Best Posts in Thread: For Veterans And/Or Their Survivors - RAO Cebu

Hello,
I just posted about the RAO not too long ago. My hubby is a member since April when we moved here and been gone to Cebu twice since. But it is getting costly now to go to Cebu just to pick the mail or packages now that most of our business transactions are done. Perhaps you and he could coordinate about going about the mail retrieval in Cebu. Please send me a message if you are interested. We usually go to the Gym at Portal West in the morning and we could meet up with you afterwards. Hope to hear from you.
Thanks!

 

Sure! I would think the Dumaguete could use a little of both.

For US Vets, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars went on for soooo long, that most young Veterans (to include female Vets) DO qualify for membership in the VFW. As they age, this will be another population group, of which a few, will relocate to the Philippines (and elsewhere).

For many years, the VFW was wrapped around their axles with WWII and Vietnam era Vets. They forgot about the Bosnia era Vets, the 1st Iraq War Vets. Now, the VFW is behind the power curve with the younger Vets from thess last two combat regions, and many younger Vets are choosing to join the IAVA.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Oh. The VFW? Why my VFW post has nothing but a bunch of old Nam Vets who don't give a crap about our issues".

The IAVA was founded in response to this real and/or perceived lack of legislative representation rendered by many older, more established Veteran lobbying organizations. The younger Vets have the perception that their issues were not being pushed to the forefront. So the IAVA came about to assist in the legislative arena and take their charge to the Halls of Congress.

Even so, the VFW is struggling in my area to attract younger Vets. And I know, as a female who was deployed to two different combat zones, and having been a member of both the Legion and the VFW, that as a female, I have yet to feel fully welcome. I probably have spent more time "outside the wire" than most of the males who got sent over to the places I went. I didn't get to be a chair-borne "Fobbit". Many of the older male Vets don't seem to "get it" that in this generation, the female Servicemembers are more than just "Donut Dollies", they do more than serve behind the "safety" of the hospital compound, and they do more than just sit at the HQ General's Field Office, typing their pretty little polished nails down to the quick.

Nowadays, female Servicemembers don't arrive "by accident" to these war zones wearing skirts and high heels. They arrive to these zones in full body armor, wearing combat boots, and slinging M-16s. Almost 150 females didn't make it out alive.

It's a whole different ball game now.

So I wish the VFW would come to Dumaguete. I'd be happy to participate. Just don't assume because I'm a female Vet, that I'm best utilized to sweep up the hall after the meetings and do the dinner dishes. I just might tell you to p*ss off - or worse!

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

i am not sure how many will appreciate the "breaks over back on my head" its a oldie but goodie..you are very organized..

 

I sure can relate Jack. Not the sort of thing I like to think about either.

It's just that before I retired, the military had a whole piece in place to help deal with the logistics, and I don't have this piece anymore.

Then add on my now being a civilian and being in a foreign country should this unexpected event occur in the Philippines, well I really don't know how this works.

I'll have to put this on my "To Do" list for Spring 2016 in order to get some kind of plan in place so my Son has some kind of general idea of what to do should this happen. I simply want to make things as easy as possible on him during a time like that.

Meanwhile, I've lots of living to do. Just getting all my immediate ducks in a row for my transitional move from the Pacific Northwest to California is my primary focus for now. The move will happen in late July.

After I get to California, then I will be able to kick-off my Philippine checklist. Looking at SEP 2015 to start my paperwork process start time for the SRRV.

There are so many little details and pre-departure things to get done, that I literally had to make a checklist.

And then I had to break the checklist down with a monthly checklist of things to do so I wouldn't get overwhelmed or forget things or run out of time.

I also had to build in some "lead time" as many of the government agencies take weeks and weeks to get records from them, or get documents notarized by them, or both. It's the old "hurry up and wait" game.

GEEZ! One would think with so much information digitalized these days, it wouldn't take so long anymore to get stuff done. But that's not always the case.

Like I said in an earlier posting, by getting this stuff done now, I can more fully enjoy my Philippine experience when I get there. And not be bothered with having to be constantly monitoring my Stateside mirror. Or leaving my Son burdened down with stuff to do that I could have done for myself.

I have learned one thing from this: It pays to live a simple life.

And that is exactly what this next year in the States will allow me to do - to further simplify my life.

I'm going to be really ready to get on that plane to the Philippines when this pre-departure stuff is all said and done. Such a deal!

And I look forward to becoming a new member of the Dumaguete community.

Meanwhile, break's over. Back on my head....

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

AS OF THIS DATE, CEBU IS THE NEAREST US RETIREMENT ACTIVITES OFFICE (RAO) LOCATION TO DUMAGUETE

Below is a copy of the email traffic I have rec'd.

"First, thanks for making contact with us..I hope for success on your continuing education endeavors.

A physical US address for many of our RAO retirees is a close relative who is living in the U.S. I don't know how to secure a physical US address while living in the Philippines. Our members are able to send and receive mail limited to 16oz.from the Military Postal Service or FLeet Post Office. I don't know if this weight limitation will satisfy your small package requirement.

Also I will say using the military postal service is as reliable as the U.S. Postal service . It's more reliable than the local Philippine postal system in your concerns of tracking and pilfering.

So our RAO Cebu members living in Dumagute actually get there mail from us by either visiting our office when in Cebu or in certain circumstances we forward their mail via LBC which is a national Door to door delivery service at the members additional expense. They travel to Cebu either by plane or using a combination of ferry and land travel.

Lastly, our members primarily rely on our restricted mailing privelages [sic] for their letter mailing correspondence and also receiving their medications from Tricare or Vetrans [sic] Administration. We do offer consulting on VA benefits and Tricare claims. We help widowers and their dependents file the proper paper works to receive their survivor benefits. We have a active membership of 121 retirees and their families including widowers.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Please contact us here any time for further questions."

**********

So since I do not want to burden my friend or Son with constant shipping of mail from US to Dumaguete, I will go ahead and pay for a mail forwarding service here in the States that DOES provide a STREET ADDRESS AND NOT A PO BOX ADDRESS.

Then they can scan mail if I want them to, authorize them to toss it out or to hold it for a monthly bulk shipment, or to send that piece of mail immediately.

Once a month I can have the mail forwarding company send that months worth of mail to me - and to forward mail to the Cebu address in NO GREATER THAN 16 ounce packages.

Most of my really important stuff is done electronically and paperless now. But using Cebu RAO might cut down the cost of international postage fees, and subsidize the cost of the Stateside mail forwarding service.

And hopefully, cut down on even more governmental paperwork and control.

I only want to be bothered with the required gov't paperwork, and relocating out of country adds a couple more things to have to file every year. Enough already!

A nice trip to Cebu once a month will give me a chance to explore that area, too.

But it sure would be even nicer if there was a VFW in Cebu.

Doesn't Dumaguete have a US Veteran population large enough to support a VFW?

Or, do Vets only come as tourists and leave?

nwlivewire