by Laura Wright, UK News "Operation Wildcat" may sound like a football formation but it's actually an op-portunity for veterans and civilians to work together and solve a challenge that feels a lot like a military mission. Part Amazing Race, part CrossFit Games, part Out-ward Bound, Operation Wildcat's goal is to build community through activity.

The event is open to military veterans

and civilians of all ages and athletic abili-

ties. Applicants will be selected in a

"draft" and placed on diverse teams of up

to 12 people. The teams will

begin with warmups and team

building activities and then

begin working on a hypothet-

ical "mission" that will mimic

a real military exercise. The

event ends with a "battle" on

Kroger field that will put participants

through a variety of physical challenges

with their team. SEE VALOR, P. 5

FRIDAY, NOV. 17 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

& OFFICER ELECTION WHEN: Social time, 1130; lunch, noon

WHERE: Equestrian Woods Country

Club, 107 Clubhouse Dr., Nicholasville

MEAL: Buffet with two meat entrees

& usual trimmings, $17

RSVP: Mrs. Pat Jones (contact info

on p. 2), NLT Mon., Nov. 13

Lt. Col. David Carter, USMC

(Ret.), was one of 23 military mem-

bers honored Sept. 30 for their ac-

complishments on and off the bat-

tlefield when he was inducted into

the Kentucky Veterans Hall of

Fame. The Hall of Fame was estab-

lished in 2010 and its first class was

inducted in 2014.

Lt. Col. Carter, shown at right,

served in WWII, Korea, Haiti and the

Vietnam War and went on to a long

and distinguished civilian career.

FOR A DETAILED CARTER PROFILE, SEE P. 4

President’s Corner: Time to renew membership; WWI monuments restoredMOAA matters: warning about defense bills danger to all-volunteer

force; legislative page revamped; MOAA’s Programmatic AdvertisingMember spotlight on military Hall of Famer; Kentucky Air Guard hurricane

support May meeting photos; new members; THVC needs sound system; Week of

Valor events schedule

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 COL (Ret.) JoAnn Wever

(859) 336-5938 j.wever@att.com

Secretary/ Newsletter editor

COL (Ret.) John Shotwell (859) 263-5436

jmshot0@g.uky.edu

Treasurer Mrs. Pat Jones

(859) 271-2606 ppatcatfan@aol.com

Chaplain CAPT (Ret.) Jerry Cook

(859) 533-7600 cooksurpri@att.com

Sergeant-at-Arms COL (Ret.) Chris Dolt

(859) 494-3452 christopher.dolt@morganstaley.com

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

Web: http://moaabluegrasschapter.webs.com/

EDITORIAL POLICY MOAA, including the Kentucky Council and the Bluegrass Chap-ter, is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. Membership is open to officers from every branch of service - including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their immediate fami-

lies.. The MOAA Bluegrass Chapter is a Sect. 501(c )(19) tax-exempt veterans organization.

Tom Peters

Grants help restore WWI monuments

As a non-Kentucky native, I find some tradi-tions here perplexing. Like the use of the two-word phrase “blue grass” in some contexts and the single word “bluegrass” in others. We belong to the MOAA Bluegrass Chapter but fly in and out of the region through the Blue Grass airport. We can enjoy bluegrass music but lose mon-ey at Keeneland by betting on the wrong horse in the Blue Grass Stakes race. A quick glance at the Yellow Pages reveals that the many businesses using the term in their names are split about 50-50 between the single and bifurcated versions. For that matter, as I’ve driven by the beauti-ful horse farms in our area, I’ve yet to see a single blade of grass that looks blue. For another example, take the social qualifier hillbilly (stereotyped image below). The term is vaunted in a best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Ele-gy, soon to be turned into a major motion pic-ture.

Each year the city of Pikeville hosts a “Hillbilly Days” celebration. Yet I’d wager that if you called a coal miner from Pikeville by that name, he’d be of-fended by the epithet. Better to avoid the H-word in polite conversa-tion around the state of Kentucky. Or are we liv-

ing in a commonwealth. What’s the difference? And what is it with the Confederate flags I see sometimes flying in folks’ yards in rural are-as and on the rear windows of pickup trucks? Even after the ongoing controversy that peaked after the Charlottesville murder over a Confed-erate statue, people don’t seem to understand why the descendants of slaves find the banner offensive. The War between the States ended more than 150 years ago and Kentucky never even took a side. As I recall from my grade school history lessons, the South lost. Can’t some peo-ple around here get over it? All of this brings me to the topic of consisten-cy, or the lack thereof. Some members of the Bluegrass Chapter (or Blue Grass Chapter if you prefer) consistently pay their chapter dues on time but rarely show up at meetings. Others regularly attend meet-ings but must be prodded to pay their dues. As we often remind our members, the dead-

line for local dues is Jan. 1 each year, no matter when you got around to paying the previous year. This year we’re encour-aging you to pay your dues before the end of the year so that we can accurately report our membership numbers to MOAA national by mid-Jan. As we did last year, our holiday season appeal for donations will include a membership renewal form. This year the let-ter will go out via email to those who receive the Bluegrass Bugle electronically (and snail mail to those who do not). To make it even easier for you, you need not complete the entire form. All you have to do is fill in your name and any information that has changed since you last renewed and send it in with your check (or better still, come to the November meeting and bring your check.) And even if you’re a banjo-pickin’, moonshine swillin’, rebel flag-flying, blue-bleeding h*******y, you ought to be consistent about re-newing your membership before January.

Thomas Peters Col., USAF (Ret.)

President, Bluegrass

Dozens of statues, fountains, arches, and other sites honor-ing troops who fought in World War I will soon be upgraded or restored thanks to $2,000 grants from the 100 Cities/100 Memorials project. Fifty memorials across 28 states were officially designated WWI Centennial Memorials on Nov. 1. The sites were selected by the World War One Centennial Commission and Pritzker Military Museum & Library in effort to draw attention to monu-ments honoring troops who fought in World War I. Each memo-rial will receive a $2,000 grant toward restoration and mainte-nance costs. The American Legion and VFW also partnered on the project. More than 4 million American families sent their sons and daughters to serve in uniform during World War I, according to Terry Hamby, commissioner of the United States World War One Centennial Commission. “100 Cities/100 Memorials is a critically important initiative that will have an impact beyond these grants,” Hambry said in a release announcing the grants. “These memorials represent an important part of remembering our past and preserving our culture.” Fifty more memorials will get matching grants in 2018.

The submission period for those awards runs from Sept. 27 through Jan. 15. Work on the memorials must be complete by Nov. 11, 2018 - the 100th anniversary of the day the fighting ceased.

For a list of the first 50 sites to receive the WWI Centennial Memorial designation and $2,000 in funding please visit moaa.org.

p.3 November 2017

MOAA’s strate-gic goal with its advocacy is to

“ensure government enacts and maintains policies to sustain a career force of the size and qual-ity needed to maintain a strong national defense.” MOAA has lobbied to ensure adequate troop strength but has devoted less attention to quality. It is now critical to discuss both. They are inseparable, and they are both in jeopardy. Why the alarm? Because our nation has relied on the all-volunteer force since 1973, and all that time we have taken the volunteer pool for granted. That’s about to change — be-cause the pool has changed. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, com-manding general of the Army’s Recruiting Command, identified the crux of the problem in a November 2016 interview with

the Arizona Republic : “The problem that we are facing is that so few actually can meet the qualification requirements to join the military. … Only three in 10 of today’s youth can actu-ally meet the requirements.” That number gets even smaller, around 20 percent, when you take college-bound young peo-ple out of the equation. The problem stems from a bigger pic-ture: * There are approximate-ly 20 million 17-21 year olds in America. * Of those, 11.3 million meet academic requirements. * Only about 4.4 million of those are even eligible to join. * Assessing propensity to join, we are left with about 465,000 truly potential recruits.

* From that pool, DoD needs 250,000 a year. Adding to the challenge: 52 percent of parents would not recommend military service for their children. This likely cuts the pool of potential recruits even further. Our nation is fac-ing a basic — but significant — supply and demand challenge. In this environment, it defies

logic for the Senate’s version of the FY 2018 defense authori-zation bill to propose a re-

duced military pay raise of 2.1 percent, versus the 2.4 percent raise that would be consistent with the Employment Cost Index — the legislated benchmark. Further, the Senate proposes to eliminate a dependent-rate housing allowance for military couples stationed together with

children. This erosion of military compensation is out of touch with today’s demands of repeat-ed deployments and a worsening recruiting environment. This is an immediate problem, warrant-ing contact with members of Congress. Our nation’s ability to field the most effective armed forces, of the size and quality needed, is in jeopardy, and there are two key aspects of this problem: First, the supply is dwindling. This is a national problem, which Congress cannot fix. Sec-ond, the compensation and ben-efits that help motivate people to join and stay are eroding. This is a problem Congress can — and must — fix. To share your concerns with your members of Congress, please visit moaa.org/takeaction.

MOAA introduces , its enhanced Legislative Action Center

MOAA's Legislative Action Center has gone through a significant redesign. This is in response to upgrades to the system used to connect members with their elected rep-resentatives so they can exercise their influence as a vot-er and citizen. Members’ use of this platform is key to MOAA's suc-cesses and strong voice on Capitol Hill. The appearance and configuration will vary depending on which browser members use and whether they access the information on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. MOAA has developed a brief tutorial to help members learn how to maximize the upgraded center’s enhance-ments. Here’s the link: http://www.moaa.org/Content/Take-Action/Top-Issues/Currently-Serving/New-Legislative-Action-Center-Tutorial.aspx

ENGAGE in action — this detail from the revamped Legislative Action Center Web page illustrates the dropdown menu for MOAA’s top Capitol Hill issues. A click on a topic takes a member to another page with more detail and background about the is-sue and a statement of MOAA’s position.

MOAA’s Programmatic Advertising targets potential new members

If you subscribe to the digital ver-

sion of the Lexington Herald-Leader, you may have seen the pop-up ad at

left, or a similar MOAA recruiting

poster, as you clicked through the

pages. Or you may have encountered

the ads on other Web sites.

It’s all part of a marketing tactic

known as Programmatic Advertising.

According to T.J. Velasco, MOAA’s

Senior Marketing Manager for Mem-

bership, the ads are geared toward

driving conversions to the Basic free

membership tier as an effective way

to start building relationships with

officers who may not be aware of

MOAA or its advocacy efforts.

“We can identify behavioral pat-

terns and target those who have been

identified as potential officers,” he

said. “We also use contextual target-

ing which will display our ad in rele-

vant placements, specifically on

Websites who focus on military and

military family news and content.

“Using this marketing tactic allows

us to introduce MOAA to a wide

audience, and also is a good primary

or secondary touch point for younger

officers who spend a lot of time on

the internet. We are able to target

anyone who has visited the MOAA

website…. “We also target different

geographical areas that have a high

military population.

Velasco added, “We also hope these

timely, targeted ads will help make

recruiting at local chapters bit easier

with expanded brand awareness.”

During his distinguished mili-tary career Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Carter was one of a handful of military members to wear four hats — soldier and airman (specifically Army Air Forces) sailor (Naval Reserve), followed by a career as a U.S. Marine of-ficer. World War II ended before he could complete his flight training at Sheppard Field near Wichita Falls, TX. He left active duty shortly afterward and joined the Naval Reserve, becoming an ROTC midshipman at the Univer-sity of Virginia in his home town of Charlottesville where his fa-ther was a house painter. Upon

graduation in 1950 he was com-missioned a Marine officer and saw combat as an artillery officer during the Korean War. Later (1959-62) he was a mem-ber of the U.S. diplomatic-military mission to the Republic of Haiti during a period of politi-cal turbulence in the Caribbean. As his Marine career advanced he began to specialize in matters of logistics and finance. During the early years of the Vietnam War (1964-65) he coordinated movement of U.S. munitions in theater via air, land and sea. Re-turning to the U.S. he served as a Joint Chiefs staff officer during the Dominican Republic Crisis of 1965 as well as a number of other serious political-military crises in

Central and South America. In his final military assignment with the U. S. Navy Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, he adminis-tered the intelligence operations of 186 naval units and ships. Lt. Col. Carter began a second eventful career in higher educa-tion after retiring from the Ma-rine Corps in 1969. That year he became the first Director of Fi-nancial Planning and Budgeting of the newly consolidated Universi-ty of Maine. In 1978 he became the Chief Financial Officer of the System Office of the University of Alabama. He came to Lexington and joined UK in 1982 as Special Assistant to the President and assumed the position of Associate Vice President the following year with a host of responsibilities ranging from capital planning to information systems installation. He also steered UK’s efforts to recruit a Navy ROTC unit. A sample of his extensive list of civic activities and professional asso-ciations included a three-year stint as a volunteer with the International Executive Service Corps, providing

consulting assistance to business schools in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. He chaired the National Center for Higher Education Man-agement System’s primary costing effort. He served for six years as a faculty member of UK’s Business Management Institute. He’s been

President of the Central Kentucky Council of the Navy League. And the list goes on, not the least of which is that he has been

Lt. Col. Carter in the garden behind his Lexington home.

The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame presented David this gleaming medal upon his induc-tion Sept. 30.

David’s wife Virginia served as executive director of the Kentucky Humanities Coun-cil for 25 years.

David Carter as a flight training cadet at Sheppard Field in Texas during WWII.

by Lt. Col. Dale Greer, Kentucky Air National Guard. Thirty-five members of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group completed a three-week deployment last month to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they processed more than 7.2 million pounds of humanitarian aid for recovery operations following Hurricane Maria. The airmen arrived in San Juan Sept. 23 and were among the first U.S. military forces to deploy for the relief effort, said Air Force Col. Bruce Bancroft, the unit’s commander. They established an aerial port of debarkation at Luis Munoz Marin International Air-port the day they arrived and

began accepting military aircraft the next day, eventually receiving food, water, electric generators and other essential cargo from 268 aircraft. The airmen also processed 3,887 arriving passengers from a variety of agencies -- including the Defense Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- to assist with relief efforts. While the Kentucky airmen are now home, the cargo mission will continue for the foreseeable fu-ture, Bancroft said. Primary re-sponsibility for the aerial port has been turned over to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. The San Juan operation was the 123rd CRG’s second mobilization

for hurricane relief this year. The unit also sent 43 airmen to Texas Aug. 29, where they established an aeromedical evacuation hub in Houston following Hurricane Harvey. Over a six-week period, the Kentucky Air National Guard has deployed more than 150 airmen for relief operations following three major storms -- Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Those airmen include 18 members of the 123rd Special Tactics Squad-ron, who rescued 333 residents stranded by flooding in Houston in the aftermath of Harvey. Kentucky Air National Guardsmen also were instrumen-tal in the evacuation of more than 1,000 U.S. citizens from the

Dutch island of St. Maarten fol-lowing Irma by providing air traffic control and flying passen-gers to safety in Puerto Rico aboard two Kentucky Air Nation-al Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Hurricane season keeps Kentucky Air Guard busy

The Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group processes relief supplies around the clock at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, P.R., in the wake of Hurricane Ma-ria. (Kentucky Air National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Dale Greer)

p.5 November 2017 GUEST SPEAKER Charlane Gathy, shown here with chapter President Col. (Ret.) Tom Pe-ters, provided members with an update on VA medical care. Ms. Gathy is executive assistant to the Director, Lexington VA Medical Center.

FROM VALOR, P. 1

Operation Wildcat is a joint

project spearheaded by the

University of Kentucky Sports

Medicine Research Institute

(SMRI) and Team RWB (Red,

White & Blue) , a national or-

ganization whose

mission is to en-

rich the lives of

America's veter-

ans by connecting

them to their

community

through physical

and social activi-

ty. There were

more than 32,000

Team RWB events

in the U.S. in

2015.

"The military model uses

physical activity to build com-

munity and leadership," said

USAF Maj. Troy Kenning, UK

AFROTC, the Lexington chap-

ter event coordinator for Team

RWB. "This is a logical way to

extend that to the civilian com-

munity and build relationships

between veterans and civil-

ians."

The SMRI, part of UK's Col-

lege of Health Sciences, is a

multidisciplinary research cen-

ter that studies injury preven-

tion and performance optimi-

zation for civilian athletes and

the tactical athletes of the U.S.

military Special Operations

Forces.

"We were delighted

to help with this

event, as its goal

aligns so closely with

ours," said Nicholas

Heebner, SMRI asso-

ciate director for re-

search and event co-

director. "We made

sure that all of the

activity for Operation

Wildcat was scalable

— you don't need to be a tri-

athlete to participate and have

a great experience. It’s about

teamwork and supporting your

team members through physi-

cal and mental challenges"

Operation Wildcat will be

6:30 to 10 p.m., Tuesday, Nov.

7 at Kroger Field. Cost is free.

To register for the draft, go to https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ahltwp5j1RRL8XP&Q_JFE=0

by Nov. 1.

Maj. Troy Kenning, UK AFROTC, Event Coordinator

THVC outlines needs for 2018 The Thomson-Hood Veterans Center seeks help from the Bluegrass Chapter in upgrading the sound system in the facili-ty’s Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings, church ser-vices, and other events. “The sound system currently in place is about as old as the facility,” said Ben Swe-ger, THVC Director and Bluegrass Chapter member. “we are working with the com-pany that installed integrated sound sys-tems in our veterans’ dining rooms to en-hance our sound system in the MPR.” Sweger suggested that the chapter could support a portion of the project, such as a sound mixing board, speakers or other components through its donations. The center is developing of list of components and prices and will provide them to the chapter as soon as available. “Our THVC veterans are truly grateful for the support given them by the Bluegrass Chapter,” Sweger added.

Ben Sweger THVC Director

(complete listing at https://www.facebook.com/pg/LexVeteransDay/events/)

Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Salute to Veterans: UK vs. Old Miss, Kroger Field Nov. 5, 10 a.m., VA 5K, Lexington VAMC, Leestown Road Nov. 7, 7 p.m. Operation Wildcat, Kroger Field Nov. 8, 4 p.m., Celebrating Women Veterans, Lexington Senior Center Nov. 9, 11 a.m. Kentucky State U. Veterans Event, Bradford Hall Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m. Veterans of Color documentary, Lyric Theatre Nov. 11, 10 a.m., Appreciation Event at Veterans Park, Lexington Nov. 11, 11 a.m., Thomson-Hood Veterans Day Ceremony, Wilmore Nov. 11, 11 a.m., Camp Nelson Veterans Day Ceremony, Nicholasville Nov. 11, 2 p.m., Veterans Day Parade, Lexington

NEW MEMBERS: The chapter welcomed new members during the Sept. meeting. Shown from left is CAPT Don Smith, USN (Ret.) from Versailles and Lt. Col. Ed Shoupe, USAF (Ret.) from Lexington.

Bluegrass Chapter 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