{"id":312456,"date":"2019-11-20T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T20:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=312456"},"modified":"2019-11-20T06:00:29","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T20:00:29","slug":"veteran-pre-enrollment-services-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/veteran-pre-enrollment-services-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran pre-enrollment services start"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA RITA, Guam<\/strong>\u2014The U.S. Naval Base Guam Visitor Control Center Contractor Services Office started veteran pre-enrollment services this week as part of the upcoming changes to base access and privileges under the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act. <\/p>\n

Pre-enrollment services will continue every Tuesday and Thursday through Dec. 12. <\/p>\n

Dozens of veterans took advantage of the services this week, including Air Force veteran Duane Salas, 39, of Dededo. Since his service ended in 2005, Salas has only been on a military installation for doctor\u2019s appointments and looks forward to the changes that will take effect in January 2020. <\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage all the veterans to take advantage of it,\u201d Salas said, referring to the pre-enrollment services. \u201cI believe we\u2019ve done all our part. This is awesome because now I can be able to go back on base and buy something.\u201d <\/p>\n

Veterans and eligible caregivers must bring:<\/p>\n

Veterans Health Information Card (VHIC) and\/or Letter of eligibility <\/p>\n

Completed SECNAV Form 5512\/1<\/p>\n

The hours of operation are from 7am to 10:30am and noon to 3:30pm. The office is closed from 11am to 12pm.<\/p>\n

These days are specifically designated for veteran pre-enrollment services. Contractors will be seen by appointment only and may schedule appointments via email at nbg.vcc@fe.navy.mil or visit the VCC. <\/p>\n

As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 200 people were processed, with an average wait time of 25 minutes. Veterans are encouraged to pre-enroll to avoid longer processing wait times come January. <\/p>\n

Pedro Borja, 72, of Barrigada was at the NBG VCC Thursday to pre-register. The Army veteran said he heard about the pre-enrollment through the media and was thankful that NBG designated days specifically for the VHIC. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe service was great,\u201d Borja said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than outstanding because I am not even standing outside. I got through the process and everything.\u201d <\/p>\n

Section 621 of the NDAA authorizes privileges at the commissary, Military Service Exchange, and certain Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities for Purple Heart recipients, veterans with service-connected disabilities, those who have been Prisoners of War (POW), and registered primary or family caregivers.<\/p>\n

Section 626 requires that the Secretary of Defense establish procedures, by which eligible surviving spouses and other next-of-kin, may obtain unescorted access to military installations in order to receive benefits to which they may be entitled to by law or policy. <\/p>\n

Both sections are effective Jan. 1, 2020. <\/p>\n

In order for eligible persons to avail of the aforementioned privileges they must obtain a VHIC or be issued a letter to specify eligible caregivers, both of which are an approved credential for requesting installation access. <\/p>\n

Veterans with questions regarding the veteran pre-enrollment services are encouraged to contact the VCC at 339-6217\/5208\/1280\/1380. (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANTA RITA, Guam\u2014The U.S. Naval Base Guam Visitor Control Center Contractor Services Office started veteran…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-312456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pacific","tag-guam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}