In April 1945, our association printed its first bulletin to the membership. The focus then, as it is now, was to inform members on matters critical to their health and welfare.

The inaugural issue of the quarterly publication shared details on a “hospitalization reduction in retired pay” and a recommendation for subsistence allowances for dependents of active duty officers and retirees.

Our mission has grown in scope since 1945, but in flipping through this 78-year-old publication, the topics of their day mirror our own.

In getting back to our association roots, I noticed the publication declared itself a “rallying point” for membership. Nearly four decades later, I’m asking you to rally this month for our Advocacy in Action campaign. We rally not as an association of officers for officers, but as an association of officers who recognize and continue to fulfill our obligations to represent and take care of all uniformed service members, veterans, families, and survivors. Particularly those who may not be as able to take care of themselves.

This year symbolizes MOAA’s resiliency as we return to the Hill with over a hundred MOAA members travelling from around the country to meet with lawmakers April 26. Our online-focused advocacy campaigns these past three years have proven effective, but truth be told, we’re excited to again advocate alongside MOAA members travelling to D.C. to support our mission.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) meets with MOAA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, USAF (Ret), left, and Gen. Gary North, USAF (Ret), chairman of MOAA’s board of directors, at a MOAA-hosted March 29 reception on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Mike Morones/MOAA)

Our advocate teams will visit lawmakers’ offices with two calls to action:

1. Restore Basic Allowance for Housing to 100%.
2. Reverse TRICARE Pharmacy network cuts.

These topics feed into a broader topic of eroding benefits for our servicemembers, veterans, military families, survivors, and caregivers. Erosions like copay increases in 2018, which as much as doubled. And the TRICARE Select enrollment fees for retirees and their families, which took effect in 2021. 

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Support the All-Volunteer Force]

These individual reductions, like death by a thousand cuts, compound over time. They create hardships for already sacrificing service members and families and major recruiting challenges as influencers recount the erosion to their benefits to the next generation of potential servicemembers. These impacts put our all-volunteer force and ultimately our national security at risk.

We’ve faced challenges like these before as an association, and I’m asking you today to band together again. Please visit MOAA.org/AiA for updates in the weeks to come.

Please also visit our Legislative Action Center; if you are first-time visitor, please create a login. From there, you will be able to send advocacy messages to your district’s representative and senators. In addition to AiA, you can act on our priorities for the 118th Congress by endorsing concurrent receipt for combat-injured servicemembers and opposing TRICARE For Life fee Increases.

Thank you sincerely for supporting Advocacy in Action this year. Now let’s rally and get moving.