Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Leticia Samuels | Jennifer Melvin, a North Carolina National Guard employment and education counselor,...... read more read more
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Future North Carolina National Guard retirees gathered to attend the inaugural final formation retirement seminar hosted at the 139th Regional Training Institute, Sept. 17, 2016.
The seminar educates retirees, who have 18 months or less before retiring, about critical resources available to them. This is also an opportunity for Guard members to show their appreciation and thanks for retirees’ years of service.
“I want to personally shake your hand and thank you for your service,” said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Swart, the North Carolina senior enlisted leader. “As an entire National Guard, we can do this collectively together and share ideas to make this better. There are a lot of things to be gained from this, and I want this to be an enduring event for the North Carolina Guard for years to come. We owe this to our retirees.”
Guest speaker U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kenneth Beard, the North Carolina assistant adjutant general of sustainment, expressed the importance of arming our new retirees with knowledge that helps contribute to a smooth transition in the future.
“There are some great resources that are available to you based on your service,” said Beard. “It is important for you to understand the breadth and depth of those resources. Educate yourself that is what this day is for.”
A few key points of the seminar included creating awareness about the eligibility of state pension, the application process into retirement before reaching 60, eligibility of Veteran Affairs benefits and updating soldiers Retirement Points Accounting Management (RPAM).
“For them (retirees) to find this out after they get out is not a good thing,” said Sgt. Maj. Elsa Gaver, an NCNG quota source manager. “We wanted to be able to put something in place to educate the soldier, so they can have a better understanding of what their retirement entails, what they need to do on their side and what we have to help them.”
The targeted audience attending the seminar fall into three categories: soldiers who possess retirement orders, soldiers with a projected date of 18 months or less, and soldiers who are starting to think about retirement.
“I think this is great.” said Sgt. 1st Class Ehren Whitmore, an operations training noncommissioned officer assigned to the 139th RTI. “I have been on active duty twice and getting off active duty I have always missed out on information. I think that doing an event like this is great because people retiring can get all the information they need especially for those of us who won’t actually see our retirement benefits until we see 60.”
Retirees rotate through numerous stations receiving information and asking questions creating a one-on-one interaction with representatives from organizations, such as the VA, Tricare, family programs and much more.
“I need someone that knows what they are doing to help me,” said Master Sgt. Dolores Badger, an NCNG food service manager. “You need someone that knows it (their job) to sit down with you to make sure you aren’t doing it wrong, because if you do it wrong it will get denied then you have to start a whole new process. Why go through all that.”
The aim for the future is to hold a seminar quarterly or annually for both North Carolina Army and Air National Guard retirees to better inform and prepare them for the next chapter in their careers.
“Just knowing that the resources are there and being able to know the resources at the state level and knowing they are prepared to assist people going into retirement is a comfort more than anything,” said Whitmore.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2016 12:59 |
| Story ID: | 210841 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 242 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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