|
Maryland Council (MD MOAA) |
Last Update: Nov 2020
BREAKING NEWS:
Corporate Gray
Recruiting Event:
Please help us to spread the word
about a Virtual Job Fair that is specifically for Military Officers on
Friday, December 4, 2020, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. (Eastern Time). This online
event is sponsored by the West Point Society of DC in cooperation with MOAA. It
is free and open to ALL current, former, and retired military officers
throughout the country. (This is NOT limited to USMA graduates, so please
spread the word to ALL members of the officer community.) This is a great
opportunity for candidates to text chat or video chat with many employers in
just a few hours! A diverse group of companies and government agencies will
participate – all of whom will be looking to recruit Military Officers! An
up-to-date list of participants and more information is available at www.MilitaryOfficerJobFair.com
(pre-registration is required).
Susan Mahon Savino, Office
703-690-6826
(28 Nov 2020)
Spouse and Surviving
Spouse Newsletter: Our new Spouse and Surviving Spouse Liaison, Mrs.
Cheryl Glang, has published her first newsletter. Se the Spouse and Surviving Spouse section below. (23 Nov 2020)
Veterans’ Symposium:
From Maryland Delegate Mike Rogers, COL, USA (Ret), (D-32):
“Please join me as I moderate a
Veterans Symposium on November 10th at 7pm EST. We will discuss multiple
issues affecting Veterans and will have a great panel of Veterans and
government officials.” You can watch the video here,
and Legislative Director CAPT Lynn Nash, USPHS
(Ret) has prepared
some notes. If you have any questions, please contact her at 202-236-6773
or Lynn.Slepski@outlook.com. (11 Nov 2020)
FOR NATIONAL GUARD
MEMBERS/RETIREES ONLY:
The National Guard announces a $500 Grant for
food, shelter, housing expenses. Eligibility: Current members, those that
honorably served and did not retire, or retirees! Very wide range of
folks that this could help support. How to apply: Member has to have
either unit command or a Family Programs staff member verify their service and
complete the verification form. Then, the member/Veteran fills out the
online application at www.eangus-wcfa.org . If approved, funds sent directly to
Member/Veteran. See WCFA-COVID
ERFG - Phase 2.pdf for details, and WCFA-COVID
Emergency Relief Verification Form FINAL.pdf for the form. Remember, this
is for National Guard personnel only. (30 Oct 2020)
Scams and Frauds: Today’s
MOAA Annual Meeting opened with a session on avoiding Scams and Frauds. See the
PowerPoint presentation (saved here as PDF)
for this important information. (23 Oct 2020)
Maryland Veterans’
Commission: See the Maryland Veterans’ Commission
section below for information from the latest meeting. Here are key highlights:
- The Maryland Veterans’ Trust Fund exists to
support struggling veterans. The fund currently has $200,000 on hand. Sec
Owings want to give this away! See https://veterans.maryland.gov/maryland-department-of-veterans-affairs-veterans-trust-fund/
for details.
- The Department is in the process of acquiring 60
acres of land in Skyesville for a second Veterans’ Home. It will have 120 beds,
and one of the only on-site dialysis units in the nation.
- An organization called Fields 4 Valor made a
presentation on their program of growing produce, eggs, and honey for
distribution to struggling veteran families in Central Maryland. See https://fieldsforvalor.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/fields4valorfarms
for details. They are looking for financial support, and for people to provide
manual labor. They have gone from providing 300 pounds of food in 2016 to over
3000 pounds so far in 2020.
- There will be a rally sponsored by a VFW Post in Westminster and an
American Legion Post in Greenbelt in support of the Peace Cross in Bladensburg. (22 Oct 2020)
Welcome New
Spouse/Surviving Spouse Liaison: Mrs Cheryl Glang has volunteered to
serve as the Spouse/Surviving Spouse Liaison for the coming year. She is the
wife of a retired Navy RDML and has been active in Military Family affairs over
the years. (3 Oct 2020)
COVID-19 Relief
Fund: MOAA has set up a COVID-19 Relief Fund, through the MOAA Foundation. Here
a few details from their web page, https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2020-news-articles/heres-how-to-apply-for-covid-19-relief-through-a-moaa-chapter/:
“Grants are available to
currently serving members, spouses of active duty members, veterans with
honorable discharges, or caregivers of the same. You’ll be asked to prove
negative financial impact from the COVID-19 crisis as part of the application
process.
If
you are a member of a chapter and want to share the application in your
community, please visit www.moaa.org/chapter-covid-relief.
If you’re facing financial stress brought on by the pandemic (or know someone
who is) and you aren't affiliated or near a MOAA chapter, visit www.moaa.org/relief-application
for instructions and to download an application.
National MOAA or MOAA chapter
membership is not a requirement, and members won’t receive preference.
All ranks are eligible.
Preference will be given to those ineligible for other relief programs, such as
service relief societies.” (3 Oct 2020)
2019 Levels of
Excellence: MOAA has announced the winners of Four and Five Star
Levels of Excellence for the Maryland Council of Chapters and the following
Chapters: Star Spangled Banner, Montgomery County, Susquehanna, Upper Eastern
Shore, and Upper Potomac. Congratulations to all.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Web Pages of the Maryland Council of Chapters, an affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America. The Maryland Council was awarded a Five Star Level of Excellence for 2019 (as of August 2020).
The Maryland Council is composed of ten chapters, spread geographically across the state. Here is a list of the Chapters, with links to their individual Web Pages. All Chapters have an informational page here or a separate chapter-hosted page (Stars indicate the Level of Excellence rating earned by the Chapter for 2019 – as announced in August 2020.):
·
* * * * * Star Spangled Banner (Winner of 5 Star Col
Marvin J Harris Communications Award for 2018, as of May 2019)
·
* * * * * Montgomery County
(Winner of 5 Star Col Marvin J Harris Communications Award for 2018, as of May
2019)
·
* * * * * Susquehanna – Chapter Site at MOAA
·
* * * * Upper
Eastern Shore
·
* * * * * Upper Potomac – Chapter
Site at MOAA
Council
Officers
Here are the Council officers for 2019 – 2020 (as of 14 Mar 2020, updated May 2020):
|
President |
Bryon |
Hartzog |
LTC |
USA |
||
|
1st Vice Pres |
Norton |
Bob |
COL |
USA |
||
|
2nd Vice Pres |
Gary |
Palmer |
Lt Col |
USAF |
||
|
Secretary |
Dave |
Peterson |
CAPT |
NOAA |
||
|
Treasurer |
Jim |
Campbell |
Capt |
USAF |
||
|
Webmaster |
Jim |
Shiffrin |
Maj |
USAF |
jim.shiffrin@gmail.com |
|
|
Chaplain |
Jim |
Campbell |
Capt |
USAF |
||
|
Immediate Past Pres |
Harvey |
Kaplan |
COL |
USA |
||
|
Legislative Director |
Lynn |
Nash |
CAPT |
USPHS |
(This is the correct email) |
|
|
Transition Liaison |
Annie |
Brock |
||||
|
Spouse Liaison |
Cheryl |
Glang |
glanghaus@comcast.net |
|||
|
Md Veterans Commissioner |
Jim |
Shiffrin |
Maj |
USAF |
jim.shiffrin@gmail.com |
|
|
MOAA
Director – Maryland Military Coalition |
Harvey |
Kaplan |
COL |
USA |
||
|
Annapolis |
Andrew |
Fallon |
COL |
USA |
||
|
Ft Meade |
Bryon |
Hartzog |
LTC |
USA |
||
|
Gen Smallwood |
Daniel |
Donohue |
COL |
USMC |
||
|
Montgomery Co |
Dave |
Peterson |
CAPT |
NOAA |
||
|
Prince Georges |
Steve |
Regner |
Col |
USAF |
||
|
Southern MD |
|
|
|
|
Combined
with Gen Smallwood |
|
|
Star Spangled |
Tom |
Seybold |
COL |
USA |
||
|
Susquehanna |
Robert |
Hanson |
CDR |
USN |
||
|
Upper Eastern Shore |
Mike |
Johnson |
CW5 |
USA |
mjnmi1@verizon.net |
|
|
Upper Potomac |
Hugh |
McIlroy |
LtCol |
USMC |
germac03@gmail.com |
|
The Southern Maryland Chapter is currently functioning as an affiliate of the Gen Smallwood Chapter.
Here are the Maryland Council Bylaws, updated on 12 Jan 2019. (13 Mar 2019)
Here are the Maryland Council of Chapters Goals for CY2019-2020, approved by the Council on 12 Jan 2019. (19 Jan 2019)
The 2020 Congressional Luncheon was cancelled due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. (July 2020)
MOAA
membership is open to all current, former, and retired officers of any of the
seven Uniformed Services. Visit the Why Join MOAA
page at the MOAA Web Site for details on the three classes of membership, and
to join.
There
is a new “Why MOAA” video produced by the MOAA National Office. Please use the following link to access the video:
For those concerned about embedded links and cyber security,
please do the following:
1) Go to the YouTube website by
typing: www.youtube.com
in your web browser
2) Type MOAA in the search bar
3) Click on the link to the MOAA
channel
4) Once the MOAA channel comes up,
you will immediately see the “Why MOAA” video.
5) If you want to cut and paste the
video web address for others, click on the “Videos” link, then select the “Why
MOAA” Video
6) Once the video begins playing,
highlight and then copy the web address at the top of the screen. It
should exactly match the hyperlink listed in this email.
If you are a MOAA member who is
not a member of a Maryland Chapter, please
click here to find the chapter in your area.
Council
Calendar
The Council officers and Chapter Presidents meet quarterly, on call of the President. Meetings are currently held at O’Loughlin’s Restaurant, 1258 Bay Dale Drive, Arnold MD 21012, starting at 1130. Here are the recent and upcoming dates, with links to the minutes of each, as they are available (older minutes are available here)
Mar 10, 2018 - Minutes
Jun 9, 2018 - Minutes
Sep 8, 2018 - Minutes
Nov 1, 2018 (At National Meeting) - Minutes
Jan 12, 2019 - Minutes
Mar 30, 2019 - Minutes
Jun 22, 2019 - Minutes
Aug 24, 2019 - Minutes
Nov 2, 2019 - Minutes
Jan 11, 2020 - meeting cancelled due to MOAA-sponsored Caribbean cruise
Mar 14, 2020 (Virtual) - Minutes
Jun 13, 2020 (Virtual) - Minutes
Aug 1, 2020 (Virtual)
Jan 16, 2021 (Virtual)
Editorial
Policy
MOAA, the Maryland Council of Chapters and the individual chapters
in Maryland are non-partisan. Information on this web site reflects the
position of the Maryland Council of Chapters only.
Spouse and
Surviving Spouses Newsletter
Below
are recent newsletters from the former Spouse and Surviving Spouse Liaison
Officer, Mrs. Cheryl Glang. (23 Nov 2020)
-
Nov 2020
Maryland
National Guard Unit of the Year
Stay
tuned for the announcement of the National Guard Unit of the Year for 2020. (24 Feb 2020)
Highlights
of recent and upcoming Chapter activities
MOAA Board Member RADM Tom
Jurkowsky has written another Op-Ed
piece for the Annapolis Capitol/Maryland Gazette. Although the council does
not have any specific wording, all members are encouraged to contact their
Representative and the two Senators to ask that they ensure cuts to military
medical facilities and staff are not allowed to occur. (24 Aug 2020)
René A. Campos, CDR, U.S.
Navy (Ret.) is the Senior Director, Government Relations for Veterans-Wounded
Warrior Care at MOAA.
She recently
provided us with a copy of a Department
of Veterans’ Affairs COVID-19 Pandemic Response Report. (27 May 2020)
CAPT Lynn Nash, USPHS (Ret)
has agreed to become the MOAA MD Council's Legislative Director. She will formally join the Board
of Directors at the upcoming 1 Aug meeting. She has prepared a summary of bills enacted during the
shortened 2020 Legislative Session in Annapolis. (13 Jul
2020)
We have an old list of the members of the Maryland House of
Delegates Veterans’ Caucus, and the Maryland
Senate Veterans’ Caucus. We will work to get this updated before the 2021
session.
Note – this list is NOT UP TO DATE for 2019 or 2020. (3 Mar 2019)
Make MOAA's One Powerful Voice® heard in
Maryland. It will take each MOAA member living in Maryland to make this happen.
Act now to do your part!
Here is a list of Points
of Contact for the Maryland Congressional delegation (both Senators and all
eight Representatives) (updated 16 Apr 2019)
·
From
time to time, we will suggest messages we would like Maryland members to send
to Annapolis on upcoming bills of interest to all of us. There are two
web-based methods you can use to contact your State Legislators:
·
The
Maryland Legislature maintains a Web Site that you can use to contact your
Senator or Delegate. To use it, visit http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmmain.aspx?pid=legisrpage&tab=subject6,
and select the legislator’s name. If the legislator accepts e-mail (I hope most
of them do today), you will see a link to Contact Online. Click on that link.
Enter your identifying information, and type or paste the text into the Message
box.
·
Another
method is to visit http://mdelect.net/.
This site, run by the Maryland State Archives, allows you to enter your address
(Zip+4 will do, unless district lines go through your Zip+4 area – then enter
your full address), and it will tell you who your Federal and State legislators
are. There are links to their web sites. Some have e-mail tools built in;
others will link into Outlook, as above. (21
Jan 2013)
·
NEW
– here is a link to a roster provided
by the Legislature with office locations and phone numbers for all of the
State Senators and Delegates. Some have moved since last year. (26 Jan 2018)
You can find information on
MOAA’s national legislative priorities at the MOAA Take Action web page.
The Maryland Veterans’ Commission met on 21 Oct
2020. In advance of the formal minutes, here are some highlights from the meeting:
- The Maryland Department of Veterans’ Affairs is up
and running, even with COVID-19 restrictions. Four offices have been co-located
in Motor Vehicle Administration Buildings, and more will move in the future.
- The Veterans’ Home at Charlotte Hall has had no
new COVID-19 deaths since July and is admitting new residents. There are
currently 312 veterans living there.
- The Maryland Veterans’ Trust Fund exists to
support struggling veterans. The fund currently has $200,000 on hand. Sec
Owings want to give this away! See https://veterans.maryland.gov/maryland-department-of-veterans-affairs-veterans-trust-fund/
for details.
- The Department is in the process of acquiring 60
acres of land in Skyesville for a second Veterans’ Home. It will have 120 beds,
and one of the only on-site dialysis units in the nation.
- An organization called Fields 4 Valor made a
presentation on their program of growing produce, eggs, and honey for
distribution to struggling veteran families in Central Maryland. See https://fieldsforvalor.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/fields4valorfarms
for details. They are looking for financial support, and for people to provide
manual labor. They have gone from providing 300 pounds of food in 2016 to over
3000 pounds so far in 2020.
- There will be a rally sponsored by a VFW Post in
Westminster and an American Legion Post in Greenbelt in support of the Peace
Cross in Bladensburg. Meeting time is 1000 on 7 Nov 2020 at American Legion
Post 136, 6900 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt. The parade will leave at 1200, travel
to Bladensburg, then back to Greenbelt for refreshments. They are looking for
both motorcycles and cars. For further information, contact Post 136 Commander
Mike Moore at 301-204-1377. (22 Oct 2020)
Here
are recent minutes from the Commission:
Job Search
From our new Transition Liaison Officer, Mrs Annie Brock:
“I hope you are
staying safe and doing well.
As you know, I have
stepped into Jim Dittbrenner's large shoes and will be moving the Maryland
Council forward in the Transition Assistance arena. You can expect to hear from
me on at least a monthly basis, possibly every two weeks ... depending upon the
amount of information I find to share with you and our members.
In order to better
serve you and those who might benefit from the information who are not eligible
to join MOAA, I am going to ask you to join a mailing list using this
link: https://bit.ly/MdMOAATransitionList It
will keep you from receiving duplicate emails and information, while saving me
from sending the same email to two lists of subscribers ... a win for all of
us.”
Mrs Brock will be publishing periodic lists of Upcoming Events, which we will be posting here. (21 May 2020)
Contact Mrs Brock at mdmoaatransition@gmail.com for any transition-related questions. (11 Jun 2020)
Looking for a new job, or know someone who is? Visit the MOAA Transition and Career Center
for Career Information.
Veterans’
Benefits
A number of organizations have asked us to provide links to their resources for Veterans. Please visit out Outside Resources page to view that list. The appearance of links on that page does not imply any endorsement by the Military Officers’ Association of America (MOAA), the Maryland Council of Chapters, or any MOAA Chapter. Feel free to use them at your own risk.
Please send any comments and suggestions to the Webmaster using the email address shown in the listing of Council Officers above.
