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Show nn LrU Hill AFB, Utah 84056-532- 4 www.hiIltoptimes.com hilltop.pa hill.af.mil Vol. 57 No. 33, August 9. 2001 Summer Bash INSIDE: -- -1' a,f ; " Raptors tickets Page 2 ii Composite Partnership Day Page 3 Photo by Gary Boyle Golfers got Into the swing of things at the Big Bash Golt Tourne- y- Just one of many events going on this week during Summer Bash. Carts are lined up and occupied by an estimated 144 golfers who were in an attendance. Perfect putting takes patience and practice as golfers get In some warm up strokes before K the tourney starts. II Threatcon changes Page 2 Base holds community partnership conference Video auditions a by Maj. Shawn Mecham Director of Public Affairs About 75 community leaders from all facets of industry, education and government attended a Drug awareness : :,j Community Partnership Initiatives Conference, sponsored by the Ogden Air Logistic Center Aug. Initiatives 2-- 3. The K Aug. 22 v r 7:30 p.m. i ; conference was crafted to introduce community partnering initiatives and to work out cooperative ventures that could help both the base and private sector and to explore specific opportunities concerning the graphite composites workload Hill has added to its mission, noted Jim Sutton, Director, Plans and Programs for the ALC. "Several issues impact us today. Two of the most critical are human recruiting and retention," Sutton said. "We want industry to bring its best capabilities, practices, processes, intellectual capital workloads to the table. We want industry to join with the military sector in creating a technology fusion and producing a skilled labor pool capable of supporting today's military warfighter and' their missions." Major General Scott Bergren, Ogden's ALC, commander, officially welcomed the distinguished visitors, noting the importance of the mission each Team Hill member and the impact Hill's $6 billion budget has on the local community. He also introduced Maj. Gen. Chuck Johnson, Oklahoma Air ) Li hope this conference will lay the We Dee y Events Center Page 4 groundwork for a number ofprivate-publi- c partnerships. two-da-y Maj. Gen. Scott Bergren Ogden ALC commander Logistics Center, commander from Tinker AFB, Okla., who spoke successes and challenges today's ALCs face. There was a time when industry was our competitor," Johnson said. " Now it's a symbiotic relationship. We want to get better. We'll work within the law with our civilian counterparts from edu- cation and industry to forge these partnership opportunities to meet the Air Force's aerospace pdwer and readiness challenges in the future." Some of today's challenges are faced in the workforce, workplace and with the work tools, Johnson highlighted. The three Air Force logistics centers at Hill, Tinker AFB, and Robins AFB, Ga., all have an aging workforce, too many buildings construed during World War II and the Korean War, ana too many old work tools like the aging data systems. "The workforce problem has the potential to be the most critical because percent of all ALC civilians are retirement eligible within the next five years," Johnson said. "We need the right mix of skills, scientists, engineers, craftsmen, managers, software and environmental experts and others to be the most effective and efficient in doing our jobs." With the recent closing of the Sacramento and San Antonio ALCs, the remaining three centers all have picked up many new missions and jobs. However, it's harder to recruit and retain a workforce, especially trained engineers and engineering school graduates in a market that is steadily growing more and more competitive, Sutton said. "We are very pleased with the tremendous turnout we had," Bergren said. "We hope that this conference will lay the groundwork for a number of private-publi- c partnerships that will help us ensure mission accomplishment, and recruiting and retention well into the future." 56-7- 0 Jumper confirmed as next Air Force chief of staff ,'h Base library goes hightech J U n C he said. "Our greatest challenge remains the requirement to advance new capabilities while Air Force Print News maintaining the robust readiness required to WASHINGTON Gen. John P. Jumper, currently meet y warfighter requirements. commander of Air Combat Command, was confirmed "It is imperative we develop our Global Strike by the Senate Friday to be the Air Force's next chief Task Force, a force that of staff. Jumper was nominated by the president in will assure access and aerospace dominance July to succeed Gen. Michael E. Ryan who retires in for all our joint forces." September. Along those lines, the general said readiGen. John P. Jumper, currently Air Combat Command commander, During the confirmation hearings, which concluded ness being ready to kick down the door if testifies before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier in the week, Jumper sat before a committee and when the requirement comes to do so during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Aug. 1. Jumper was that included Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the is critical to any combat force. nominated by the president to be the next Air Force chief of staff. Senate Armed Services Committee; John Warner of "Readiness is the heart and soul of our Virginia; Max Cleland of Georgia; Ben Nelson of ability to perform our mission on a A number of factors contribute to that burden, and y tasis, Nebraska; Jean Carnahan of Missouri; and Jim Inhofe and is the hallmark of our combat capability," he said. if confirmed, the general said, those factors will be of Oklahoma. Unfortunately, he added, the readiness of today's directly addressed. Accompanied by wife Ellen, the Paris, Texas, native force has declined from previous levels. "Wages, the high operations tempo, quality-of-lif- e answered questions on a variety of subjects from the "Our overall Air Force readiness is lower than any issues and leadership are key issues our people congroup, ranging from upgrades of the 2 bomber to time since June 1987. We are capable of winning today, sider when making the decision to he said. use of GI Bill educational benefits by Air Force fam- but we're concerned about trends in readiness indi"In addition, more must be done to improve not ily members. cators such as aging aircraft, constrained resources only quality of life for airmen, but also quality of serThe general said his priorities for the force in the and parts, and retention." vice. coming years would mirror those of Secretary of This is why recapitalization is also a key issue to Improved retention rates, said Jumper, are key to Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of the Air the future of the Air Force. today's Air Force, Jumper said. Force James Roche. "People are our most vital resource," he said. "We "Quality of life issues are terribly important to attract "I intend to follow the objectives put forth by Seccan only be successful through the energy and dedand retain great people, but so is quality of service," retary Rumseld and Secretary Roche that include ication of skilled and motivated personnel." he said. "Quality of service addresses the need to transformation, readiness, retention and recapitalThe general said today's airmen, particularly seconensure we give our airmen the proper tools to do the d-term ization," he said. and career airmen, have been d tough jobs we ask them to do. We must recover from Transformation is, and always will be, a key issue for a number of years. a decade-lon- g spending hiatus to provide the tools because the Air Force is inherently transformational These airmen are the backbone of our enlisted our airmen need to fly, fight and win. constantly adapting ourselves to new threats and force, he said. They endure the increased load of Thprpfnrp Twill pn ci i ft nn friffrrt'wm KiIim leveraging new technology in order to posture our- - having to train our new accessions plus carry out the quality of life and modernization spending is main-selvto face the challenges of an uncertain future," work required of experienced technicians." tained." by Master Sgt. Rick Burnham Page 7 r n day-to-da- or . 'A- -, ! day-to-da- B-- Yard of Month Pages 11 Decorating on a budget f ( Page 12 '"' tCOPY over-taske- es day-to-da- I y 1 |