Veterans
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SAN ANTONIO – Air Force Airman 1st Class Kaede B. Hanreich graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Hanreich is the wife of Evan D. Pelkey. She is the daughter of Pam J. Hanreich of Kelseyville, Calif., and Mark D. Hanreich of Walnut Creek, Calif., and daughter-in-law of Tiffany E. Pelkey of Citrus Heights, Calif.
The airman graduated in 2005 from Kelseyville High School, Kelseyville, Calif., and she earned an associate degree in 2013 from American River College, Sacramento, Calif.
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COLUMBIA, South Carolina – Army Pvt. Christian A. Saragina has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches and field training exercises.
Saragina is the son of Amber and grandson of Nancy and Paul Saragina of Nice, Calif.
He is a 2013 graduate of Upper Lake High School, Upper Lake, Calif.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2337 will host a benefit barbecue dinner for Operation Tango Mike on Saturday, Jan. 17.
The event will be held at the VFW post, 3980 Veterans Lane in Clearlake.
Entertainment with Bill and Richie will begin at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m.
Dinner will include barbecue tri-tip, beans, salad and French bread.
Suggested donation is $12.50 per person.
Tickets are presale only.
For more information call 707-994-4748.
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SACRAMENTO – On Jan. 9, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Debbie Endsley of Placerville as acting secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet).
Endsley succeeds Peter J. Gravett, who announced his retirement as secretary.
Endsley was a consultant at the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 2012, and at the CalHR Project from 2011 to 2012.
She was director at the California Department of Personnel Administration from 2009 to 2011, where she served in several positions from 1998 to 2011, including chief deputy director and chief of the benefits division.
Endsley was a research analyst at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from 1995 to 1998 and an associate budget analyst at the California Department of Rehabilitation from 1988 to 1995, where she was an associate personnel analyst from 1984 to 1988.
She is the daughter of a veteran and the wife of a U.S. Marine.
Gravett, a retired major general with more than 40 years of military service in the U.S. Army and the California Army National Guard, retired as CalVet secretary after four years of outstanding service to California’s nearly two million Veterans and their families.
State officials thanked him for his dedication to CalVet’s mission as well as his dedication to being the Golden State’s top advocate for veterans.
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On Friday President Barack Obama signed into law S. 2444, the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014.
Earlier this month, this bipartisan legislation passed both Chambers of Congress by unanimous consent.
“Now that the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is the law of the land, we are reminded that even in this deeply divided Congress, good and important legislation can sometimes make it to the finish line,” Ranking Member Garamendi said. “I thank President Obama for signing this legislation. I also thank my colleague on the subcommittee, Chairman Duncan Hunter, as well as Chairman Bill Shuster, Ranking Member Nick Rahall, Senator Jay Rockefeller, and Senator John Thune, for working closely with me in an inclusive and bipartisan way. We didn’t craft a perfect law, but it’s a strong compromise that will strengthen our economy and improve our national security.”
The law reauthorizes funding for the United States Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve, and the Federal Maritime Commission. It also provides policy direction and certainty for these entities and the entire maritime sector.
As Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-03) worked closely with Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA-5) to write the bill; negotiated a bipartisan, bicameral compromise; and built support for passage through both chambers of Congress and with the Administration.
“With this law, we are modernizing the Coast Guard and strengthening businesses that depend on maritime transport – which is almost every business. We’re also strengthening American shipbuilding, the backbone of our maritime sector,” Congressman Garamendi added.
The law also incorporates legislation that Congressman Garamendi introduced, H.R. 5270, the Growing American Shipping Act, which requires that the Department of Transportation develop policies that enhance the national security and port safety of the United States by encouraging to the maximum extent practicable the transport of liquefied natural gas on U.S.-built and -flag vessels when it is decided to export.
This law aims to maintain the technological ability of the United States shipbuilding industry to build and repair vessels for the Navy and the Coast Guard by maintaining the critical industrial infrastructure and skilled human workforce necessary to build such vessels.
Further, this law promotes American job creation by encouraging domestic shipbuilding and the use of U.S. mariners when the transport of American LNG occurs.
“When we export LNG, it should be on ships built in America with American crews,” Garamendi continued. “So long as we choose to export LNG, it should be creating good American jobs in the process, and the revitalization of America’s shipbuilding industry has spiraling impacts that go far beyond this commodity. I’m proud of the work we put into creating this law, and I thank everyone in Congress and the Administration who was supportive through this process.”
The Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014 (S. 2444) includes provisions that:
– Authorize the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve for fiscal year 2015;
– Support Coast Guard servicemembers and their families by providing new child care and family support programs;
– Require development of a comprehensive National Maritime Strategy;
– Reauthorize the small shipyard competitive grant program, which in 2011 awarded a $1.4 million grant to a facility in Alameda County;
– Provide new guidance to the Coast Guard as it continues to rebuild its offshore fleet of cutters, including the granting of multi-year procurement authority for the new Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) which will help expedite the construction of this new class of cutter once a final design is selected next year;
– Clarify existing authorities to promote the use of U.S. flag vessels in the export of LNG;
– Strengthen cooperation between the Coast Guard and State Maritime Academies, including California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, by codifying the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee;
– Help replace and modernize aging Coast Guard assets in a cost-effective manner;
– Provide new directives that the Coast Guard needs to prepare for full-time operations and for the safety of maritime transportation in the Arctic, including authority to reactivate the heavy icebreaker Polar Sea;
– Provide explicit cooperative agreement authority to enhance the Coast Guard’s ability to develop beneficial partnerships with other maritime stakeholders, including private businesses, nonprofits, and foreign governments;
– Improve Coast Guard acquisition activities;
– Enhance Congressional oversight; and
– Create opportunities for veterans to transition to careers in the Merchant Marine.
The legislation is named in honor of retiring Congressman and long-serving House Transportation Committee Member Howard Coble, the only current member of Congress to have served in the Coast Guard and a strong supporter of the service.
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FORT BENNING, Ga. – Army Pvt. Jonathon M. Martinez has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Benning, Ga.
During the nine-week training period, the trainee received instruction in drill and ceremony, weapons, rifle marksmanship and bayonet training, chemical warfare, field training and tactical exercises, armed and unarmed combat, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, traditions and core values.
Martinez is the son-in-law of Becky A. Marengo of Clearlake, Calif.
He is a 2009 graduate of Lower Lake High School, Lower Lake, Calif.
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KELSEYVILLE – Join Operation Tango Mike and the Kelseyville Lions for Hotcakes for Heroes, a pancake breakfast, on Sunday, Dec. 14.
Breakfast will be served at the Kelseyville Lions Club, 4335 Sylar Lane, from 8 to 11 a.m.
The menu includes your choice of pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee. Or, order “the works” and have it all.
Proceeds benefit Operation Tango Mike in sending monthly care packages to deployed military personnel.
Currently packages are being shipped to troops in seven countries.
For more information call 707-349-2838 or email
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WASHINGTON, DC – As part of The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) ongoing effort to improve Veterans’ access to health care, VA announced it has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new medical appointment scheduling system (MASS).
The new MASS technology will help improve access to care for veterans by providing schedulers with state-of-the-art, management-based scheduling software.
“When it comes to the care of our veterans, we want the best technology the American marketplace can provide,” said VA Secretary Robert McDonald. “A new and innovative scheduling system is an essential tool we must have in place to enable us to provide our veterans with timely and high quality health care.”
The new system will replace a legacy scheduling system that has been in use at VA since 1985.
VA’s acquisition approach for the new scheduling solution remains full and open; any qualified vendor may compete. Potential bidders are not required to have prior experience working with VA.
Proposals are due on Jan. 9, 2015.
VA released a draft “Performance Work Statement” to maximize industry and stakeholder input. The feedback received from industry has been used to refine the requirements included in the final RFP.
“We are seeking vendors who will work closely with us and can meet our timeline,” said VA Chief Information Officer Stephen Warren. “We are dedicated to finding the right partner to help us create and implement our modern scheduling system.”
The RFP requires industry to demonstrate technical capabilities via two methods; submission of a written proposal and participation in a structured product demonstration to evaluators (which include VA scheduling staff).
VA expects to award the contract by the spring of 2015.
The selected bidder will be tasked to provide a system that focuses on an achievable schedule to deliver core capabilities to all VA medical facilities within the first two years of the contract.
Remaining capabilities will be implemented nationally in a series of incremental enhancements throughout the contract period of performance.
In addition to industry and stakeholder engagement, VA officials also worked with veteran service organizations and the Northern Virginia Technology Council to better understand the needs of veterans and incorporated the group’s feedback in the design of the RFP.
To improve services to veterans, VA also made several near-term modifications to its current system:
– VA awarded a contract to improve the existing scheduling interface, providing schedulers with a calendar view of resources in lieu of the current text-based, multiple-screen view. The update is scheduled to begin rollout January 2015.
– VA is developing mobile applications allowing veterans to directly request certain types of primary care and mental health appointments (scheduled to begin deployment December 2014).
– VA rolled out new clinical video telehealth capabilities in 2014 providing service to more than 690,000 veterans.
Other accomplishments of note to improve veterans' access to care include:
– Implementation of the Choice Program: a new, temporary benefit that allows qualifying veterans to receive health care in their communities rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility: The first round of cards was issued on Nov. 5; the second round of cards was issued on Nov. 17 to veterans waiting more than 30 days from their preferred date or in cases considered medically necessary by the veterans’ physician.
– Scheduling more than 1.2 million more appointments in the past four months than in the same period last year. In total, VA medical centers have scheduled over 19 million veteran appointments from June to October 1, 2014.
– Reducing the national new patient Primary Care wait time by 18 percent.
– Completing 98 percent of appointments within 30 days of the veterans’ preferred date, or the date determined to be medically necessary by a physician.
– Authorizing 1.1 million non-VA care authorizations, a 47-percent increase over the same period last year.
– Increasing the amount of time providers can deliver care to veterans by increasing the amount of clinic hours and adding weekend and evening clinics at VA medical centers.
Information about the RFP may be found at http://go.usa.gov/sVDP . The RFP number is VA118-15-R-0715.
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WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it began mailing Veterans Choice Cards on Nov. 17 to veterans currently waiting more than 30-days from their preferred date or the date that is medically determined by their physician for an appointment at a VA facility.
“VA continues to focus on implementation of this new temporary benefit so that veterans receive the timely quality care they need in a way that reduces confusion and inefficiencies,” said Secretary Robert A. McDonald, who penned an open letter to veterans announcing the implementation of the Choice Card program.
The Choice Program is a new, temporary benefit that allows some veterans to receive health care in their communities rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility.
The first round of cards along with a letter explaining the program was issued on Nov. 5 to veterans who are eligible based on their place of residence.
VA is now engaging in the next phase of its rollout – eligibility explanation letters are being sent to veterans waiting more than 30 days from their preferred date to be seen or considered medically necessary by their physician.
To improve service delivery, VA has prioritized efforts to accelerate veterans off of wait lists and into clinics through the Accelerated Care Initiative begun over the summer.
Through this initiative, VA medical centers have increased access to care inside and outside of VA, added more clinic hours and work days, deployed mobile medical units and shared their best practices from VA’s high-performing facilities throughout the organization.
Significant improvements have resulted nationally:
– Scheduling more than 1.2 million more appointments in the past four months than in the same period last year. In total, VA medical centers have scheduled over 19 million veteran appointments from June to October 1, 2014;
– Reducing the national new patient Primary Care wait time by 18 percent;
– Completing 98 percent of appointments within 30 days of the veterans’ preferred date, or the date determined to be medically necessary by a physician;
– Authorizing 1.1 million non-VA care authorizations, a 47-percent increase over the same period last year; and
– Increasing the amount of time providers could deliver care to veterans by increasing the amount of clinic hours in primary and specialty care and through adding weekend and evening clinics at our medical centers.
VA is America’s largest integrated health care system with more than 1,700 sites of care, serving approximately 9 million veterans enrolled in health care services.
The Choice Program is part of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA), enacted nearly three months ago, to enable VA to meet the demand for veterans’ health care in the short-term.
For more information about the Choice Program, call 1-866- 606-8198 or visit http://www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/ .
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