Braxton Bragg Chapter AUSA

Fellow VET's, especially Vietnam era Veterans. The link below which is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam war with names, bio's and other information. It is a very interesting link for those who served in that time frame and lost friends or family and for those who did not who must remember the legacy of these selfless men and women who served at a very tough time in the history of our Army and Nation. You can look up these heroes. We must keep theirs and all our Veterans; memory alive, those deceased, those still with us, and those who remain unaccounted for as POWs and MIAs -- "Lest, we never forget"!

First click on a state......then when it opens......a city......then name......then......it should show a picture of the person or at least his bio and medals.

http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm

LTG Frank Helmick, CG XVIIIth Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg presents a Certificate of Appreciation to SFC & Mrs. Jeffrey A. Loehr, the 2009-2010 Fort Bragg Family of the Year. Looking on is COL (Ret) Joe Adamczyk, President, Braxton Bragg Chapter, AUSA. Not pictured are the Loehr's 7 sons - Christian, Jeremy, Jonathan, Joshua, Nicholas,
and James. Congratulations to this great Army Family.

Double Click Below
Legislative New Update 2 February 2010

Braxton Bragg Chapter Happenings

Fayetteville VAMC Announces Initiatives

Thanks to COL (Ret) WIllie Wright, Vice President for Veterans Affair

The Acting Director Fayetteville VAMC announced some of the major actions planned for the Fayetteville VA Medical Center. COL (Ret) Willie Wright, Braxton Bragg Chapter of the Association of the United States Army, Vice President for Veterans Affairs recently communicated with the Acting Director to obtain this information. Please contact the Braxton Bragg Chapter office if we can assist you with Veterans Matters.

Update from the Fayetteville VA Medical Center-The Fayetteville VA Medical Center has important news to share!

Interim Leadership Team: With the retirement of Medical Center Director Bruce Triplett, an Interim Leadership Team is in place to provide leadership during the transition until a new Director is on board. The team includes Ralph Gigliotti, FACHE, Interim Director (also the Director of the VA Medical Center in Durham); Carol Bogedain Acting Associate Director (also the Associate Director at the Salem VA Medical Center), Dr. Kim Voss, Acting Chief of Staff (VISN 6 Tertiary Care manager, based in Hampton VAMC), Sara Haigh, Acting Assistant Director (Assistant Director of Durham VAMC), and Joyce Alexander-Hines, Associate Director for Patient Care Services. The Interim Leadership Team is working together on several actions to improve services and plans for the future.

Communication with Veterans: Fayetteville VAMC is working to improve telephone services by making it easier to reach the right person by phone and to have telephone calls returned promptly. A Telephone Services Work Group is looking at staffing, technical aspects of the telephone system, and the way calls are routed throughout the medical center and CBOCs. Our goal is to make it easier to reach the right person quickly and to shorten the time it takes to return phone calls when messages are left on voice mail systems.

Parking: A Parking Committee is looking at changes to employee parking areas that will increase the number of parking spaces available for valet parking and for patient parking closer to entrances. We will also be setting up a shuttle to help patients get to and from the parking lot. Expect to see these changes in the next couple of months.

New CBOC: A new community Based Outpatient Clinic in Robeson County will be built soon and should open in the summer. It will provide Primary Care and Mental Health Services and will also house a home-based Primary Care team.

Off-Site Lease in Fayetteville: We will be moving some of the current Primary Care teams to a new off-site clinic located within 5 miles of the main hospital. This will give us space at the hospital to complete a full renovation of our Emergency Department and to renovate our Women's Health Clinic. Activation of the new clinic is planned for this summer.

Expansion of the Wilmington CBOC: We will be building a new larger outpatient clinic in Wilmington. This "super CBCO" will add specialty care, lab, radiology, and outpatient surgery capability and will provide much-needed space for the growing veteran population in the Wilmington area. Target date for completion is in late 2012.

Health Care Center: The most exciting news for Fayetteville's long range planning will be creation of a new Health Care Center in Fayetteville. This large, 238,000 square foot building will be a state-of-the-art outpatient facility with a wide variety of primary care, mental health, specialty care, outpatient surgery, and lab and radiology services. The planning phase is underway, with the current target date for completion in late 2013.

We are working hard to fulfill our mission to honor America's veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Congratulations - Fort Bragg Army Family of the Year

The Chapter recently honored SFC and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Loehr as the Fort Bragg 2009-2010 "Family of the Year". In addition to a Certificate of Appreciation presented by LTG Helmick and the Chapter President they also received a $250 gift certificate The Chapter will nominate them for the 3rd Region AUSA Family of the Year.

Welcome Home!

Welcome home to all of our units and individuals recently returned and returning from deployment. We are thankful for your service and safe return..

Godspeed!

Godspeed to all of our Service Members and DA Civilians who are deployed. We pray for your safety, mission success, and safe return home to your loved ones and your Fort Bragg family.

General Membership Meetings

The 3rd Quarter Braxton Bragg Chapter General Membership Meeting will be held on 10 March 2010. As details become available they will post here for your convenience or you can call the Chapter Office at 910-396-3755.

Fayetteville Cares - Operation Holiday Cheer

Thanks to Fayetteville Cares and Chapter Members who helped make Operation Holiday Cheer a success. This exemplifies the exceptional cooperative community spirit of Fort Bragg / Fayetteville and our surrounding counties. Special thanks to our most generous North Carolina Chevy Dealers Association and all who donated to the raffle. Congratulations to our winner. The Braxton Bragg Chapter is honored to have been a contributor of time and talent in support of Operation Holiday Cheer.

Corporate Members

Please continue to support our corporate members who support us so well.

Special thanks to our local car dealers who are supporting our 2010 Car Raffle:

Bryan Honda-Cadillac-Pontiac
Cape Fear Harley Davidson
Hendrick Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep
Lafayette Ford
Powers-Swain Chevrolet, inc.
Stewart Nissan
Reed-Lallier Chevrolet
Rick Hendrick Toyota

Association of the United States Army - Good News

Legislative News Update - 2 February 2010

The AUSA Government Affairs Directorate's weekly electronic newsletter, Legislative News, is published every Monday
that Congress is in session.

In this issue:

Double Click the AUSA logo below to review 2 February 2010 Legislative News Update and MORE.....

Good Information For Our Corporate Partners

Thank you for your continuing support of our brave men and women in uniform, our Department of the Army Civilians, and their families. As part of our ongoing efforts to increase services to those who support our mission we provide a monthly synopsis of events/activities that we think will be of interest to you and your business/activities. The following are provided for the January 2010 - April 2010 timeframe. We will update as appropriate:

Thursday, 4 Feb Fort Bragg National Prayer Breakfast / Pope AFB Club / 0700
Friday, 5 Feb Payday Activities
Friday, 12 Feb Corps Training Holiday
Monday, 15 Feb Federal Holiday (President's Day)
Friday, 5 Mar Payday Activities
Friday, 19 Mar Corps Training Holiday
Friday, 2 Apr Payday Activities

This information is subject to change. If you have any questions please call the Braxton Bragg Chapter Office at 910-396-3755 or email hbraxtonbraggc@nc.rr.com.

Annual Car Raffle-2010
The 2010 Annual Car Raffle will kick off in January. However, tickets are already available from Braxton Bragg Chapter Members. If you have any questions please contact the chapter office at 910-396-3755 or see them to get yours and watch the Raffle Donation Opportunities in the Fort Bragg area. E-mail hbraxtonbraggc@nc.rr.com or call 910-396-3755 for more details. Click here to visit our Car Raffle Web Page. Special thanks for our corporate sponsors for their support for the raffle especially our local car, truck, and motorcycle dealers. You can't beat "A" "buck" for a Truck"!

Board of Directors Meeting
Braxton Bragg Chapter will hold its next monthly Board of Directors Meeting on the 11 February 2010 at 0730 hours in the Hall of Heroes Conference Room of the Soldier's Support Center. Call 910-396-3755 for details.

2010 AUSA Scholarship:

Plan now to support our Annual Scholarship Presentation. Individual and organizations can sponsor a scholarship and honor a loved one while helping promote the education pursuits of deserving AUSA member soldiers and their family members. For information please visit the Scholarship Webpage or contact Jack Cox, our Vice President for Scholarships at 910-286-3630.

All the best to you and your families for a great 2010

Thank a soldier and their family - everyday!

If you are not a member of the Association of the United States Army-Join Now and start supporting your United States Army

To find out what benefits and services AUSA offers, please click the logo below.

Our Resolutions - 2009 - Good News
Click On The AUSA Logo To Find Out!

Double Click the Logo Below

And Join Braxton Bragg Chapter

SOLDIERS ARE OUR CREDENTIALS

Here are some good sites to log on to for AUSA members and those who would like to become members:

Visit This Site = Family Programs as of 1 February 2010
Visit This Site = Soldiers Magazine
Visit This Site = ARMY Magazine February 2010
For You To Download = January 2010 Monthly Accession Command Points
Visit This Site = Legislative Update-Military Health Care February 2010
Visit This Site = Special Report January 2010
Visit This Site = AUSA News January 2010
Visit This Site = AUSA + 1st Session, 111th Congress = More Work Ahead
Visit This Site = Where We Stand On Key Issues

Updated 2 February 2010

President's Monthly Update

Happy Holidays!

As we wind down the holidays we must reflect on the exceptional service wrought by the men and women of Fort Bragg - our Airborne and Special Operations Forces and the numerous other units of all branches and services who reside on this National Treasurer. We must never forget all of those who have died in service to our country. To them and their loved ones we owe a debt that can never be fully repaid. To the numerous injured and now recovered or recovering, we must continue to insure that they are afforded the best care possible and all of the follow on assistance they require to rejoin the force or to fully integrate into society in other chosen fields. And to all those who continue to serve and their loved ones -- again "THANK YOU". Thanks also to the communities and citizens who surround us and support us as well. While "Thanks is not enough" please know that the Braxton Bragg Chapter, all of its members throughout the world hold you in highest esteem and thank you for allowing us to serve you in some small way.

May God bless our deployed soldiers and grant them the opportunity to celebrate this day without violence and to reflect on their loved ones for whom they are thankful. Let us also pray that next year they will be back home safe and secure and surrounding by loving family and friends to celebrate and give "Thanks".

As always, the Chapter leads in thanking you for the innumerable contributions you make daily. We salute you! God bless you, your families and God Bless America!

Respectfully,
Joe Adamczyk

Our Annual Car Raffle tickets are now available. look for an opportunity for donations on a chance to win your choice of car, truck, or motorcycle. It's important to remember that all proceeds from these donations go got support Braxton Bragg Chapter soldiers and family programs. Call the office or see a board member for details.

It's not too early to register for the President's Golf Tournament (Ryder Golf Course) -- supporting Scholarship and other Programs and the 14th Annual EXPO and Symposium featuring exceptional displays of Defense Industry Leaders and Luncheon presentations by Distinguished Military and Civilian Leaders.

We are also looking for Volunteers to serve on our Board. The #1 requirement to serve is a desire to support soldiers and their families and dedication to lend your time, talent, and treasure to support our numerous missions. In return you will gain an incredible amount of satisfaction and an opportunity to continue to associate with one of the finest groups of people in the world - "Our soldiers and their families". Contact COL (Ret) Don Goulet via 910-396-3755 if you'd like more information.

Watch our home page for updates and breaking news.

Please keep the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Let us do what we can to make their daily routine a bit brighter, let us give special thoughts and prayers for those who have given their "last full measure of devotion", but who are always with us in our "hearts" and let us always remember the men and women of our Armed Forces who epitomize what is written in Isaiah 6:8

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’"

I encourage you to navigate our web site. We strive to provide timely, pertinent, and accurate information on issues and events affecting our members. We also solicit your input on how we can improve this site and better serve you.

The President's Welcome Message

Message from the President

The Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army.............

For Immediate Release: November 20, 2008: COL David R. Fabian (USA-Ret)

Congress Approves Army Commemorative Coin Act

Click Here For The Press Release

Learn more about Your National Army Museum by click on the logo below.

Soldiers and DA Civilians Get Pay Increase

Active-Duty personnel will draw-an across-the-board 3.9 percent pay increase, Civilians under the GS system get an across-the-board pay raise of 2.9 percent and Civilians under the NSPS pay system will see an increase of 1.74 percent beginning 1 January 2009. Double click the AUSA Logo below to view and download the 2009 Military Pay Tables.