Date Published: 08/01/2026
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
For more information about the Coachella Valley Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, check out our website: CVC-MOAA.com
SUMMER MEETINGS
Two more summer meetings are scheduled at Burgers and Beers near the LaQuinta Costco to include:
Thursday, August 20, 2026, 11:30 am
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 11:30 am
UPDATED 2026-27 SCHEDULE
October 15, 2926 - General Membership Meeting at the Palm Springs Air Museum, with tour after the lunch. Our Sees Candy sales drive will start and end at our December meeting. PS Air Museum Director Randy Zahn will be the speaker and CPT Ramona Chavez, President, CalMOAA will speak and swear the 2026-28 officers in at the meeting.
October 2026 - CVC-MOAA is supporting the VFW Holiday Drive for Veterans at Loma Linda Hospital. At the October meeting, we will be requesting everyone to bring socks to present to the VFW at the Veterans Day Silent Auction.
October 22, 2026 - March Air Force Reserve Base and March Field Museum Tour, plus lunch. Cost for CVC-MOAA members is only $95. See attached flyer to registration.
November 11, 2025 - CVC-MOAA Veterans Day Auction at 5:00 p.m., The Chapter is partnering with the Trilogy Charitable Committee and the VFW. We are encouraging our members to submit a new $50 item or gift card for the auction. All proceeds go to our scholarship fund. This year, we have added an oral auction besides the silent auction. Any item above $200 will be auctioned orally at the event. COL Kathleen O’Regan will be collecting all auction items. Please email her at
November 19, 2026 - General Membership Meeting. Author Todd Anton is returning to speak about “When Football Went to War.” Please note the date change on this event.
December, 10, 2026 - Holiday Party/General Membership Meeting. Lizann Warner will be returning to entertain the Chapter with a new musical program.
December 3, 2026 - Coachella Valley Firebirds Hockey Fundraiser. The Chapter has reserve 60 tickets at $75 each and located in center of rink court seating. For each ticket we selll, the Chapter receives $10. The Firebirds will promote our Chapter throughout the game and honor one of our members during their salute to heros. If you have not been to a hockey game, this is your chance. Hockey is a fast moving, exciting sport. Our team is one of the better teams in the league.
January 14. 2027 - General Membership Meeting. Speaker will be announced soon.
January 2027 - Maryvn’s Magic Theater Fundraiser. Date and act will be announced in the Fall.
February 11, 2027 - General Membership Meeting, Speaker is CAPT Marv Heinze. CAPT Heinze is retired Navy and is currently on the national MOAA Board of Directors. This meeting will also be our membership drive meeting.
February 2027 - Indio Lights Night Golf Fundraiser.
March 11, 2027 - General Membership Meeting. Speaker is BG Ilan Ben-David, retired Israeli Army General and CVC-MOAA Honorary Member
March 2027 - Coachella Valley Lakes Basket Ball Game Fundraiser
April 8, 2027 - General Membership and Annual Meeting, Speaker is Gail Joyce, national MOAA Board member, Gold Star Mother and Surviving Spouse
April 2027 - Angels Baseball Game and Bus Trip Fundraiser
May 12, 2027 - Leadership and Scholarship Dinner/General Membership Meeting
RIDE SHARING - LTC JIM LABAUGH
Starting in October, if you need a ride to a meeting, contact LTC Jim LaBaugh, 2nd VP at 949-212-1900 or email him at
NEW MEMBERS - CDR MATT STONE
We have a new member as of July. Please welcome COL Bill Faust, AF, (Ret.). He lives in Rancho Mirage and has attended one of our summer gatherings. Welcome Bill!
MEMBER HIGHLIGHT — MAJOR PETE FLEURY, U.S. ARMY, (RET.)
Pete grew up in an aviation household. His father flew transport in North Africa and B-29s over Japan and then transitioned to commercial flyer. As a child, Pete built numerous model airplanes. Aviation was in his blood. At 15, his family transferred from New York to Saudi Arabia and he completed high school in Beirut, Lebanon. His early experience living overseas ultimately prepared him for international work.
After college, he enlisted in the Army to avoid the draft and became a radar systems technician. He then got interested in OCS and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch. His first tour was in Vietnam as a battery fire direction officer and executive officer that led to an interest in flying helicopters. He returned to Vietnam as a CH-47 Chinook pilot on his second tour.
After ten years of active duty, he transitioned to ConocoPhillips as a District Sales Rep while flying with the Army Reserves, then the National Guard, which led to an opportunity with Rockwell International as an Avionics Marketing Engineer. Pete ultimately retired from Boeing, marketing aircraft upgrade programs worldwide.
Along with 26 years in the aerospace industry, Pete combined 23 years of Army active, reserve and National Guard Service.
Pete joined CVC-MOAA in 2025 and has been in the Coachella Valley for 22 years. He is married to Bobbie and in October it will be their 38th wedding anniversary. Pete is a docent at the Palm Springs Air Museum and on the Trilogy HOA Emergency Preparedness Committee of 1,238 homes.
JOINING NATIONAL MOAA
In the last few months, CDR Matt Stone has been working with national MOAA on potential new members through a list called the Catchment Report. This report lists all the MOAA members in our surrounding area that might want to join our Chapter. After reviewing the document, we discovered that out of a 33 Chapter officer and surviving spouse members, only 15 are members of MOAA. A Chapter member does not have to belong to MOAA to belong to the Chapter, but we want to encourage it. National MOAA is the advocacy arm of our Chapter. It is our country’s leading organization preserving and protecting service-earned benefits for uniformed service members and their families. There are three levels of membership: Life Membership, Premium Membership and Basic Membership. The first two levels have a cost; however, the Basic membership is FREE!
BASIC BENEFITS
- Legislative News Updates and Advocacy Efforts
- MOAA Newsletters
- Chapter and Council Membership Involvement
- MOAA Insurance Plans
- Exclusive Discounts on Products, Services, and Travel
PREMIUM BENEFITS
- All Basic Benefits
- Access to Members Books and Guides
- Financial Education and Consumer Advice
- Education Resources for Your Children
- Expert Advice on Militry Pay and Benefits
- Career Transition Resources
- Subscription to Military Officers Magazine and Exclusive Publicatins
LIFE BENEFITS
- All of the above, plus
- Spouse Protection
- Access to 200 clubs worldwide with membership in the Army and Navy Cub of Washington DC, with significantly reduced initiation fee.
Signing up is easy. Here are the steps:
1. Google MOAA.org.
2. Select Home Page
3. Click the three lines on the right of the top page.
4. Select the icon that says JOIN.
5. Once you select join, it tells you why you want to join MOAA. It then lists the three categories Lifetime, Premium and Basic (Free)
6. Click on the membershipcategory you want, and register. It’s just that simple.
SURVIVING SPOUSES - LTC JIM LABAUGH
LTC Jim LaBaugh has agreed to be CVC-MOAA Surviving Spouse Committee Chair.
In the May issue of MOAA Officer magazine, there was an outstanding and informative article for future surviving spouses on page 59, titled “Traversing a Tough Time.” It outlines using surviving spouse examples, the entitlements available and the steps necessary to receive these benefits. Tragically, these benefits do not automatically appear upon the death of a retired spouse. A surviving spouse must take timely and deliberate steps after their veteran spouse dies, to receive what is rightfully theirs.
VETERANS DAY AUCTION - One last reminder to put November 11, 2026 at 5 p.m., at Trilogy HOA - Santa Rosa Clubhouse. CVC-MOAA is sponsoring a Veterans Day Auction, Dinner and Dance. $40 for veterans and $60 for non-veterans. Call today and make your reservation — 760-777-6052. See the attached flyer below. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year and all proceeds go to our JROTC Scholarship Program. Our goal for this year is $10,000. Let’s shoot this out of the park!
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - CAPT JOHN DOYLE
Five things are moving in Sacramento right now that directly affect California veterans. Each one takes about two minutes of your time. I ask you to personally engage and pass to other veteran advocates to do the same. We need as many people sending letters as we can get
1. SB1407 — Military retirement pay exclusion would exclude military retirement pay from state income tax up to a cap. Currently in the Assembly, in committee process. California lost 24,237 military retirees between 2010 and 2022 and most states already exempt this income.
2. AB 2022 (Gonzalez) — Disabled veteran property tax exemption. Currently in the Senate committee process.
3. SB296 (Archuleta) — Disabled veteran property tax exemption. Nearly identical to AB 2022 and sitting in the opposite house. Currently in the Assembly committee process.
4. SB88 — Service-connected disability payments from the household-income definition used for the disabled veteran property tax exemption. Currently in the Assembly, in committee process.
On the November ballot, Proposition 1 (SB417) — Veteran and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026. A $11.25 million general obligation bond: $1.25 billion for CalVet home loads and $10 billion for other affordable housing initiative. Funding for CALVET home loads and program was bundled into this proposition. Please the initiative carefully and vote appropriately.
How to act — Send a letter through Bear Flag Veterans (two minutes, it’s routed it to the right legislators for you: (https://bearflagveterans.com/). This will require you to sign up for an account, but the account is free if you volunteer to be part of the rapid response team (willing to engage with one of your local representatives/staffers on a regular basis). There is also a 7-day promo code: MYVH.
Prefer to write your own note instead of using the systems? Contact your legislator directly here (https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/); background material on the bill can be found on Bear Flag Veterans. Browse bills before you sign in.
Bill Nelson, Legislative VP, CalMOAA
CVC-MOAA MAKES IT INTO NATIONAL MOAA MAGAZINE
For those that do not get the “MOAA Officer” magazine, CVC-MOAA made quite the spread in this month’s edition with a picture and article of our Leadership and Scholarship Dinner in May. This is testament how well our Chapter is functioning and working together as team.
