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Show news Dy Ernis J. Shannon ALC Public Affairs Office Ogden The expected year-en- d retirement "bulge" at Hill AFB will, in the long run, benefit those leaving federal service, but it represents a definite setback for retirees in the near-terAccording to Dennis Heins, chief of the Civilian Personnel Office, "all employees contemplating retirement at the end of the year should make their decision as soon as possible and then submit their paperwork at least six weeks in advance of their retirement m. date." Because of the onslaught of retirees Hill in the last days of December, the Office of Personnel Management can take anywhere from four to six months to process applications they receive from people leaving the government at the end of the year, the chief said. "At the end of last calendar year we had 103 civilian employees retire between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3," Mr. Heins said. "For the federal service we project an even larger retirement bulge than normal because of cuts in most agencies and actions such as Air Force Logistics Command's early out." groups may exceed their goals as they near Hill AFB is more full participation." For example, the than halfway there in reaching its goal for the 388th Tactical Fighter Federal Wing was only $200 Combined Campaign during the short of its $32,718 1988 drive. goal, as of Oct. 21, 10 With days to go, despite a 39 percent figures provided on showing. The tally for Oct 21 showed that all the tenant groups, $280,600 had been intact, was only $5,000 raised of the $424,800 short of its $67,139 campaign directors, mark by that same have set out to collect. date. The Ogden Air Lori Kashanipour, Logistics Center . or-szstio-ns publicity c3pe3it director, was confident that fcc8'rjEislj tfcs crHint mtiii over Oct. - thatcp by 31 cndfcs dbte. Eepe-- abcat .'fcr'-r- s. chci" new Ejrrbcrs r still Continued from Pago still had eo $140,CCO !tb tessfcirrr tfcdr txzXzf $357,012. citlly L'Z53 One reason for all the retirees at is the tax break on retire- year-en- d ment income for the next year and lump sum annual leave advantages. An option for soon-to-b- e retirees, Mr. Heins said, is leaving by Nov. 3 or Dec. 3 and then returning to work immediately following retirement as a reemployed annuitant. The primary advantages to the employee are that their retirement paperwork would be to OPM before the office begins to receive the deluge of applications at the end of the retir-men- t year. coming in daily. "Many organizations have reached their dollar goal even without 100 percent participation by its people," she said. "So, these same halfway to goal HILL TOP TIMES October 23, 19S7 reccsnixed Isrivo hddl ci each year. 1 the contributions of our people, and give credit where credit is due. It's also important, as members of a professional military organization, that we remind ourselves of the common bond we all share a bond that grows from our mutual belief in freedom and democracy. Whether military service or civil service, the operative concept is still "patriotic service" to those higher ideals. . Ucor support In AFLC, we're in the business of supplying combat capability to the using commands. The primary reason we exist is to ensure Air Force weapon systems have the logistics support required to do the job. Only in that way will the warfighting com-- , mands have the mission capability they need to protect this nation and its vital interests. Since customer support is really what we're all all the way. That about, we must be "pro-user- " means being responsive to the combat commands we support, and that means closely identifying with the combat role which we're so much a part of. No matter how difficult a user request may be, our response should always be positive and then we should find a way to make it happen. Wear Some of the drawbacks to the employee are that the few months of additional work would not be calculated to increase the size of their annuity. Also, according to Mr. Heins, if a retiree has considerable use or lose annual leave, they would still have to separate by the end of the leave year to avoid forfeiting the excess annual leave. As far as management is concerned, Mr. Heins said, the primary benefit of the early submittal is managers knowing where retirements are going to occur and how that will affect future operations. souvenir rrauniioons noi sfabDe EOD experts will pick up munitions; age adds danger to munitions storage People who want to get rid of old war souvenir munitions may have the items safely taken away by explosives experts Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. The pickup is sponsored by members of the weapons safety section of the Ogden Air Logisitics Center Safety Office, according to David Brucker, a weapons safety specialist. No questions will be asked about where any explosive devices were obtained, he said. "Harmless looking war souvenirs are all too often packed with unstable explosives," said Mr. Brucker, "and a lot of people have this kind of stuff. "These items don't necessarily get better with age, instead they often become unstable and sensitive," he said. "Sometimes you don't know what will cause them to detonate." War souvenirs, many of them munitions, are dangerous and have the potential to kill if they are not handled correctly. Anyone wanting to have a souvenir munition picked up must do several things, '" " he said. "Do not handle it, or try to move it. Instead, mark the area where the item is located, warning others to stay away. Then contact one of the agencies involved in the pickup," said Mr. 'Brucker. Callers must give their address and a brief description of the item they want picked up. " Pickups have been coordinated with Salt Lake bomb squad and local community police department " officials. All pickups will be made by explosives experts from Hill AFB's 2701st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron. People should call between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. To turn in items, call the Hill safety office, 2849th the 2701st EODS, 6 law local or Police any Squadron, Security enforcement agency. "There have been too many cases where war souvenirs function as designed usually unintentionally," said Mr. Brucker. He cites the case of a Civil War buff who had two cannonballs by his living room hearth. One day, while he was out of the room, his cat bumped one of the cannonballs and it rolled to the edge of the fireplace, where it heated up and exploded. "The explosion killed the cat and destroyed the living room. It was lucky the family was not in the living room at the time," he said. 777-386- 777-550- 1; 1; 777-305- "There are ether cases too many to mention involving the explosion of war relics and souvenirs. If you have any of these items, we suggest you contact one of the participating agencies to have them picked up," Mr. Brucker advised. He added this warning, "Don't become another statistic of the accidental explosion of an old war souvenir. Have it picked up now." m oxocution Guc!2ty Maintaining real standards of excellence in what we do is absolutely essential in an austere resource environment, because that's the only way we can provide the kind of logistics support our combat forces need. Across the board, we've got to improve productivity, as well as reliability and maintaina- bility. To that end, we must weave quality into the very fabric of this command and I intend that we do so, not by making a few organizations responsible for quality, but by making quality every individual's responsibility. I hereby appoint every person a quality inspector the success of our quality program is now in your hands. Accountability We can no longer afford to carry people who can't do the job, nor can we afford to keep the necessary authority and responsibility from those who can. My policy in this matter is simple: provide the strong centralized policy our people need, then give them the authority and responsibility to carry it out and ultimately, make them answerable for the actions they take, or don't take. This is a time for strong moral conviction, and for leaders who are not afraid to stand up and be counted. We must use the money we're given in the most efficient and effective way possible and that means making fiscal 1988 a model year for program execution. Doing that presupposes our laying the ground work and building the foundation early on for a smooth and orderly process. It also presupposes our getting a better handle on the way we define requirements, establish priorities, and do strategic planning. To be sure, this is no small task, but it's a task AFLC has to step up to and 1988 is the year to do it. There's lots of uncertainty down the road, but one thing is absolutely clear: for those of us in the logistics business for those who bear the responsibility for providing weapon system support there will be no shortage of challenges. Getting the job done won't be easy. To do it, we're all going to have to pull together as a team, and make the best of the considerable talents we have, and whatever resources we're given. Above all, we must be positive in everything we do, and continually remind ourselves of the impor- tance of our mission. I've identified these five goals to help us chart the course we need to follow: with your help, we will attain them. Z Offitors' wolcocno sot officers new to Hill AFB during the past six months should plan to attend an official welcome from the Ogden community Wednesday evening at the Officers' Club, starting at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by the Ogden Area Chamber of Commerce, the stag affair will provide an opportunity for all newly arrived officer personnel to get acquainted with Ogden community leaders. Uniform will be service dress, admission is free and heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served. All inside comments Page Page action line afaflc news sports around the hill 6 7 Page 10 Pages . . ... .Pages 33-3- 5 38-4- 0 nonG vjooCi Coming down CLSS 2952nd crew tears at Edwards AFB B-I- A dog. Did his mother really chase garbage trucks? McGruff the crime |