Rocky Mountain Navy Association Newsletter December 2017

Rocky Mountain Navy Association

News The Rocky Mountain Navy Association (RMNA) is a not-for-profit, organization to promote the United States Navy and the Naval Reserve in the local community. Specific out reach efforts have been extended to civic organizations, educational institutions, and the business community. RMNA also provides mission support to the local recruiting command and offers a wide variety of professional development assistance programs to the naval reserve community. Newsletter Contact: James Garrett, CAPT, USNR (Ret.), garrettj3745@yahoo.com This is an interactive newsletter so Click on underlined inks or photos for websites for more information or zoom the page.

December 2017

Reminding you of next monthly RMNA Luncheon at the American Legion Post, 5400 East Yale, Denver (southeast corner of I-25 and Yale), on Wednesday, January 3rd, gathering around 11:30 a.m.

Rob Scofield has a great speaker lined up!

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Vol. 2 Issue 12

See You There!

This newsletter is posted online to our website at (www.navrescolorado.org) and Facebook page at (https://www.facebook.com/RockyMountainNavyAssociation/) Do you have an idea or a success story to share? Maybe you’ve heard of an upcoming event that we should all support. Send me your ideas @ garrettj3745@yahoo.com. garrettj3745@yahoo.com. There are so many interesting experiences and opportunities to learn and our newsletter is just one way that information can be shared.

Excerpt from, The Big E The Story of The USS Enterprise by Edward P. Stafford

In December 1941, after Pearl Harbor was attacked, USS Enterprise CV-6, was tasked with guarding the home islands. “She steamed back and forth,, north and west of Oahu. Crossing and recrossing the International Date Line west of Midway, Enterprise had two Christmases. The Fighting Six squadron sent out mimeographed Christmas cards with this verse:

Twas Christmas Day in the ready room Not a single pilot there.

And we a-sail in the Pacific, Only God and Knox knows where.

But they’ve even got that censored, And so it comes to pass, To all hands a Happy New Year, And a joyous and Merry Christmas.”

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!”

― Charles Dickens

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Marines Fly Helos with Tablets in Test of New Unmanned Aerial Resupply Scheme A Marine uses a handheld tablet to request resupply during an Office of Naval Research (ONR) helicopter flight demonstration with unmanned flight capability at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., as part of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) program in early 2014. US Navy Photo

Read article here…...

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – The Marines showed off a high-tech system that could deliver life-saving supplies by air to troops operating in rugged terrain in a future conflict, without risking the lives of an aircrew.

During the demonstration, an old UH-1H Huey helicopter flew three missions to deliver cargo to Marines at a remote landing zone and a simulated forward operating base, without a pilot on the controls and with two enlisted Marine infantrymen providing minimal instructions from a small hand-held tablet and a laptop.

The technology that enabled the missions is called the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) and was described as a major leap ahead of current unmanned aerial systems. It was developed by Aurora Flight Sciences in partnership with the Office of Naval Research, in response to an “urgent needs statement” from operational Marine forces and will be further tested by the Marines in the next phase of their Sea Dragon experiments…...

Read article here…...

W ASHINGTON: Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has asked legislators to repeal an obscure statute that he says hinders Navy readiness in the Pacific, where accidents this summer killed 17 sailors. Armed Services committee leaders seem receptive, but it’s the appropriators who’ll have to change the provision in question, which was written by their late, great chairman Daniel Inouye to protect the independence of the Pacific Fleet from higher Navy headquarters. And this battle will be just a preview of the wider war next year over fundamental reforms the Navy wants to the Goldwater-Nichols Act and military personnel laws.

What’s at stake right now? Back in 2006, already under strain from two wars and a shrinking fleet, the Navy tried to centralize readiness functions under the newly created US Fleet Forces Command, which absorbed the old Atlantic Fleet. But when it came to the Pacific Fleet, based in Inouye’s home state of Hawaii, the war hero turned senator ensured it would retain control of maintenance, training, and the money that goes with them. ….

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Take Command: Increases to TRICARE Pharmacy Copayments Coming Feb. 1, 2018 12/13/2017

On Feb. 1, 2018, copayments for prescription drugs at TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery and retail pharmacieswill increase. These changes are required by law and affect TRICARE beneficiaries who are not active duty service members.

While retail pharmacy and home delivery copayments will increase, prescriptions filled at military pharmaciesremain available at no cost. You can save the most money by filling your prescriptions at military pharmacies.

“Military pharmacies and TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery will remain the lowest cost pharmacy option for TRICARE beneficiaries,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ann McManis, Pharmacy Operations Division at the Defense Health Agency.

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Using home delivery, the copayments for a 90-day supply of generic formulary drugs will increase from $0 to $7. For brand-name formulary drugs, copayments will increase from $20 to $24, and copayments for non-formulary drugsA drug in a therapeutic class that isn’t as clinically or cost-effective as other drugs in the same class. You pay a higher cost share for these drugs. without a medical necessity will increase from $49 to $53.

At a retail network pharmacy, copayments for a 30-day supply of generic formulary drugs will increase from $10 to $11 and from $24 to $28 for brand-name formulary drugs.

In some cases, survivors of active duty service members may be eligible for lower costsharing amounts.

TRICARE groups pharmacy drugs into three categories: generic formulary, brand-name formulary and non-formulary. You pay the least for generic formulary drugs and the most for nonformulary drugs, regardless of whether you get them from home delivery or a retail pharmacy.

To see the new TRICARE pharmacy copayments, visit www.tricare.mil/pharmacycosts. To learn more about the TRICARE Pharmacy Program, or move your prescriptions to home delivery, visit www.tricare.mil/pharmacy.

Videos, click links in pictures

Navy at Work, 10 min

https://youtu.be/fPHAqePYliU

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Get more information about your TRICARE blood pressure screening benefits.

Resources and Links: 2017 Hypertension Clinical Practice Guidelines Released https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/2017-htn-guidelines.htm National Center for Health Statistics: Hypertension https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hypertension.htm Effects of High Blood Pressure https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/effects.htm How is High Blood Pressure Treated? https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbp/treatment Know the Facts About High Blood Pressure https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/docs/ConsumerEd_HBP.pdf Benefits: Blood Pressure Screening https://tricare.mil/CoveredServices/IsItCovered/BloodPressureScreening Description of High Blood Pressure https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbp/ About High Blood Pressure https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm http://view.mail.uhcmilitarywest.com/? qs=b29d98b967826dd7dd902027bc8741d92222ccfd95876cafdf14987e9656555c65324d8e692feb37ec1c78417d284d5cfc3 498c60e2e87d39b1c743c6ba0486d4f8b3da8a4deb2e612305da7adbc686e

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New Stealth Drone Has No Moving Surfaces at All THE RESULT IS A LIGHTER, SIMPLER, STEALTHIER AIRPLANE HARDER FOR RADAR TO DETECT.

Most airplanes look unmoving in flight, like a wing hanging off a giant tube plowing through the sky. Look more closely however and you’ll see smaller parts of the airplane frequently moving to control the direction of the aircraft. Conventional aircraft use a system of elevators, rudders, and ailerons to control their direction in the pitch, (up and down) yaw (left to right), and roll directions. These mechanical devices are usually in the shape of control surfaces attached to the rear of the wing, horizontal, and vertical stabilizers and are controlled by the pilot —or sometimes an onboard flight computer…. Read More...

When Denver electrician David (D.D.) Sturgeon’s son was too ill to celebrate Christmas around the tree with his family in 1914, Sturgeon decided to bring him some cheer through the window. He dipped light bulbs in red and green paint and strung them with electrical wire on a tree in his front yard. Soon others began putting up outdoor holiday decorations like this strand of lights.

By the 1920’s many Denver homes glowed merry and bright, and the city proclaimed itself the “Christmas Capital of the World.”

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BAE Systems has unveiled a new aircraft design that could be a major advance in stealth technology. The new MAGMA drone does away with aircraft control surfaces, resulting in an aircraft whose shape remains constant throughout its entire flight. The small demonstration aircraft, which has completed a successful first flight, uses blown air to change direction instead of complex mechanical controls.

Army-Navy Game

Featuring hand-painted helmets depicting a Delta Formation, and a chrome facemask to mimic the visor of the Blue Angel pilots, the Under Armour design team incorporated design elements that pay tribute to the skill, precision, and rich history of the Blue Angels squadron.

Pasted from <http://wtkr.com/2017/11/27/navy-football-uniforms-for-118th-army-navy-gamewill-honor-blue-angels/>

Additional design details include: • U.S. flag on left sleeve matches the flight suits that the squadron wear in the cockpit.

• The number font is inspired by the numbers on the tail of the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

• Blue Angel insignia on the right sleeve; this is the same design on the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

• The color of the uniforms are an exact match to the Blue Angels flight suit.

• Stripe dimensions on the pants are an exact match to the flight suit.

Pasted from <http://wtkr.com/2017/11/27/navy-football-uniforms-for-118th-army-navy-gamewill-honor-blue-angels/>

Army’s all-white uniforms commemorate the 10th Mountain Division, formed during World War II. Pasted from <https://www.sbnation.com/ college-football/2017/12/9/16754112/navyarmy-game-2017-uniforms-alternate> https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/12/9/16754112/navy-army-game-2017uniforms-alternate 6

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4172114Comprehensive-Review-of-Recent-SurfaceForce.html#document/p1 The following is the U.S. Fleet Forces led, Comprehensive Review of Recent Surface Force Incidents. The report was released by the Navy on Nov. 2, 2017. 177 pages

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This year, there have been three collisions and one grounding involving U.S. Navy ships in the Western Pacific. The two most recent mishaps involved separate incidents of a Japan-based U.S. Navy destroyer colliding with a commercial merchant vessel, resulting in the combined loss of 17 U.S. Sailors. Each of these accidents was Comprehensive Review of Recent investigated to determine specific causes, identify Surface Force Incidents; Nov. 2, 2017 accountability, and disseminate lessons learned. In their wake, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) assigned Commander United States Fleet Forces Command to lead a comprehensive review of these mishaps to determine the improvements or changes needed to make the surface force safer and more effective. As directed, this review addresses the following areas: individual training and professional development; unit level training and operational performance; development and certification of deployed operational and mission standards with particular emphasis on ships based in Japan; deployed operational employment and risk management; material readiness of electronic systems to include navigation equipment, surface search radars, propulsion and steering systems; and the practical utility and certification of current navigation and combat systems equipment including sensors, tracking systems, displays and internal communication systems. This 60-day review was undertaken by a diverse cross-section of talent from the surface force, as well as other services, warfare communities, industry, civilian maritime experts, academia, and other professions.

Exclusive online content from Proceedings: Proceedings receives more quality content than it can publish in the monthly print edition of the magazine. Proceedings Today is an online outlet for additional content that receives the same vetting and editing as all Proceedings contributions do.

https://usscoloradocommittee.org/wp-content/ uploads/2017/04/ SSN788_Newsletter_24_Nov2017.pdf

WWII Battleship Colorado Veterans Visit CU for Veteranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day PCU Colorado (SSN 788) Holds Change of Command 7

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