A Chesterfield resident is the first recipient of the Military Officers Association of America's national award for best legislative chairman.
CHESTERFIELD - The Military Officers Association of America's first award for best legislative chairman in the country will be given to a local veteran.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Raymond Russell, Jr. (Ret.) was named the recipient of the Steve Strobridge Award for demonstrating "superior service" in lobbying for military personnel legislation.
"I'm on a high," Russell said. "These things that I do, there's no pay involved. To be recognized for the hard work you do is the pay."
Russell will receive the award at the association's 2015 annual meeting in Buena Vista, Fla., in October.
Russell serves the association's N.J. Lakes and Pines Chapter, which covers Burlington, Camden, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties. Russell said he's known throughout the state as a leading lobbyist for legislation that advocates for compensation and benefits to military personnel and their families.
"We received many superb nominees for the award and the selection was difficult. Colonel Russell's continuous and dedicated service coupled with his specific contributions this past year ensured the competition, albeit keen, could not hold a candle to his performance," association President and U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Norbert Ryan said in the announcement letter.
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The award was named for Strobridge, the group's director of government relations, who retired last year and was a leading force in lobbying to help military personnel and their families, Russell said.
"I've worked with Steve over the years and to be the person selected as the first recipient of this award is an honor on top of an honor," Russell said.
Russell is currently lobbying U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12th Dist.) about two bills aimed to reform the Survivor Benefit Plan.
Russell said one of the reforms would ensure if a military person received a disability pension, it would not come out of the veteran's retirement payments.
He said the second piece of legislation aims to help survivors of military personnel, which for the most are widows, receive payments from both the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and the Survivor Benefit Annuity programs.
"Just getting Bonnie Watson Coleman to call me to support the bills is a significant reward for me," Russell said. "I don't plan to stop doing this. It's one of those things, it's kind of in my blood."
Russell said he enlisted in the Air Force as soon as he graduated high school in 1960 and was a part of the Air Force's Boostrap Program, now the Educational Leave of Absence program, in Trenton.
Russell said he was stationed around the country, first at McGuire Air Force Base (now known as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst) and later at bases in places like Washington, D.C. and Alaska.
Russell said he retired from active duty in 1990 and immediately became a member on the association's Lakes and Pines Chapter.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.