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Show 2 COMMENTARY I IdItop TIMES June 14, 2012 Hilltop TIMES eekly Since 194 Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Lee Carter ... Standard-Examiner publisher Mary Lou Gorny Hilltop Times Editor Katina L. Ventura Hilltop Times Writer Hilltop Times Krista Starker Correspondent Deadlines: Editorial and news items are due by noon on the Friday prior to the Thursday print date. To submit news items e-mail hilltoptimes@standard.net or call 801- 625-4273. For Classified Advertising, call 801-625-4300. For Retail Advertising, call 801-625-4388. The Hilltop Times is published by Ogden Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under, and in compliance with, a Memorandum of Understanding with Hill Air Force Base. The content of the Hilltop Times does not necessarily represent the views of, nor is it endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or Hill Air Force Base (collectively, the Government). The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Government of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the Standard-Examiner, 332 Standard Way, Ogden, Utah, 84404. Additional editorial content is provided by various military and civilian wire services and Hill Air Force Base public affairs departments. Call 801-625-4273 with story ideas or comments, or contact the editor, Mary Lou Gorny, at mgorny@standard.net . Call 801-625-4300 for Classified Advertising or 801-6254388 for Retail Advertising. HAWC Nest Fitness Tip from the Health and Wellness Center Up to 12 weeks of FREE tobacco cessation medication is available to federal employees and up to 6 months is available for active duty, dependents and retirees when attending the tobacco cessation series. Call the Health and Wellness Center at 801-777-1215 for further information. THINK SAFETY Hill's Total 2012 DUIs: 9 Hill's Last DUI: flute 5 Unit Involved: zee/weed Readifte44 Sfeeetebtopt 75e Airmen Against Drinking and Driving provide rides when designated drivers are unavailable. Call 777-1111 to request a ride anytime. Hours of operation: Fridays-Saturdays 10 p.m.- 6 a.m. Sundays 9 p.m.-midnight. Exciting to be in AFMC as 5-Center Construct transition to take place T eam AFMC, I'm truly honored and excited to have been appointed as the commander of Air Force Materiel Command. This week's change of command ceremony was tremendous and the National Museum of the United States Air Force, here at Wright Patterson AFB, was the perfect venue for it. I want to add, again, my thanks to Gen. Don Hoffman for his leadership and untiring commitment to AFMC, the Air Force, and most importantly, the warfighter. His contributions during these last four years as the AFMC Cornmander will have long-lasting positive impacts. We celebrate almost 40 years of service and dedication of this great American and his family as they move on to the next chapter of their lives. I know you will join me in wishing them all the best. Being back at AFMC is like "corning home," and we are already hard at work! This is an exciting time to be in AFMC. On July 1 we will mark a historic milestone as we celebrate AFMC's 20th year as a MAJCOM. Also significant is our on-going transition to the 5-Center Construct, better aligning the organization to our core mission areas. We will continue to strengthen the AFMC role in the nuclear enterprise through our Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. We will provide the science and technology for research and development through our Air Force Research Laboratory to advance today's and tomorrow's COMMANDER'S LOG War-winning capabilities...on time, on cost combat capabilities. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center will enable the acquisition of war winning capabilities with a cradle-to-grave life cycle focus. The Air Force Test Center will be involved throughout development to validate and improve capabilities by performing world-class test and evaluation. Our Air Force Sustainment Center will sustain Air Force critical capabilities through world-class depot maintenance and supply. No doubt these are challenging times — international conflicts, the on-going war in Afghanistan, budget constraints, and changes in the Department of Defense, Air Force and AFMC. The reality is there are always challeng- Re)ort suspicious activity via tie AFOSI EAGLE EYES program Dial: 777-3056 / 3057/ 3058. Watch - Report - Protect 777-7000 action.line.pa@hill.af.mil Force Protection is Our Business - Everyone i5 a Sensor I would like to know why after spending all of our taxpayers' money in building that new West Gate we still have traffic backed up on the north exit all the way to 1-15. This is a safety hazard. Eventually someone is going to get hurt. Three lanes were put in at the gate however only two were being used this morning. We used to have two guards on each lane and now we only have one. This is not sufficient for the amount of traffic that comes through that gate in the morning. This morning it took me 17 minutes to get through the gate. That's 17 minutes the taxpayers are paying me to sit in my car instead of at my desk. Can't anything be done to alleviate this problem? Q I realize the new West Gate is still under construction but the backed up traffic in the morning is simply not acceptable. I use the southbound ramp; this morning the cars were backed up to the entrance. This is so dangerous. It really upsets me that we would allow this to even occur at all. Now here is the question. There are now three lanes, why were only two lanes used? Why were there six gate personnel two days ago, and the past two days there have only been two personnel? We paid millions to build a new gate and now we can't fund employees to man the gate? Most employees need to be at work at a certain time. The inconsistency of the gate makes it impossible to be punctual. If I leave earlier and the gate is properly manned, then I get to work too early. If I leave at the normal time I risk being late. It takes me 10 minutes to get from my house to the gate, then 20 minutes to get through the gate. Please, before someone gets hurt or fired, fix the gate manning problem. Thanks. Q A Thank you for your concern with regard to the traffic flow at the new West Gate. Team Hill's Traffic Safety Working Group continually evaluates traffic patterns and safety and provides recommendations to senior leaders. Safe daily traffic flow for the approximately 23,000 military and civilian employees is of top concern and constantly monitored. With that, it must be balanced with dwindling manpower and resources in our fiscally constrained environment and deployment requirements may and often do affect our ability to provide desired manpower for peak traffic times. The previous or old West Gate was constructed with less lanes of traffic and balanced against available personnel resources. The new West Gate, while it provides additional lanes may not always meet its full capacity based on circumstances mentioned above. Please know that as the Defense Force Commander, security and safety of our installation is my primary concern and to that end, convenience is often sacrificed as a result. While we continue to dedicate scarce resources to safely and efficiently control base entry during peak times, it's recommended that Team Hill plan their commute for possible delays and use other lower traffic volume gates such as the South West gate. When you call or send an e-mail, your comments will be recorded and staffed through the agency responsible for action. Please give your supervisor and chain of command the opportunity to work with you in answering questions and solving problems before call- ing the Action Line. This will help me better serve your interests. Items of basewide interest will be published in the Hilltop Times. Phone numbers 4The base agencies listed can be contacted directly if you have a complaint or a problem with their services: Security Forces 24-hr. Crisis Information Force Support Squadron Base Restaurants Retirement/Compensation (civilian) Equal Opportunity Office Employer Relations Military Pay Civilian Pay Air Force Suggestion 777-3056 Program Civil Engineering 777-9696 Hill Pride Hotline 777-3056 Hill Straight Talk IG Complaints 777-5305 Public Affairs 777-4134 Military Housing 777-2043 (for appointment) 777-6142 IG Complaints 777-5361 Maintenance Safety Office (after hours) 777-5455 777-5361 Safety Office Hotline Fraud, Waste or Abuse 777-7129 Union 7_1851 (recording) AFOSI Narcotics Hotline 1-877-885-9595 Family Assistance Center 777-6246 Loud Noise (complaints) 777-6901 777-4918 (when activated) 75th Medical Group 777-1856 777-7433 777-5333 825-9392 777-3333 586-9300 777-3257 777-1852 777-3090 SUICIDE PREVENTION ASSISTANCE Mental Health Clinic 777-7909 Chaplain 777-2106 Military OneSource (800) 342-9647 National Suicide (800) 273-8255 Prevention Line TriWest Crisis Line (866) 284-3743 TriWest Behavioral (866) 651-4970 Health Contact Center EAP (800) 222-0364 777-1163 Occupational Medicine Services Wingman Advocates 777-2255 es to face and some level of uncertainty and risk in everything we do. I know the men and women of AFMC and the level of commitment each of you has to our Air Force and to the warfighter; and I know you are up to the challenge. I ask you all to keep focused on the mission, to do the absolute best job you can, to take care of those around you, and to be a leader .... at every level. The AFMC mission is successful only if each of you is successful each day in your part of that mission. Thank you for all you contribute to this command and our Air Force. I look forward to meeting you as I travel throughout the command. General Wolfenbarger TWITTER From page 1 in 2010 allowing employees at installations around the world to access social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter from a government computer. Since that time, Hill AFB established a Facebook account . at www.facebook.com/hill af.mil and in the past couple of months started actively cornmunicating with followers on Twitter. There are at least two other base organizations with official Twitter accounts. The 75th Force Support Squadron (@75FSS) promotes some of its recreational events with its account and 388th Fighter Wing (@388FW) actively tweets about its organization on a routine basis. "A primary function of the public affairs office is to facilitate the timely and accurate release of information to base employees and the public," Jozens said. "Twitter is a social media tool that gives up-to-theminute information to many people and the media all at one time. "Our biggest use of Witter so far was the constant changing weather, rumors and flying schedule associated with the recent open house," Jozens said. "Now the change in our Twitter handle is something we need to tweet about." Air Force online civilian retirement tool BY KATHRYN IAPICHINO Air Force human resources specialist OINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — Air Force human resources officials added a new feature in May to the Employee Benefits Information System Web application that allows Air Force appropriated fund civilians to request benefits-related actions online. The HR Link module will help civilians prepare for retirement, request a retirement estimate and acquire the necessary paperwork to pay a military or civilian deposit. "HR Link provides a means for civilians to submit a request for a retirement estimate as well as military and civilian deposit requests," said Sharon Mack, Air Force human resources specialist. "The module asks a series of questions to help civilians submit their requests. After a request is submitted, they will be able to monitor the status of their requests through the myPers website." |