Casey Coane posted on August 01, 2011 00:19
August 2011 - Navy
By RADM Casey W. Coane, USN (Ret)
We begin this issue on a sad note.
On June 14th, Master Chief
Hospital Corpsman Emanuel
“Manny” Ratner passed away
and the news did not reach us in time for the
July magazine. As a matter of policy, we do
not print obituaries unless it is for a founding
member, President or someone very special
to the Association. Manny Ratner was just
such a person. A long time member of both
the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association and
AUSN, Manny was just the type of member
associations love to have. He gave of himself
tirelessly year after year. The Bea Ratner
Award is annually awarded to the most outstanding
Navy Reserve nurse junior officer
and is presented by AUSN for Manny’s
beloved wife Beatrice who died from cancer
many years ago. Manny will be missed for a
long time to come.
This month is our annual Submarine
Force issue. We are pleased to have as our guest columnist
VADM John M. Richardson, Commander for Submarine
Forces, Submarine Force Atlantic and Allied Submarine
Command. Our feature is from Submarine Group Two.
The Virginia-class submarine remains a bright spot
in Navy shipbuilding with seven boats in commission to
date and the California to be commissioned
later this year. The Virginia is built jointly
by General Dynamics Electric Boat in
Connecticut and the former Northrop
Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding,
now Huntington Ingalls Newport News
Shipbuilding. This year, the Navy moved to
producing two boats a year as a result of
being able to lower the cost to just under
$2B per boat.
In June, AUSN participated in another
Veterans’ Service Organization Round Table
discussion in the Capitol building hosted
by Madam Leader Pelosi. At this meeting,
we raised the important issue of the Department
of Labor’s recent ruling that classifies
medical practices providing services under
TRICARE as government subcontractors.
This ruling is under appeal and we will keep
our eye on it as it has significant impact on the
willingness of providers to accept TRICARE
patients. This particular ruling is an example of the
unintended consequences of the National Health Care
Reform Act. Such occurrences are why our Navy Veterans
need AUSN. Also, in June, we participated in the annual
testimony before the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Defense. We took this opportunity
to speak on behalf of Navy shipbuilding and aircraft
programs such as the C-40, C-130J, and the P-8. I was
pleased to receive a thank you in June from both the
Vice Chief and the CNO for our support of the
International Convention on the Law of the Seas. We are
the only association to take a position on the treaty and
we have done so because the positives outweigh the
negatives. As the CNO said in a recent speech, the world
expects the U.S. to lead and we cannot lead from outside
the convention. The Vice Chief said to us that the Navy
needs advocates. AUSN is such an advocate and that is
why serving Navy people should be members. Support
for an advocacy organization is not only authorized, it
makes good sense to help support the company for
which one works.
This month, our health column from CAPT Kathryn
Serbin speaks to the need for proper vaccinations and
immunizations. She wisely reminds us that for many of
those inoculations, boosters are required and for those
of us who are of mature age, that flu shot is important.
As always, we much appreciate her efforts to keep us
and our families healthy. Find her column on page 28.
As always, enjoy the read.