East Central Florida VA Hospital - The proposed VA hospital is projected to be a state-of-the-art facility with the best equipment available to accommodate 174 inpatient beds. The VA Hospital location has not yet been determined; however, there are two options (1) to build new hospital on existing VA property at Orlando VA Healthcare Center or (2) evaluate the suitability and cost of having portions of the new hospital located on site TBD. Progress is ongoing, in Sep 2005 VA submits to Congress for budget appropriation in 2007 and in late 2007 if funding is approved by Congress, the new VA hospital will break ground and construction begins shortly thereafter.

DFAS Issues - Congress approved legislation for retirees with at least 20 yrs service who are rated 100% disabled by the VA to receive their full military retired pay and VA disability compensation with no reduction effective Jan 1, 2005. Additionally, congress has approved the elimination of the Social Security offset reduction applied to the SBP over the next three-and-half-year period. This will eliminate the annuity reduction from 55% to 35% at age 62. By Apr 2008 the annuity will be fully restored to the 55% percent level. Veterans can visit: ww.dfas.mil for additional DFAS news.

Legislation Soldier Benefits Issues - There are numerous ongoing legislative issues as reported in the Feb 2005 AUSA news that will help soldiers and families.

• Accelerating recent progress in closing the pay gap between military and civilian sectors
• Full concurrent receipt for all disabled retirees
• Increasing the Max SGLI to $500,000
• Implementing paid up Survivor Benefit Plan in FY 2006
• Increasing Army end strength to 532,000 with budget support
• Increasing funding for spare parts, maintenance and training
• Support for reconstituting and resetting the Current Force
• Rebalancing Army capabilities to strength readiness.
• Creating modular forces with increased capabilities
• Fully funding Army Aviation Restructuring and Revitalization
• Providing pay and benefits for reserve component personnel and their families that is commensurate with their active duty counterparts
• Reduce the age for reserve retirement benefits to age 55