Thanks for inviting me and I am glad to be a part of the group, Ret. USN Submarine Force.

Only two ships in the Navy, Submarines and targets.

Wiseass...

I haven't been on a carrier yet that went "Bloop-Bloop"

I envy you in a way - bubblehead galleys always had the best spreads.

Please welcome "shorebird" to our select group!

So someone tell me more about this VA card that was mentioned in the thread? What is the eligibility requirements? When did they start offering these? I don't remember hearing about them before. What are the benefits to having one?

Here is a questionnaire to see if you may qualify for VA medical benifits;
Do You Qualify For VA Health Care? (VA Health Care Eligibility & Enrollment)
Here is where you can enroll online;
https://www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/1010ez/

-And that is the kind of sharing I meant us to do.

Lets help eachother!

If it's all about health care, then that explains why I don't remember anything about it. I got out because of what they wanted to do to my knee, or what I would have had to get done had I stayed in. I was running from the healthcare when I got out based on the experiences of some friends and counter parts. The guys I talked to who had it done said it only lasted 3 - 5 years before they had to do it again and conventional wisdom at the time was, either get out before the first one, or stay in the full 20. A sports orthopedist in San Diego said if I got out, stayed active, and took care of myself, I wouldn't need a new knee for at least 20 years.

He was right. I've still got both OEM knees I've also got good insurance now and can find better hospital docs than I ran into when I was active

Gentlemen, thanks for the invite, glad to be here. Wolfie, thanks for setting this up. Yes, i'm the loud mouth opinionated Coastie that you all see hovering all over the place. I love veterans, my route id full of old timey military retirees. These guys have made me feel quite welcome in their neighborhoods.

F350-6, as for the state of military medical, I would like to say that it's improved dramatically over the years. My wife has had two complete knoee replacements at Langley AFB an the past two years and they both came out totally squared away and should last her t he rest of her life.

The other day at work, one of the fellas was saying that he had his DD-214 recorded in the city office so it would always be on file. I don't really see the need as they are so easy to get these days. It's good to have multiple copies of this one.

Goddalmighty - this group is growing faster than the national deficit!

I think we all know stu37d - welcome aboard!

Brown Falcon and Furyus1 I also approved this morning - good to see you guys!

It's snowballing and that's a good thing. We are growing faster than any other group on the forums!

I have standing invites out for Senior Chief Mantta, mongo75, cmpd1781, and a few others.

I don't know if you guys can send out "Invites" - do you see a way to do that in your views of the group?