NOVEMBER 2024 NEWSLETTER
Greetings! As we celebrate November as Veterans and Military Families month, we are in the home stretch of saving our democracy. We need to keep the White House and the Senate, and add the House of Representatives! Be sure to vote the entire ballot! Vote up and down the ballot for candidates who support the Equal Rights Amendment. We are so close to making this the 28th Amendment of the Constitution! Elect Equality!
If you haven’t sent back your absentee ballot, please hurry up and vote! Check your state’s requirements for UOCAVA voters. You can verify if your ballot has been received and accepted by going to Absentee and Mail Ballot Tracker. If your ballot has not been accepted, call your stateside voting office immediately.
Do you need help? Email: [email protected].
Our annual celebration to honor U.S. Veterans everywhere in the world is coming up! Please join us in ringing the Bells of Peace, on November 11th at 11 am wherever you are. This is part of the great work that the Doughboy Foundation spearheads each year and part of VMF’s annual celebration of our Veterans. Send us a photo of you ringing a bell–be ingenuous and create your own bell if you do not have a bell with you. This is the third year that the DA Germany VMF Caucus and the Global VMF Caucus have been participating in this national event.
Don’t miss The Ghost Army with Rick Beyer
Virtual Zoom webinar November 12, 2024 at 5 p.m CET (11 a.m. ET) Please RSVP!
Rick Beyer, who made the PBS documentary The Ghost Army and co-authored the book The Ghost Army of World War II will recount how the Ghost Army pulled off their mind-blowing deceptions, and how the story continues to resonate 80 years later.
The Ghost Army–Call them warriors of illusion, or a symphony of subterfuge. During WWII, a handpicked group of GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission. The men of the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, used inflatable tanks, sound effects, fake radio transmissions and even impersonation to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units.
There’s still time to help get out a few more votes! Keep checking with all the U.S. citizens you know (even stateside!) to make sure they have returned their absentee ballots. EVERY VOTE COUNTS! Let’s have a landslide of overseas votes!
Keep hope alive!
Robert Scott and Terese Sarno
DAG VMF Caucus Co-Chairs
Send us your suggestions: [email protected]
Ready to join our caucus? Be part of the conversation and make your voice heard!
NOVEMBER
National Veterans & Military Families Month
Warrior Care Month
National Family Caregivers Month
October 30 - November 3 – National Veterans Small Business Week
November 3 – USA Ends Daylight Saving 2024
November 4-6 – Clay Kaserne, Wiesbaden in person OMSC appointments
November 5 – Election Day! Why is the U.S. Presidential election held on a Tuesday?
November 10 – Marine Corps 249th Birthday
November 11 – AFJROTC Veterans Awareness March 8 am-3 pm Kaiserslautern HS
November 11 –Veterans Day History of Armistice/Remembrance Day
November 11 – Ramstein High School AF JROTC will be sending a Color Guard and Formation of cadets to St. Mihiel American Cemetery in Thiaucourt-Regniéville, France to participate in the Veterans Day ceremony at the cemetery and in the village as well.
November 11 – THE BELLS OF PEACE 11 am local time everywhere!
The Veterans and Military Families Caucus is participating in the annual Doughboy Foundation initiative The Bells of Peace remembrance of those who served in World War I on November 11th, 2024 at 11 am local time everywhere!
Everyone can honor our Veterans on Veterans Day--you do not need to be in a major city or live near an American Cemetery. Hold your own local Bells of Peace ceremony.
Wherever you are at 11:00 am, you can honor our Veterans by ringing a bell--organize a group or do it alone. Join us to commemorate the moment when the guns fell silent, and bells tolled on the Western Front...on the 11th day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour in 1918, after four years of brutal combat. The Bells of Peace WebAPP Countdown
November 11-15 – National Veterans Small Business Week
November 12 –The Ghost Army with Rick Beyer, Zoom 5 p.m CET (11 a.m. EST)
presented by the DA Germany Veterans and Military Families Caucus
Upcoming DA Activities
NEWS YOU CAN USE
How to Place Flowers at American Battle Monuments Commission Sites
John Kinsel Sr., Navajo Code Talker During World War II, Dies at 107
Republicans face backlash for lawsuits targeting overseas and military voting
VA Overseas Military Services Coordinators (OMSCS)
Kleber Kaserne, Building 3213, Room 311, Kaiserslautern, Germany 67657
DSN: (314) 541-1408 / (314) 541-1415
Comm: +49 (0) 611-143-541-1408 / +49 (0) 611-143-541-1415
Normal Office Hours: 0900-1200, 1300-1500 M-F
***Subject to change due to special events and travel. Check online.
Wiesbaden
WHEN: November 4th, 5th, and 6th
WHERE: Building 1023E, Room 151, Clay Kaserne,
USAG Wiesbaden, Hesse, 652025
2025 ARMY HANDBOOKS FOR RETIRED AND RETIRING SOLDIERS:
U.S. Army Retired Soldier Handbook 2025
U.S. Army Retirement Planning Guide 2025
Disaster assistance and resources for Veterans
Delayed EU passport control system will have uncertain effects on US military members
For Defense Department personnel in Europe, there is uncertainty about how the transition, which is being pushed back, will affect their travel.
Lawmakers propose an end to the limits on health care for Gold Star spouses
Welcome to the TRICARE Overseas Program
Open Season: TRICARE--Nov.11-Dec.10, Federal Benefits--Nov.11-Dec. 9
TRICARE Vaccines Overseas TRICARE Germany Contact Information
TRICARE Overseas Program Handbook TRICARE Overseas Program Beneficiaries
How Referrals and Specialty Care Will Work as New TRICARE Contracts Start in 2025
TRICARE Overseas Program Office Claim Form DD2642 dated September 2024
has updated been updated to add additional “overseas claims only” questions
The primary changes/updates include the following:
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Telemedicine – ensure services are processed correctly and meet the requirements for telemedicine coverage
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Urgent Care – it is not always clear services were received as urgent care
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Travel Insurance – CONUS benes on vacation/cruise ships may include medical coverage and would be considered primary to TRICARE
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Medicare Advantage Plans – some plans provide coverage overseas and would be primary to TRICARE
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VA Foreign Medical Program – if enrolled to the VA FMP and services have been processed by the VA, we need the EOB to confirm coverage
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Proof of Payment – submit your proof of payment if beneficiary paid up front
If you’re a Veteran who gets medical care outside the U.S. for a service-connected condition, the Foreign Medical Program may cover the cost of your care. Read this page to find out how the Foreign Medical Program (FMP) works and how to register. If you get medical care outside the U.S. FMP can only cover the cost of services that are medically necessary and meet at least one of these descriptions.
- The services are for a VA-rated, service-connected disability (for example, an illness or injury caused—or made worse by—your military service), or
- The services are for a condition that’s associated with a service-connected disability that FMP determines makes the disability worse (or “aggravates” it). For example, if you have a service-connected condition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), FMP may cover the cost of care for non-service-connected depression because the depression can be associated with PTSD and make it worse. Or
- The services are part of care you’re receiving as you participate in the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program. Here’s what else you should know:
- You can use FMP only for care you get in a foreign country. FMP won’t cover care or supplies you get in or from the U.S. or U.S. territories.
- For claims that result in a payment, FMP will send you a U.S. Treasury check.
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