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Show June 27, 1980 HILL TOP TIMES Page 6 DEPARTMENT Sus setedlyD OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS OGDEN AIR LOGISTICS CENTER HILL AIR FORCE BASE. UTAH 840S6 4 AFLC) ALL HILL AIR FORCE BASE PERSONNEL year, we have faced a Presidential mandate to reduce our consumption of energy by 5 percent. Meeting that and has required goal has been difficult and inconvenient, i some changes in the Way we do business. - Nonetheless, the people of Hill AFB have looked past the difficulties and the inconveniences, recognizing that our energy problem is a challenge which will not go away and one that must be met head on. For the past . met that challenge at Hill last year, reducing our mogas consumption by 6.5 percent and our facility energy usage by 5.6 percent. Air Force wide, the effort to comply with the President's 5 percent directive also met with success. You can certainly be proud of the role you played in assuring We that success. . Air Force Chief of Staff, General Lew Allen, and the General Bryce Poe, have asked me to extend their personal appreciation to you for your outstanding efforts in meeting the Presidential goal. I add my thanks to theirs, and remind you that we will need the same determination displayed so far to assure success in meeting future goals. I am confident that will be the case. The ; AFLC Commander, Y "JOHN J. MURPHY Major General, USAF Commander Low The bus schedule didn't meet mine. My house was too far from the bus stop. The bus stop was too far from work. I couldn't lose my independence. Besides, only people of little importance ride the bus. Once the bus a phrase. '., Since then, I've settled into a relaxing routine. I catch the early bus at 7 a.m. and the 4:40 p.m. bus after work. The evening bus is generally quiet which gives me time to make a transition from my job to my family. Riding the bus is a good way to get to work. If you are convinced it's just not for you give it a try anyway. Once you do, you'll be pleasantly surprised. See you on the bus! arrived, there were too many steps to climb and I didn't like the paint scheme. I was convinced that should I miss my connection and be late to work, the entire mission of my unit would suffer immensely. Well, for some reason, not anything to do I decided to use the with the price of gasoline, " - ' shuttle bus. I was amazed to find the bus schedule does meet mine and it's no farther from my house to the bus stop than to my car. It's actually closer from the bus stop to work than where I frequently had to park. I still have my independence, I get on and off the bus at will. As for people of little importance riding the bus, I took a look around at other riders and it was obvious I fell qu ite close to the bottom of the hit parade. Climbing the steps turned out to be no problem, and the paint scheme is becoming less of an irritant, as time goes by. Once, I missed my normal bus and was going to be late for work. After taking the next bus, I arrived at work gasping for breath after running from the bus stop. Rushing into my office, I announced, "All is (AFNS) SAVE GAS TRY 03 I oo uu oo 11 ) ulmJ U D retention rate indicates precious commodity loss (Editor's Note: The following edited article is reprinted with the permission of the San Antonio Express.) By David McLemore The Air Force is faced with a troublesome irony: With recruiting demands at an all-tihigh, the Air .Force daily loses its most people. The statistics precious commodity are as startling in human terms as they are alarming to the national defense: Between 50 and 60 percent of all Air Force pilots and navigators leave the service after six to 11 years of service. rates for enlisted personnel dropped from 75 percent to 60 percent over the past three years. Records indicate 90 percent of all enlisted people and 50 percent of officers must either work second jobs or have spouses work just to make ends meet. Salaries for Air Force enlisted ranks E-- l through E--3 are now at 83 percent of the national minimum wage. Including all ranks, the average annual salary is $9,000. "Recruiting is extremely difficult now and the No. 1 reason is money," said Maj. Gen. Re-enlistm- ray well, I have arrived." I was greeted with blank looks which said, "So what?" Maybe "total indispensableness" might be too strong By SMSgt. Roy B. Bagwell Yokota AB, Japan Office of the Commander os William P. Acker, commander of the Air Force Military Training Center, Lackland AFB, Texas. "Pay and entitlements have not kept pace with inflation under the concept," he added. "Today, a good, sharp youngster can do better financially by working at McDonald's." But recruiting isn't the main problem. "Where we're hurting is retention," General Acker said. "We're losing that core of experienced people at a painful rate. As we lose more "This leads to a catch-22- . experienced people, we have to up the recruiting ante. But we're faced with a shrinking pool of young people to draw on," the general said. "We wind up just chasing ourselves." General Acker's boss, Gen. Bennie L. Davis, commander of the Air Training er Command, echoed these concerns. 'When we talk about retention losses, we're d a core of talking about people and experienced specialists gone after six or seven years ," General Davis said. "You don't well-traine- Often repeated comment makes sergeant respond Everything advertised in lh Hill Top Times must he made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard (o the race, creed, color, national origin or sex of the purchaser, user or patron. t F-1- 5, all-volunt- (Editor's Note: In this open letter, the first sergeant of the Headquarters Squadron Section for Headquarters, Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterso- n AFB, Ohio, makes known his feelings on an remark.) By, MSgt. Charles Ward First Sergeant, Squadron Section Headquarters, AFLC Recently I have heard several military people comment that this (Air Force Logistics Command) isn't the real Air Force. If it's not, there's a bunch of us wasting our time. confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal by an advertiser will result in the refusal to advertising from that source. MMMM-lunitio- s isn't a corporation. We're in the business of v replace them overnight.- "What this means is that less experienced "people are being moved into more critical areas," General Davis continued. "If you have a fighter pilot with 800 hours in the you'd rather have him in combat than the guy with 150 hours. But you won't because the experienced guy is getting out" The answer, both generals say, is money. But the promise of comparable pay for an military was the first victim of a runaway economy and a public indifference to the needs of peacetime military. In three of the past five years, military pay hikes have been limited to five to seven percent to set an example to the private sector in the president's war on inflation. As a result, while the Consumer Price Index rose 72 percent since 1972, military wages rose only 52 percent. "The whole purpose of the force was to keep pay comparable," General Davis said. He is quick to acknowledge that the ravages of inflation have mauled the civilian sector as badly as the military. "But there's a crucial difference. The Air Force oft-repeat- ed . on an ' defense and when we move people it's for average of once every three years defense needs, not profit." General Acker added, "I'm not talking about making Air Force people rich; and I'm not saying the taxpayer should pay people more to go put and get killed in some war. All we want is a wage that's livable. "It's a . . . shame when people who have volunteered to serve their nation's defense have to go on food stamps to survive. "The draft may be a cure but it's not the sole answer," General Acker continued. "If you're talking about a draft without improvements in pay, you're talking about slave labor." "The only hope is to keep experienced people in while providing a sufficient flow of new people in to meet our requirements," General Davis concluded. "Without people, all our planes and equipment are expensive piles of junk. To get and keep people, we need money. "It's that simple." (AFNS) I have never heard anyone say, 'Tm'not a real airman." If we're all real airmen then the jobs we're doing and the assignments we have are definitely part of the real Air Force. The attitudes that we develop and the manner in which we approach our present tasks will not stay behind when we PCS but will transfer with us back to the cockpit and the flightline. There are 559,450 active duty personnel in the real Air Force who make up the "Big Picture" and I am one of them wherever I'm assigned, and upon reflection you'll realize you are too. (LOGNEWS) MorMHia Sales. Inc.. 1IS2 West Kiverdale Uoad. ln. I'tah xtur.. Telephone Ogden S or t. classified ads by mail only. Send $:i to I. O. Box Wry. ::. , V'ab skm;t. rMM-WK- :,::-Ki7- |