From: bergman@AFNEWS.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Army News Service 04/09/92
Date: 14 Apr 92 13:52:40 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC


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 * Medicare practice poses financial drawback 
   for newly separated military physicians
 * Computers link up for battlefield maneuver control
 * Band plays on in leader's memory
 
 ================================
 
 ARMY NEWS SERVICE - 9 APR 92
 
 
 Medicare practice poses financial drawback 
   for newly separated military physicians
 
       WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- As doctors leave the Army, the transition 
 to civilian life isn't their only problem. They also face a financial 
 hurdle if they plan to continue their medical practices.
       The hurdle consists of federal law that defines separating 
 military doctors as "new physicians" when they perform services under 
 the Medicare program. But a proposal in Congress could eventually help 
 the doctors over that hurdle.
       Former military doctors are now paid a lowered reimbursement for 
 Medicare service, according to the Medicare fee schedule. For example, 
 in the first year of practice, the new physician's reimbursement is 80 
 percent; the second year, 85 percent; the third, 90 percent; and the 
 fourth, 95 percent.  For the fifth year and thereafter, the rate is 
 100 percent.
       Statistics from the past 10 years show that some 530 Army 
 physicians leave the service each year, according to the Army surgeon 
 general's office.
       Like their civilian counterparts just out of residency training, 
 these "new" physicians must meet high startup costs to build a new 
 practice. They also have to absorb other skyrocketing costs for 
 medical malpractice insurance and other services. Such financial 
 realities are ignored by current law, critics say.
       Categorizing doctors who leave the Army as "new physicians" 
 ignores their eight to 30 years of training and experience, said Maj. 
 Andrew Cornell of the Army surgeon general's office.
       New York Rep. Ed Towns says that this disregard for the length 
 of service and quality of military doctors figures in a remedy 
 proposed recently in both houses of Congress.
       A House bill, originally introduced by Towns in July, seeks to 
 repeal certain language deriving from the congressional effort to 
 decrease the federal budget.
       Towns recently wrote to his colleagues, saying, "Congress has 
 inadvertently penalized new physicians, including military physicians 
 and clinical psychologists who have not previously treated Medicare 
 recipients."
       His letter explained, "I am reintroducing the repeal...and I am 
 adding a provision that specifies that the bill must be revenue-
 neutral." The new bill's accommodation of budget concerns thus serves 
 to renew his call for co-sponsors.
       Now called House Resolution 4507, the bill must make its way 
 through such House bodies as the Committees on Ways and Means and 
 Energy and Commerce. A similar bill is pending in the Senate.
 
 
 
 Computers link up for battlefield maneuver control
 by Spec. Brian Pigott
 
       WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Like their enlisted counterparts before 
 them, today's Army officers are gaining access to a new, computer-
 based system aimed at improving maneuver control for non-light 
 infantry divisions.
       Known as the Maneuver Control System, this automated management 
 tool tracks resources and troop movements for battlefield commanders.
       Instructions for operating MCS are now part of the curriculum 
 for students in the Command and General Staff Officers Course at Fort 
 Leavenworth, Kan. Students at Leavenworth's Combined Arms and Services 
 Staff School also are receiving training on the new system, said Lt. 
 Col. Walter Lantzy, who manages MCS training for the Army's Training 
 and Doctrine Command.
       "Non-commissioned officers are much more proficient (with the 
 system) than a majority of the officers," Lantzy said. "At the battle-
 staff course at the Sergeants Major Academy, they've integrated MCS 
 into their training. Officers are just starting to receive training."
       Lantzy explained that MCS computers normally are operated by 
 NCOs during computer-simulated field exercises. All the MCS systems on 
 one side of the battle are linked so that commanders can share the 
 same information.
       The system allows commanders and their NCOs to work together 
 better, explained Sgt. 1st Class Roger Marchant at Leavenworth. His 
 team of combat developers is responsible for fielding the system to 
 units in the continental United States.  
       "In a tactical environment," he said, "NCOs spend a lot of time 
 making overlays and reports. With MCS, I can do my job in a third of 
 the time. It helps me a lot in helping my commander make his 
 decisions."
       First fielded in 1989 for III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, MCS 
 hardware saw its greatest test during Operation Desert Storm. There, 
 it was used daily by VII Corps.
      (From a Fort Leavenworth release.)
 
 Band plays on in leader's memory
 by Staff Sgt. Greg Markley
 
       FORT MCCLELLAN, Ala. (ARNEWS) -- Playing in the distinctive 14th 
 Army Band was not all ruffles and flourishes. Speedy tune-ups, 
 miscalculated parade routes and missed meals made life interesting for 
 members of the Women's Army Corps band.
       "We were part of something very special," said Master Sgt. 
 Ramona Meltz, who was the WAC enlisted band leader for 12 years. As 
 this year is the WAC's 50th anniversary, she recalled some milestones 
 of the all-woman band.
       "As females, we presented a fine picture; we were quality 
 musicians and good ambassadors to the public," she said. "We were 
 smaller than most bands, about 70 people as opposed to the normal 150, 
 but we developed a following and a great reputation."
       The band performed at President John F. Kennedy's inaugural 
 parade in 1961. And it played at the White House five years later, 
 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law removing restrictions 
 on promotion opportunities for women officers.
       "It was a very cold day, and our instruments were transported to 
 the White House in open trucks," Meltz said. "We got the notice that 
 we would perform in five minutes, which is not the usual time you 
 allow for warm-ups on your instruments. On top of this, we were 
 playing in a marble hall with poor acoustics.
       "We just settled in and did our best," she recalled. "Later, 
 Vice President Hubert Humphrey told us he enjoyed our performance and 
 said, 'You women should play here more often.' "
       Meltz also remembered the time the band marched in an extra-long 
 parade. The program read five miles, but the route was later measured 
 as eight. "It sure felt like eight, not five," Meltz said. "But no one 
 fell out or lagged behind."
       And she told of the nights when the band members went hungry. 
 "At nine or 10 at night, it was tough to get the hotel cook to prepare 
 meals for 70 women!"
       As part of the total integration of the Army, the first man 
 joined the 14th Army Band in December 1975. Today, men make up 88 
 percent of the band membership.
       "I thought it was a unique organization, being all women," said 
 Staff Sgt. Linda Thomas, 1st Infantry Division Band, Fort Riley, Kan. 
 She was with the 14th during its integration.
       "NCOs in the old band were very critical about musical 
 performance -- they would not let you perform something that wasn't 
 ready," Thomas said. "In a way, I miss the WAC band because of its 
 uniqueness; but I feel that the change was necessary."
       The 14th Army Band recently received the Five Star Rating Award 
 from the Parade of American Music, sponsored by the National 
 Federation of Music Clubs. The band's director acknowledged the unit's 
 distinctive history and looked to the future.
       "The WAC band was well-regarded, traveled widely and played at 
 several presidential inaugurals," said CWO2 Robert L. Larsen. "We have 
 great musicians in the present band, too, and are continuing on in 
 that top-notch tradition."
       And the band plays on...
      (Markley is contributing editor of the McClellan News.)