From Chuck Weber, your Veteran Service Officer...
 
 
Miscellaneous Updates

ID Card Expiration Date   Action Required if INDEF

In 2011, officials began replacing the Social Security Account Number, or SSAN, with a 10-digit number unique to the Department of Defense on all ID cards. Retirees, their family members, and survivors with an “INDEF” expiration date may not have replaced their ID card before and may therefore still have an SSAN printed on their card. DOD officials are urging people who have an ID card with an “INDEF” expiration date to visit a DOD ID card facility for a new ID card with the DOD ID number in place of the SSAN to reduce their risk of identity theft. Officials stress that until an ID card with a printed SSAN expires, it remains valid and does not need to be confiscated or replaced.

     In time, every ID card will have a printed DOD number instead of a printed SSAN. Family members and survivors will have their own DOD ID number printed on their cards, not that of their sponsor. Because DoD ID cards will no longer have the sponsor’s printed SSN, cardholders may be asked to provide it verbally. To find your nearest DoD ID card facility, visit http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl  or call the Total Force Service Center at 1-800-525-0102. To confirm required documentation, refer to the Pre-Arrival Checklist at www.cac.mil/docs/required_docs.pdf. Note that the nearest facility does not have to be an Air Force installation in order to serve Air Force retirees and their family members. People should check with the issuing facility to verify appointment requirements and hours of operation. 
[Source: Afterburner | Spring-Summer 2015 ++]

Exchange Online Shopping    All Vet Proposal Status

The idea of expanding online exchange-shopping benefits to all honorably discharged veterans is moving closer to reality, with all three military-exchange services supporting the idea.
 [Source:  MilitaryTimes | Karen Jowers | October 30, 2015 ++]

Cold War Medal    Reintroduced as H.R.2067

Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) has once again introduced a bill to create a Cold War Service Medal. It is H.R. 2067. This has been proposed in the last several Congresses and TREA is trying once again to finally get it passed. The Pentagon has repeatedly opposed the bill saying that it would cost them $400M to create and award the medal.  The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) accepted DoD’s figures and scored the bill’s price as the same $400 million. TREA believes that this is a horribly inflated number and intends to fight it. If you are interested in this recognition please speak to your House member and urge him or her to cosponsor the bill.
[Source:  TREA News for the Enlisted | September 1, 2015 ++]

Space "A" Travel    Dependent CONUS Travel Approved

Without any fanfare, on 9 June 2015, the eligibility requirements to use Space A travel within the Continental United States (CONUS) were extended to include the dependents of service members who are deployed for 30 days or longer.   This is going to be a great benefit for families who might want to travel during deployment and can use Space A to cut costs. Many years ago, spouses and children were not able to use Space A travel benefits within CONUS except under very limited circumstances such as emergency leave and TDY for house hunting.  In recent years, the rules have been revised a few times to include dependents whose service member was deployed for a specified period of time. This recent change, to 30 days deployment for eligibility, represents the most generous CONUS Space A benefits to date. Dependents gaining their Space-A eligibility due to service member deployment will be Category IV in priority.  Those requesting travel will require a memo detailing their eligibility, and a sample memo can be found at the AMC website http://www.amc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150625-025.pdf . This definitely requires a little pre-planning to have the eligibility memo before you start the travel process.  Unfortunately this change only applies to dependents of active duty members.
[Source:  NAUS Weekly Update | Watchdog | September 4, 2015 ++]

 

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