Announcing NEW Enrollment Type
The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program is introducing the new Self Plus One (SPO) enrollment type during this annual FEHB Open Season which begins on Monday November 9, 2015. All change requests made during the FEHB Open Season will be effective January 1, 2016.
New SPO Enrollment Type: Allows you to cover yourself and one eligible family member that you designate as your covered dependent. For general information regarding SPO visit www.opm.gov/selfplusone.
Beginning October 13, 2015 you may call 1-800-332-9798 to speak to a customer service representative who will be able to answer general questions about SPO.
If you decide to change to the SPO enrollment type, you may do so during the FEHB Open Season. The FEHB Open Season period for Federal retirees and survivor annuitants is November 9, 2015 through December 14, 2015.
Your FEHB Open Season materials will be mailed to you in the last week of October 2015.
For information on comparing health plans visit http://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/compare-plans.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard received an honor from the Hawaii Army National Guard Monday.
The Hawaii representative was promoted from captain to major at a ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
The pūpūkahi is the State of Hawaii Department of Defense monthly newsletter. Printed versions of the pūpūkahi have been the “command information” newsletter for decades, however, it was suspended in 2009 due to budget cuts.
Click here to read the Ocotober 2015 digital pūpūkahi
Dawson Bell Von Oelhoffen Sr., 62, of Honolulu, a Delta Co. sergeant in the Army National Guard and a cook for Waikiki Resort Hotel, passed away on September 29, 2015. He was born in Honolulu.
He is survived by wife Myrna B.; sons Jason, Dawson Jr. and Marcus; daughter Lauren M.K.O. Jardine; brother Kimo “Jr.”; sister Olani M.; and six grandchildren.
Visitation: 6 p.m. Oct. 19 at Mililani Mortuary-Waipio, mauka chapel. Services: 7 p.m.
You can register to receive an email every time there is a new post. In the “Follow Blog via Email” section and press “Follow”. On the next screen, enter your email address and press ENTER. Shortly, you will receive a confirmation email to your address from WordPress.com. You acknowledge the email and you are a registered reader.
After you compete this short registration process, you get a notification email every time there is a new posting. The email has a quick teaser of the posting, along with tags that indicate how the posting relates to special topics/areas. There is a direct link to the website (Read more of this post)
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Thanks for the following new registered readers whose email address did not include a recognizable name: wolfman.hawaii
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From the Images of Old Hawaii website
1926 … Aloha Tower was completed; construction begins on the Richards Street YWCA building; Sanford Dole, former president of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, died … and the Honolulu Stadium was completed.
“Thursday afternoon (November 11, 1926,) at 2:30, the University football team plays against the (Schuman’s Townies) team for the football championship of the Territory of Hawaii. The title fight will be the first game to be played in the newly erected Honolulu Stadium. How about winnnig that game?”
From the Images of Old Hawaii website
It was not until World War II that the technology of using rockets and missiles in warfare became firmly established. During the final months of World War II, several major defense contractors studied the likelihood that evolving technologies could produce guided missiles to intercept bombers and surface-to-surface missiles.
The Cold War, a term used to describe the hostile relations between communist and non-communist countries, greatly accelerated missile and rocket technology.
During the Cold War era that followed World War II, the threat of foreign attack on US soil shifted from naval assault to air attack, particularly by aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. Thus, the Army Air Defense Artillery took responsibility from the Coast Artillery branch for defending the US. (NPS)
More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today, with another person developing the disease every 68 seconds. By 2050, the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple.
As if those numbers weren’t staggering enough, consider this: Alzheimer’s disease is the only cause of death among the top 10 (it’s currently ranked No. 6) in the United States that can’t be prevented, cured or slowed down.
The Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) is a VA education benefit program designed to provide educational assistance to members of the Reserve components called or ordered to active duty in response to a war or national emergency (contingency operation)* as declared by the President or Congress.
WASHINGTON — Two Republican House lawmakers are concerned the commission tasked by Congress to study the future of the US Army is headed in the wrong direction.
With four months left before the National Commission on the Future of the Army must issue its report to Congress, Rep. Kay Granger, of Texas, and Rep. Steve Womack, of Arkansas, sent a letter Sept. 30, obtained by Defense News, to the commission leaders expressing “high hopes” that it would “identify areas where improvements can be made, and efficiencies found,” as budgets decline and force structure shrinks.
Two F-22 Raptor squadrons and two maintenance squadrons from Hawaii have joined forces to create a combined unit with more than 200 active-duty and Air National Guard airmen that has arrived in the Middle East for a six-month deployment, according to the Hawaii National Guard.
Honolulu, Hawaii- Hawaii’s 50th Anniversary of Vietnam Commemorative Committee is compiling a database of Hawaii-based Vietnam-era veterans. The committee is leading the state’s efforts to honor the service and sacrifice of Vietnam-era veterans, from 2015 through 2017.
There are an estimated 36,000 Vietnam-era veterans living in Hawaii. The committee is attempting to collect contact information on all Vietnam-era veterans to ensure that they are invited to upcoming events and that they receive the honors to which they are entitled. The committee’s mission will be complete when all Vietnam War Veterans have been thanked and honored for their service, valor, and sacrifice. This includes their families, especially families who lost loved ones during the Vietnam War.
Veterans, or their family members can click here to register for the 50th Anniversary of Vietnam database.
They can visit the Office of Veterans Services website www.dod.hawaii.gov/ovs and click on the link to the 50th Anniversary website.
Information entered into the database will be kept confidential and will not be shared with any other organizations, agencies or sales representatives.
Webmaster Comments 15.10.12
Website update: Under “Bereavement” on the maroon strip above, the “When a Retiree Passes” post now includes links to the state Employees Retirement System (ERS) and the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) websites. These contacts assist the surviving spouse or children to stop State of Hawaii retirement payments and health benefits after a retiree passes.
Reminder: Hawaii’s 50th Anniversary of Vietnam Commemorative Committee continues their drive to compile a database of Hawaii-based Vietnam-era veterans. If you missed it, read the entire post at http://wp.me/p3639O-3BM
The Images of Old Hawaii website: Retiree News has started posting links to the Images of Old Hawaii website. The first – Check Six: Missile-Age Minutemen – discusses the Army Air Defense System using Nike Hercules missiles. The Hawaii Army National Guard staffed the four launch sites in Hawaii.
Peter Young, the former director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, runs the site. The posts are informal historic summaries; images (both historic as well as modern) are added to help tell the stories. In some cases, historic maps are laid over modern aerial imagery. It is a great site.
In the future, we will link to other postings of historical nature that have connections to the Hawaii Army and Air National Guard.