Fred Black, COL, USA (Ret) MOAA Member Since 1998
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Fred Black has done everything but rest since he retired from the Army in 1994. A third-generation Army officer, Fred spent 15 years teaching political science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and 26 years serving on active duty with the Army. “I really had two military careers,” he says with a smile. “I had the usual duty stations and served in Vietnam, Panama, Korea, and Hawaii. But teaching at West Point gave my family a lot of stability, and it made advocacy with MOAA a natural next step. I understand the political process we have to use to help military families today.” And help he has.
Fred, a MOAA Life Member, chose to live in North Carolina after he retired. He soon learned that state retirees did not pay taxes on their pension, but military and federal retirees did. He also learned the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled against this practice. North Carolina’s General Assembly first attempted to simply make state retirees pay taxes on their pension,
Standing Up For Your Rights
thereby taxing all retirees equally. Retiree groups banded together to push back. The General Assembly did not act, so retirees sued the state.
The original lawsuit against the state of North Carolina was started by CAPT Ira Schwarz, USN (Ret), back in 1989, and it actually took 10 years to settle the lawsuit. Millions of dollars of tax refunds were paid to federal, state, and local retirees. Then Fred came on board as vice president and then president of the North Carolina Council of Chapters and worked with Ira and others attempting to persuade the North Carolina General Assembly to pass a bill to include those retirees who were not included in the original court settlement, so the fight continues.
Fred attributes the initial success to MOAA’s reputation as an organization that informs people with the truth, accuracy, and how to take action. “National MOAA has been very important because of the One Powerful Voice®
was very clear we do have influence and the more members we have the more we can speak with One Powerful Voice® another member, just think what the impact would be!”
Awe-Inspiring Views | 5
philosophy,” he says. “When I Stormed the Hill, it . If we all brought in
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