Paydays for military retirees and those who receive portions of retired pay are changing for the months of September and December, as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service changes its pay schedule to comply with the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act.
The 2011 NDAA requires military retiree pay to be processed on the first day of the month. When that day falls on a weekend or national holiday, the pay date is moved to the previous business day.
This year payments normally scheduled for Oct. 3, 2011 will be issued on Sept. 30, 2011 and payments normally scheduled for Jan. 3, 2012, will be issued on Dec. 30, 2011. For the calendar year 2011, this means military retirees will receive 13 rather than the normal 12 payments.
The 13th payday on Dec. 30 falls within the 2011 tax year, which could affect the tax liability of some retirees and those who receive portions of their retired pay. Customers should speak with a tax advisor, the Internal Revenue Service or their state tax authority to determine if their tax withholding will satisfy federal and state income taxes when they file returns next year. DFAS cannot provide tax advice.
For tax year 2012 and beyond, retirees will receive their normal 12 payments.
This change affects regular retired pay, Concurrent retirement and disability pay and combat related special compensation. The new rule also applies to retiree allotments, garnishments and court-ordered former spouse and child support payments. It does not affect annuity payments.
If retirees need to make changes to their federal or state tax withholding, the quickest and most secure way to do so is through myPay. Available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, myPay enables eligible users around the world to make routine changes to their pay information, including tax withholding, that become effective within days.
Customers who cannot access myPay can change federal withholding amounts by completing a new IRS Form W-4 or W-4P, or change state withholding amounts using a DD 2866. These forms can be found on the DFAS web site, www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/forms.html, and should be mailed or faxed to the below address once completed:
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Retired Pay
P.O. Box 7130
London, KY 40742-7130
Fax: 800-469-6559
It may take up to 30 days for changes to be made when mailing in a paper form.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service provides responsive, professional finance and accounting services to the men and women who defend America. DFAS pays about 6.4 million people and in FY 2010 made 8.1 million travel payments, paid 11.4 million commercial invoices, made $578 billion in disbursements to pay recipients, and managed $487.9 billion in military retirement and health benefits funds.
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
To grasp its sweep, it helps to visit Fort Campbell, Ky., where the Army will soon open a $31 million complex for wounded troops and those whose bodies are breaking down after a decade of deployments.
The Warrior Transition Battalion complex boasts the only four-story structure on the base, which at 105,000 acres is more than twice the size of Washington, D.C. The imposing brick-and-glass building towers over architecture from earlier wars.
“This unit will be around as long as the Army is around,” said Lt. Col. Bill Howard, the battalion commander.
As the new complex rises, bulldozers are taking down the last of Fort Campbell’s World War II-era buildings. The white clapboard structures were hastily thrown up in the early 1940s as the country girded to battle Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. Each was labeled with a large letter “T.” The buildings, like the war the country was entering, were supposed to be temporary.
The two sets of buildings tell the story of America’s embrace of endless war..........
By Greg Jaffe, Washington Post
READ FULL STORY>>
Veterans who served aboard U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships operating on the waters of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, may be eligible to receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation for 14 medical conditions associated with presumptive exposure to Agent Orange.
An updated list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships confirmed to have operated on Vietnam’s inland waterways, docked on shore, or had crewmembers sent ashore, has been posted at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/ to assist Vietnam Veterans in determining potential eligibility for compensation benefits.
“Posting of the ships list is an important recognition of the sacrifices U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Veterans made for this Nation,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “It provides an easier path for Veterans who served in Vietnam to get the benefits and services they are entitled to under the law.”
VA presumes herbicide exposure for any Veteran with duty or visitation within the country of Vietnam or on its inland waterways during the Vietnam era. Comprehensive information about the 14 recognized illnesses under VA’s “presumption” rule for Agent Orange is also located on the webpage.
In practical terms, Veterans with qualifying Vietnam service who develop a disease associated with Agent Orange exposure need not prove a medical link between their illnesses and their military service. This presumption simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.
For questions about Agent Orange and the online list of ships, Veterans may call VA’s Special Issues Helpline at 1-800-749-8387 and press 3.
When a claim is filed by a Veteran, surviving spouse or child, VA will determine whether the Veteran qualifies for the presumption of exposure based on official records of the ship’s operations. Ships will be regularly added to the list based on information confirmed in these official records.
Even if a Veteran is not filing a claim, a Veteran may conduct his or her own research and submit scanned documentary evidence such as deck logs, ship histories, and cruise book entries via email to 211_AOSHIPS.VBACO@va.gov.
Service on board ships anchored in an open water harbor, such as Da Nang Harbor, or on ships on other open waters around Vietnam during the war, is not considered sufficient for the presumption of Agent Orange exposure. For Veterans interested in obtaining deck logs, contact the National Archives at College Park, Md., at http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/researcher-info.html.
The Agent Orange Claims Processing System website located at https://www.fasttrack.va.gov/AOFastTrack/ may be used to submit claims related to the three conditions added to the list of Agent Orange presumptives last year (Parkinson’s disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease).
This website makes it easy to electronically file a claim and allows Veterans and their physicians to upload evidence supporting the claim. It also permits online viewing of claim status.
Veterans claiming other conditions may file online at VA’s My-eBenefits web site at: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal. They can check the status of their claim with a premium account (confirming their identity), and use a growing number of online services.
Servicemembers may enroll in My-eBenefits using their Common Access Card at any time during their military service, or before they leave during their Transition Assistance Program briefings.
Veterans may also enroll through their myPay or MyHealtheVet accounts, by visiting their local VA regional office or Veteran Service Organization, or by calling 1-800-827-1000.
An updated list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships confirmed to have operated on Vietnam’s inland waterways, docked on shore, or had crewmembers sent ashore, has been posted at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/ to assist Vietnam Veterans in determining potential eligibility for compensation benefits.
“Posting of the ships list is an important recognition of the sacrifices U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Veterans made for this Nation,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “It provides an easier path for Veterans who served in Vietnam to get the benefits and services they are entitled to under the law.”
VA presumes herbicide exposure for any Veteran with duty or visitation within the country of Vietnam or on its inland waterways during the Vietnam era. Comprehensive information about the 14 recognized illnesses under VA’s “presumption” rule for Agent Orange is also located on the webpage.
In practical terms, Veterans with qualifying Vietnam service who develop a disease associated with Agent Orange exposure need not prove a medical link between their illnesses and their military service. This presumption simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.
For questions about Agent Orange and the online list of ships, Veterans may call VA’s Special Issues Helpline at 1-800-749-8387 and press 3.
When a claim is filed by a Veteran, surviving spouse or child, VA will determine whether the Veteran qualifies for the presumption of exposure based on official records of the ship’s operations. Ships will be regularly added to the list based on information confirmed in these official records.
Even if a Veteran is not filing a claim, a Veteran may conduct his or her own research and submit scanned documentary evidence such as deck logs, ship histories, and cruise book entries via email to 211_AOSHIPS.VBACO@va.gov.
Service on board ships anchored in an open water harbor, such as Da Nang Harbor, or on ships on other open waters around Vietnam during the war, is not considered sufficient for the presumption of Agent Orange exposure. For Veterans interested in obtaining deck logs, contact the National Archives at College Park, Md., at http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/researcher-info.html.
The Agent Orange Claims Processing System website located at https://www.fasttrack.va.gov/AOFastTrack/ may be used to submit claims related to the three conditions added to the list of Agent Orange presumptives last year (Parkinson’s disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease).
This website makes it easy to electronically file a claim and allows Veterans and their physicians to upload evidence supporting the claim. It also permits online viewing of claim status.
Veterans claiming other conditions may file online at VA’s My-eBenefits web site at: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal. They can check the status of their claim with a premium account (confirming their identity), and use a growing number of online services.
Servicemembers may enroll in My-eBenefits using their Common Access Card at any time during their military service, or before they leave during their Transition Assistance Program briefings.
Veterans may also enroll through their myPay or MyHealtheVet accounts, by visiting their local VA regional office or Veteran Service Organization, or by calling 1-800-827-1000.
Volunteer organizations that improve the lives of service members and their families must continue their leadership in today’s challenging times, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today at the Newman’s Own Foundation Awards ceremony held in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.
Six nonprofit military support organizations were awarded a total of $75,000 for their work to better the lives of service members and their families, courtesy of Newman’s Own Foundation and the event’s cosponsors: the Fisher House Foundation and Military Times.
“We must make sure these programs continue and expand to make a difference for our military and their families,” Mullen told the audience of Defense Department officials and nonprofit military organizations.
“The families of the fallen, families whose lives have changed forever, and the veterans who are coming back by the hundreds of thousands must be cared for,” Mullen continued. “The veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan will return to the communities and we’ve got to contact them [to] make sure they’re going to be OK.”
The nation’s military veterans have kept Americans safe, Mullen said.
“And we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make their lives better,” he added.
The chairman thanked the 186 organizations that competed for the awards and the six that took top honors.
Mullen’s wife, Deborah, was among the judges, which also included Lynne Pace, wife of retired Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, a former JCS chairman, and Mary Jo Myers, wife of retired Air Force Gen.
Richard B. Myers, also a former JCS chairman.
“It was tough competition and that’s a good thing,” Mullen said. “Thank you for your consistent, persistent dedication.”
Mullen praised the military-support work of sponsors Ken Fisher and his family of the Fisher House Foundation, the Military Times staff, and Newman’s Own Foundation.
The six winning organizations received amounts totaling $75,000, with the Knights of Heroes Summer Camp, Knights of Heroes Foundation, in Colorado Springs, Colo., taking the highest honor and corresponding $15,000 award.
The Knights of Heroes Summer Camp supports boys and girls who lost their fathers to the war. It is a one-on-one mentoring program for children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are invited to attend at no cost.
Organizations awarded $12,000 include:
-- Little Heroes, of the Armed Services YMCA, Fort Campbell, Ky., offers a school program for 3- and 4-year-old children of deployed military parents.
-- Teddy’s Child Watch, of Armed Services YMCA of Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, is a child care service available at no cost to service members and immediate family while attending appointments at the hospital.
-- National Guard Employment Program, Helping our Heroes at Home, of the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network, Lake St. Louis, Mo. helps military spouses, wounded warriors and their caregivers.
-- Emergency Subsidies, Military Women in Need, Los Angeles, provides housing assistance and resource and referral services..
-- Wounded Warrior Family Care Program, Quality of Life Foundation, Woodbridge, Va., develops and implement strategies to improve the quality of life for those individuals affected by limiting barriers.
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
Six nonprofit military support organizations were awarded a total of $75,000 for their work to better the lives of service members and their families, courtesy of Newman’s Own Foundation and the event’s cosponsors: the Fisher House Foundation and Military Times.
“We must make sure these programs continue and expand to make a difference for our military and their families,” Mullen told the audience of Defense Department officials and nonprofit military organizations.
“The families of the fallen, families whose lives have changed forever, and the veterans who are coming back by the hundreds of thousands must be cared for,” Mullen continued. “The veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan will return to the communities and we’ve got to contact them [to] make sure they’re going to be OK.”
The nation’s military veterans have kept Americans safe, Mullen said.
“And we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make their lives better,” he added.
The chairman thanked the 186 organizations that competed for the awards and the six that took top honors.
Mullen’s wife, Deborah, was among the judges, which also included Lynne Pace, wife of retired Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, a former JCS chairman, and Mary Jo Myers, wife of retired Air Force Gen.
Richard B. Myers, also a former JCS chairman.
“It was tough competition and that’s a good thing,” Mullen said. “Thank you for your consistent, persistent dedication.”
Mullen praised the military-support work of sponsors Ken Fisher and his family of the Fisher House Foundation, the Military Times staff, and Newman’s Own Foundation.
The six winning organizations received amounts totaling $75,000, with the Knights of Heroes Summer Camp, Knights of Heroes Foundation, in Colorado Springs, Colo., taking the highest honor and corresponding $15,000 award.
The Knights of Heroes Summer Camp supports boys and girls who lost their fathers to the war. It is a one-on-one mentoring program for children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are invited to attend at no cost.
Organizations awarded $12,000 include:
-- Little Heroes, of the Armed Services YMCA, Fort Campbell, Ky., offers a school program for 3- and 4-year-old children of deployed military parents.
-- Teddy’s Child Watch, of Armed Services YMCA of Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, is a child care service available at no cost to service members and immediate family while attending appointments at the hospital.
-- National Guard Employment Program, Helping our Heroes at Home, of the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network, Lake St. Louis, Mo. helps military spouses, wounded warriors and their caregivers.
-- Emergency Subsidies, Military Women in Need, Los Angeles, provides housing assistance and resource and referral services..
-- Wounded Warrior Family Care Program, Quality of Life Foundation, Woodbridge, Va., develops and implement strategies to improve the quality of life for those individuals affected by limiting barriers.
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
Another chapter comes to a close today aboard the USNS Comfort when it docks at Norfolk, Va., after five months at sea supporting the Continuing Promise 2011 humanitarian assistance mission.
The hulking hospital ship -- three football fields long and one wide -- delivered medical, dental, veterinary and engineering assistance in the Caribbean Basin, Central America and South America.
“First and foremost [the mission] demonstrates the United States' commitment to the Caribbean Basin and Central and South America,” Navy Capt. Brian Nickerson, Continuing Promise mission commander, said.
The deployed hospital ship was there for humanitarian assistance, but also to support U.S. defense strategy in the region.
“This region is inextricably linked to the economic, political, cultural, and security fabric of the United States,” Nickerson said. “This deployment also enables us to engage with regional partners and improve interoperability, relationships which could be called upon in the event of a regional crisis.”
From April through September, members of Continuing Promise 2011 provided medical services in surgery, neurology, emergency medicine, orthopedics, anesthesiology, dentistry, family medicine, pediatrics, preventive medicine, diagnostics and veterinarian support, ship officials said.
Doctors and staff saw nearly 70,000 patients and performed more than 1,100 surgeries in nine countries -- Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, HaitÃ, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Peru.
The crew’s doctors came from the Navy, Army, Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service. Also onboard were civilian marines, nongovernment organization volunteers and partner-nation military members.
The USNS Comfort, at 894-feet long, is three football fields long and one wide, with 250 hospital beds and an 850-person team -- from volunteers and linguists to engineers and a large medical staff.
In Jamaica, medical personnel trained practitioners to tell the difference between healthy babies and those who need assistance after birth, and how to provide life-saving care in its "Helping Babies Breathe" training.
"The purpose … is to reduce unnecessary neo-natal deaths worldwide," Dr. Tom Dionne, master instructor and American Academy of Pediatrics volunteer, said in an earlier report. He added that many infants die because of their birthing attendant's lack of knowledge and equipment.
Veterinarians treated more than 8,200 animals during the mission, giving vaccines and de-worming medicines in addition to spaying and neutering domestic pets for their owners in nine countries.
Comfort arrived at its final mission stop in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 18. There, the ship’s crew treated about 1,450 patients and performed 15 surgeries before Tropical Storm Irene began to bear down on the island. The hospital ship got under way Aug. 21 and anchored at a safe haven until the storm passed.
While the medical staff was busy caring for patients, the mission’s Seabees and Marines undertook 16 engineering projects, mission officials said. They built two classrooms from the ground up in Colombia, and rehabilitated a medical clinic in Nicaragua. They also distilled 8,300,000 gallons of water.
The engineer team also remedied electric and plumbing issues, installed fences and security bars, and added a basketball hoop to a school playground.
“The relationships forged through operations like Continuing Promise fosters trust, collaboration, and cooperation with our friends and allies,” Nickerson said, adding the mission “also be characterized as defense support to public diplomacy in that it supports both regional and national objectives as well as the U.S. Global Maritime Strategy.”
After it leaves Norfolk, the USNS Comfort will return to its berth in Baltimore sometime next week, according to Navy Lt. Stephanie Homick, Continuing Promise 2011 deputy public affairs officer.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Also contributing to this report was Navy Lt. Stephanie Homick, Continuing Promise 2011 deputy public affairs officer.)
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
The hulking hospital ship -- three football fields long and one wide -- delivered medical, dental, veterinary and engineering assistance in the Caribbean Basin, Central America and South America.
“First and foremost [the mission] demonstrates the United States' commitment to the Caribbean Basin and Central and South America,” Navy Capt. Brian Nickerson, Continuing Promise mission commander, said.
The deployed hospital ship was there for humanitarian assistance, but also to support U.S. defense strategy in the region.
“This region is inextricably linked to the economic, political, cultural, and security fabric of the United States,” Nickerson said. “This deployment also enables us to engage with regional partners and improve interoperability, relationships which could be called upon in the event of a regional crisis.”
From April through September, members of Continuing Promise 2011 provided medical services in surgery, neurology, emergency medicine, orthopedics, anesthesiology, dentistry, family medicine, pediatrics, preventive medicine, diagnostics and veterinarian support, ship officials said.
Doctors and staff saw nearly 70,000 patients and performed more than 1,100 surgeries in nine countries -- Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, HaitÃ, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Peru.
The crew’s doctors came from the Navy, Army, Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service. Also onboard were civilian marines, nongovernment organization volunteers and partner-nation military members.
The USNS Comfort, at 894-feet long, is three football fields long and one wide, with 250 hospital beds and an 850-person team -- from volunteers and linguists to engineers and a large medical staff.
In Jamaica, medical personnel trained practitioners to tell the difference between healthy babies and those who need assistance after birth, and how to provide life-saving care in its "Helping Babies Breathe" training.
"The purpose … is to reduce unnecessary neo-natal deaths worldwide," Dr. Tom Dionne, master instructor and American Academy of Pediatrics volunteer, said in an earlier report. He added that many infants die because of their birthing attendant's lack of knowledge and equipment.
Veterinarians treated more than 8,200 animals during the mission, giving vaccines and de-worming medicines in addition to spaying and neutering domestic pets for their owners in nine countries.
Comfort arrived at its final mission stop in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 18. There, the ship’s crew treated about 1,450 patients and performed 15 surgeries before Tropical Storm Irene began to bear down on the island. The hospital ship got under way Aug. 21 and anchored at a safe haven until the storm passed.
While the medical staff was busy caring for patients, the mission’s Seabees and Marines undertook 16 engineering projects, mission officials said. They built two classrooms from the ground up in Colombia, and rehabilitated a medical clinic in Nicaragua. They also distilled 8,300,000 gallons of water.
The engineer team also remedied electric and plumbing issues, installed fences and security bars, and added a basketball hoop to a school playground.
“The relationships forged through operations like Continuing Promise fosters trust, collaboration, and cooperation with our friends and allies,” Nickerson said, adding the mission “also be characterized as defense support to public diplomacy in that it supports both regional and national objectives as well as the U.S. Global Maritime Strategy.”
After it leaves Norfolk, the USNS Comfort will return to its berth in Baltimore sometime next week, according to Navy Lt. Stephanie Homick, Continuing Promise 2011 deputy public affairs officer.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Also contributing to this report was Navy Lt. Stephanie Homick, Continuing Promise 2011 deputy public affairs officer.)
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
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