The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA) was founded in 1963 by two men retired from the Air Force -- Master Sergeant George Skonce and Master Sergeant Dean Sorell. These two dedicated retirees realized that they, and their fellow enlisted retirees, had no voice in the corridors of power to stand up for their hard-earned rights and promised benefits. The men and women of our armed services have willingly sacrificed to serve our nation and protect our freedoms. Almost from the beginning of our nation the people and government of this country have acknowledged the debt we owe to those who have served in uniform. For years there was an implicit contract between the members of the uniformed services and the government -- the nation would care for the health and welfare of those who served (and their families) while on duty and afterward. Then in 1956, the Dependant Medical Care Act changed health care for military retirees forever with the language: "Medical and dental care in any medical facility of the uniformed services may...be furnished... subject to the availability of space, facilities, and the capabilities of the medical staff, to retired members of the uniformed services." From that day until today, medical care for retired military personnel and their families has been in jeopardy. For almost 50 years, TREA – The Retired ENLISTED Association – has been on the frontlines in Washington, D.C., in the fight to protect and enhance the promised and earned retirement benefits of enlisted personnel who spent their careers in the Armed Forces of the United States.
