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Show Page HILL TOP TIMES 10 1976 April 9, XC DOC :xc OtKL 30C DX1 Answers to unpublished anonymous inquiries that are not printed in this column may be obtained by calling ext. 5305. If you have a question, comment, suggestion or problem you want to bring to my attention, dial "People Line," ext. 7000. Your remarks will be recorded 24 hours a day, staffed and a reply prepared. OitC In some cases, your questions might stimulate a review of or change in current procedures. Not all questions can be published, but a reply will be furnished to your question if you spell out your last name, add your initials, telephone number and organization. You may remain anonvmous if you wish. or my vice commander will personally review those printed in this column. I am sincerely interested in the questions asked and the concerns expressed through the "People Line." It gives me the opportunity to explain why a certain decision was made or why a particular policy was implemented. I :xx: zxvc one About four years ago I was selected to participate Q in the Bachelor of Science Logistics (BSD program because I met the criteria of age, previous education and grade. Since that time I have never missed a quarter or drew a grade of less than "C." My grade point average is 3.0. Now I am told that even though Maintenance has the money to fund this program, I can no longer be funded by the government because these BSL classes are not in line with the position I now hold, and this time is just going to be wasted. I would like to know why, when a program is set up, that we can't continue until we are done? A Q welcome the accomplishment, and opportunity to clarify this situation. Regulations specify that no one may receive Civilian Training funds purely tor the purpose of obtaining an academic degree. When the training received is related to the job performed by the employee, training funds may be used. Selection for participation in the BSL program does not mean that government funds will be provided for all courses in the academic curriculum. Requests for government funding for courses must be submitted and evaluated by Civilian Training (DPCT) individually each quarter. This is true in the case of Maintenance training funds as well as training funds for all other organizations. Governmment funds are provided if the course learning to the position that the objectives are funds are available to sufficient and employee occupies fund the training. In the event that the government is unable to fund the course, the employee himself would be required to fund the course. The time spent in acquiring the degree certainly cannot be considered as w asted because each and every course in the curriculum cannot be government sponsored. I sincerely hope that you and other employees participating in the BSL program continue their efforts to the accomplishment of the college degree. --XK IW OiiC A I Upon iny assignment to Hill AFB recently, I requested a school physical for my son so he could participate in school sports. The base hospital informed me that school physicals are only given at the beginning of the school year. It seems logical to me that if the hospital provides school physicals for some children, this same service should be available to all eligible children regardless of Q February 29. 1976? Q The summer uniform wear date of April 15th is established by regulation. It was determined through the use of climatology covering a number of years. Although weather conditions may fluctuate i.i any given year, the April 15th date represents a best estimate of the most suitable time for summer wear. You should also know that this date is published in higher Headquarters directives for use by personnel visiting the base to insure they are in proper uniform . Q A has the Utah Transit Authority UTA hus schedule been changed so the buses leave 15 minutes after swing shift quitting time, instead of right after the whistle blows? We have an energy crisis and people want to rid. the buses but they become discouraged standing around them to leave. waiting fi Why ) During the past 90 days a concerted effort has been and is continuing to be made to assure that optimum service is provided throughout the industrial area o prevent the buses from leaving either too early and missing riders or waiting too long to pick up riders. The problem has been one of phasing the routes and stops to assure that people can leave their place of work after the whistle blows and gettothe designated stops in timetocatch the bus. Also, it is necessary to assure thai buses are properly loaded Consideration must be given to those people who have extended distances to walk to reach a bus stop Some distances can take up to 10 to 12 minutes to cover and longer if the weather conditions are bad. Consideration mast also be given to those people who may be handicapped. The UTA has recently started running regular routes through the base and no longer has the special charter buses which would park on base during work hours and would then leave from predetermined areas each day The regular service has proven much more convenient and considerably more consistent th;.n the charter service provided in the past. To adequately meet the needs of all employes using the UTA .service, it is essential that sufficient time be allowed after each shift change for all employes to reach the bus slops. A wait of 15 minutes is not considered unreasonable wU-all factors are considered. You can be assured that bus dcheilules are continually monitored and adjustments arc made as conditions change. The intent is to provide the best serv ice to the maximum number of people with the least amount of inconvenience. f A The Civilian Personnel Newsletter was referring only to those employees retiring under the early optional authority which expires April 30, 1976. In these cases the annuity rate would be computed as of February 29, 1976, since that computation would be the higher annuity in comparison to the computation as of April 30, 1976. Retirement annuities are computed on a comparative rate and the employees receive the higher of the following computations: Employes who retire after March 1, 1976 and before the next cost of living increase will receive the higher annuity rate based on (a) length of service and high 3 average pay as of February 29, 1976. plus the 5.4 per ! . J':' 'JT Q Kay II. Allred. Industrial Products. Landing Gear Division. Maintenance. 34 years Dovle II. ( hatwin. Aircraft Division. Maintenance, 38 years Sanford E. Eversole, Industrial Products, Landing Gear Division. Maintenance. 12 years Val I), (ilover. Aircraft Division. Maintenance, 34 years Arlen K. Iladley. Nav igation Instruments. Photographic and Training Devices Division. Maintenance, 36 years I .a tell I. Ilamby, Aircraft Division, Maintenance, 31 years K. Lucas, Aircraft Division. Maintenance, 30 years Orson K. Martin. Industrial Engineering Systems Division. Maintenance. 28 years liOthier W. Massey. Aircraft Division, Maintenance, 26 years Bernard I). Mevers. Industrial Products, Landing Gear Division. Maintenance, 34 years Harold (i. Kiley, Industrial Products, Landing Gear Division. Maintenance, 8 years Vernon E. Sala. Missile. Airmunitions and Weapons Division. Maintenance. 31 years Vernon S. Sorensen. "Missile. Airmunitioas and Weapons Division. Maintenance. 20 years Heed Stanton. Navigation lastruments. Photographic and Training Devices Division. Maintenance. 36 years John T. Strong. Aircraft Division. Maintenance, 25 years Farrell E. Tew, Aircraft Division, Maintenance, 11 years William Yanda, Industrial lYoducts and Landing' Gear Division. Maintenance. 34 vears Jewish Passover Services Announced Passover services will be conducted by Rabbi Abner L Bergman of the Congregation Kol Ami. Salt Lake City, in the synagogues located at 355 South 3rd East and 219 South 4th East as follows: Third East Synagogue: April 14. 6 p m ; April IS. 9 a m. and 6p m April 16,9a m ; April 17. 9a rn : April 20.7 p.m.: April 21.9a m. and 7 p.m.; and April 22, 9 a m The Fourth East Synagogue will hold services at 8 p m ; April 16 2UC I have some questions about the operation of the Arts and Crafts Hobby Shop. Why do they continually close the Wood Shop on Saturdays at three o'clock when the rest of the shop stays open until four o'clock? Why can't the Hobby Shops be open six days a week including Sundays? For most of us the weekends are the only time we can really utilize these facilities. Can something be done about getting a better hot water supply in the Photo Lab? Because the hot water tank is only 60 gallons and rate is very slow we continue to run out of hot w ater when we are trying to develop color negatives, and I have ruined quite a few rolls of negatives. the-recov- er The hours of operation of all the Hobby Shops on Saturdays are 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. This takes into consideration a clean-u- p time of one hour. Because of the nature of the work accomplished in the Wood Shop, a thorough cleaning is required to remove all dust from the area, which is in line with good housekeeping practices. The Shop Manager is not aware of patrons being asked to leave priorto 4:00 p.m.; however, should you encounter this problem, please contact Harold Orton at ext 2824. Consistent with available manpower and funds, the Arts and Craftsllobby Shop is open five consecutive days per week during those hours that will best accommodate most patrons. To increase the hours of operations would require additional funding approval, provided there was sufficient interest to justify the additional expense. Past experience has shown that participation on Sundays was not sufficient to justify the added expense. The slow recov ery rate on the electric hot water heater in the Photo Lab is caused primarily by low electrical voltage to Building 534. This problem should be corrected when new transformers are installed in approximately mid-Maas part of the Auto Hobby Shop addition w hich is presently under construction. y April Climatology s The following Hill AFB employes recently retired from federal service with the U.S. Air Force: 2UC cent effective March 1, 1976, or (b) the annuity rate based on high 3 average and length of service as of the date of actual separation. A I have a question in regard to the Civilian Personnel issue, on early out retirement. It Newsletter, Jan-Fe- b states that the high-- 3 average salary and creditable service as of February 29, 1976 generally determines the annuity upon retirement. My question is isn't creditable service determined at the time of retirement rather than 20C 20C Effective immediately, the hospital policy on school physicals will be modified to accommodate those individuals who arrive at Hill AFB after the yearly processing period. The Physical Examination Section will process these students on an individual basis when required by the school. Since we cannot reliably estimate how this policy will affect the hospital workload, it should be emphasized that this service will only be provided as long as hospital manning remains favorable. job-relate- d Would it be possible to change the date for summer uniform wear from April 15 to April 1st? Commander the time frame? You are to be commended for your perserverance and academic :x x: DiKL EDMUND A. KAFALKO Major General, USAF Capt. Edward J. Perantoni Del. 6, 15 Weather Squadron By April offers every type of weather condition common to both winter and summer. The unstable weather during the month w ill be characterized by six to seven cold fronts transversing the intermountain area. Thunderstorms will be allied with approximately three of these fronts and will occur anytime from four hours ahead of the front toone hour behind the front. Blowing dust, as a result of gusty winds, will occur on approximately two days and will be closely allied with frontal passage. Temperatures continue to rise with the daily mean maximum temperature 57 degrees and the daily mean minimum temperature 38 degrees. A high of 83 and a low of 17 are the extreme temperatures for April. Precipitation during April is the highest of the year. There ill be eight days with measurable precipitation, the mean monthly amount being 2.35 inches. The maximum amount that ever fell in April was 5.75 inches and the minimum was 0.57 inches. In terms of rain and snow, all this equates to four days of rain totaling 1.51 inches and four days of snow totaling 8.4 inches. The greatest amount of snow that ever fell was 37.1 inches in 1970. Strong surface winds decrease somew hat with 39 occurences over .30 knots since 1967. The predominant directions are easterly due to drainage winds out of t he Ogden Canyon and southerly due to approaching cold fronts. From a weather standpoint. April will be a relatively nice month, but do not put the snow shovel away yet! AF Assistance Fund Campaign Extended To Apr. 16 From a slow start, the 1976 Air Force Assistance Fund campaign has steadily gained momentum and several commands have asked that it lie extended. In order for the three affiliates. Air Force Village, Air Force Enlisted Widows Home and Air Force Aid Society to benefit from this strong expression of interest, the campaign has been extended through Apr. 16. |