At Your Service
For and about Hawaii's military

By Gregg K. Kakesako

Sunday, June 3, 2001

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[IN THE MILITARY]

>>FOR YOUR BENEFIT
>>MILITARY CALENDAR

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Emu killing
tarnishes joint
troop training

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The Pacific Command's joint exercise involving 27,000 U.S., Canadian and Australian troops had its problems before it ended last week.

Operation Tandem Thrust had to be halted May 15 when a U.S. marine shot an emu -- a flightless Australian bird.

On the following day, a women's health center in Queensland blamed an alleged rise in sexual assaults on U.S. troops.

The emu charges are under investigation and it is unclear if the Marine deliberately shot the animal or if it was hidden behind a target during live-fire training.

The victims of the alleged sexual charges have not filed police reports.

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Gen. Sun Up Paid, a Korean War hero and military leader, and Lt. Gen. Charles R. Heflebower, commander of the U.S. Air Force's 7th Air Force in the Republic of Korea, are scheduled as keynote speakers June 25 to 28 at the Pacific Air Forces' Korean War Air Power Symposium.

The symposium commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Korean War and will honor all airmen who served.

It will feature panels on virtually every aspect of the air war, including air-to-air and air-to-ground operations, aerial support, bomber operations, special operations, and search and rescue.

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Lt. Cmdr. Ian Polite, a 1985 Iolani School graduate, will leave command of the patrol boat USS Thunderbolt to attend the Marine Corps command and general staff college in Quantico, Va.

Polite joined the Navy after being commissioned in 1989 through the ROTC program while attending Harvard College.

His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Paul Polite of Kaneohe.

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Charles Gittins, the attorney who helped USS Greeneville skipper Cmdr. Scott Waddle avoid a court-martial, has been retained to defend a sailor accused of sabotaging a Trident nuclear submarine in Washington.

A Navy judge in Bremerton, citing procedural error, dismissed charges against Missile Technician 2nd Class Earnest Cimmino.

Navy officials have indicated the charges will be refiled.

Waddle was captain of the submarine that rammed the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru Feb. 9. The bodies of nine crewmen were not found.

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Moving Up

Schofield Barracks: Lt. Col. Martin Carpenter to commander of 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, replacing Lt. Col. Paul Disney Jr.

Hickam Air Force Base: Col. Albert Wriggle to commander of 15th Air Base Wing, replacing Brig. Gen. Steve Redden who becomes head of Joint Task Force-Full Accounting at Camp Smith.

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Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.

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[FOR YOUR BENEFIT]

Dental care available
to vets in some cases

Question: As a veteran, what type of dental care do I qualify for at a Veterans Affairs facility?

Answer: To be eligible for free dental care a veteran must have a dental condition that has been rated by VA as service-connected, and who is also receiving compensation for the condition. Eligible veterans also include: veterans who were former prisoners of war for 90 days or more; veterans with service-connected, noncompensable dental conditions as a result of combat wounds or service injuries; veterans with non-service-connected dental conditions determined by VA to be aggravating a medical problem; veterans having service-connected conditions rated at 100 percent; and veterans who are participating in a vocational rehabilitation program.

Veterans with service-connected dental conditions or disabilities that are not compensable may receive one-time treatment if: The conditions can be shown to have existed at discharge; he or she served on active duty for at least 180 days; applied for care within 90 days of discharge; and the certificate of discharge does not certify that dental treatment had been provided prior to discharge.

Remember, veterans needing dental care must be registered with the VA prior to treatment. If you need further information, call 433-0600. If your dental condition started while on active duty, and has bothered you since then, consider filing a claim for disability compensation. Claims information can be obtained by calling the local VA Regional Office at 433-1000.

Question: I recently received a 100 percent service-connected disability from the VA. What does this really mean and is it permanent?

Answer: VA regulations say that total disability exists if there is any impairment of mind or body sufficient to render it impossible for the average person to follow a substantially gainful employment. Total disability can be either temporary or permanent; but when you have 100 percent, you receive the top monthly compensation under the VA compensation schedule, which currently amounts to $2,107 per month for a single veteran. Veterans should be aware that there are differences in what this 100 percent rating means and how it is applied.

If you are rated at a 100 percent level because you are undergoing a period of convalescence from hospital, surgery, or home treatment, you may be eligible to receive the 100 percent disability rate for the duration of that treatment, or for the period of required convalescence.

If you reached the 100 percent level because you are totally disabled and unemployable (Individual Unemployability [IU] status), you have the right to receive the full disability payment, but IU is not a permanent and total rating. All IU recipients are reviewed each year to determine the current status of their unemployability.

Non permanent ratings are generally subject to recurring review. If your condition is shown to have improved, by law the rating must be appropriately reduced. The test is whether you have attained improvement under the ordinary conditions of life, while working or actively seeking work. It does not mean that your symptoms have been brought under control by prolonged rest or by following a regimen that precludes work.

There are some side benefits you are entitled to because of your 100 percent rating. Totally disabled veterans have access to military commissaries and base/post exchanges, and real property tax exemption from the county. They are also eligible for a special license plate, and other free or discounted services from the city or state government.

Being permanently and totally disabled means, under VA regulations, that your impairment is reasonably certain to continue throughout your life, such as the loss, or the loss of the use of, both hands, both feet, one hand and one foot, sight of both eyes, etc. If you have questions, call 433-1000.

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[CALENDAR]

June 12

Noncommissioned officers association job fair. Hickam Air Force Base Officer's Club. 9 a.m.

June 14

Schofield Barracks: Parade. Army's 226th Birthday. Watt Field. 4 p.m.

June 25-28

Pacific Air Forces Korean War Air Power Symposium.

[DEPLOYMENTS]

U.S. Navy (Pacific Fleet)

Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf

USS Chosin (CG 65)

USS Columbia (SSN 771)

Western Pacific

USS Chicago (SSN 721)

USS Louisville (SSN 724)

USS Kamehameha (SSN 642)

USS Santa Fe (SSN 763)

USS Los Angeles (SSN 688)

USS Frederick (LST 1184)

Hawaiian area

USS Reuben James (FFG-57)

USS Charlotte (SSN 766)

Eastern Pacific / West Coast U.S.

USS O'Kane (DDG 77)

U.S. Army

Louisiana: 25th Division.

Sinai: 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment

Alaska, Kosrae, San Diego, E. Micronesia, Bangladesh: 84th Engineers

East Timor, Thailand. Australia: 25th Division, 9th Regional Support Command (U.S. Army Reserve)

Honduras: Tripler Army Medical Center

Bosnia & Kosovo: 25th Division, 9th Regional Support Command

Madagascar: 412th Engineers

Philippines: Pacific Region Veterinary Command

Thailand: USArmy Pacific, 9th RSC

South Korea: 411th Engineers

Hawaii National Guard

Germany: 201st Combat Communications Group, Hawaii Air National Guard.

Coast Guard

Guam: HH-65 helicopter

American Samoa: USCGC Washington, USCGC Walnut

Marine Corps

Okinawa: 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment; C Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment

Thailand: Combat Service Support Detachment 79

Cost analysis to study
Hickam unit privatization

The Air Force is studying if it would be cheaper to privatize Hickam Air Force Base's test calibration facility.

That job is now done by Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratories, which employs 14 civilians and 18 enlisted members of the 15th Air Base Wing. The study will be finished by April 2003.

Tripler medical school to hold graduation

More than 100 future health care providers will graduate in a ceremony at 3 p.m. June 15 at Tripler Army Medical Center.

Lt. Gen. Edwin Smith, U.S. Army Pacific commander, will be graduation speaker.

More than 90 of the graduates are physicians trained in various specialties. More than 50 of the graduating physicians will further their training in military and civilian residencies and fellowships. The others will be assigned to South Korea, the European theater, the mainland and Hawaii.

After the ceremony, a retreat ceremony will be held to honor the Army's 226th birthday on June 14.