Call to action

Proposed cuts to KDVA budget would be ‘devastating’ to state veterans’ support

MOAA President lauds MAJ Pinkston

LT. GEN. (RET.) DANA ATKINS, MOAA President/CEO presented chapter member MAJ (Ret.) Marty Pinkston with the national Leadership Award at the Jan. 26 meeting for multiple accomplishments in support of the Bluegrass Chapter . For more photos from the meeting, go to p. 4-5.

WHAT: Field trip to Camp Nelson National Cemetery & Civil War Heritage Park WHERE: 6980 Danville RD (U.S. 27)

6 mi. south of Nicho-lasville; Meet at the Oli-ver Perry (White) House WHEN: Social time: 1130 lunch: noon COST: $15 for box lunch sandwiches — turkey, roast beef or pimiento cheese RSVP: Call/email Pat Jones ; Contact info, p. 2

SPECIAL GUEST — prominent histori-an Nicky Hughes (bio, p. 5)

(The Bluegrass Bugle is grateful to chapter member COL (Ret.) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chairman of the Joint Execu-tive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) for providing the legislative update on p. 5. He has also provided the following Call to Action by veterans organization to mobilize in support of the Kentucky Dept. of Veterans Affairs.)

Testimony provided by the KDVA Commissioner at their budget presentation paints a bleak picture of the future of the department’s programs if the budget is passed as proposed by Gov. Bevin. The department’s initial budget submission presented the bare-boned budget needed to execute the various programs managed by the agency, i.e. nursing homes, cemeteries, benefits, honors program, women veter-ans program, etc. The budget currently under review by the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee reflects a shortage of $13

million in FY 19 and $14 mil-lion in FY 20. The impact of this shortage, if the budget is enacted as proposed, is devas-tating on the department’s ability to serve Kentucky veter-ans. Specifically, it will reduce their ability to admit 99 veter-ans into the nursing homes in FY 19 and 110 veterans in FY 20. It would also mean the

elimination of several valuable support programs currently provided by the department to Kentucky veterans and their families. It is important that the VSO’ (veterans services organizations) speak up forcefully NOW in support of improving KDVA’s budget!! Go to the LRC website listed below, check the membership of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee and the Budget Subcommittee for General Government. Con-tact these representatives using the contact information below or provid-ed on the LRC web site and let them know of your serious concerns and that you want these funds replaced! www.lrc.ky.gov

P. 2 — President’s Corner: What’s next with DoD budget?P. 3 — Taps for two chapter wives; race discounts for vets; chapter revamps Website P. 4 — January meeting highlights P. 5. — Letter of appreciation from Lt. Gen. Atkins; sequestration may rise from the grave P. 6 — Camp Nelson info: guest speaker bio P. 7 — State legislative update; MOAA offers pet policies

President Col. (Ret.) Tom Peters

(859) 329-7320 thomas.peters03@gmail.com

First Vice President COL (Ret.) Tom Little

(859) 338-3301 tlittlelex@gmail.com

Second Vice President

Vacant

Secretary/Webmaster/ Newsletter Editor

COL (Ret.) John Shotwell (859) 420-2105

jmshot0@g.uky.edu

Treasurer

Mrs. Pat Jones (859) 271-2606

ppatcatfan@aol.com

Sergeant-at-Arms

COL (Ret.) Chris Dolt (859) 494-3452

christopher.dolt@morganstaley.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MOAABluegrassChapter

Web: http://bluegrassmoaa.org

MOAA, including the Ken-tucky Council and the Blue-grass Chapter, is an independ-ent, nonprofit, politically non-partisan organization. Member-ship is open to officers from every branch of service - in-cluding active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their immediate families.. The MOAA Bluegrass Chapter is a Sect. 501(c )(19) tax-exempt veterans organization

WOW, What Happens Next!!!

My essay this month reflects my own

thoughts concerning the newly issued budget

guidance for the Department of Defense. I

have gathered information from several

sources, but it is too early to know where

policy wonks and decisions makers will turn

as they make use of the anticipated funds.

However, it is a truism to be careful what you

wish for.

First, a few comments about how the mon-

ey gets spent through the arcane processes of

the DOD. Since 2011, the DOD and all oth-

er government departments have languished

under a series of sporadic funding authoriza-

tion actions called Continuing Resolutions

which carry specific rules.

The most onerous aspect is that there are

no “new starts”. This means that even good

ideas cannot be implemented, but old ways of

spending, and old habits continue.

The short story is

$634B in FY17, $700B in

FY18 and $716B in FY 19.

For those of you keeping

score, FY 18 started Oct

2017, so the year is half

spent and the money still

hasn’t arrived. In addi-

tion, the result of the lean

years since 2011 has been

a trend of increasing management responsibil-

ity within the Department of Defense at the

expense of the services.

This centralized control and decentralized

execution means that it will still be months

before the money filters down to the services

and of course months after that until actual

progress is evident.

According to Jared Serbu @jserbuWFED,

“While all of the military services would see

personnel growth in the budget plan, the in-

creases tilt more heavily toward the Army

and Navy, each of which would boost their

active duty end strength by just over 2 per-

cent. The Marine Corps would grow by just

over a thousand Marines, or half a percentage

point, and the Air Force would gain another

four thousand airmen – 1.2 percent more

than the 2018 budget request. DoD’s civilian

workforce would also grow by four-tenths of

a percentage point, but

officials say the in-

crease would be in

targeted areas, such as

ship maintenance, lo-

gistics, cyber and sci-

ence and technology.”

There is also interest

in adding pay raises

but probably not look-

ing at other benefits

over the short term.

Additional personnel

need additional training

and the opportunity to

refine skills related to technically complex job

classifications. This means the upfront ex-

pense of recruiting will subsequently need to

be applied to future years beyond the limits of

the two-year budget deal.

Finally, as pointed out in recent MOAA

commentary, the deal in-

cludes a provision estab-

lishing a “Joint Select Com-

mittee on Budget and Ap-

propriations Process Re-

form,” which seeks to

“significantly reform the

budget and appropriations

process”. A similar super

committee was established

in the 2011 budget law, tasked with reducing

$1.5 trillion from the deficit, which ultimately

led to sequestration. “There's a very real pos-

sibility this new super committee could come

up with something similar - or worse”.

In conclusion, the budget deal provides

more money than the DOD ever dreamed of

getting. However, with centralized DoD con-

trollers trying to satisfy a Joint Select Com-

mittee and decentralized execution expecta-

tions trying to meet a very compressed time-

line, the challenge to our military leaders will

be formidable.

Thomas Peters Col., USAF (Ret.)

President, Bluegrass Chapter

‘...the budget deal provides more money than the DOD ever dreamed of getting. However, … with decentralized execution ex-pectations trying to meet a very compressed timeline, the chal-lenge to our military leaders will be formidable.”

In appreciation... We received two late donations to our 2017 fund drive after the January Bugle went to press. Thanks to BG (Ret.) Les Beavers and COL (Ret.) JoAnn Wever for your generous contributions. Both achieved Gold Medal status.

Long-time chapter member

Shirley Bickford passes Shirley Rose Pettit Bickford,

83, widow of GEN James Estill Bickford

(ret.), passed away peacefully on Feb. 8 in

Midway.

As a military wife who held a variety of

teaching jobs during her husband’s career,

she helped many soldiers earn degrees at

overseas bases.

The chapter has made a memorial donation in her name

to the Woodford County Humane Society.

Betty Cook, wife of chapter chaplain, dies Betty Blackwell Cook, 86, wife of long-time member

and chapter chaplain CAPT Harvey G. (“Jerry”) Cook,

USN (Ret.) passed away on Feb. 9. Betty received a mas-

ters degree in education from the U. of South

Carolina and taught school in Mississippi,

Texas, Illinois, Japan and Germany.

The chapter has made a donation in her

honor to the memorial fund at St. Michael’s

Episcopal Church in Lexington.

Kentucky Speedway offers military discounts to July NASCAR races

Military veterans who are NASCAR fans

can take advantage of a 50% ticket discount

to all three

NASCAR

races taking

place over

the July 12-

14 weekend,

including the Quaker State

400 on July 14.

Eligible for the discount are active mili-

tary and current federal employees, veter-

ans and military family members. There’s no

limit on the number of tickets purchased

but they may not be resold.

To order online:

Go to KentuckySpeedway.com/MILITARY

Click “Purchase with Code” next to branch of service

Select Quaker State 400

Enter Coupon Code: KYSVETERAN For questions, contact Speedway account

executive Taylor Barhorst at 859-578-2311

Keeneland invites all active duty, reserve, veterans and military Fami-lies to Keen-eland on Sun-day, April 22, for Military Ap-preciation Day presented by Windstream. Military and Families with military ID re-ceive free gen-eral admission at any pass gate, reserved seating in the grandstand and additional ac-tivities... Just show your mili-tary ID. Windstream's Military Fam-ily Zone on Keeneland's North Terrace will have free food, live music and more

from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. In honor of Month of the

Military Child, activities for your children will take place throughout the day in the North Terrace. Presentation of Colors and the National An-them performed at 12 p.m. track-side. The fea-tured race will salute all military with the horse

wearing camouflage saddle towels. Gates Open at 11 a.m. First Race at 1:05 p.m. Races every 30 minutes. For more information visit www.keeneland.com.

Keeneland sets Apr. 22 as Military Appreciation Day

The chap-ter’s award-winning Web-site now has a new look and a new location — http://bluegrassmoaa.org. While the Bluegrass Bu-gle is published five-six times per year, the Web-site is updated frequently

with the latest on news about meetings, legis-lation affecting veterans and servicemem-bers, and links

to other relevant Web-sites. It also includes a Bluegrass Bugle archive and a photo gallery. Check it out!

THOMSON-HOOD GIFT — Chapter President Tom Peters (left) presented a $2000 check from the chapter’s 2017 fund drive to MAJ (Ret.) Ben Sweger, Director of the Thomson-Hood Veterans Center. The gift will help fund an upgrade to the Center’s audio system in the common meeting rooms.

2018 OFFICERS — MOAA President/CEO Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins (right) delivered the oath of office to the 2018 chapter executive board. From left, President, Col. (Ret.) Tom Peters; 1st VP, COL (Ret.) Tom Little; Secretary, Col. (Ret.) John Shotwell; Treasurer, Mrs. Pat Jones; Ser-geant-at-Arms, COL (Ret.) Chris Dolt.

FIRST-TIME ATTENDEES -- we were happy to welcome new faces into our ranks during the January meeting. From left, CDR Nancy Gilchrist, a retired Navy nurse; MAJ Steve Knudson, USA (Ret.) and his wife, Teri; and Col. Benton Dishman, USAF (Ret.)

Col. Mark Roland, USAF (Ret.) briefed attendees about the progress of a Vietnam Veter-ans Memorial to be estab-lished at Camp Nelson National Cemetery. Mark previously spearheaded a successful drive last year that resulted in the erection and dedication of a Gold Star Families Memorial, also at Camp Nelson, to honor the families of those who have lost their lives in service to the country. His son Matthew, an Air Force captain, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2016.

BGEN Norman Arflack, ARNG (Ret.), Commissioner, Kentucky Dept. of Veterans Affairs, is pictured at right above, along with, from left, Lt. Gen. Atkins and U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY 6th Dist.).

Unless current law is changed, MOAA warns that sequestration will return next year and automatically trigger deep cuts to the Defense De-partment. These severe cuts will ex-haust resources and capabilities in immeasurable ways—the toll on our military and their families will be in-calculable. The congressional session is just getting underway. MOAA urges

members to contact their Congres-sional representatives and encourage them to make it their priority to re-peal sequestration. For guidance and assistance re-garding this and other issues MOAA considers vital to our servicemembers and their families and to a strong na-tional defense, visit MOAA’s Legisla-tive Action Center: http://takeaction.moaa.org/?0

THE WALKING DEAD? MOAA warns that sequestration may rise from the grave

MOAA President thanks chapter MOAA President & CEO Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Dana Atkins wrote chapter president Col. (Ret.) Tom Peters last month express-ing his appreciation for the hospitality he received and for the $500 donations to the MOAA scholarship fund. Following is the text of the letter: Dear Colonel Peters, Thanks to you and members of the Bluegrass Chapter for the warm hospitality—I appreciate all you did to make my visit to the Lexington, Kentucky, area memorable. Your considerate gift of a donation in my name to the MOAA Scholarship Fund was a welcome surprise! Your gener-osity will help a military child achieve a college education. Your leadership strengths and those of the chapter inspire me. Your collective efforts are one of the strongest aspects of our affiliate system, leading the way with exceptional grass roots support of state and nation-al level issues. You are truly making a difference in your local community and in support of our veterans and their families. You personally stand out as one of our very best leaders and I sin-cerely appreciate that level of commitment and caring and, more im-portantly, your personal contributions to the Bluegrass Chapter and MOAA at large. Sincerely,

U.S. REP ANDY BARR (R-6, KY) attended the January meeting and enjoyed a light moment with Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins. Congressman Barr made brief remarks regarding his support of legislation favoring a strong national de-fense and supporting veterans.

Another special guest at the Janu-ary meeting was Matt Bradford, a National Security Fellow in U.S. Rep. Andy Barr's office, shown at left with his wife Amanda. Matt was placed in the congressman's office through the Capitol Hill Wound-ed Warrior Project. Matt lost both legs and his vision during combat in Iraq in 2007 while serving as a Marine cor-poral.

March’s meeting features celebrated Kentucky historian Nicky Hughes retired in

2012 after a 39-year career in public history. A gradu-ate of WKU, he went to work for the Kentucky Historical Society in 1973. While there, he was cura-tor of the Kentucky Mili-tary History Museum, cu-rator of the Old State Capi-tol, and museums division manager. Duties included exhibit design and installa-tion, conducting tours, public relations and educa-tional outreach, living his-tory programming, and collections management.

Hughes worked on the first design studies for the Kentucky History Center. Working for the Kentucky Division of Historic Prop-erties, he helped care for Kentucky’s capitol and ex-ecutive mansions. As cura-tor of historic sites for the City of Frankfort’s Depart-ment of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Sites, he man-aged the Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill Civil War site and was a founder of the Capital City Museum.

Involved with Civil War reenacting since 1981, he

served in nearly all ranks in the infantry – both Un-ion and Confederate – and served in the artillery and medical branches as well.

In recent years, he has developed several civilian impressions. He has been drum major and narrator for Saxton’s Cornet Band since 1989. He managed Cornets & Cannons – The Civil War Sesquicentennial Music Festival.

Hughes was founding publisher of The Watchdog – a newsletter with the goal of improving histori-cal accuracy in reenacting. He was editor of Camp Chase Gazette and Civil War Historian – both na-tional magazines for reen-

actors. He has become a popular writer and lectur-er about the material cul-ture of the antebellum and Civil War eras.

Hughes is co-author of three photographic history books about Frankfort which were frequent top-sellers at the annual Ken-tucky Book Fair, and of The Frankfort Cemetery – The Westminster Abbey of Kentucky. He is narrator for the Lexington Brass Band, the Brass Band of Louisville, and other Ken-tucky ensembles. He was deeply involved in the de-velopment of the Mill Springs Battlefield Muse-um and served on the Ken-tucky War of 1812 Commis-sion.

The Kentucky National Guard presented Hughes a DOD Commander’s Award for Public Service medal, and he received the Ken-tucky Historical Society’s W.R. Buster Award for his work in Kentucky military history. His last day on the job before retirement from Frankfort city government was declared “Nicky

Hughes Day” in Kentucky’s capital city.

Recently, Hughes has developed an interest in genealogy and medieval history. He hosted the highly successful Days of Knights medieval living history events for Frank-fort Parks, Recreation, and Historic Sites in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Nicky and Susan Hughes enjoy food, wine, travel, music, and antiques. They have collected and driven classic and high performance Mustang au-tomobiles.

NICKY HUGHES in character for a Civil War reenactment.

The Camp Nelson Cemetery and Civil War Heritage Park are two adja-cent but separate complexes located along US 27 in Jessamine County about five miles south of Nicholasville. They were designated as a Nation-al Historic Landmark in 2014 THE CAMP NELSON CIVIL WAR SITE originally covered 4,000 acres with some 300 buildings and fortifications. The Union Army turned the rolling pasture land of Jessamine County into an enormous base of operations. The northern boundary of Camp Nelson was protected by a line of eight earthen fortifications and breastworks. Another fort, Fort Bramlette was constructed on a hill south of the main complex where it overlooked the Kentucky River and Hickman Creek. Watch could be kept for any enemy force that might attempt to attack the depot from the rear.

THE CEMETERY WAS BEGUN IN 1863 as the main Camp Nelson Cemetery and contains the remains of 1,600 Camp Nelson soldiers, including some 600 African-Americans. In 1868 this cemetery was designated a National Cemetery and over 2,200 Civil War dead from several Kentucky Civil War sites including Perryville, Richmond and Covington were reburied here. Camp Nelson provided the Union Army with over 10,000 African-American soldiers, making it the third largest recruiting and training de-pot for African Americans in the nation. Many of the black soldiers brought their families with them to Camp Nelson and eventually the army established a refugee camp for these individuals. Thousands of African-Americans came to Camp Nelson and it was there that they gained their freedom.

About Camp Nelson...

Are your furry friends covered? MOAA unleashes new pet policies

2018 GENERAL ASSEMBLY

State legislature considering college tuition bill that would benefit students of some disabled vets Kentucky Representative Tim Moore has introduced HB 453, an act that would allow spouses and children of disabled veterans with service-connected disability evalua-tions of 70 percent or greater to qualify for tuition ex-emption at public universities. It would amend current statues in order to require students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to determine the level of need and eligi-bility for state and federal financial aid programs. It would limit the amount of tuition waived to the cost of tuition and mandatory fees at the institution less any state or federal grants received, which would be credited first to the student's tuition and fees. Following is a compilation of some of the other veteran-related bills filed for consideration for the 2018 Kentucky legislative General Assembly at Bluegrass Bugle press time. Check the chapter Website (bluegrassmoaa.org) for the latest update. HB64, an Act to be known as the Colonel Ron Ray Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Act, would permit eligible veterans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI. Passed House; passed Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Jan. 31. Sent to rules on Feb. 2.

HB 79/SB 40 would increase property tax home-stead exemption to the full assed value of the property for veterans with 100 percent VA disability rating. Would be state ballot question. Before House Elections,

Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. HB 111 would allow recipients of military-related special license plates to renew them online. Posted in House Transportation Committee Feb. 15. HB 175 would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying various business document filing fees to the Secretary of State’s office. Posted in House Veterans, Military Affairs & Public Protec-tion Committee Feb. 8. HB 277 includes a provision that would change the time period for a waiver of a driving skills test for former mili-tary personnel from 90 days to once year after separation from service. Posted in House Transportation Committee on

Jan. 2. SB 18 would require the Supreme Court to administer a veterans treatment court program and include it in alternative sentencing options. I would also remove the combat requirement and establish rules for contacting Vet-erans Justice Outreach programs.

When Spike or Fluffy are injured or fall ill, vet bills can prove to be an expense of unanticipated mag-nitude. MOAA announced last month that it has partnered with Pets Best, a leading U.S. agency that has paid over $125 million in pet insur-ance claims since its founding by a veterinarian in 2005, to offer the BestBenefit accident/illness plan to reimburse owners for up to 90 percent for costly treatment. MOAA membership premium dis-counts are available. BestBenefit Accident/illness Plans help pay for such things as surgeries, emergency visits, cancer treatment, exams, prescriptions

and x-rays. Members may also purchase PetsBest Wellness cover-age which provides benefits for routine care needs like annual checkups and immunization. The plans require no veterinarian net-works. Owners may choose any licensed veterinarian, emergency veterinarian or veterinary special-ist in the U.S. The policies provide a 24/7 Pet Helpline for decision support about issues affecting pets covered by the plans. For more information about the new policies and how to obtain quotes and discounts, visit https://www.moaainsurance.com/personal-insurance/Pet-Insurance.

Mrs. Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington, KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Last, first, middle name: Rank: National MOAA member no:

_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________

Spouse name: Email address:

________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________

Date of birth (month/day): Street address – city, state, Zip code:

_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

Month/year entered service________________ Month/year separated_____________________________________

Phone number: ________________________ Cell number: _____________________

Military status (circle all that apply): Active Duty Drilling National Guard/Reserve Retired

Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)

Branch of service (circle one): USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS

Want to make a donation? General use: $________ Vets: $_______ ROTC scholarships: $_______

Total enclosed: $________________

Bluegrass Chapter, Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New Membership/Membership Renewal/Donations

Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to: BGMOAA. Mail the form and check to our return address.

Membership (new/renewal)=$25; widow(er)s free