rapidfire

CALL FOR RESOLUTIONS MOAA’s biennial resolutions guide its board of direc- tors and staff to best serve the association’s members. Any member may propose a resolution, which should address a legislative or management issue related to MOAA’s missions and goals. Proposals should not be wordy or legalistic, but rather express ideas clearly and briefly. A committee on resolutions — appointed by the chair of MOAA’s board of directors — will review all submissions. Eligible members then will have a chance to vote on the resolutions. Mail submissions by March 16 to: Committee on Resolutions, MOAA, 201 N. Wash- ington St., Alexandria, VA 22314.

MOAA FINANCIAL AID The deadline to apply for educational assistance from the MOAA Scholarship Fund is noon Eastern time March 1. Children pursuing their first undergraduate degrees whose parents are former, active, or retired officers or active or retired enlisted military personnel are eligible to apply. If selected, students must have a sponsor who maintains a Premium or Life membership with MOAA or, if enlisted, a membership with Voices for America’s Troops. Visit www.moaa.org/education for the application.

TRICAREUPDA+E

ELIGIBLE TRICARE BENEFICIARIES can use the Beneficiary Web Enrollment (BWE) website 24/7 to update personal information and manage enrollments in TRICARE plans, including U.S. Family Health Plan, TRICARE Young Adult, and TRICARE dental plans. The following BWE features are available to benefi-

ciaries in the continental U.S.:  Select or make changes to assigned primary

care manager  View current enrollment status  Request enrollment cards  Transfer coverage  Unenroll from TRICARE Prime or TRICARE

Prime Remote  Report other health insurance information BWE is a great tool for eligible beneficiaries look-

ing to make changes to their TRICARE benefits. Visit www.tricareonline.com to learn more.

In Review

81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska’s Frozen Wilder- ness. By Brian Murphy. Da Capo Press, 2015. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-306-82328-2.

On Dec. 21, 1943, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Leon Crane bailed out of a strick-

en B-24 Liberator over the wild winter wilderness of Alaska, the only crew member to survive the crash. Eighty-one days later in March 1944, after hik- ing 100 miles through “ice and snow and cold as hell,” where daily temperatures were 20-40 degrees below zero, he walked to safety. Journalist and author

Brian Murphy vividly de- scribes Crane’s World War II Alaskan ordeal in a bit- terly cold Yukon winter, with a Boy Scout knife, some matches, a parachute, and good luck as Crane’s only survival gear. He reveals just how close

Crane came to dying of starvation and frostbite and the airman’s determination to live using his survival training and improvising in a harsh, unforgiving, frozen environment. Murphy also tells of the desperate, futile search eff ort, the plane’s

22 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2016

fi nal discovery in 1994, and the recovery of Crane’s crewmates’ remains.

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The For- gotten War That Changed American History. By Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger. Sentinel. $27.95. ISBN 978-1- 59184-806-6.

Best-selling authors Brian

Kilmeade and Don Yaeger tell the exciting

story of the Barbary Wars, 1800-05, fought between a young U.S. and four North African states — Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli. For 10 years, the U.S.

had suff ered humiliation by Barbary pirates demanding ever-larger ransoms and tribute. President Thomas Jeff erson decided only forceful military action would ensure freedom of the seas in the Mediterra- nean and freedom for cap- tive American sailors. Kilmeade and Yaeger tell of the courage and fi ghting skills of famous naval heroes, as well as the remarkable overland attack by Consul William Eaton, eight Marines, and a motley army of Greek and Bedouin mercenaries — forcing the Barbary states’ capitula- tion and submission. — William Bushnell