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The Crier Newsletter

Quarterly
The Crier
The purpose of the Crier is to tell the VCOC story. Each issue of the Crier includes officer contact information, feature articles, chapter spotlight section, VCOC schedule and sponsor recognition.
The Crier is published quarterly electronically in March, June, September and December, posted below, PDF format.
Chapter input is most welcome, due to the editor on the 10th of the month prior to publication. Target publication dates are 10 Feb for March issue, 10 May for June issue, 10 August for September issue and 10 November for December issue. Provide stories with supporting photographs to Crier newsletter editor CDR Linc Smith, USNR (Ret) at: mvng288@aol.com. In reminder, MOAA and its affiliates must avoid engaging in partisan political activities. View guidance here: MOAA Guidance on Partisan Political Activities View the MOAA Take Action Center here: MOAA Take Action Center
spotlight on the chapters
Crier Issues, Chapters in the Spotlight, Sponsors
Chapters in the Spotlight
Sponsors
This year the Central Virginia Chapter ‘s Board of Directors established a new committee to offer assistance to the chapter membership. Among MOAA’s purposes, the Chapter is to foster relations among its membership and provide useful services for members and their families. The Personal Affairs committee will offer items of interest to the chapter membership on benefits, health care, survivor issues and financial affairs. The committee will serve as the primary point of contact for issues associated with military rights and entitlements, with special emphasis on survivor benefits information. Personal affairs assistance will be based on researching and identifying resources available to members for answering questions on individual needs and family long-term challenges. The chairman of the personal affairs committee will work directly with the national MOAA personal affairs team. This new committee joins the Board’s other existing committees. They are programs, legislative, membership, auxiliary affairs, The Bugle, ROTC and VCOC. (Virginia Council of Chapters). The New Year has arrived and you probably are gathering reports and records for filing your taxes. This is also a good time to update your personal affairs records. Getting your personal affairs in order means getting all your information together in one place. Knowing what you need and having all the information correct is a good project for these winter days. Even if you previously created a Personal Affairs folder, it’s a good idea to update it annually, keeping your survivors in mind.Need your dependents ID card updated? Call Anne (434-971-3288) at the JAG school on the UVA campus for an appointment. Albemarle County offers real estate tax exemption to any veteran who has been rated by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs to have a 100% service-connected, permanent and total disability, and occupies the real estate. The surviving spouse may also qualify. To learn more, call the County Assessor’s office at 434 296 5856.Future articles will cover caregiver challenges and the phased Elimination of the SBP-DIC Offset.
Everyone knows that 2020 and the lingering pandemic has made life more difficult and slowed many things down including the formal presentation of organizational awards and recognition of achievements. The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and its many Chapters are not exceptions. Finally, on February 19, 2021 at Ford’s Colony Clubhouse, retired Admiral Walter Doran, past Chairman of the Board of MOAA National, presented the local Peninsula Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (VIPMOAA) with awards that the Chapter would normally would have had presented in mid-2020. In a special, but small COVID restricted ceremony Admiral Walter Doran presented Colonel US Army (Ret.) Ron Corson, President of VIPMOAA, with a MOAA Certificate recognizing the 50th Anniversary of VIPMOAA as an affiliate Chapter of MOAA and a 5-Star Levels of Excellence Award Certificate that VIPOAA attained in 2019. The 5-Star Award is MOAA’s highest level of recognition for outstanding performance as a Chapter. In addition VIPMOAA had previously been awarded two MOAA Harris Communication Awards for 2019 for excellence, one for its monthly newsletter and one for its website. The formal presentation was attended by key To the below picture, board members of VIPMOAA from left to right are Colonel USAF (Ret.) Jim Pauls, Chapter Legislative Affairs Chairman, Mrs. Patricia Pleasant a Surviving Spouse member of the Chapter and Chapter Treasure, Colonel USMC (Ret.) John Harms, Secretary of VIPMOAA, Admiral Walt Doran presenting the 50th Anniversary Certificate to Colonel Ron Corson, Colonel Boyd Nix, Past President of VIPMOAA and current President of the MOAA Virginia Chapter of Chapters, and Colonel USA (Ret.) Paul Miyamasu, Chapter Membership Chairman. While VIPMOAA had to cancel most of its 2020 monthly meetings due to the pandemic, the Chapter was able to continue its support of leadership awards and college scholarships to outstanding cadets in Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) programs at 11 peninsula high schools, awards and support to the ROTC programs at William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, and Hampton University and provide donations to five military community support organizations in the area. Any active duty or retired officer from any of the Military Services is eligible to be a member of the local Chapter and can contact VIPMOAA via their website at vipmoaa.org.