chaptersinaction
Personal Affairs
Many MOAA chapters have set up personal affairs programs to help
their members and surviving spouses navigate the complicated and
confusing maze of benefi ts and entitlements.
M
OAA’s Benefits Infor- Schneeweis, USCG-Ret., MOAA’s MOAA chapters are executing these
mation and Financial director of Benefi ts Information and programs to serve members and
Education Department Financial Education, heads a team how, through outreach efforts, they
provides advice on military benefi ts that conducts personal affairs work- are helping other servicemembers
to all MOAA members and surviv- shops at each symposium for invited in their communities. To fi nd your
ing spouses. For 10 years, MOAA has council and chapter personal affairs nearest chapter, visit
www.moaa.org/
worked hard to extend this capabil- offi cers. Now, 265 of MOAA’s 416 chapters/locator. We hope to see you
ity to its chapter system, so each chapters have this capability, and at a chapter meeting soon.
chapter can support its members we continue to push for more. This — Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret.
and, in some cases, servicemembers is an important service to our mem- Director, Council and Chapter Affairs
in its community. bers because of the extent and com-
For a number of years, MOAA plexity of military-benefi ts issues
has been urging chapters to estab- and a general lack of information Help for
lish personal affairs committees and awareness some servicemem-
and appoint a personal affairs chair bers have about their benefi ts. This Survivors
service is even more important for
surviving spouses, who often need
help making sure their benefi ts
continue and getting questions an- C
apt. Dan Conway, USCGR-
Ret., has held many council
and chapter leadership posi-
swered during a diffi cult time. tions. However, Conway says none of
This month, MOAA is holding its them was as rewarding as his current
annual Chapter Presidents’ Sympo- job as the personal affairs cochair for
sium in Hershey, Pa., and the per- MOAA’s Arizona Chapter.
sonal affairs workshop again will be Conway and personal affairs
an important part of the program. cochair Col. John Ady, USAR-Ret.,
We expect nearly 50 personal affairs recently assisted the spouse of a
offi cers to attend, and we’re con- 51-year-old chapter member who died
fi dent they will leave with a better suddenly. The deceased member had
understanding of what personal af- handled all of the family’s fi nancial
to lead them. To help the process, fairs is and how to tap into MOAA’s affairs, and the spouse wasn’t listed
MOAA established a formal train- considerable resources to get an- on any of the couple’s bank accounts.
ing program seven years ago, inte- swers to questions in real time. Read Conway and Ady stepped in, expedit-
grated into our signature Chapter this department’s main story, “Help ed the chapter member’s death certif-
Presidents’ symposia. Capt. Bud for Survivors,” to learn how some icate, and helped the surviving spouse
put her fi nancial affairs in order.
*
ON THE ROAD: This month, Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret., director of
“I’m getting a huge amount of
MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs, will visit chapter members in New
satisfaction out of this,” says Conway.
York and Ohio. Go to MOAA Calendar, page 118, for dates.
“I’m honored people feel like they
can call me whenever they have a
46 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2009 PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
SSept_chapters.indd
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