GRAA NEWSLETTER
P.O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Officers of the Maryland Federation of the nearly 100-year old National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association spoke at our February Luncheon. NARFE’s Maryland Chapter represents the 301,000 federal employees and retirees in Maryland. Dr. Gary Roundtree, Sr., the Federation President, introduced a group of five federation officials who described NARFE as a nonpartisan independent organization to members in attendance.

Dr. Sudha Haley, the Federation 1^st Vice President & Legislative Director, mentioned that NARFE, which has 200,000 members nationwide, lobbies both the US Congress and state legislators on behalf of all federal employees and retirees to improve benefits and to prevent these legislative bodies from reducing or eliminating them. Budget proposals in the current 116^th Congress include: Reducing or eliminating cost of living adjustments (COLAs); Increasing the FERS retirement contribution by 6%; Eliminating the FERS annuity supplement; Changing the retirement formula to a 5-year base rather than the current 3-year base; Reducing the TSP G fund rate of return; Reducing total paid time off; and freezing federal pay. The NARFE agenda also includes lobbying on new issues such as: Skyrocketing costs of long term care insurance; Ensuring that postal employees do not pay for postal reforms; Changing the COLA calculation formula to be based on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, which would better represent retiree expenses; and Preventing arbitrary and unilateral government reorganizations.

Dr. Bruce Fowler, NARFE’s Federal Legislative Committee Chair, described his efforts to relate to Congress the progress and priorities of government employees and retirees that he hears from members at NARFE meetings in the 28 Maryland chapters across the state. One initiative is to publicize what the civil service does for the country. A new NARFE publication, “Profiles in Civil Service: Our Unsung Heroes”, compiles statements from civil servants of their contributions to the safety and wellbeing of our nation.

Stuart Sklamm, Federation Ass’t Treasurer, noted that NARFE meetings have included renowned speakers such as Steny Hoyer and John Sarbanes; Louis Goldstein, Maryland Comptroller, and the IRS Commissioner. The speakers encouraged all GRAA members to join NARFE, which offers members a chance to make a difference in improving their retirement benefits, as well as many educational opportunities and social events.

Paul Hudes, Federation Legislative VP, described the benefits and process of joining NARFE and encouraged attendees to make a difference since benefits are always under attack. Retirees can become either national or chapter members, both of which offer opportunities to meet current policy makers, run for office, or just express concerns while keeping current. NARFE has a strong relationship with all Maryland US Representatives and both Senators (and will be meeting with them on March 13^th) and is a resource for all aspects of federal retirement, including second careers.

In answering questions from attendees, Dr. Roundtree noted that if it were not for the efforts of NARFE, our benefits would have eroded significantly over time. They have been under attack by Congress for the past eight years, but with NARFE’s efforts we have not lost any benefits.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from L. Henry Anderson, Ronald Barasch, Carol Boquist, John Bosworth, Michael Calabrese, Joyce Cephas (in memory of Arnold Cephas), Anthony Comberiate, Kent Cockerham, Christopher Daly, Carroll Dudley, John Firmin (in memory of Buddy Payne, Bob Keefe, Ed Baen, and Gay Ferrante), Arthur Fuchs, Howard Kingman, Patricia Mackey, William Maguire, Ivan Mason, Patrick Melia, John Millman, Terence O’Neill, Thomas Page (in memory of Sybille Page), Karl Peters, Richard Strafella, William Townsend, Thomas Underwood, Lynda Willingham, Charles Woodyard, and David Zillig (in memory of Sol Levine).

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• John E. (Jake) Firmin, of Columbia, MD, passed away on February 5^th. He initially came to Goddard in ’64 and was assigned to the Procurement Division of the Administration & Management Directorate. In ’74 he was reassigned to the Project Support Office and in ’78 became a Procurement Manager. The directorate changed its title to the Management Operations Directorate in ’81 and in ’82 he was reassigned to the Policy & Review Office. In ’85 he transitioned to the Procurement Support Division, from which he retired in the late ’90s.
• Albert D. Latzko, of Bowie, MD, passed away on January 31^st. He initially came to Goddard in ’63 and was assigned to the Network Engineering & Operations Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems. In ’70, the division changed to the STADAN Operations Division in the same directorate. In ’72 he transitioned to the Network Facilities & Services Division of the Networks Directorate and the following year was reassigned to the Facilities Engineering Division. In ’81 the division and office titles were transitioned to the Facilities Engineering Division of the Management Operations Directorate and he retired in ’93
• Earl R. Moyer, of Ocean Pines, MD, passed away on February 8^th. He was an Electrical Engineer who initially came to Goddard in ’63 and was assigned to the Spacecraft Integration & Sounding Rocket Division of the Office of Space Science & Satellite Applications. In ’65 the office title changed to the Technology Directorate. In ’71 other title changes occurred and he was assigned to the Electronics Division of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. In ’74 he was reassigned to the Systems Division of the Engineering Directorate and in ’81 he was reassigned to the Applied Engineering Division of the same directorate and retired in the late ‘80s.
• Joseph A. Muller, of Bowie, MD, passed away on February 7^th. He initially came to Goddard in ’66 and was assigned to the Test & Evaluation Division of the Systems Reliability Directorate over the ensuing decade. In ’77 he was reassigned to the Systems Division of the same directorate in ’83 and retired shortly thereafter.
• Robert S. Watson, of Bowie, MD, passed away on January 10^th. He initially came to Goddard in ’63 and was assigned to the Operations Support Division of the Office of Tracking & Data Systems Directorate and the following year was reassigned to the Network Engineering & Operations of the same office. In ’67 he was again reassigned to the STADAN Engineering Division of the Tracking & Data Systems Directorate. In ’70 the office titles were changed to the Network Engineering Division of the Networks Directorate. In ’83 the titles were again changed to the Mission Operations Division of the Missions Operations & Data Systems Directorate and he retired in the late ‘80s.
• John J. Wolff, Jr., of Rockville, MD, passed away on January 30^th. He initially came to Goddard in ’69 and was assigned to the Spacecraft Integration & Sounding Rocket Division of the Technology Directorate. In ’71 the titles were changed to the Sounding Rocket Division of the Space Applications & Technology Directorate. In ’81 he worked in several different divisions which transitioned to the Engineering Directorate. Throughout the ‘80s he remained in the Engineering Directorate and then throughout the ’90s worked on projects (including the HST Flight Systems & Servicing Project and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Project). He served as the TIMED Project Manager and then retired at the end of ’99.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN MARCH: On March 22, 1982, the Office of Space Science (OSS-1) mission payload was carried as the principal cargo on Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-3). OSS-1 experiments and investigations, eight of which were mounted on a European Space Agency pallet located in the cargo bay and one on the mid-deck, represented the following disciplines: astronomy, space plasma, physics, planetology, solar physics, technology, and life sciences. The primary objectives of OSS-1 were to demonstrate the capability of STS-3 to perform research in space and to evaluate the orbiter’s environment. The OSS-1 payload was designed for evaluating scientific instrument capabilities to operate in the worst-case orbital thermal environment for extended periods of observations. Additionally, the OSS-1 mission provided an opportunity to conduct post-mission calibration of experiments and to evaluate a recoverable payload. Space Shuttle Columbia was diverted to land at White Sands, NM, on March 30th, instead of Edwards Air Force Base, CA, due to wet conditions at the intended dry lake bed landing site.

WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY (WFF) DIRECTOR TRANSFERS TO NASA HEADQUARTERS: William (Bill) Wrobel, Director of WFF and its Suborbital and Special Orbital Projects Directorate since 2010, was detailed in early February to a new assignment at NASA Headquarters in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

PRESIDENT TRUMP NOMINATES GODDARD CENTER DIRECTOR TO NEW ROLE : President Trump recently nominated Goddard Center Director Christopher Scolese to become the next Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NRO, located in Chantilly, VA, is a member of the US Intelligence Community and an agency of the Department of Defense. Chris has been Center Director since 2012 and was Acting NASA Administrator for 6 months prior to Charles Bolden becoming NASA Administrator and before that served as a NASA Associate Administrator and Chief Engineer. The NRO Director position requires Chris to receive confirmation from the US Senate.

THOUGHT FOR MARCH: Just getting out of bed in the morning frequently ruins Ye Ed’s entire day; however, he hopes the same result never happens to other GRAA members!