NGAI Alert #11-2; Veterans Day 2011

Dear NGAI Member,

A special “Welcome Home” to the men and women of the219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade!

Tomorrow, we proudly honor those who serve. The National Guard Association of Indiana thanks you for your service and for carrying on the tradition of preserving our freedom. We would also like to thank the families for keeping the home lights burning while our men and women in uniform are away defending this great nation.

We also want to thank you for your continued support of NGAI. Our 2012 Membership Campaign is under way and we look forward to informing you as to why membership is important in NGAI, EANGUS and NGAUS. If you have not visited our web site recently, please do. You will find a convenient link to membership renewal for all three of our Professional Associations as well as important news and events for our NGAI members.

While we continue to fight the wars overseas, there are other battles being fought in our nation’s capital. Two very significant events are occurring on the eve of this special Veterans Day. First, the Senate Armed Services Committee is conducting hearings on the Chief of the National Guard having a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The other ongoing battle is in the so called “Super Committee”. Please read the articles below, one from the National Guard Association of the United States, NGAUS, and the other from the Military Officers Association of America, MOAA.

Please read the related articles following and take action!

Mike

Mike Sturm
Executive Director
National Guard Association of Indiana

McKinley to Senate: Guard Needs New Seat - November 10, 2011

By the time Gen. Craig R. McKinley was able to speak at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, the Pentagon’s senior legal counsel and its six top officers had already voiced their opposition to anything the chief of the National Guard Bureau planned to say.

But McKinley was able to explain why making his position a permanent one on the Joint Chiefs of Staff was “now in the best interests of the American People.”

(To continue reading click the link to the NGAUS Washington Report.) http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=645141295&message_id=1611244&user_id=NGAUS&group_id=556801&jobid=7857700

Please use the link below to respond to the NGAUS Legislative Alert #11-25 and contact our Senators at this crucial time.

NGAUS LEGISLATIVE ALERT #11-25 - November 9, 2011

The Issue: Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on National Guard Empowerment

Immediate Action Required: Contact your Senators to reinforce their support for the National Guard seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
http://www.ngai.net/ngaus-legislative-alert-25-9-nov-2011

MOAA
New Plan – Tax Military Families First - November 10, 2011

The Bogus Case for Military Vesting: Defense officials and others have called for changes in the military retirement system to be “fairer to people who leave service before completing 20 years of service.”

Tax Military Families First? MOAA calls a foul when one Super Committee plan puts steep military TRICARE fee hikes at the top of its revenue-raising list.

(To read the article click on the link below.)
http://moaa.org/action_update_111011.htm#issue2