Happy Father Warrior’s Day

Today is our opportunity to recognize some valuable members of the team.

Father’s Day is our annual chance to thank dad for his actions, sacrifices, wisdom and support.

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URGENT SUNDAY DEADLINE: Tell your military autism story to Congress

by Jeremy Hilton

Next Wednesday, June 20, at 1430 (in Room 232-A Senate Russell Bldg), the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel will be holding a hearing on the issues impacting our military families affected by disabilities. I will be testifying along with four or five other witnesses. Here is the specific info on the hearing: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=5303

I suspect a large portion of the testimony and discussion will be referencing a potential Senator Gillibrand amendment regarding ABA and the recent OPM decision to include ABA as a medically necessary therapy for the dependents of federal workers. I intend to address that issue in my written testimony, along with other issues relevant to our community including special education, Tricare, Medicaid waivers, and the EFMP programs.

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Class rallies around autistic student

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (June 14, 2012) — When Staff Sgt. Chad Miles, his wife, Chazia, and their four children moved from Fort McPherson, Ga., to Fort Jackson last summer, they did not know what to expect.

Although moving can be hard on any military family, the Miles family had an additional worry. Their 8-year old son, Chad, was diagnosed with autism in 2009 — a developmental disorder that, for Chad, led to problems with verbal, cognitive and social skills.

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Happy 237th Birthday to our U.S. Army

The United States Army is now 237 years strong. On June 14, 1775, as the American Revolution broke out, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to assume authority for the New England army, also authorizing the formation of 10 companies of expert riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and directing them to march to Boston to support the New England militia.

George Washington would receive his appointment as first commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and formally took command at Boston on July 3, 1775.

Today, the Army’s mission is to fight and win our Nation’s wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders.

As military families dealing with autism, our Army families make up a significant percentage of the AMFAS community. Whether active duty, Guard, Reserve, Active Guard Reserve, retired or families who have finished their service commitment and returned to the civilian sector, thank you for your service and Happy Birthday.

The importance of Flag Day

Commentary by Chief Master Sgt. Scott Hubbartt
Retired

OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea  — Each year, Americans can enjoy four special days set aside specifically to honor our veterans and comrades in arms. Sadly, too many of us often overlook these opportunities to pay our respect and recognize the sacrifice and service of these individuals. These four days are intended to, in some small way, express the sentiments of a grateful nation. So what does it say of us when we forget, overlook, or simply brush aside the opportunity to honor the best among us?

I understand that today our lives are more complicated and busier than ever. We have so much going on in our lives these days; school getting out, visiting relatives, graduations, and any number of other competing priorities. I hope each of us were able to honor all our heroes last November on Veteran’s Day. But what about the other days?

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D-Day anniversary offers lessons in autism fight

Sixty eight years ago, over 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.

Their reasons were just. Their actions unified. A fight for the future commenced.

It was a decisive move from the sea and air, against heavily-entrenched Nazi troops. By nightfall of June 6, 1944, a foothold was established that would ultimately lead to victory in Europe.

Here’s to our nation’s heroes who answered the call. We honor their courage, their sacrifice and the valor they employed.

Known as part of America’s greatest generation, the U.S. service members from that day teach us lessons that can be directly applied to today’s military families dealing with autism.

If we believe in our cause, we must embrace the cause. There is no turning back now.

Victory is never certain without dedication. Your level of dedication can help or hurt your comrades.

All enemies are vulnerable. Allied together, we can win.

Many in our community have been fighting for our children’s futures, in terms of Applied Behavioral Analysis coverage by TRICARE after retirement.

Our families have a chance now to make a decisive move and, through dedication and action, to change the future.

The U.S. House of Representatives has included an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act to make ABA available to those who retire. The Senate version of the NDAA is still in the works, but currently has no provision for the Caring for Military Kids with Autism Act. The Senate Armed Services Committee did not act so it falls to an amendment being introduced on the Senate floor.

If military families are going to once and for all eliminate the loss of access to ABA because of the ECHO issue, it’s time to establish a beachhead in the NDAA by having a matching Senate version of the bill that will make it through conference committee where the two versions are merged.

In terms of participation, more than 13,000 aircraft and over 5,000 ships had a part in the D-Day invasion. Approximately that many families (or about 23,000 family members) are impacted by current policy, losing their well-earned benefit for their family when the service member finishes his or her career. Imagine if all our families were synchronized in this fashion. The reality is, it starts with one, then two, and so on.

We need to employ our forces to make an impact. The answer is simply telling all our stories and making the Senate understand that the Senate version of NDAA needs support for our military families dealing with autism.

Contact your Senator’s office by visiting, calling, emailing, faxing and raising awareness. Visit CMKAA.org for details on contacting them.

There is only a few weeks to get a message on the need to support military families.

Think of how the greatest generation approached their battle. As Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “We will accept nothing less than full victory.”