Arthur Logan, Robert Lesher, unknown, Mark Inouye, Robert Inouye
Center Kneeling is Stanley Keolanui. Sorry, don’t remember the Soldier’s name to the left of Stan’s. The individual on the right was an Active Army Advisor.
Photo courtesy of Wayne Iha. He gave these to me after the run. Bless his soul.
Special thanks to Robert Inouye for sharing this photograph.
The Great Aloha Run has accomplished and achieved many milestones in its 35-year history. It was the first largest first-time running event in the State of Hawaii with over 12,000 individuals signing up for the event in its very first year. The Great Aloha Run has also been recognized nationally as one of the top “100 Great Road Races” by Runner’s World Magazine.
Over the past 35 years, the Great Aloha Run, Hawaii’s largest participatory race, has raised over $12 million for over 150 non-profit health and human service organizations and community groups throughout Hawaii, such as: Boys and Girls Clubs, BSA Aloha Council, Girl Scouts Hawaii, Leeward Special Olympics, MWR Facilities, United Cerebral Palsy of Hawaii, the Variety School of Hawaii, Palama Settlement, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association and many more!
The GAR, an 8.15-mile foot race, begins at Aloha Tower and finishes in the Aloha Stadium. There are divisions for elites, age groups, wheelchair and hand-cycle competitors, Sounds of Freedom (military running in formation) and those who just want to walk the course with friends and socialize along the way in the Back of the Pack.
There is a place in the Great Aloha Run for everyone who wants to participate. It is this inclusive philosophy that reflects the Hawaiian name for this race, “Ke kukini me ke aloha pau‘ole”—the race with compassionate love. (GAR website)
You’ve been battling that cough for a while now, and lately a fever and the shaking chills. You think it could be a cold or the flu. But you’re told by the doctor that what you have is not a virus, but rather pneumococcal pneumonia. This article will explain what pneumococcal pneumonia is and why adults 65 and older are at increased risk.
More than once in my life, I wish I knew more about hospice care, which is a sustained focus on quality-of-life near the end of a journey. A deeper working knowledge would have made the closing days of several loved ones’ lives more comfortable.
Yet no doctor or adviser even suggested hospice care to my family as we grappled with the end stages of cancer. It was only later that I discovered how much hospice care has to offer — and how millions of families can benefit from its humane mode of care.
Learn more
A B-2 Spirit #stealth bomber integrated with #F22 #Raptors aircraft during a @USSTRATCOM Bomber Task Force training mission. @USAirForce @IndoPACOM #B2flyingsince89 pic.twitter.com/clX3T4d1V5
— PACAF (@PACAF) January 17, 2019
From the U.S. News & World Report
A major benefit of retirement is that you no longer have to punch a time clock. But this can be a mixed blessing. Without the structure of job and family, you might begin to feel disoriented. Perhaps you can’t remember what day of the week it is, or you suddenly realize that a whole year has passed and you have nothing to show for it.
Just because you’re retired doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have some kind of schedule. Remember to build in time for your favorite activities, including hobbies, volunteer work, visiting grandchildren or whatever else you want to accomplish in retirement.
Here are ten tips to manage time without feeling like you are back on the clock.
From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website
Whether you’re just getting out of the service or you’ve been a civilian for years now, the VA Welcome Kit can help guide you to the benefits and services you’ve earned.
Based on where you are in life, your VA benefits and services can support you in different ways. Keep your welcome kit handy so you can turn to it throughout your life—like when it’s time to go to school, get a job, buy a house, get health care, retire, or make plans for your care as you age.
Feel free to share this guide with friends or family members who need help with their benefits too. Download your VA Welcome Kit and print out copies for yourself and others:
Download your VA Welcome Kit in black and white
Download your VA Welcome Kit in color
Last reviewed on December 4, 2018
Hawaii Air National Guard photograph | click to enlarge
Before the Hawaii Air National Guard moved to its current campus in 1960, the operated in Area 65 on Hickam Field. The 199th Fighter Squadron flew the F-47N Thunderbolt (1947–1954) and the F-86E Sabre (1954–1958). coffee was delivered to the flightline maintenance crews. Love the looks of the truck!
With the federal deficit expected to top $1 trillion this year, the Congressional Budget Office in December published a list of options for reducing the imbalance over the next 10 years, including three suggestions on Tricare and six that address veterans benefits.
In its Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2019 to 2028, the CBO laid out 121 opportunities for curtailing spending and raising revenue. These include raising Tricare enrollment fees for military retirees, instituting enrollment fees for Tricare for Life and reducing veterans benefits.
