AFSA Chapter 1320, Travis AFB, CA

06/21/2026

🍳 Cooking Class at The Peak! 🥞

Want to learn some new breakfast recipes and pick up a few cooking tips? Join us for this month’s Cooking Class with AFSA, where we’ll be featuring all things breakfast with a live cooking demonstration!

✨ Bonus Feature: We’ll also have InBody body composition assessments available! Learn more about your body composition, track your fitness progress, and make informed wellness decisions.

📍 The Peak
🗓️ Wednesday, June 25
⏰ 1800–2000

Bring your appetite, your questions, and come hang out with us for a fun evening of food and wellness! 🍽️💪

Open to everyone while space is available.

06/21/2026

🏡 AFSA Fisher House Meal Support 🍽️

Join AFSA as we prepare and serve a homemade meal for families staying at Fisher House. This is a meaningful opportunity to support military families and give back to our community through a simple act of kindness.

👩‍🍳 Meal Prep
📅 June 22
⏰ 1800–1900
📍 The Peak

🍽️ Meal Service
📅 June 24
⏰ 1200–1300
📍 Fisher House, David Grant Medical Center
📍 101 Bodin Circle, Travis AFB, CA 94535

For those volunteering to serve, we’ll be meeting directly at the Fisher House before lunch service. Whether you can help with meal prep, meal service, or both, we’d love to have you join us!

❤️ Help us provide a warm meal and a little comfort to families staying close to their loved ones during medical treatment. We hope to see you there!

06/20/2026

Thank you to everyone in the surrounding area who came out to support our fundraising table today!

We will be continuing our Half Hog Fundraiser through June 30th. You can find us next week at Dixon Safeway on Wednesday and Friday.

Next Saturday chapter 1320 will continue the Hog raffle, Membership & legislative drive at Dixon Cars & Qs on Saturday June 27th!

We truly appreciate the continued support and hope to see you there!

06/20/2026

Good morning everyone!

Members of Chapter 1320 are all set up out at the Dixon Safeway for the half hog fundraiser. If you have a little time today, please come out, show your support, and help make this event a success. We’d love to see you there!

06/18/2026

Live stream of our meeting this month before the long weekend!

06/17/2026

Make your bed!

https://fb.watch/HODlPm6fEy/

06/17/2026

Happy Wednesday! As a reminder, our June membership meeting is tomorrow at the Delta Breeze Community Center at 1500. Arrive a few minutes early and grab a beverage on us. Spread the word, bring along your friends/family/coworkers and join us to find out what AFSA is doing for YOU!!! Hope to see you there!

06/15/2026

Division 6 Legislative update for 14 June:

14 June 2026 – AFSA Division 6 Update



1. SASC Completes Its Markup of FY2027 NDAA. The Website for the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) reports, “U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss, and Jack Reed, D-RI, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that the Committee voted 18-9 to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for consideration.



Military Personnel Items highlighted in the Executive Summary of this bill:



- Authorizes a 3.6 percent pay raise for all military members.



- Authorizes the Department to increase the maximum tuition assistance benefit.



- Extends the temporary authority for the military departments to develop and provide additional recruitment incentives to prospective recruits.



- Requires briefings on how each Service is ensuring that retention efforts focus not only on meeting end strength requirements, but also on retaining high-performing servicemembers and personnel in critical skill areas.



- Directs continued congressional oversight of the Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program review through recurring briefings to ensure timely processing of claims, improve program administration, and identify any legislative changes needed to better serve combat-disabled retirees.



- Requires sex-neutral military occupational standards.



- Requires the Department to offer and accept no fewer than three standardized tests at DODEA schools and military service academies, respectively.



- Expands codification of merit-based standards for military promotions, nominative assignments, command selection, and selection for military and civilian schooling



Complete Executive Summary of the SASC Markup: FY2027 NDAA EXSUM



Note: Last week we provided details on the House Armed Service Committee’s (HASC’s) version of the NDAA. There are significant differences between that bill and the one produced by the SASC, so these differences will need to be reconciled. First, the whole House and Senate will debate and approve their respective versions of the legislation, based on the product of the HASC and SASC. Then the two chambers will hold an NDAA conference later in the year. One example that needs to be ironed out is that the HASC calls for the POTUS version of the 2027 military pay raise (5.0 to 7.0, depending on rank), whereas the SASC version calls for an across-the-board 3.6% pay raise (as spelled out in the formula in title 37 USC – based on private sector wage growth).



2. Like the HASC, the SASC NDAA Calls for Annual Audit of TRICARE. The National Community Pharmacists Association tells us, “. . . the Senate Armed Services Committee included a measure to audit Tricare’s pharmacy benefit program in its long markup of the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act, which was held on June 10. The amendment . . requires an annual audit done by the Government Accountability Office of the Tricare pharmacy benefits program, examining reimbursement rates, prior authorizations, dispensing timeliness, and pharmacy network adequacy. This mirrors the language in the House version of the NDAA they passed on June 4.”



For more on this, go to: Tricare audit amendment adopted by Senate Armed Services Committee | NCPA



3. Senator Highlights Sponsored Items Included in SASC NDAA Markup. On the Website of Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., we find these items, among others, in the SASC Markup highlights:



- Supporting our Firefighters and Enhancing Fire Safety on Military Installations: This provision would require a report on critical staffing issues facing civilian firefighters at the DoD.



- Improving Access to Care for Our Airmen and Their Families: This provision would require an assessment of the mix of active-duty and civilian medical personnel at Air Force Medical Treatment Facilities and options for filling personnel shortfalls, especially in remote, underserved locations.

- Increasing Access to Diapers for Military Families: This provision would require a full assessment of the effectiveness and gaps in existing programs to provide diapers to military families.

- Improving Care for Military Families Experiencing Limb Loss and Limb Difference: This provision would implement a program to connect eligible beneficiaries with peer mentorship, family navigation, educational resources and non-clinical support services.

- Reducing Administrative Burden on Our National Guard and Reserve Components: Language requesting a report on the Department’s proposal to reduce over 30 legacy duty statutes into four clear categories. This provision would also ensure pay, allowances, medical care, retirement credit and survivor benefits correspond to duty category rather than cumbersome, disparate historical statutes.

- Improving Quality of Life and Retention of Dual-Military Couples: This provision would direct the DoD to brief Congress on current processes, administrative challenges and recommendations regarding managing geographic relocation of dual-military couples.

You can read all of this press release at: https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-secures-key-provisions-to-support-illinois-military-bases-and-servicemembers-protect-rock-island-arsenal-jobs-bolster-manufacturing-and-quantum-research

4. IVF for Military Families Abandoned by SASC. The Jefferson City News Tribune reports, “Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans, in a reversal, voted this week to oppose an NDAA provision that would broaden health care coverage for military families' fertility treatments, a Democratic senator said Thursday. "After everything our troops sacrifice for our nation, they should never have to sacrifice their dreams of building a family," said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., in a statement.

“The debate over the NDAA provision could attract attention in an election year. Anti-abortion conservatives have opposed IVF because some embryos are destroyed in the process. Members of Congress and federal workers have had access to health care coverage for designated fertility treatments since last year. But military families generally do not have the same coverage, except if infertility can be shown to be linked to their service.

“. . . Infertility rates among military personnel are higher than those of comparable civilians. For some, it is a quality-of-life issue that affects whether they want to stay in the military or recommend the military as a career, surveys have shown.”

To read all of this article, go to: Prior backing for fertility care reversed in Senate panel’s NDAA | Jefferson City News Tribune

5. House Appropriation Committee (HAC) Releases Subcommittee’s FY2027 Defense Spending Plan. The House Appropriations Committee’s Website mentions these two items they have earmarked for funding: “Strengthens support for service members and military families by:

- Supporting President Trump’s priority of a military pay raise of 7% for all military personnel ranked E-5 and below, 6% for E-6 to O-4, and 5% for O-4 and above.

- Providing an additional $15 million for the Military and Family Life Counseling Program, which provides counseling services to service members and their families to support operational readiness and resilience.”

For more, go to the HAC Website: Committee Releases FY27 Defense Appropriations Bill | House Committee on Appropriations - Republicans



6. Restore Military Family’s Voices Act. The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee reports, “Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) led the reintroduction of the Restore Military Families’ Voices Act, which would bar private military housing companies from requesting that tenants sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as a condition of housing and related services. . . .”



Source: Warren, Ossoff, Jacobs Lead Reintroduction of the Restore Military Families' Voices Act | United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs



7. Unemployment Rate for Veterans Drops. According to the Military Times, “The unemployment rate for veterans dipped to 3.2% in May, bolstered by a gains among women veterans despite fears that artificial intelligence could trigger layoffs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report released Friday. One trend in the report was the continuing improvement among the nation’s 2.1 million women veterans, as shown by a three-month surge – from an unemployment rate of 7.1% in March to 4.4% in April and 3.3% in May. . . .”



You can read more at: Unemployment rate for veterans drops to 3.2%, women vets surge on jobs market



8. Veterans Legislative Package Rolls 60 Different Efforts into One Bill. Military.com tells us, “Congressional leaders unveiled a sweeping bipartisan veterans package Thursday that combines more than 60 separate bills into a single legislative effort, potentially delivering one of the largest expansions of veterans benefits, survivor support and VA reforms in years.

“The newly introduced Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) includes the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act, expanded benefits for Gold Star families and catastrophiclly disabled veterans, reforms to VA health care and community care programs, and measures aimed at improving access to housing and benefits.

“The package includes more than 60 bipartisan bills negotiated by leaders of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees and is expected to serve as Congress' signature veterans legislation ahead of America250, the nationwide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary.”

To read all of this article, go to; Historic Veterans Package Rolls 60 Bills Into One Military Congressional Push

The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois

06/15/2026

Happy Monday! Here is the 7 June Legislative update:

7 June 2026 – AFSA Division 6 Update



1. Full HASC Debates, Amends, and Passes FY 2027 NDAA. The Military Times reports, “The House Armed Services Committee advanced a defense policy bill [H.R. 8800] Friday that would authorize the largest defense budget in history — $1.15 trillion . . . In a marathon markup session that lasted from Thursday morning until 12:00 a.m. Friday, committee members debated and passed nearly 600 amendments and the bill language of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. The committee approved the proposed legislation in a 44-12 vote. It now proceeds to the House floor, where it is expected to be considered in mid-July.



“The proposal includes a significant boost in troop pay beginning Jan. 1, 2027, especially for junior enlisted personnel. Under the proposed legislation, service members E-5 and below would receive a 7% pay raise, while those E-6 to O-3 would get a 6% pay raise. Members O-4 and above would see their paychecks rise by 5%.



“Regarding benefits, the bill would remove a service member’s Basic Housing Allowance from calculations for consideration for the Basic Needs Allowance, a benefit available to low income military families whose income levels could qualify them for food stamps. . . It would allow active duty personnel and reserve members on active duty to take bereavement leave in the loss of a pregnancy or stillbirth. . . It would place limits on the Defense Department’s plans to restructure military health facilities, and it would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit of Tricare’s pharmacy benefits.”



To read more about this bill, go to: Military pay raises, changes to housing allowance included in House-passed $1.15 trillion defense budget



Note: Other personnel-related items in the legislation include chaperones for “sensitive” healthcare appointments at military facilities, authorization for SECDEF to discount motor fuels at military exchange gas stations equivalent to the federal gas tax, and elimination of the 60-day cap on accumulation of leave for servicemembers.



In July, the full House will discuss and possibly amend this bill before passage. Also, the Senate Armed Services Committee will soon work to fashion its own version of the bill, and later this year the House and Senate will meet in conference to produce an agreed-upon NDAA to send to the President. All of this means that we are early in the process, and the items in the HASC legislation may or may not be in the final FY 2027 NDAA that will be sent to the White House for signature.



2. House Advances Measure to Give Servicemembers a Discount at the Pump. The Air Force Times highlights the possible exchange gas discount. It tells us, “House lawmakers advanced a measure Thursday to slash gasoline prices at military exchanges in an effort to make fuel cheaper for U.S. service members. The proposal would authorize Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to offer a discount at exchange stores that’s equivalent to the price of the federal gas tax. The tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for regular and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. The proposal would also allow the secretary to cut fuel prices further in order to counteract state and local taxes.”



For the entire article, go to: House advances measure to give troops a discount on gas



3. AF Budget Seeks $42 M Jump in Basic Needs Allowance Funding. Military.com tells us, “The U.S. Air Force is seeking a major increase in funding for the Basic Needs Allowance in Fiscal Year 2027, budgeting more than $42 million for a benefit designed to help lower-income service members and their families cover basic household needs. The service’s FY27 military personnel budget request includes $42.3 million for enlisted Basic Needs Allowance, up from $1.6 million in FY26 and $1.5 million in FY25, according to budget documents. The increase is driven entirely by an expected rise in the number of recipients.

“The budget documents make clear that the Basic Needs Allowance is not available to every service member whose pay feels stretched. Members without dependents are not eligible, neither are airmen who have not completed basic training, Air Force Academy cadets, nor cadets and midshipmen serving elsewhere in the armed forces. That means the benefit is primarily intended for service members with families whose gross household income falls below the eligibility threshold.”

Those interested can read the full article at: Air Force FY27 Budget Proposes $42M for Basic Needs Allowance



4. Military Families Face Challenges Accessing Special Needs Program for Dependents. According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), “Military families rely on TRICARE's Extended Care Health Option program to obtain health care services for their special needs children. However, this program may not be meeting enrollees' needs because its coverage limit has remained the same since 2009. Its benefits also may not be on par with those of other programs, like Medicaid.

“The Department of Defense plans to review this program's benefits, including how they compare to those of certain Medicaid programs. But the department hasn't set goals for this review or a time frame for completing it. We recommended it do so.”

To read the entire report, go to: Military Health Care: Families Face Challenges Accessing Care for Special Needs, Defense Has Not Reviewed Coverage | U.S. GAO



5. Pentagon Approves Less than 10% of Medical Malpractice Claims Since 2020. Task & Purpose reports, “Under federal law, active-duty servicemembers cannot sue the military, even in cases of medical malpractice. But in 2019, Congress passed the SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act, which gave troops and families a system that allowed them to file claims for personal injury or deaths caused by Department of Defense health care providers. Rather than sue their doctors, troops can now file for compensation with a review board. The law allocated $400 million to be paid out to service members over a decade for those claims, beginning in 2020.



“But more than five years later, the system denies far more claims than it approves. Task & Purpose obtained data on claims filed since 2020 from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. As of May, 764 service members and family members of troops have filed claims . . . but only 73 have been approved. Of the $400 million set aside by Congress for those claims, the services have released just $15 million since 2020.”



For more on this, go to: The military approved less than 10% of medical malpractice claims



6. House Passes $10,000 Benefits Increase for Catastrophically Wounded Veterans. Military.com tells us, “For the first time in more than two decades, the House of Representatives has approved a major increase in benefits for some of the nation's most catastrophically disabled veterans. The House recently passed the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, legislation that would increase benefits by roughly $10,000 annually for veterans receiving the highest levels of Special Monthly Compensation while also increasing support for surviving military spouses and families receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC.”



For details, go to; House Finally Passes First $10,000 Benefits Increase in Over 20 Years for Catastrophically Disabled Veterans



7. Bill Would Help Millions of Veterans from Unauthorized Fees. Newsweek reports, “A new Senate proposal aims to crack down on companies accused of charging veterans illegal fees for help filing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims. Some of these companies’ practices have cost former service members thousands of dollars, lawmakers say. The new bill, S.4646, would reinstate criminal penalties for individuals or organizations that charge unauthorized fees related to VA benefits claims.”



For the entire article, go to: VA Benefits: New Bill Would Help Protect Millions From Unauthorized Fees - Newsweek

06/15/2026

Greetings Chapter 1320! Sorry for the delay, but here is the 31 May Legislative update from Division 6!

31 May 2026 – AFSA Division 6 Update



1. Chairman’s Mark of FY 2027 NDAA. As a start of the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) process, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has produce a “Chairman’s Markup.” This serves as the basis for debate within that chamber, amendments, added features, etc. The Chairman’s Mark usually includes what are considered non-controversial proposals within that committee. The HASC Chair and Ranking Member have produced H.R. 8800, the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act Chairman’s Markup. The text, and contents of each of the major subcommittees can be found at:

Rogers and Smith Release Text of the FY27 NDAA, Announce Markup Date - Press Releases - House Armed Services Committee - Democrats



Within the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, we find a 2027 military pay raise (7% for E-5 and Below; 6% for E-6 through O-3; and 5% for 0-4 and Above), some military healthcare reforms, extension of TRICARE Standard for young dependents to age 26, childcare initiatives, accompanied and unaccompanied housing improvements, Reserve component duty status reform, and more.



You can access the Military Personnel section at: MLP PRINT - FINAL



Note: The full House Armed Services Committee debate on this Mark will start on 4 June.



2. Senate NDAA Mark-up Schedule. Inside Defense reports, “The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will mark up its version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) from June 8-10, 2026.

“The meetings of the SASC subcommitees on June 8-9 and the SASC itself on June 9-10 are closed with the one exception of the Subcommittee on Personnel on June 9 at 9:30 am ET.”



Source: Defense committee mark-up schedule comes into view | InsideDefense.com

3. Legislation Would Discount Fuel Costs for Military Members/Veterans. KJZZ (Phoenix) reports, “Arizona Congressman Abe Hamadeh introduced legislation [H.R. 9027 – The Military and Veterans Fuel Discount Act of 2026] this week that would grant fuel discounts to veterans and military families. The bill would allow the secretary of defense to apply discounts to federal fuel tax rates. It would also require the secretary to send a report to lawmakers after 180 days, with an update on the program and a recommendation on whether it should continue.”

You can access this article at: Arizona's Rep. Hamadeh introduces bill to discount fuel for veterans, military families



To take a look at this bill, go to: Text - H.R.9027 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Military and Veterans Fuel Discount Act of 2026 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress



4. Should Hazing be a Separate Criminal Offense under the UCMJ? The Military Times reports, “The Harry Lew and Danny Chen Military Justice Reform Act, introduced today by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., is named for Chu’s nephew, Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, and Chen, a 19-year-old Army private who also died by su***de in 2011 after racial harassment and hazing.



“The bill would order the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice to conduct a report to Congress on a change to the Uniform Code of Military Justice on whether hazing should be a standalone crime.”



For more, go to: Bill aims to make military hazing a separate criminal offense



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Highlight: Military Spouses. With the end of May and our nation’s annual Military Spouse Appreciation Month, we recognize the service, sacrifice, resilience and unquestioned contribution to our nation’s defense of military spouses.



An article in We are the Mighty reads, in part, “When I asked a group of military spouses to share their biggest struggle, the responses weren’t about one specific moment. They were about something deeper. Something quieter. . . It was about identity. Everyone typically talks about the struggles of being a military spouse—but not the transformation. There’s a moment in military spouse life when you realize you’re not the same person you were before the first set of orders arrived.



“. . . Military spouses don’t just “deal with” military life. Over time, they evolve because of it. They become emotionally agile, absurdly resourceful, and capable of handling chaos with the calm efficiency of someone who has cried in a base housing parking lot before immediately pulling themselves together to make soccer practice on time.



“At some point, military spouses stop being civilians adjacent to the military and become something else entirely: mission-minded partners who can adapt to almost anything.



“They learn how to build community fast, because they know time is limited. Military spouses become experts at starting over in places they didn’t choose. They master flexibility because the military doesn’t care about your five-year plan, your kid’s travel season, or the fact that you just found a hairstylist you trusted.



“And maybe the biggest shift of all? They learn how to carry uncertainty without letting it completely break them.”



To read more of this insightful article about the magic of military spouses, go to:

The silent identity shift that military spouses undergo to survive the lifestyle





Key dates: POW/MIA Recognition Week: 13-19 September, Recognition Day: Friday, 18 September. 2026 AFSA Legislation Awareness Week: 18-24 October.