Middle Tennessee Chapter - MOAA

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.) 

MTC Legislative Liaison

First things first: Highest Congratulations to LtCol Karon Uzzell-Baggett for being elected to serve on the MOAA Board of Directors – a national level position.  Woo Hoo!

I am writing in that very highly charged time when all the electioneering is happening.  It is an odd time when the nation is full of noise and little else going on.  Congress is in recess until after the elections but will be so very busy with unfinished business.  Leading that unfinished business is the federal budget for the fiscal year that has already begun.  They passed a continuing resolution to keep operating until 20 December which will bring a frenzy of activity to get things done before Christmas.  This has happened before, so there is nothing new as the 118^th Congress wraps up and the new congress is sworn in at noon on 3 January.

For all the heat and discontent that is in the news, let the Thanksgiving holiday time and anticipation of Christmas teach us an important lesson:  You and I have won the lottery, because we are Americans who lived and served through our nation’s many conflicts and live under God’s blessings today.  There has never been another time like this, and we have been able to not only watch it happen but also to participate in this great age. 

I read recently that a real sign of American greatness and exceptionalism is how those who complain and hate America refuse to leave.  What a wonderful place and time this is.  Enjoy and rejoice.

And 10 November is the Birthday of the Marine Corps.  That’s a Sunday.  Go to church and give thanks. And thanks again on the 28^th:  Thanksgiving Day.  

Need I say more?

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.) 

MTC Legislative Liaison

The presidents who followed were all veterans in various capacities and so were the elected leaders at every level.  It was known which leader had served in which service, and their veteran status was so very normal that we could acknowledge it as part of daily life.

Without any fanfare or crisis or obvious cause, that all changed – and not for the better.  The article starting on page 18 of the October issue of Military Officer documents the decline which has reduced the number of veterans serving in the House and Senate at a steady rate.  When I was a young officer, we had about 56% of the House and 76% of the Senate with a uniformed service history.  Now both houses of Congress have about 18% with service history.  The decline has been steady for four decades, and few have noticed.  Please read that article.

What it means is that most of the people who represent us don’t share the values of those who have served.  They don’t even share those values with each other!  What matters in our community is all but unknown to them.  Watch them in their voting and hearings, and you will see how foreign our nation’s defense needs are to them.  It comes out as slow and uninformed decision making about the quality of forces, the equipment they use to fly and sail and conquer – but most especially in the uninformed questions they must ask.  It is really scary that the halls of Congress are populated by people who lack the personal experience to know what is needed and wanted in the serving communities and what is important to protect the interests of freedom-loving people around the world.

How will they know unless they hear from those who know and care?  That’s why the MOAA mission of advocacy is so important.  It is also why you who know and care communicate with those who must decide and act (and lack the experiences we who served share together). Please make use of the MOAA Legislative Action Center!

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.) 

MTC Legislative Liaison

“It’s Summertime …” as I wrote before.  The weather is still so very hot and dry, but we begin our activities for Autumn now.  It is also Election Season for the Presidency, the whole House of Representatives, and 1/3 of the Senate.  Those two houses resume their work on 9 September, and there is a rush to get the budgetary measures done in a mere three weeks.

Quoting from MOAA Advocacy email: “The 118^th Congress, which has enacted the least amount of legislation by any session in recent history, returns to work Sept. 9 with a full plate … through Sept. 27 when Congress is scheduled to adjourn until mid-November.  Barring an unexpected habit-breaking, last-minute, bipartisan agreement, Congress will not pass any of the 12 appropriation bills needed to fund the federal government by the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.”  And that includes the NDAA.

Advocacy is not an expensive thing to do, but what we advocate for can be VERY expensive.  A major job in those congressional offices is to put together all those initiatives and sort out the money to pay for them – a very arduous task.  Few would admit it directly, but sorting out all those needs and wants does involve the satisfying of constituent concerns.   In the world of ethics and values, there is always more need than there is resource to meet it fully.  Our advocacy actually helps them prioritize, so they don’t work in a vacuum of ignorance or opinion.  Tell those Washington people what matters to you!

I sometimes feel like I spent too much time on the money issues of advocacy, but “money makes the world go around” as the song goes in that musical Cabaret.  There is a great article in our Military Officer magazine September issue starting on page 36 about all that goes wrong in the funding action.  It is worth your reading carefully.

We have talked in the past about the Major Richard Starr Act about concurrent receipt for members taking disability before normal eligibility to retire.  Major Starr died in 2022, and his surviving spouse died in 2024.  This important legislation comes up every year, and it remains an important item for your advocacy.

It’s still summertime for a short while yet!  Why not go to the Legislation Action Center website and make sure there is a pile of constituent mail awaiting our legislators when they get back to Washington. That website is https://moaa.quorum.us.  Lawmakers’ offices are very busy places in this coming season, so give them something to pay attention to.

Be safe and well; and spend some time on MOAA Advocacy Activities so that those fine people we elect can also know what matters to us and act on those matters.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.)

MTC Legislative Liaison

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.)

MTC Legislative Liaison

Do you remember that song from the musical show “Showboat”?  It tells of this time of year with the words: “Summertime, and the living is easy.”  Well here we are in July, and has it all become easy as schools are out for the summer and many families go away on vacation?

Congress goes on vacation in August, but here we are in July – and there is still work to be done in July.

Many of us live in the 7^th Congressional District, and our Congressman Mark Green is working on initiatives to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which will fund the armed forces for the coming fiscal year.  Here are some changes related to our forces that you may wish to know about and maybe communicate to our representatives and senators:

-- A shift of Mexico from Northern Command to Southern Command in this time of needing to protect the southwestern border of the USA from undocumented immigration and the flow of drugs.

-- Directing Army Special Ops Command to establish an exchange program between Army special forces and those of the Polish Army.  We have a long and productive history of personnel exchanges with friendly nations, and I served in such a program with the Royal Navy.  They build relationships and foster inter-operability.  Hostilities with Russian forces and with Chinese support have raised the importance of our operating relations with Poland to an elevated level.

-- Mandating that DoD produce a report to Congress on the feasibility of furnishing the National Guard in every state with a cyber unit to respond quickly to cyber-attacks.  This is close to us after the recent cyber-attack on the Ascension St. Thomas hospitals in Nashville.

-- Requiring SECDEF to maintain a top-tier subterranean training facility for Special Ops units.

We would all take approaches to these matters differently based on our own backgrounds and experiences.  Right now, the matter is to fund them in the new NDAA that needs to be passed for the upcoming fiscal year.  If you have something to say, this is a fine time to write advocacy letters of our legislators in Washington and, to understand them well if they appear in the news we read and hear.

“It’s Summertime …” and I wish you well.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.)

MTC Legislative Liaison

The Advocacy in Action (AiA) Day on the Hill came on 17 April.  They called on 521 of the 535 congressional offices to speak with leaders and make their key topics known.  That makes over 97% of the total offices and staffers receiving news and information about our initiatives in that single day.  The focus was on three topics:

     * Support for the Major Richard Star Act - This legislation would allow combat wounded veterans to receive BOTH their DoD retirement pay AND VA disability compensation without the latter offsetting the former.  There is widespread support for this legislation at the level of 74 senate cosponsors and 327 house cosponsors, but getting it included and funded in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is not a done deal because it would be expensive in a time of frugality.

     * Support for the BAH Restoration Act - For most of us, active duty is a thing of the past, but it is important to care for those serving now.  Under the concept of aligning with other federal programs, it remains important to support returning Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to 100% of projected housing costs rather than the current 95%.

     * Call for Congress to protect TRICARE for Life benefits – TRICARE for Life is under scrutiny every year by the Congressional Budget Office as they seek to trim expenditures and save some money.  The big news for this year is that the issue appears to be off the table.

On the AiA date the offices of all TN Senators and Congressmen were visited by Lt Col Pete Warner, USAF (Ret) and Col Donald Thompson, USAF (Ret).  Pete Warner is our MOAA TN Council of Chapters President and Don Thompson is a current member of the MOAA Board of Directors and a member of the Mountain Empire MOAA Chapter. They were able to meet with some office holders, but frequently their audience turned out to be staff members. Their picture with Congressman Mark Green is in this month’s MOAA magazine. 

2024 is an election year, and 1/3 of senators and all representatives are up for election in November. 

Through the MOAA Legislative Action Center – which you can use online at www.moaa.org/takeaction or by phone at 866-272-MOAA (6622) – over 15,000 messages have been delivered to our elected   officials in Washington this year.  That is a LOT of impact!  There is no limit on your ability to add to that impact, because there is no limit on how often you can use that tool.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.)

MTC Legislative Liaison

“The only way our elected officials know the needs of the American people – and most importantly veterans – is when we show up and we explain it to them,” wrote Sgt. James Powers, USA (Ret).  That quote comes from the latest edition of Military Officer, our MOAA magazine.

I would be the first to say that it is highly important that we all express our views and concerns to our members of Congress.  Unfortunately, I notice there seem to be fewer and fewer members of Congress who have ever worn our country’s uniform, been sworn into the armed forces at any level, or worked under authority of the Commander-in-Chief and Chain of Command.  The world and the American People look entirely different for those of us who have had that uniformed service experience.  That disparity is particularly evident for us in MOAA who have known that experience.  These two world views do not match up very well – hence the rationale behind the urgent need to take the initiative to voice our opinions with our elected officials.

On 17 April, MOAA leadership visited elected officials in Congress for what was called Advocacy in Action Day.  It was a day of face-to-face contact, and the point of the above quote from Sgt. Powers on the value of speaking directly with congressional leaders.  Eye-to-eye contact is powerful, and there is no substitute for it when opportunities come around.  In a half year, the whole of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be up for election (including one Tennessee senator).  There will be opportunities for you to speak up as members of MOAA and our Middle Tennessee Chapter – do take them.

The Major Richard Star Act was one of the key pieces of legislation the national-level MOAA team met with leading senators on 17 April about – legislation to allow retirees to receive BOTH their DoD retirement pay AND VA disability compensation without the latter offsetting the former.  There is widespread support for this legislation at the level of 74 senate cosponsors and 327 house cosponsors, but getting it included and funded in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is not a done deal because it would be expensive in a time of frugality.  This needs to be done in the next 4 months.

Need I say more?  Please take this tasking to heart.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.) 

MTC Legislative Liaison

TRICARE matters to all of us, and here is something you should become aware of as it looms on the   horizon for us. DoD plans are working to improve health care for active duty and retiree households by drawing TriCare beneficiaries back from the private sector toward Military Treatment Facilities (MTC). Nothing in that planning requires us to get care at MTFs, it is intended to improve accessibility toward making the MTF our preferred choice for ease and simplicity of care. There is no advocacy action for us to act on now, but we should expect it to come around. Just something to be considering over time, and MOAA is not advocating it right yet.

One can easily imagine that bringing patients back to the MTFs is an expensive proposition. At the same time, TriCare benefits come under dangerous and annual scrutiny. The Congressional Budget Office looks at TriCare as a cost-saving measure, and MOAA comes to the defense of TriCare as a recurring matter of advocacy. Calling it “TriCare for life” does not entirely protect it for us. On 17 April, MOAA will meet for an advocacy day on the Hill with congressional leaders. If there is ever a time for letters to be send to representatives and senators, right now is an opportune time for you to write.

Within that topic is the concern about staffing at MTF locations. Would the rising numbers of patient’s stress MTF staffing and facilities such that existing access to care is jeopardized? Would additional billets at MTFs need to be created and/or contracting of civilian providers become necessary? A second concern is that returning patients might quickly overwhelm the capacity of MTFs to provide care. It is a delicate topic, and MOAA will watch the planning carefully before advocating it.  Just to ease concerns, the vision is for voluntary return of retirees to MTF care unlike past initiatives to recapture the market that had drifted away.

It has been a very LONG time since most of our chapter members were so very junior in their service with the financial struggles that were part of family separation through deployment – but we remember, don’t we?  Service members’ families still struggle with the financial costs that accompany extended deployment. Congress created a Family Separation Allowance (FSA) program in the past, and the current Congress has passed a bill to raise it from $250 to $400. DoD has not put the raise into effect yet, but with MOAA advocacy support it is coming. It is good to be able to applaud MOAA’s advocacy for this important progress.

And finally, there is still no federal budget for the year even though we now do have the NDAA in place.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (ret.) 

MTC Legislative Liaison

Here I am writing on 29 February – Leap Year Day.  That usually recalls how we are in a presidential election year, but today it ends our third continuing resolution and the lack of a federal budget at the 5-month point of the fiscal year. Why are we here, and what comes next? As if we were driving the action, moments ago came the news bulletin that a fourth continuing resolution was passed by a large margin, quickly through the Senate, and off to the President. What is shocking is how little mention of the situation has been in the news this week. Have you even heard it mentioned about the risks of a government shut-down or possible default on federal debt?  Do they care out there?

On a might lighter note and off-topic but related to our own conditions of service and this 29 February date is the theme of the 19^th Century Gilbert and Sullivan operetta “The Pirates of Penzance.”  Within the plot is the plight of a young sailor who had been apprenticed to sea duty. His mother had misunderstood his apprenticeship to be a “pilot” instead of a “pirate” until his 21^st birthday – to the age of 21. On that date to finish the apprentice contract, which happened to be a February 29^th, the error was discovered that 29 February was not really his 21^st birthday at all so he would be under the conditions until he would reach 84 years of age – his 21^st birthday.  The Pirates of Penzance is a lot of fun to watch, and you can probably find it streaming on TV. All very comedic and a reminder of our own conditions of commissioning and the need to pay attention to details. Remember that we who have retired are actually still in our chosen service and subject to some very detailed conditions.

Back on topic:   It looks like there will not be a federal budget this fiscal year at all. Instead of finishing and passing a budget, pieces have been passed, four continuing resolutions have been passed instead, and it is now time to get busy to draft and negotiate next year’s budget. Even this fourth continuing resolution will not carry through March. One might expect some urgency now, but the urgency moves forward to the next deadline of 30 September. What will these coming months bring? Will there be no federal budget this year at all? And will all the urgency be swallowed up in the electioneering activities to come?

Without getting complicated about fiscal matters, this would be an appropriate time to communicate to our representatives and senators about the importance to get America’s basic business done and to be attentive to the details of it all. Just my thoughts on 29 February…

CDR Ted Edwards, USN Retired 

MTC Legislative Liaison

The subject is Advocacy.  It is a major activity of MOAA at the national level in Washington to be active in lobbying Congress to support initiatives that impact veterans and serving service members.  That’s not a new thing, and we speak of it often.

Advocacy at the state level was the subject of Veterans Day on the Hill – an annual advocacy day in Nashville organized by ten Veteran organizations under the umbrella of TNVET, including MOAA and our Middle Tennessee Chapter.  This year the event was on 31 January, and several of us were there.  Right now, TNVET is advocating four things:  Tax Equalization property tax relief for qualified 100% disabled veterans, Medical Cannabis, Electronic Voting for active duty and families serving overseas, and restoration of the 2nd free auto license plate for 100% disabled veterans.  There is controversy involved with some of these matters – as one would expect.

One of our members picked up that matters concerning voting will have no traction in the 2024 election year but may do well in 2025.  Probably most of us have voted absentee by mail and wondered how well it worked out; now, electronic technologies may improve that if security can be assured.

Attendance was stronger from Middle Tennessee than from the far extremes.  Doug Minton organized some of us to determine which representatives had no constituents attending and split up that list so we could call on those representatives in their offices.  This worked out quite well, and it turns out that it has been done in the past; hopefully it will make the plan for next year.  We could make an even greater impact if every representative had someone call on them in their offices to remind them of veteran presence throughout Tennessee and what matters to them.  I drew the ones from the northeast and southwest corners, and they both told of how rarely someone comes to visit in their offices at the Cordell Hull Building.

Finally, I was struck by two things:  1- How much the representatives appreciated being visited by concerned veteran citizens, especially those with serving family members.  2- How little some knew and how strongly they knew it when speaking about the relationship of the National Guard and the President’s ability to mobilize them for federal service needs. 

Both an informed citizenry and informed representatives are a constant need in our government at all levels– a need that never goes away.  Advocacy… 

CDR Ted Edwards, USN Retired 

MTC Legislative Liaison

This seems to be an appropriate time to remind all Chapter members that as a MOAA Affiliate we are prohibited from advocating for issues that may represent one political agenda over another or supporting a candidate for elected office.  To this end, we limit our chapter advocacy to MOAA supported national issues and veteran and military issues at the state level that do not represent one political platform. As further adherence to this policy your Board has elected to not schedule any political speakers for our monthly meetings leading up to and during election years.

This is an election year, and the monthly legislative advocacy columns to be written are dizzying.  Can we benefit from some local focus?  The annual Legislative Day on the Hill comes on 31 January, and this is an important and also fun day, too.  It is an opportunity to meet our state legislators in person and get briefed on matters important to us as veterans.  Many other veterans’ organizations in Tennessee are represented as TNVET members, so the event brings opportunities to meet other veterans and find common ground with them.  A number of our members have attended in the past, but adding to that number can be an important outing for our chapter as we get better informed on lots of issues and initiatives.

Some details:  You register online.  Free parking is at Nissan Stadium with shuttle transportation to the Statehouse and back.  There is no cost to attend.  Please put it on your calendar and come out this year.  I have registered and am going, and I will watch for you there.

Here is the website link to register:
https://tnvet.org/veteran-day-on-the-hill/information-on-attending/

CDR Ted Edwards, USN Retired

MTC Legislative Liaison

CDR Ted Edwards, USN Retired and MTC Legislative Affairs Chair was nominated for the 2022 Col. Steve Strobridge Legislative Advocacy Award. Competition was stiff and Ted did not win, but the work he does for the chapter in this role is truly appreciated. 

 LT Gen Brian Kelly, MOAA President and CEO has the following to say about ed's nomination:

"While Ted was not selected for this year’s award, I want you to know how much I personally appreciate his—and your—leadership and advocacy on behalf of uniformed service members, veterans, and their family members and survivors.  The Middle Tennessee Chapter has continued to contribute to increased legislative awareness and success making a difference for so many at the local, state, and federal levels. Please inform Ted of his nomination and result and relay my sincere appreciation for his work on behalf of MOAA.  A certificate recognizing his achievements will be mailed to him in the near term.  Thanks to you and Ted for exemplifying our mission to “Never Stop Serving.”  

Good Folks of our Middle Tennessee Chapter:

With the new year I begin serving as the Legislative Affairs Officer.  This brings me to the beginning of a role that I have not served before.  With that beginning and to make contacts that will serve us, I have written to Congressman Green and to our two senators to make contact with their staff members that relate to uniformed service matters. 

Congressman Green’s staffer for uniformed services matters has been most helpful, and we have meet by Zoom.  He will be keeping me informed of matters, and he will also welcome correspondence from us about our concerns.  The senators have been less so.

Our MOAA Military Officer monthly magazine has a large section to let all of us know of initiatives and legislation activity.  Let that reading be a primary way for you to be informed even as it lags behind reality through the publishing process.  The annual National Defense Appropriation Act (NDAA) legislation passed in December, and of immediate importance to us is the 5.9% raise in retirement pension benefits and a raise in the prescription medications co-pay for those who use Express Scripts pharmacy.

What you can do to help me serve you better is to tell me which of many matters most interest you.
And you can always write to your congressman to address your concerns – TN-07.  What other districts are related to our Chapter membership?  Good wishes to all of you.

CDR Ted Edwards, USN (Retired), Legislative Affairs Liaison

On 2 February 2022 hundreds of Veterans descended on the TN State Capitol in support of a number of legislative initiatives important to veterans.  

MOAA was very well represented at the event with four Chapters (Fort Campbell Chapter, Memphis Chapter, Middle TN Chapter, and the Stones River Chapter) in attendance.  MTC was represented by (pictured above from left to right) CDR (Ret.) Ted Edwards, USN; COL (Ret.) Doug Minton, USA; Lt. Col. (Ret.) Karon Uzzell-Baggett, USAF; LTC (Ret.) Thad Vann, USA; and LTC (Ret.) Mike Patenaude, USA. Not shown but very much present was COL (Ret.) Sam Whitson, USA who was in session as a State Representative.