NETCAST: Attack of Da-Chief (AOTC) #42 Final

Well we got ‘er done. We had some major hiccups tonight during our recording but finally got this episode in the can.

Hosts tonight: Da-Chief, 8404, and PegasusHM.

We apologize for the perceived un-organization, Talkshoe and Skype were dropping us left and right and it was extremely hard to focus during all of it.

Remember you can download this on Itunes “Keyword” Corpsman.com, or you can get it here: AOTC #42

Hope to hear from you next week, it would be great if more of you could come to the taping and call in and ask questions etc.

Next Week’s discussion: Post Election, Baseball World Series (Congrats Phillies), Football, NBA, as well as the updates from Corps School, and of course the phone wars, Tony will give some insight to cell phone contracts, Blackberry Bold, Apple I-Phone, and the Google “ANDROID” G-1.

Hope to see you!

Da-Chief

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What Phone Part II

First of all I am extremly happy with my I-Phone 3G.  I ended up picking up the 16GB White Version, and I could not be happier.  The only thing that I feel is lacking are 2 things:

1. A Keyboard, I have to type on the screen and I have big fingers.. Kinda hard to do.

2. Cannot replace Battery, I cannot buy a extra, and if you use your I-Phone the way I do, almost like a 2nd portable computer when I am away from my computer, it would help if I was able to “HOT SWAP” a battery if I am away from a plug.

These are minor though, I can deal with them, and really I have found I have adapted to things I never thought I would.  I do feel there is a new paradigm being built here with phones, which are more and more becoming “Portable Computers”.
But, I digress, and will leave that for a nother “TECH” article.

The reason I am writing this, I have to get my wife a new phone in December.  Since she is a Nurse, she needs some med info, really good web browsing etc on her phone.  The thing about the I-Phone it is not really the best for her line of work, plus she hates not having a keyboard.

So we are back to trying to figure out which phone to get.  Since I know the I-Phone is out, it will probably be the new Google “Android” phone or the Blackberry Bold.  The Blackberry will be going on sale tomorrow finally, and if you remember, this was the phone I wanted in the first place, and is supposedly going to be very nice.

The Andoid is itself a 1st Generation phone, works like a I-Phone but has a Keyboard.

IF any of you out there have either phone in the next few days, please email me @ admin1@corpsman.com, I would love to hear what you think, I would like to post the replies on here if possible as well, especially with this down market.

D/C

FORCM Weekly Update for 27 October 2008

“From the Desk of the BUMED FORCE MASTER CHIEF”
and Director of the Hospital Corps
27 October 2008

Download the attachments here:Weekly Force Report

1.  NAVY SEA SHORE FLOW
The new Sea Shore Flow (SSF) replaces the Sea Shore Rotation as the model for determining sea and shore lengths. Sea Shore Flow provides the optimal balance between sea duty and shore duty while manning the Fleet with the right Sailor, at the right place, at the right time.  For more information please review the attached info sheets on Sea Shore Flow.

2.  ADVANCEMENT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Please review the attached NAVADMIN 286/08. This NAVADMIN announces the Jan 09 to Jun 09 Advancement Examination Development Conference (AEDC) schedule. Active Duty Chief’s (E7 – E9) are requested to volunteer as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Please submit all nominations to HMCM(SW/SCW) Menke. If you have any questions or comments please contact Master Chief Menke at (202) 762-3139 or via e-mail at james.menke@med.navy.mil.

3.  NEC MANNING (NECMAN) DOCUMENT
Understanding the NECMAN can be a challenge: Please review the attached NECMAN for October 2008.  Enlisted Programmed Authorization (EPA) Total (Green): 2008 EPA numbers (updated twice a year) (BILLETS) Individual Account (IA) EPA Total (White): EPA personnel we planned for in the training pipeline.

Adjusted (Blue) is the difference between the EPA total and IA EPA.
INV TOTAL:  (Green) monthly reported from the Digital Dashboard, the number of personnel actually in inventory  (BODIES) I/A Account (White) number also reported monthly from the Digital Dashboard listing personnel in I/A account which includes TPPH (Transient, Patient, Prisoner, Holdee (TPPH), Student, and Limited Duty Pipelines Adjusted INV (Blue) is the difference between the Inv Total and I/A account Total Inv/EPA is the percentage we utilize to determine our manning for each NEC.

4.  ARMY/NAVY SPIRIT SPOTS ON CBS
CBS Sports is accepting “GO NAVY” and/or “BEAT ARMY” video spots for this years Army/Navy game that will be played on 6 December 2008. For more information please review the attached NAVADMIN 297/08.

4.  UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE
Please review the attached United States Marine Corps Birthday message from the Chief Naval Operations.

5.  CY08 FLIGHT SURGEON AND AEROSPACE MEDICINE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
Nominations are currently being accepted for CY08 Flight Surgeon and Aerospace Medicine Technician (AVT) of the year. For more information and POC, please review the attached info sheet.

Director of the Hospital Corps
POINTS OF CONTACT

Drill hall named for corpsman killed in Iraq

I saw this today and wanted to give the NOSC Lousiville Kudo’s for doing this.  I remember when we at Corpsman.com were notified of his passing.  I remember one of the only photo’s I could find at the time was of he and his family, his wife and his 2 girls.  This picture really brought this whole conflict home to me, usually you see a picture of the Devil Doc, but with him I saw his whole family.  Corpsman.com Still grieves for his loss.–D/C

By Patrick Howington - Louisville Courier-Journal
Posted : Sunday Oct 26, 2008 15:40:29 EDT

Jeffrey Wiener was an emergency medical technician in New York when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands and shocking the nation.

What he saw and experienced that day prompted Wiener to enlist in the Navy Reserve after moving to Louisville in 2002.

That led to a tour of duty in Iraq, where Wiener, 31, was killed in 2005 while serving as a hospital corpsman. He left behind a wife and two daughters.

Yesterday Navy comrades, family members and former co-workers at Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services honored Wiener’s memory at the dedication of a drill hall bearing his name. The hall is at the Naval Operations Support Center in Louisville.

More than 100 sailors and civilians attended the dedication of the HM2 Jeffrey L. Wiener Drill Hall at the center on Southside Drive.

“We’re just honored that he just made such an impact on everyone that he met here,” said Wiener’s widow, Maria Wiener, after the ceremony. “It was such a short time that he knew them, but they haven’t forgotten him, and it’s just amazing.”

“It means my son will always be remembered,” said his mother, Diana Wiener. “It means that his sacrifice wasn’t in vain — that he will always be in somebody’s mind and (people will) know what Jeffrey stood for.

“Jeffrey loved his family, his country, and most of all his daughters and his wife. After 9/11, he was trying to make sure that his girls’ future was secured.”

Jeffrey Wiener was a Navy petty officer third class assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. He died May 7, 2005, after insurgents shot him during a four-hour firefight. The firefight followed a suicide bombing near a civilian hospital in western Iraq that killed three Marines.

Yesterday’s presentation included a slide show of Wiener working for EMS, training reservists and serving in Iraq — and of his flag-draped casket.

In speeches and interviews yesterday, sailors and public officials said Wiener was driven by a desire to help people. They said he pushed those around him — even paramedics with more experience — to give 100 percent effort.

Seeing how emergency medical crews sometimes had trouble maneuvering stretchers in tight quarters, Wiener helped train colleagues to use a flexible stretcher that could fold around patients like a cocoon. The maneuver is still known as the “Wiener roll,” said Dr. Neal Richmond, director of Louisville Metro EMS.

“Jeffrey committed himself to protecting and healing others,” said U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “That’s why he joined the Navy. That’s why he became a hospital corpsman.”

Giovanni Caruso Dattalo, a petty officer third class, said Wiener was both friend and mentor — teaching him how to shine his boots to perfection and teaming with him to teach medical techniques to new reservists.

“He went out of his way to help any person he could in any situation,” Dattalo said.

CY 2009 Reserve Enlisted Drill Pay Schedule

This is the “RESERVE DRILL” Schedule.

Combat Related Special Compensation

Simply put Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) allows certain military retirees to receive both their military retirement pay and VA Disability Compensation. This means that qualified military retirees with 20 or more years of service that have a “combat related” VA-rated disability no longer have their military retirement pay reduced by the amount of their VA disability compensation.  The following is a summary of Combat-Related Special Compensation:

• 2008 CRSC Update
• Combat-Related Special Compensation Eligibility
• The Value of the CRSC Benefit
• The Application Process

2008 Update: The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law on January 29, 2008, includes changes to Chapter 61 retiree eligibility, a new component for (CRSC). This legislation expands eligibility to medical retirees with less than 20 years of service, effective January 1, 2008.  Medically retired veterans must still provide documentation that shows a causal link between a current VA disability and a combat related event.

CRSC Eligibility

Combat Related Special Compensation eligibility includes disabilities incurred as a direct result of:

• Armed Conflict (gunshot wounds, purple heart, etc)
• Training that Simulates War (Exercises, field training, etc)
• Hazardous Duty (flight, diving, parachute duty)
• An Instrumentality of War (combat vehicles, weapons, agent orange, etc)

The following are the current CRSC eligibility requirements:

• Retirees must apply to their respective branch of service to be approved for CRSC.
• Retirees must be in receipt of VA compensation.
• Retirees must be in receipt of military retired pay.
• Retirees must have an approved combat-related VA disability rating of 10% or greater.
• Retirees from active-duty must have 20 years of active service.
• *Chapter 61 Medical Retirees with less than 20 years.
• Retired reservists must have 20 years of qualifying service (supported by documentation from the applicable branch of service such as a 20-year letter, retirement orders or a statement of service) in order to be eligible.

Please note that qualified reservists will not receive CRSC until they begin to receive retired pay at age 60.

*CRSC Updates: The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law on January 28, 2008. It expanded the eligibility of CRSC to include anyone recieving military retired pay. This includes: Medical Chapter 61, Temporary Early Retirement Act (TERA) and Temporary Disabled Retirement List (TDRL) retirees. These new eligible components for CRSC went into effect January 1, 2008. Medical and TERA retirees must still provide documentation that shows a causal link between a current VA disability and a combat related event.

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The Value of the CRSC Benefit:

DFAS pays CRSC based on the combined disability rating of combat-related disabilities as determined by your branch of service. Additionally, only combat-related disabilities for which you actually receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) compensation will be considered.

Use the following formula to obtain your combined VA rating of multiple combat-related disabilities:
(1) Subtract each disability percent from 100% to obtain the remaining efficiencies.
(2) Multiply the remaining efficiencies together.
(3) Subtract the result from 100%.
(4) Round to the nearest 10%, round up for 5% or above.

Example: Using three disabilities of 50%, 40% and 30% …
(1) [100 - 50 = 50%] / [100 - 40 = 60%] / [100 - 30 = 70%]
(2) 50% x 60% x 70% = 21%
(3) 100% - 21% = 79%
(4) 79% rounds up to an 80% combined disability

The following table shows a sampling of how much extra you may get each month.

Combat related VA Disability Rating	Monthly CRSC
100%	$2,527
90%	$1,517
80%	$1,349
70%	$1,161
60%	$921
50%	$728
40%	$512
30%	$356
20%	$230
10%	$117

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The CRSC Application Process:

To receive Combat Related Special Compensation you must submit your application (DD form 2860), through your parent military service branch. Each service branch has the authority to determine your eligibility.

For more information on how to apply contact your parent military service branch:

Concurent Receipt Pay Computation (CRDP)

CY 2009 Active Duty Enlisted Pay Scale with 3.9% increase.

Listed below is the Calendar Year 2009 Enlisted “BASE” pay scale.

CY 2009 Pay Scale US Military CY 2009 Active Duty Pay Scale

Remember this is for Active Duty!

Navy Corpsman enshrined on Spec-Ops wall

Navy Corpsman enshrined on Spec-Ops wall

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A Navy corpsman has been honored by having his name added to a memorial wall at the special operations medical center at Fort Bragg.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Charles “Luke” Milam was fatally wounded in combat in 2007 while with the 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion in Afghanistan.

His name was added to the heroes’ wall Thursday at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center.

The citation said after Milam was wounded, he and his team continued moving toward the enemy positions. Milam killed several with machine gun fire until he fell from his wounds.

Sgt. 1st Class Charles Maxwell is an instructor at the school and said the memorial wall ensures that the names of medics won’t be forgotten.

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Oct 25, 2008 7:43:20 EDT

The Big Game, Navy is going to Kick Arm’s ARSE!

Ahhh..

Other then Michigan Vs Ohio State, this is “THE GAME” of the season..

And to celebrate…

Navy Kicking Army’s Tail!!!

Dec 6th 2008, In Philadelphia, PA, @ 1200 EST on CBS!!

GO NAVY!!!

No matter who you root for, root for your “NATIONS WARRIORS!”.

Da-Chief

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