The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1995 Page: 1 of 36
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3
VOL. 54 NO. 16
W
a
T3
In
sid
13th COSCOM SOLDIERS visit
share experiences with veterans at
center in Temple.
TASK FORCE helps soldiers mi-
grants pope with stress in Guan-
tanamo Bay Cuba.
The event hosted by the III Corps
and Fort Hood Equal Employment Op-
portunity and G-l Equal Opportunity
offices is open to the public. Fort Hood
civilian employees are authorized ad-
iitinistrative leave to attend. 0 287-
6242/3602.
JANUARY IS VOLUNTEER BLOOD
DONOR Month. The Fort Hood Blood
Bank Center Building 4451 on 72nd
Street accepts donations five days a
week. Interested donors should call be-
fore going to the center.
I Center hours arq 7:30-11:30 a.m. and
1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday 1-
3:30 p.m. Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to
noon Friday. 0 287-3989.
THE NEXT TV TOWNHALL meeting
will air 7-9 p.m. Jan. 12 on KNCT-TV
(PBS). The broadcast will allow Fort
Hood community members to call in
with questions which will be answered
live on the air by Fort Hood leaders.
Callers may remain anonymous but
identification may be requested in order
to follow up on any problems.
Index
SECTION A
CID seeks soldiers ........................ A2
2nd Armd Div at NTC ................ A5-7
Hood Bulletins .................................. A6
SECTION
New support group forms ...............B1
School lunch menus .........................B2
Volunteer Corner ............................. B4
Birth announcements...................... B6
SECTION
BLORA offers rear-round fun Cl
Education Bulletins ...................... C2
Movie schedule ................................. C3
Trading Post .................................. C4/5
{.TV Listings................................... C6/7
SECTION
Boxers ready for All-Army
SentineLVHOOD.FORTipF''i
SERVING THE PHANTOM ARMORED CORPS
a
FORT HOOD YOUTH hoop it up
at tournament.
Page D2
A A
Page A2
lance
E E A E FREEDOM AND
EQUALITY at Fort Hood’s Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Birthday Observance 1:
2:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at Abrams Field
House. The guest speaker will be Dr.
Jack Evans the president of Southwest-
ern Christian College in Terrell Texas.
Dr. Edward Wagner a Central Texas
College instructor will speak on King’s
dream.
III Corps Public Affairs
D1
Army-wide funding for the 1995
Variable Housing Allowance pro-
gram increased 2.7 percent and
most Fort Hood soldiers will see a
noticeable increase locally.
Junior officers and junior en-
listed soldiers will see the biggest
differences in the allowance. For
example a private’s VHA (with
dependents) jumped from $37.35 to
$77.77.
mm
By Amy Koehler
III Corps Public Affairs
tw
The Fort Hood Tax Center is now
open in Room 2 of the Fiddlers’
Green Community Recreation Cen-
ter to provide active-duty military
retirees and Department of the
Army civilians and their families
with free tax form preparation and
electronic filing.
“We have a larger staff and
more computers this year” said
LeeAnne George post tax coordi-
nator for the Fort Hood Legal As-
sistance Office. “We expect the
lines to be long but they should go
ick ly .”
The best time to get to the cen-
ter is late in the day because
things start slowing down then
she said.
Services available at the center
include preparation of state re-
turns federal returns amended re-
turns and back taxes.
“In the past we ran out of some
of the state forms” George said.
“This year we have them all on
CD ROM so we can just print
them off the computer as we need
them.”
People using the tax center must
bring all 1994 W-2 forms interest
statements social security num-
bers for all family members to be
claimed and a bank statement or
cancelled check for people who
want their return deposited di-
rectly into an account.
“It is. very important to bring
III Corps NCO of the Quarter Sgt. Marco Torres a maintenance
supervisor for the 190th Maint Co and HHC 544th Maint Bn 13th
COSCOM gives advice to a mechanic.
VHA funding increases are lim-
ited by law to the Military Hous-
ing Cost Index based on the Con-
sumer Price Index.
VHA rate changes are deter-
mined by an annual Pentagon sur-
vey of servicemembers which mea-
sures housing costs in 350 geo-
graphic areas around the country.
Rates rise and fall each year based
on the survey of what servicemem-
bers spend on housing.
Fort Hood conducted its annual
1995 VHA rates increase locally
R. Alexander Southern/13th COSCOM
“One important rule
military members need
to know is end-of-year
Leave and Earning
Statements will no
longer be accepted on
or off post. Only the
W-2 form will be ac-
cepted by the Internal
Revenue Service.”
The only exception is for people
who don’t receive their W-2 forms
before Feb. 15. They can use their
end-of-year LES after that date
she said.
13th COSCOM soldier wins 25th board
Hard work studying
pay off for top NCO
Fort Hood Tax Center open for assistance
LeeAnne George
post tax coordinator
everything with you to the center”
George said. “If even one docu-
ment is missing we can’t.help.
“One important rule military
members need to know is end-of-
year Leave and Earning State-
ments will no longer be accepted
on or off post” George said. “Only
the W-2 form will be accepted by
the Internal Revenue Service.”
The Fort Hood Tax Center is
open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-
Thursday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri-
day-Saturday. The center is closed
on Sunday.
Tax assistance is available on a
VHA survey in July 1994. Local
soldiers provided outstanding sup-
port in completing the surveys
post finance officials said.
The survey results were used in
determining 1995 VHA rates
which have increased considerably
for most ranks.
Soldiers who are drawing Basic
Allowance for Quarters but not
drawing VHA probably should be
By R. Alexander Southern
13th COSCOM Public Affairs
When Sgt. Marco Torres was
studying in December for his 25th
straight board appearance he had
a pretty good idea of how it would
turn out.
After all the scores from the
judges were in from the board the
next day Torres’ hard work and
study habits had indeed paid off
and he was tapped to become III
Corps Noncommissioned Officer of
the Quarter for the third quarter
of fiscal year 1994.
Torres who is a maintenance
supervisor for the 190th Mainte-
nance Company and Headquarters
Company 544th Maintenance Bat-
talion 64th Corps Support Group
13th Corps Support Command
said that studying Army field
manuals and knowing his job as
an NCO was what helped him win
his 23rd Army board title in a
row.
“I’m not one of those guys who
can go to the board after only
studying out of a study guide”
Torres said. “I’ll usually read at
least two hours (a day) out of
training manuals and then finish
out another hour by reading the
study guides.
“But the manuals are the impor-
tant part because they tell you the
doctrine the way the Army wants
you to know it. So I just read
manual after manual after manu-
al. The answers are all there” he
said.
Even though Torres admits that
By Amy Koehler
III Corps Public Affairs
The Fort Hood Tax Center of-
fers free tax form preparation
free forms and free electronic
tax filing for the Fort Hood
community.
“It is a great deal for the
soldiers” said LeeAnne George
post tax coordinator Fort Hood
Legal Assistance Office. “We
offer the exact same services as
off-post businesses with none of
the cost.
One reason sin messes
charge for the same service is
because they use refund anti-
cipation loans” she said. “That
means they charge a person 20
to 300 percent for a loan on
their own money.”
In addition to the loan fee
businesses also charge soldiers
for employees’ wages the forms
overhead and an expense for the
walk-in basis. Commanders first
sergeants and people with compli-
cated return may call th cen ter
to schedule an appointment.
Free child care is available
Post offering free services
January 5 1995
post finance officials said.
Soldiers not receiving VHA but
are entitled to should complete
DA Form 5690 Authorization to
Start Stop or Change BAQ or
VHA have it signed by the unit
commander attach a copy of a
valid lease mortgage or notarized
letter as proof of rent and return
it to their unit clerk or servicing
finance office.
(See VHA Rate Charts A2)
reading the manuals and studying
with his wife at night was the
biggest asset to his success being
an NCO and knowing his job was
also a very significant part of the
board.
“You can know the manuals and
study guides backwards and for-
wards but you also have to be
ready if they (the board members)
throw any situational scenarios at
you. Then you have to fall back on
what the Army has taught you.”
Although Torres has won every
NCO of the month and quarter
board he has appeared before he
has also distinguished himself by
becoming a Sergent Audie Murphy
board winner and a Sergeant Mo-
rales board winner in Germany.
“The Sergeant Morales board
was the hardest one I’ve gone up
against yet because it was all situ-
ational questions” Torres said.
“The Audie Murphy was situation
too but I was ready for it when I
went. I wasn’t quite ready for the
situational questions on the Mo-
rales board but I did well any-
way.”
Torres said he isn’t going to let
the latest win go to his head and
he’s not going to get burned-out on
the board process. Instead he
plans to keep his nose to the
grindstone so he can be primed for
his next board appearance the
III Corps NCO of the Year board.
“I always try to stay at least two
steps ahead of whatever goal I’m
trying to achieve. So I am going to
be ready for it whenever it comes
around” he said.
risk of suffering a loss if the
return is fraudulent she said.
“We don’t have any of those
costs” George said. “The sol-
diers working for us already get
their military salaries so we
don’t have additional salaries to
pay and the equipment is on
loan from offices on post.
“I know of a company that
charges $50 just for filing state
taxes” George said. “We do it
all for free.”
Soldiers may go off post to
have their taxes prepared be-
cause they may not know there
is an office on Fort Hood or
maybe because the refund anti-
cipation loans only take ap-
proximately two days she said.
“Electronic filing with direct
deposit usually only takes 10-14
days and electronic filing with
the refund mailed usually takes
14-21 days” George said. “It
doesn’t take very long.”
through the Fort Hood Child De-
velopment Center on Hood Road
for specialists and below. Advance
registration with the CDC is re-
quired.
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Horky, Anita. The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1995, newspaper, January 5, 1995; Fort Hood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310071/m1/1/: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Casey Memorial Library.