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Show n ru AFB, Utah Hill 84056-582- 4 Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart: Dedicated to integrity, INSIDE: A-1- con- tinues . service, excellence 3L7 0 Page 2 - Jimmy Stewart, actor, mMflfittsiury dliPfflwdlaDwim UCMJ changes Page 7 RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) The Air Force has reached its fiscal 1997 force reduction goals and is closing its drawdown program Friday, three months early, personnel officials here said. The success of the program is directly related to the voluntary force reduction tools the service used during the year. Involuntary separations were not considered or used. 'Combat dining in Page 8 Retiree Day schedule Page 11 "This was the smallest force reduction program we've had since offering these types of programs in 1991 and I'm extremely happy we were able to meet our goals through voluntary methods," said Lt. Gen. Michael D. McGinty, deputy chief of staff, personnel. "As promised when we opened the program, involuntary separations would be used as a last resort and it wasn't even a consideration this year as evidenced by the fact we reached our goals about three months early." Approximately 650 officers took advantage of early retirement during the year while an additional 700 waivers to active-dut- y service commitments were granted to reach the goal. The service was also able to reach its goal with the success of two accession programs which allowed approximately 200 cadets to delay their entry onto active duty until Oct. 1, or be commissioned directly into the reserves. An enlisted program was not needed for fiscal 1997 since its end strength target could be reached through norfor officers for fismal attrition. The target cal 1997 is 74,458 while the enlisted target end-streng- th end-streng- Fighter Country Page 1A-3- A Beating the heat Page 15 th is 302,629. Adding in 4,000 cadets brings the overall total to 381,087 by the end of the fiscal year. With the closure of the fiscal 1997 program, officials say many members may be wondering if there will be an FY 98 program and if so, when will it open. "Right now we are examining that very question, but need to wait until differences between the House of Representatives and .Senate,, defense budget bills governing our FY '98 end strength can be worked out," McGinty said. "The House wants to keep Air Force end strength at 381,000 while the Senate supports the president's budget proposal of reducing our end strength to 371, 577. Until this is resolved, it wouldn't be prudent to open a program that reduces the force below 381.000 which is where we are now." The House and Senate are scheduled to meet in the upcoming weeks to resolve their differences between the proposals and the resolution is expected by late July. Once a decision is made, the service will widely publicize its results and any new program, if needed, will be reported through the chain of command. Air Force News Service and the normal military media which report on these issues. II S AIR FORCE It. VI 9) 0 194 1997 Vol. 51 No. 27, July 17, 1997 "Managing the post Cold War drawdown hasn't been easy, but I'm happy that through it all we were able to achieve more than 95 percent of our reductions using voluntary methods." the general said. "Considering we started the drawdown with 608.000 people and we are now down to 381.000. that is a true success story." (Courtesy of Air Force Personnel Center News Service) POOR COPY (! airman, citizen died July 2. by 2nd Lt. Mike Nachshen Air Force News Service KELLY AIR FORCE BASE. Texas Jimmy Stewart, actor, airman, izen, was honored July 7 cit- during a memorial for family and friends held in Los Angeles. Stewart, 89, died July 2 from a blood clot in his lung. During his lifetime, Stewart, who retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1968 as a brigadier general, was a man who epitomized the Air Force core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence. As an actor, he demonstrated his devotion to excellence by winning the 1940 Academy Award for best actor for his leading role in "The Philadelphia Story." Throughout his career, which spanned almost 56 years, he also earned four other Oscar nominations for starring in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," (1939); "It's a Wonderful Life," (1946); Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart (Photo courtesy of Air Force Reserve Command News Service) "Harvey." (1950); and "Anatomy of a Murder," (1959). His dedication to integrity, service, and excellence also shone during his military career. He enlisted as a private in the Army Air Force in March 1941, nine months See Stewart, page 2 AFMC commander grants extra time off for returning members by Amanda Bishop Headquarters AFMC Public Affairs An airman returns home from 120 days in Bosnia. She is worn and ready to relax for a few days to visit the family she's only seen in pictures for the last three months. Just as she puts down her bags she picks up her briefcase. and tired she returns to work. The family time and catching up will have to wait until she reads her overload of and puts out the fires. This situation may have been common in the past, but now a new plan will allow her and others returning from a contingency deployment or extended tempoJet-lagg- rary duty assignment to take time to recover before returning to the daily grind. In a recent decision by Gen. George T. Babbitt, Air Force Materiel Command commander, AFMC personnel returning from deployment for six or more weeks now have a period of "recovery and reconstitution" for a minimum of seven days. The time is intended to "allow returning members to tend to personal and professional matters.... and more importantly, to get with family members." accordto Babbitt's recent announcement ing reac-quaintc- d to field personnel. The policy is also intended to prepare people to "unwind and prepare to return to duty." Col. Virgil Starkes. chief of Military Assignments at Headquarters AFMC said. "We hope to increase morale and relieve any stress which may have occurred by the long term separation." Starkes said. Air Force personnel returning from a contingency deployment lasting six to 1 1 weeks are given a four-da- y special pass and three days of recovery and reconstitution time. Those deployed for more than 12 weeks have available a four-da- y special pass with 10 days of R & R time. There are a few stipulations: The R & R time must be taken in the local area. If a member leaves the local area during the R & R time, regular leave must be taken; however, this doesn't apply while on a pass. All personnel must report to their permanent duty station prior to taking the recovery time. The time will begin as soon as possible, but no longer than 72 hours after returning home. This policy doesn't apply to e attend- ing formal training. Additionally, those , nonschool or returning from TDY are not covered noncontingency under this polity, but commanders already have the authority to grant limited passes to returning members. Although the sxriai pass is only granted to active-dutmembers, civilians also are addressed in the new policy. Commanders are encouraged to use a liberal-leavpolicy for returning civilians. "We want our people to know they arc the Air Force's most important resource, and the Air Force is doing all it can to maintain its high quality of life during this time of high operations tempo." Starkes said. long-term- y e . |