Page 24 - March 2018 FOP Newsletter

Know your rights as a citizen soldier
Greetings, my fraternal sisters and brothers. As I watched the outpouring of support following the death of Commander Paul Bauer, I was reminded of the sacrifice that he made and that so many others have made in the two careers we have chosen. This led me to recall a true American hero, decorated WWII veteran Dick Winters, who
said, “One day my grandson said to me, ‘Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?’ And
I said to him, ‘No, I’m not a hero, but I have
Copies of military records. I have received numerous calls from people wanting to know how they may obtain a certified copy of their DD 214. I suggested going to the government link: https:// www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records. This site ex-
plains how to obtain a free copy of a DD214 as well as other military records. Be aware: there are private companies that will assist veterans, but they are essentially going to com- plete the same documents and file them to the same lo- cation that veterans could do themselves — but for a fee. Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion are also good places to go for help in filing the documentation. My
recommendation is to save the money and do it yourself. Upcoming meeting. I am proud to serve as your chairman of the Military Committee, as we have answered many questions and assisted officers who are in the Reserves or National Guard with de- ployment questions, battle assemblies, orders and numerous other concerns. The committee wants to know the major issues that you are experiencing, past or present, so that we may work to eliminate them or to provide the information that you need in our effort to better serve you. To make this happen, we will ask you to attend a meeting to obtain information about the vast issues and concerns that you may have with the Department, City and/or the Veterans Administration. We had some scheduling conflicts, so I don’t have a date yet, but we will have more information later this month. Once we have a date, we will reach out to the districts and units to get the word out to you. Please attend — we would like to meet all of you
and get information so that we may assist those who need it. Thank you for your service!
If you have a question or comment, please email me at LTC_
Cruz@wowway.com. d
JERRY CRUZ
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served in a company full of them.’” I’m proud to serve with the best police officers in America.
Employment rights of citizen soldiers. I was asked last month
if an officer on medical or IOD status could attend a battle assem- bly. The answer is yes — this is the only secondary employment that an officer may work while on IOD or medical status. Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USER- RA), the department cannot stop a reservist or national guardsman from performing drills (battle assemblies).
The U.S. Department of Justice produces a handbook that sum- marizes and explains in plain language the legal rights of citizen soldiers under three federal statutes: the Uniformed Services Em- ployment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The following is a link where you may obtain a copy of the hand- book, called “Employment Rights of the Reserves and National Guard.”
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-ednc/lega- cy/2011/04/29/EmploymentRights.pdf.
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24 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2018