Vol. XXXIV No. 5 MOAA FIVE STAR AWARD 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 MAY 2009

KOS KOMMENTS

Jim Chandler, CDR. USN Ret.

Chapter President

AS I SIT HERE WRITING

THIS Those of you who have served a

term as President of KOS will

know what I am feeling. As your

new chapter President, I have come

to realize more fully how this

chapter has gotten its fine

reputation. Our board and other

members get involved!

Over the past few days, I have

attended an awards banquet

(described in an article elsewhere

in this publication) and watched 2nd

V.P. CPT John Rose and Director

Chaplain Alan Heneisen take

leading roles in the banquet,

enhancing our status with Marion

County veterans groups and public

safety organizations. CPT Rose

then took a leading role the next

day in the quarterly memorial

service for deceased veterans at

Veterans Park. John appears to be

in every military veterans event

there is in the county, including

Veterans in the Classroom.

Directors LTC Phil Johnson

(Sunbeams) and COL Tilford

Smith (Internet Coordinator) have

both contacted me today for

information as they work on their

assignments. Past President LTC

Ken McIntyre, LTC Johnson and

CAPT Don Dertien are meeting on

Monday to complete our annual

chapter audit. CPT Rose, 2009

Chairman of Operation Stuff the

Bus, has been working with my

wife (Kay) and me on active

preparations for this year’s

campaign. We have just completed

confirmation of each collection

site, Kay is signing up collection

volunteers, and John is in constant

contact with the School Board in

case problems arise with getting a

bus and driver during these

difficult financial times.

And, while I haven’t had direct

contact with them over the last few

days, I’m sure other board

members have been “doing their

thing”. Director MAJ Louis Share

continually works on our mailing

lists and directory updates as well

as mailing out each Sunbeams; and

Treasurer LCDR Kathy Oswald

and Membership Chair CW5

Richard Russell must keep up with

their duties on a regular basis.

Director CAPT Tyke Furey is

working regularly on chapter

advertising and on our Camp

Kiwanis project.

Secretary CDR Bob Buerger

recently sent me a rough draft of

our last board meeting minutes for

approval, and 1st V.P. LtCol Lew

Jones has recently contacted me

about his role in handling the

chapter’s TOPS (MOAA Career

Transition) contacts. Director

WO2 Jerry Furlong keeps in

contact even while on extended

training to qualify as a fixed wing

pilot in the National Guard, and

others have picked up his board

assignments until he can return. I

also keep in regular contact with

Continued on page---

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MAY JUNE JULY/AUGUST

7 - KOS Dinner Meeting, 4 - KOS Luncheon Meeting, No KOS Meetings

Elks Club, Social (Scholarships), Elks Club, July/August

6:00 PM, Dinner 6:30 PM 12:00 Social, 12:30 Lunch

20 - KOS Board Meeting, 17 - KOS Board Meeting, No KOS Board

Elks Club, 12:00 PM Elks Club, 12:00 PM Meetings July/August

No KOS Plus Meeting, No KOS Plus Meeting, No KOS Plus Meeting,

May, June, July and August June, July and August July and August

STUFF THE BUS!!

SUNBEAMS PAGE 2 MAY 2009

KINGDOM of the SUN CHAPTER, MOAA P.O, BOX114,

0CALA FL 34478-0114

SUNBEAMS is published monthly for the

information of the members of Kingdom of the

Sun KOS) Chapter, an affiliate of The Military

Officers Association of America (MOAA). The

views expressed do not necessarily reflect the

views of either organization.

SUNBEAMS is printed by the Concord Press

of Ocala, Florida. KOS is a nonprofit

organization, incorporated under the laws of the

State of Florida on 13 April 1976. It is not

associated with the Department of Defense. It is

mailed as Third Class bulk mail at the U.S. Post

Office, Ocala, FL under Permit #122.

EDITORS:

LTC. Philip Johnson (Army), 854-3403

Email: pjohnson130@cfl.rr.com

COL. Tilford Smith (Army), 237-8726

Email:cynford@stonecreekfl.com

CHAPTER OFFICERS:

President: CDR James Chandler, (Navy)

237-3139

1st V.P.: Lt. Col. Lewis (Lew) Jones (Air Force)

259-1074

2nd V.P.: CPT. John Rose (Army)

307-6130

Secretary: CDR Robert Buerger (Navy),

368-6752

Treasurer: LCDR Kathryn Oswald, (Navy)

694-2639

DIRECTORS:

CAPT Tyke Furey (Navy), 489-3209

CW2 Jerry Furlong (Army), 342-0855

LTC. Phil Johnson (Army), 854-3403

MAJ. Louis Share (Army) 873-0969

Immediate Past President

LTC. Kendall (Ken) McIntyre (Army)

753-4542

MEETINGS:

The Kingdom of the Sun Chapter (MOAA),

meets monthly on the first Thursday of the

month. Dates, times and occasions are

announced in advance in the SUNBEAMS.

Members are encouraged to attend and guests

are always welcome. Meetings are usually

suspended during the summer months of July

and August. The KOS Board currently meets

monthly on the third Wednesday of each month

at 12:00 P.M. at Ocala Elks Club. Officers and

Board Members are required to attend.

KOS PLUS

Betty Hayes

KOS Plus President

Hot pink, cool turquoise,

smashing yellow and black

combinations, these were among

the spring colors that were

modeled by our KOS PLUS

members at our March Luncheon.

Looking very cool and stylish in

the two different outfits that they

presented were: Vanja Johnson,

Melissa Murry (Sharon's

daughter), Naida Rasbury, Peggy

Steck, Shirlee Wilcott, and Marcia

Winne. And as a special treat our

co-program chair, Suzanne Smith,

modeled three of her Vietnamese

dresses called "Ao Dai".

Our crowd of 123 "ooh'd" and

"ah"d" as each model made her

way through the dining room. Our

models' enthusiastic response and

support for this KOS Plus program

is much appreciated. Not only did

our six models give us extra time

for the fittings and clothing

selections, but our two co-program

chairs, Sharon Murry and Suzanne

Smith, devoted time to: planning,

making phone calls, scheduling

fittings and decorating the entry

arch. In short, everyone did their

part to make the Fashion Show a

success. Take a bow!

Dillard's provided all in

attendance with a ten percent

merchandise coupon, and a

Shisedo certificate for a

complimentary facial, At each

table, there was a small, pink Dior

carrying packet containing some

samples of Dior EAU DE

PARFUM. So, everyone went

home armed with the scents and

sights of spring.

Our Hospitality Chair, Gloria

Richards, conducted the door prize

and 50/50 drawings. The door

prize, a lovely, soft, white throw

was won by a guest of Suzanne

Smith. The 50/50 was won by

Carol Hapgood. And we had eight

birthday celebrants, comprised of

both KOS PLUS members and

guests, who went home with bright

birthday balloons. Nan Andrews

honored us by leading the Flag

Salute. If you were among the

members who were unable to

attend, you missed a delightful few

hours. Mark your calendars for next

year's show. Let's aim for 130

present to COMPLETELY fill the

dining room. We can do it!

Our Treasurer, Doris Squazzo,

happily remarked that she received

many more checks than she did

cash. This made her task of

collecting the money for

reservations so much easier! A

BIG THANKS to all of you who

remembered to write a check before

hand. Keep up the good work. It

certainly helped to make the check-

in go more smoothly and quickly.

And Doris did not have a big bag of

money to carry to the bank.

A MEMORY JOGGER: There

will be no luncheons in: May, June,

July or August. Your Board,

however, will meet on April 16 and

August 20. The August 20 meeting

will be a planning session for the

upcoming year. We will need all

Officers and Board Members to be

present. Your Board is always

working for KOS PLUS.

* * * * * *

A VETERAN Reprinted from Patrick AFB Retirees

Newsletter

“ A Veteran is someone who ,

at one point in his/her life wrote

a blank check made payable to

The United States of America

for an amount up to and

including my life. That is honor,

and there are too many people in

this country who no longer

understand it.”

* * * * * *

CHAPLAIN’S

CORNER Alan J. Heneisen,

Chaplain,

MAJ USAR Ret.

(tkd12ocal@earthlink.net)

No Chaplain’s Article this month.

* * * * * *

President-continued from page 1

Betty Hayes, KOS Plus President, and

with LtCol Evette Aponte, Scholarship

Board President, so our organizations

can “mesh”.

Don’t let all this scare you away from

running for chapter President folks.

While I am the prime contact with

MOAA National and the Florida

Council of Chapters, I am mainly a

coordinator for our board, and I try to

get out of the way to let “the train run

down the track”. There is plenty of

experience on each KOS board, and you

are never alone. If you don’t care to be

President, let a board member know if

you are interested in any of the jobs

mentioned above, and we will gladly get

that information to the next nominating

committee. ALL ABOARD!

* * * * * *

FLASH!!! By COL Tilford Smith

We here at KOS and KOS Plus now

have our own website. Go to

www.KOSMOAA.org

and check out the latest calendar of

events, news items, etc. You can even

download the current and previous

issues of Sunbeams. We're still growing,

and news items of our various charitable

events will be covered in the future. If

you think you have items that would be

of interest to the whole chapter please

submit them to the webmaster and they

will be presented to the board for

approval. Articles should be informative

in nature and written in a brief

paragraph form.

Webmaster:

cynford@stonecreekfl.com

* * * * * *

TOPS Update By LtCol. Lew Jones, 1

st VP and TOPS

Coordinator

As TOPS Liaison for KOS/MOAA,

one of my responsibilities is to assist

men and women who are leaving

military service, and who are

transitioning to new careers to find

suitable employment. As The Officer

Placement Service (TOPS) liaison, who

serves as the primary point of contact

for our chapter for MOAA members and

their spouses, I welcome your support in

this extremely important endeavor.

You can support our efforts by

directing MOAA members, who are

separating from military service to

contact me at 352-259-1074, or by

emailing their resume’ to me at LAJ28

@comcast.net. I will connect them with

the Statewide and National Networking

system for further support in finding a

new job.

Let’s all work together to support our

men and women who have served in the

defense of our great country, and are

now starting a new career.

* * * * * *

SEATING AT REGULAR

LUNCHEON MEETINGS

By LtCol. Lew Jones, 1st V.P.

The KOS Board of Directors and

officers of KOS/MOAA have approved

a new seating plan, which will allow us

to leave two (2) vacant seats at

designated tables at regular luncheon

meetings.

The purpose of this plan is to allow

new members and guests to meet other

members and get introduced in a

friendly and inviting manner. Name

places will also be available to allow

seating as usual.

The Board has determined that some

potential new members, after attending

one meeting, never return because they

did not feel welcomed. We strongly

feel that the new seating arrangement

will be more inviting and welcoming for

all of our guests. Please go out of your

way to welcome our guests.

* * * * * *

SUNBEAMS PAGE 3 MAY 2009

LEGISLATIVE

AFFAIRS (Excerpts from MOAA’s email

updates, Copyright © 2004

Military Officers Association of America

(MOAA) or from other sources as cited)

Budget Resolutions: Pay Raise,

TRICARE, and More

The House and Senate approved

their respective versions of the

FY2010 Budget Resolution on Friday

before taking off for the two-week

Easter recess. In the meantime,

House and Senate leaders will be

working to resolve the differences

between the two versions so they can

pass a final resolution once Congress

reconvenes.

Of necessity, Hill leaders find

themselves in a "cart-before-the-

horse" mode this year. Their rules

require finishing the budget

resolution before April 15, on the

assumption that the President's

budget is delivered to them in

February. But every newly elected

administration needs extra time to

prepare its initial budget - which

won't be delivered to Congress until

the end of April.

In March, leaders of the House and

Senate Armed Services Committees

wrote their respective Budget

Committees to request extra budget

headroom for several specific

priorities. Their requests included

extra allocations for a 3.4% military

pay raise (vs. the 2.9% proposed by

the Pentagon), additional progress to

ease VA compensation offsets to

military retired pay and SBP

annuities, and to reject any increases

in TRICARE fees that the

Administration may propose in its

final budget submission.

The recommendations of both

Armed Services committees for 3.4%

pay raise are a very good sign that it

will be approved, as the full Congress

has agreed with such joint

recommendations in the past.

Both budget resolutions also

include "deficit-neutral reserve

funds" that could potentially address

compensation improvements for

disabled retirees; SBP-DIC survivors;

Guard-Reserve retirement, health and

GI Bill benefits; and DoD and VA

health care issues. It's nice that

Congress acknowledged those needs,

but these provisions offer no firm

commitments. The "deficit-neutral"

qualifier means they can be done only

if Congress finds other "mandatory

spending" reductions to offset any

increases in those areas. The

difficulty of identifying such offsets

is why we haven't made more

progress in past years.

* * * * * *

More on the "Economic

Stimulus" Tax

The recent stimulus plan reduces

federal income taxes up to $400 for

working individuals and $800 for

couples via smaller tax withholding

from their paychecks. Non-working

military retirees or survivors are not

eligible for the tax reduction, but will

see the reduced withholding in their

retired pay or survivor annuities.

That's because DFAS is required to

use the new tax withholding tables

published by the IRS for retired

paychecks or annuities arriving in

bank accounts on May 1.

To add to the confusion, the

stimulus bill also provides a $250

payment to those drawing Social

Security or VA disability

compensation. So if a retiree or

survivor draws VA disability or

Social Security, he/she will get the

$250 payment on top of the reduced

income tax withholding.

A working retiree who also draws

Social Security or VA disability

compensation will get the $250

payment and will also have the

Continued on page 5

SUNBEAMS PAGE 4 MAY 2009

TAX continued from page 4

additional $400 ($800 married filing

jointly) withheld from BOTHmilitary

retired pay AND employer pay.

There will be some rude awakenings

next year when retirees or survivors

discover they've been "under-

withheld" and owe an unexpectedly

large tax bill on their 2009 taxes.

MOAA has written congressional

leaders and Treasury Secretary

Geithner urging exemption of taxable

retired pay, pensions and annuities

from the lower withholding. If this

effort is unsuccessful, retirees can ask

DFAS to restore their original

withholding on their retired pay or

annuity to avoid a bigger 2009 tax

bill. (Emphasis added Ed.)

* * * * * *

Roth TSP/Survivor Allowance

Bill Passes

On Tuesday, MOAA received a call

from the House Armed Services

Committee staff requesting our help in

supporting legislation that House

Armed Services Committee Chairman,

Ike Skelton (D-MO), hoped to bring to

the House floor to improve payments

to SBP-DIC widows and allow

military and federal civilian personnel

a Roth option on their Thrift Savings

Plan.

Skelton managed to include this

provision in an unrelated tobacco bill

(H.R. 1804), outside of the normal

Defense Authorization bill process.

MOAA put out a special email alert

generating 8,000 messages to the Hill

in less than 24 hours, and the measure

was approved in Wednesday's House

vote.

The bill provides for increases in the

special survivor indemnity allowance

(SSIA) that began last October. The

current payments start at $50 a month,

but ramp up to $100 per month by

2013. The new legislation would

increase those monthly amounts over

time, to $345 a month by 2013.

We've had some inquiries as to why

we supported an increase in the current

modest payment rather than holding

out for full repeal of the SBP/DIC

offset. The answer is that it's not an

"either-or" proposition.

Nobody, especially MOAA, sees

H.R. 1804 as the answer, by any

means - only as one more step toward

the answer. In essence, it's an

opportunity out of the blue to at least

raise the payment floor for the

SBP/DIC widows.

This was a "bird in the hand"

opportunity, but certainly does not

dampen our campaign for full repeal.

In fact, every small step we take on

this issue diminishes the resistance to

repealing the entire offset - and it

makes the cost of full repeal go down,

too.

* * * * * *

Board Meeting Summary

By CDR Robert Buerger

The KOS Board of Directors has

decided that it might be in the best

interest of Chapter members if they

had some insight into the actions of the

Board. Accordingly, the following is a

brief summary of the minutes of the 18

March meeting. A complete copy of

the minutes may be obtained from the

Secretary with the understanding that

information contained therein should

not be widely disseminated to those

not members of the KOS Chapter

Official minutes will be kept in

Chapter archives for a minimum of

two years

SUMMARY

Kingdom of the Sun, Board of

Directors meeting

18 March, 2009, Elks Club conference

room

1. The meeting was called to order at

1210 by President, CDR Jim Chandler

2. The invocation was offered by

Director, MAJ Louis Share

3 .CDR Chandler led in the pledge of

allegiance to our flag.

(Continued on page 6)

SUNBEAMS PAGE 5 MAY 2009

2009

STUMPKNOCKERS

Restaurant

Featuring Our Famous

ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Catfish

Casual Dining on the

Scenic Withlacoochee

Fresh Grouper, Snapper, Shrimp,

Scallops, Oysters, Crab Legs, Frog

Legs, New York Strip, Ribeye,

Grilled Chicken Breast

Full Liquor Bar

Highway 200, at the Withlacoochee

River in Dunnellon

Phone 854-2288

DAVID J. ZANER, D.M.D., P.A.

Periodontics

3I43 S.W. 32nd Avenue,

Suite 300

Ocala, Florida 34476 Telephone 352-873-6999

WWW.DRZANER.COM

DIPLOMATE, American Board of

Periodontology

Minutes Continued from page 5

4. A quorum of voting board

members was present

5. REPORTS

(a) President: CDR Chandler: (1)

There is no conflict of interest if the

same person serves as treasurer on

both the KOS Board and the

Scholarship Board. (2) CDR

Chandler is covering the JROTC

duties for WO2 Furlong who is on 3

months Active Duty for Training.

(b) 1st V. P. (1) Lt Col Jones is the

Chapter TOPS coordinator. If you

know of a veteran or his/her spouse

looking for a job, Col Jones will help

get a resume posted on local, state

and national MOAA web sites (2)

Several seats at Chapter meetings

will be reserved for New members

and guests. Every one is encouraged

to greet new members and guests so

they will feel welcome and return.

© 2nd

V. P. CPT Rose reported on

programs planned for future meetings

(d) Secretary/Historian. CDR

Buerger distributed copies of the

minutes of the 18 February Board

meeting. The minutes were approved

as published. He is purging historical

records to reduce the bulk and

preserve only that which is of

historical value.

(e) Treasurer. LCDR Oswald

distributed copies of the balance

sheet summary which was approved

as presented. The checking account

balance as of 17 March was

$3,079.31.

(e) Immediate Past President. LTC

McIntyre is working with the

President to keep the JROTC

program running while WO Furlong

is absent. [See (a) above.]

DIRECTORS/CHAIRS

(a) Advertising/Camp Kiwanis.

CAPT Furey reported all advertisers

except 2 have renewed. Patronize our

advertisers and let them know you

saw their ad. Camp Kiwanis; we had

planned to send 11 dependents this

year but will have to reduce the

number to 9 or 10 because of an

increase in per attendee cost. See the

March “Military Officer Magazine‘,

page 43:

(b) Sunbeams/Legislation. LTC

Johnson reported that Sunbeams can

now be delivered electronically.

(c) Directory/Mailing MAJ Share;

the 2009 Directory is ready for

mailing. He noted that our bulk mail

permit requires a minimum of 200

on the mailing list or we lose the bulk

mail rate

(d) Membership. CW5 Russell

reported that he has recruited several

new members. We need younger

members.

* * * * * *

KOS A SPONSOR OF PUBLIC

SAFETY AWARDS BANQUET

By CDR Jim Chandler

The 11th Annual Law Officer and

Firefighter Awards Banquet was

hosted by the American Legion Al

Krietemeyer Post 284 in Belleview,

and chaired by the Marion County

Veterans Council on 3 April, 2009.

KOS was one of the sponsors of the

event, and was represented by CDR

Jim and Kay Chandler, MAJ Alan

Heneisen, and CPT John Rose.

Attendees were told of outstanding

service by awardees representing the

Florida Fish and Wildlife

Conservation Commission, the

Belleview and Ocala Police

Departments, the Florida Department

of Corrections, the Florida Highway

Patrol, Marion County and Ocala

Fire Rescue Departments, and the

Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Some truly heroic stories were

(Continued on page 7)

SUNBEAMS PAGE 6 MAY 2009

AWARDS continued from page 6 presented

CPT Rose had the main role in

planning and carrying out the banquet for

the Veterans Council, Chaplain Heneisen

was the event Chaplain, and CDR

Chandler presented an award plaque on

behalf of KOS to Trooper Shaun

Lattinville, FL Highway Patrol. It was

good to see KOS demonstrate our

commitment to veterans’ causes and to

our public safety officers.

Think about attending next year’s

awards banquet to represent our chapter.

You will especially remember the Salute

of Fallen Heroes, this year conducted by

Chaplin Heneisen and John Earl, a piper

with the Marion County Sheriff’s Fife

and Drums. Amazing Grace on the

pipes can bring tears to the eyes of the

toughest among us.

* * * * * *

“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you

didn’t plan your mission properly”

* * * * * *

SICK CALL

The following individuals are to some

degree “under the weather”. Please let

us know if we have forgotten anyone.

Tish Dertien

Doris Kunze

MAJ. Carola McIntyre

LCDR Wayne Miessen

* * * * * *

KOS DINNER MEETING

OCALA ELKS CLUB

(702 NE 25th

Ave., Ocala)

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Social 6:00 P.M.

Dinner 6:30 P.M.

Menu

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cole Slaw

Grilled New Potatoes

Fried Zucchini

Rolls and Butter

Iced Tea and Hot Coffee

PROGRAM

Camp Kiwanis

and

351st MP Co. Iraq Update

Reservations Required

NLT Monday, May 4, 2009

$14.00 per person

RESERVATION POLICY: Reservations must be made no later than

Monday, May 4, 2009. For reservations, please call CPT. John Rose at

Telephone 307-6130. Please remember that a reservation made is a

reservation to be paid.

SUNBEAMS PAGE 7 MAY 2009

Come join us in celebrating this Memorial Day. Special services honoring

our Nation’s Heroes along with family friendly events for everyone in

attendance are planned for the celebration, which will include: free food,

free rides, war history exhibits, flag history display, antique military vehicle

display, 21 gun salute, door prizes and more.

The purpose of Highland Memorial Day 2009 is to create an event

which bridges across generations and brings our community’s students

and families in touch with Freedom’s Heroes. Not only that, Highland

Memorial Park and First Avenue Bank in cooperation with the Marion

County Public School System are sponsoring the first annual “What

Memorial Day Means to Me” essay contest, which is intended to have a

positive impact on our school system. The contest is open to all Marion

County middle and high school students. Event sponsors have generously

provided the following awards in both the middle and high school

categories:

Two winning essays will receive a $1,000 US Savings Bond each

Two 1st & 2nd place runners-up will receive a $500 US Savings Bond each

(6 winners total-3 High School & 3 Middle School)

Check out our website which provides information regarding the event Check out our website which provides information regarding the event Check out our

(www.highlandmemorialday.com).

Highland Memorial Day 2009Monday, May 25th