Retiree's Corner

  • Published
  • By Denis Miller
  • Military Retiree's Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Did you know that there is a Military Retiree's Affairs Office on base? It is located in the 341st Medical Group Clinic near the east entrance, the entrance opposite of Family Practice/Tricare/Immunization. The office is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. depending on volunteer availability. If not staffed or after hours, retirees can call 731-4751 and leave a message.

There is also a Retiree's Office link on the Malmstrom AFB Web site, www.malmstrom.af.mil.

The Retiree's Office staff is available to try and assist retirees with any questions they may have, or help them get pointed in the right direction. There is also a Retiree's Council that meets the second Thursday of every month (except June-August) at 11:30 a.m. in the Elkhorn dining facility. All military retirees are welcome to attend and join the group.

The Military Retiree's Council is active in Operation Happy Holidays, a program designed to send gift boxes to local troops deployed overseas. We will be baking cookies Nov. 30-Dec. 3 in support of Operation Happy Holidays.

We actively support the Cell Phones For Soldiers program, a program that turns old used cell phones into one hour pre-paid phone cards that are sent to the troops overseas. We continuously collect cell phones, and collection boxes are located at all 1st Liberty Federal Credit Union branches and at the BX, Clinic, Commissary and building 500.

We are starting to gear up for the Retirees Appreciation Weekend held on the last weekend of April 2010. Our council members are not only active in the council, but we actively volunteer on base and in the local community.
 
During the first part of November, the History Channel and Bresnan Communications teamed up together to present Take A Vet to School Day in support of Veterans Day. I was asked to speak to a group of 8th grade Social Studies students at East Middle School about my military service. The initial planned brief encounter developed into five full periods of two classes each.

While the thought of speaking to a classroom full of middle-schoolers was at first intimidating, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and was pleasantly surprised by the attention and respect I was shown by the students. I look forward to doing it again.