31 January 2003

  Phyllis GOSS responded to the RAFINO all points note with information that Don is about the same.  Don has been listed in the Silver Gray and Gold Room since August 2002.

  Lana WALKER was the secretary to the DCSRM in Heidelberg.  Ray ALLRED had a long visit with Lana's doctors yesterday.  There is now no doubt that she has Pancreatic Cancer and it is advanced.  Their position was “all we can do is to keep her from suffering and make this as painless as possible.”  They are talking in terms of weeks and readily admit that this is a best guess.  She still remains in North East Baptist Hospital, Room 158.  Ray stopped by to see Harvey, Lana’s husband, yesterday afternoon and found him to be much different from the day before.  So I guess with him it is also day by day.  He is in the Regent Care Center, Room 111.

  George KRAMER was in the hospital for over two weeks. He had pneumonia and after they cured that they did back surgery for the second time in three months.

  COL Rob FRECKLETON, a new member of RAFINO, sent this request in.

The Girl Scouts are looking for a CPA to audit the books of the entire Girl Scout organization here in Japan. They need a CPA, according to their constitution and by-laws. They asked me to help identify someone with a CPA who would be willing and able to accept an airline ticket, billeting, and limited compensation for two to four weeks or work in Japan.  The Girl Scouts have found an auditor for their January/February requirement.  This is a recurring requirement.  They still need an auditor in November 2003.  They need to compile a list of interested, available candidates for future audits.  Any member that would like to take a shot at this unusual opportunity should contact Rob at Robert.Freckleton@Zama.Army.Mil.

24 January 2003

  SGM Jim TOURGEE is the raffle mgr for his local American Legion Post 39.  They are raffling off the week of 25 Oct to 1 Nov 2003.  This timeshare is at Southcape Resort & Club, in Mashpee, MA (Cape Cod).   It is a real nice place.  It  has a master bedroom, another bedroom with twin beds and a sleeper sofa in the living room., a nice fireplace, small kitchen & 2 televisions.   The resort has indoor and outdoor pools,  indoor and outdoor tennis courts,  a Jacuzzi, and a nice shopping area within 2 miles.   If anyone is interested please call Jim at 401-677-5070 or send email quickly at Jctourgeejr@cs.com  so he can set aside the tickets.   A check made out to American Legion Post 39 can follow after the talk.

  John ANCHOR has a new e-mail address on the web roster.

  John FRANKS reminded me that he commanded 39th FS back in '78.  He is retired now, working something called SSF and having fun. Single Stock Fund is the elimination of the retail level of logistics and the corresponding financial general ledgers.  My small part has been conversion and as such during Milestone 1&2 closed 49 retail stock fund General ledgers (all the Army had), eliminated STARFIARS-MOD, STARFIARS-Current and RASFIARS, capitalized almost $500M into the national level inventory, all within six months.  Am still leading the conversion effort in Milestone 3, where we are capitalizing the inventory for everything but the ASL.  The SSF effort, of which my team is just a small part, has been a great success.  (Editor:  I have asked John for a short article on his venture into the Stock Fund.)

  Ed DAPPEN checked in to answer the all points memo.  He was sitting in Taegu, Korea getting ready to teach a class.  He had just left Hawaii and will be going to San Antonio next. 

  Charlie WALKER is reaching the 30 year mark and has a date of I June for retirement.  He plans to stay in the Northern Virginia area.

  Jerry HEARD has suggested that Branson, MO would make a good site for the 2008 reunion. He attended a reunion of his RVN unit there and found it inexpensive, centrally located, and interesting.  He says that they also lean to support veterans.  This suggestion has been passed to President Mo for consideration.  If anyone has any ideas for hosting in a place where we do not have a bunch of members to “carry the water”, please let Mo know.

  RAFINO ALL POINTS NOTES:  At this early point I would say that the test is a success.  I sent to 405 e-mail addresses that were on the web file.  There was an immediate reject of 48 addresses that will have to be researched and nailed down.  Some of these were old addresses that I had not deleted.  The response together with changes that are needed is most encouraging. 

17 January 2003

  President Bush announced his intention Thursday to nominate former Rep. Paul MCHALE, D-Pa., to be assistant secretary of Defense for Homeland Security.
McHale resigned from Pennsylvania's State House in 1991, following
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and volunteered for active duty as an
infantry officer with the Marine Corps. He served with the Marines in
Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Today he remains a member of the reserves with the rank of colonel.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0103/011003cdam2.htm

  THANK YOU for DONATIONS!  During CY 2002 47 RAFINO members made donations over & above dues payments for a total of $735 to the society.  Exceptional donations were 1 @ $100, 1 @ $80, and 4 @ $50.  Most donations were in the range of $5 to $15.  The generosity of these members is most useful and appreciated in making up for cash flow shortfalls in delinquent dues payments and keeps us on a very sound financial footing.
Just as a reminder going into this tax filing season - BOTH RAFINO dues and donations are deductible items from your federal tax liabilities. /S/ Dave MIKKELSN, Treasurer

  Dick Darcy reports that the visit with Jim CHAMBERS has been rescheduled for Feb 12, same time and place. Jim describes his condition as "still kickin', getting treatment", and thinks he's "getting better."  Jim is in his 6th treatment since inception and will know more after a series of post-treatment tests.

  Sieglinde SCHOLLE has joined us on the great super highway.  His e-mail address is on the web roster.

  To keep from sending virus worms to your friends fix your address book as described in WHAT’S HOT OR NEW.

  E-MAIL PROCEDURES: Due to the increase in the happenings of the Kriz virus your web master is most reluctant to open attachments.  May I suggest two things that would help keep me away from the “delete without reading” button.  #1.  Instead of attaching messages highlight, copy and paste it into the e-mail form.  & #2.  If you must attach, put a short description in the e-mail message to tell what is attached and to ID yourself.

10 January 2003

  Defense Department officials believe it is possible that some Tricare beneficiaries could be subject to identity theft because of the Dec. 14 theft of office computers in Phoenix from military health-care contractor TriWest Healthcare Alliance. The Federal Trade Commission publication, "ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name," points out that skilled identity thieves have proven adept over the last several years. It explains how they use low- and high-tech methods to gain access to personal data such as Social Security numbers and credit card account information. Identity thieves use such information to open up new credit accounts, running up thousands of dollars of illicit bills, including bank and automobile loans, which are charged to victims. The publication, along with special information for Tricare beneficiaries living in the TriWest area, is available online at
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/index.html.  (Web Master note: This web site is very good and should be on the “must read” list of each of our members.)

  $100,000 REWARD

TriWest Healthcare Alliance, whose computer equipment, including personal information concerning 500,000 Tricare beneficiaries, was
stolen on Dec. 14, has posted a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of those responsible for the crime.

  DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE'S MYPAY OFFERS W-2 FORMS
Service members, military retirees and annuitants can find their account statements and tax information online via the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's myPay, a secure online system. Active-duty and reserve members can view and print current-year W-2s, while retirees can view and print their account statements. Annuitants can view and print their account statements, their 1099R tax statements, and their 1042S tax statements. They also can print copies of their reports of existence and submit them. Service members, DoD civilian employees, military retirees and annuitants can use their Social Security numbers and personal identification numbers to log onto myPay at https://mypay.dfas.mil. For questions about myPay, call
customer support at (800) 390-2348 Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST.

  Lee R. CLOUTHIER, a Vietnam Veteran who served as an enlisted man in the 64^th Finance Section in DaNang (we also had offices in Phu Bai and Quang Tri) from September 1969 to October 1970 has asked for help in locating LTC R.E. GABRIEL, FC LTC Gabriel was my much respected commanding officer for most of that time.  If anyone can help locate Gabriel please contact Coultier at  lrudgeclouthier@yahoo.com .

  According to DFAS officials the 2002 1099R tax forms for all Department of Defense military retirees and annuitants will be mailed by Jan. 15, 2003 to the home addresses on file with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

A new TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy will Open March 1, 2003.  See the article on the TRICARE page.

  Phillip GILLESPIE has a new e-mail address on the web roster.

  The design of the 2003 Quarters of the 50 State series have been selected and are shown below.  Details can be seen at the URL http://usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?action=50_state_quarters_program by clicking on each coin.  See Hobby Corner for more on coin collecting.

3 January 2003

  Ms. Peggy DONNELLY & LTC Thomas MOREHOUSE have new addresses on the web roster as a result of post office notices of change.

  LTC Carlton DAVIS has new home and work phone numbers on the web roster.

  COL Efrain MEDINA has a new e-mail address on the web roster.

Ms Loni PALSROK, the widow of COL John, died 17 Apr 02.  The notice came from her daughter Linda Gilbert.

  MORE ON TRICARE RECORD THEFT:

TriWest has established an email address, computertheft@triwest.com, that will offer an immediate response with
detailed information to assist beneficiaries; they also set up a toll-free telephone number, 1-888-339-9378, that beneficiaries may use to gain information.

A criminal investigation is underway involving the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Anyone having any knowledge of this incident is urged to cooperate with authorities. The Department of Defense Hot Line number is: 1-800-424-9098.