rapidfire SBP Open Enrollment
Attention retirees enrolled in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) who are divorced with a former spouse as your SBP beneficiary due to divorce-court orders: The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is conducting an open season to allow a change of SBP beneficiary from a deceased former spouse to a current spouse. The window of opportunity to change is from now until Nov. 24, 2016. In the past, if a divorce court designated your for- mer spouse as your SBP beneficiary and that person died, you lost your SBP for any future use. A MOAA- led legislative effort changed this law in 2016. Here are the specifics for open-season eligibility
(all of these points must apply to your situation): Your deceased former spouse passed away before Nov. 25, 2015.
You are currently married. You married your current spouse on or before Nov. 25, 2015.
Former-spouse coverage must have been can- celed due to death. No other reason for discon- tinued former-spouse coverage is eligible. DFAS has identified retirees the agency believes
meet these eligibility standards and has notified them by mail. If you believe you are eligible but did not receive a letter, contact DFAS at (800) 321-1080 to let them know you meet the eligibility criteria.
Korea Revisit Program
Korean War veterans who served in, over, or around the Korean theater between June 25, 1950, and Oct. 15, 1954, are eligible to participate in the Korea Revisit Program. The program, hosted by the Korean Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and subsidized by the Korean government, offers Korean War veterans and their travel companions free hotel accommodations and meals for five nights and six days as well as bus tours of Seoul, Inchon, and the Demilitarized Zone. For additional information, visit the Korean War
Veterans Association’s website at
www.kwva.org/ revisit/
index.htm.
In Review
Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror. By Michael V. Hayden. Penguin Press, 2016. $30. ISBN 978-1-594-20656-6.
Michael Hayden’s career as an Air Force intelligence offi cer and later as the director of both the CIA and National Security Agen- cy (NSA) gives him unique insight into the full scope of U.S. intelligence operations. In this well-crafted memoir, he reveals much about how those crucial agencies func- tion, with special emphasis on the complex and thorny politics of intelligence. Hayden discusses the
director of both the CIA
critical roles of the CIA and NSA in the war on ter- ror; successes and failures; technology advances in collection, surveillance, and analysis; as well as overt and covert actions and meddling bureaucratic power struggles inside and outside the intelli- gence community. He also describes controversial subjects like rendition, de- tention, interrogation, and “targeted killing.” Best are his explana- tions of fascinating na- tional security projects like “Thin Thread” and “Stel- larwind” and the delicate
18 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2016
balance between privacy, secrecy, and public trust.
Finland at War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45. By Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen, and Chris Birks. Osprey, 2016. $40. ISBN 978-1- 472-81526-2.
In a follow- up to their fi rst book, Finnish
historians tell the
l little-known ittle-known history of Finland’s de as-
history of Finland’s devas- tating war against Russia during World War II.
The authors describe
Finland’s second war with Russia, at fi rst allied with the Germans and later fi ghting against the Ger- mans occupying Finland from 1944-45, the Lapland War. Remarkably, the small, determined Finnish army, navy, and air force checked the Russians and defeated the Germans. Lavishly illustrated with period photos and maps, the story tells how the Al- lies ignored the Finns, cre- ating a delicate, dangerous Finnish balancing act be- tween war and diplomacy with two powerful adver- saries. Experts in defense in woodland, mountain, and winter warfare, the Finns paid dearly for their country’s freedom. — William D. Bushnell
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