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Show 4 Hilltop November 20. 1 997 Individual involvement key to sharp, safe facility I've seen more than one person walking along with their hands in their pockets to keep them warm. I cringe a bit to think of what could happen if they should slip and fall with no way to catch themselves. Gloves are a pretty cheap alternative. by Col. Michael Cook Commander, 75th Civil Engineering Group In April I wrote about the approach of spring, how thoughts were changing from indoor activities to outdoors and how we all needed to "spring clean" Hill AFB to overcome the effects of winter. With your involvement, we had" a very successful spring cleaning and a base that remained attractive all summer long. Now, encourage all of you to continue this same "Hill Pride" philosophy by caring for your work environment over the months to follow. There are many things you can do to make your facilities and work environment clean, Housing occupants are responsible for sidewalk snow removal near their I safe and comfortable. This attitude should extend beyond simple aesthetics and include safety and energy conservation. Taking pride in YOUR base is something each us should take personally. 'f homes, and building managers are responsible for the snow and icicle removal around their facilities. If you Col. Michael Cook is readily available chloride through base supply. Housing occu- have ice buildup on your sidewalks, let your building custodians know. Calcium de-ic- rare. It's more common for our grounds to be cold and barren of snow, leaving any fall leaves and debris visible for everyone to see. And when the snow is finally gone in the spring, most of the mess remains behind. Some preven- Some thoughts on "pride." If you tative cleaning how around your facili-- . Dictiosearch the Merriam-Webste- r ties, especially in flower gardens, can look and make a great improvement to our base of Quotations up pride, nary appearance and greatly reduce the you'll find it lumped with According to Helen Hunt Jackson, "... cleanup next spring. Plus, if we all "self-respect- ." pride carries its banner to the last; and fast as it is driven from one field it unfurls in another, never admitting that there is a shade less honor in the second field than in the first, or in the third than in the second. " I take that to mean we should take pride in our surroundings - wherever they are. Anthony Trollope states, "Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself." If we don't take pride in our base, who stopped to pick up the loose trash around us, we wouldn't have to use as many airmen every day for the base cleanup detail. This pride in our areas should extend into individual workplaces, too. If your facilities don't have good entry way rugs to remove much of the soil brought into your work places, everyone entering adds to the subsequent cleaning effort. We have essentially eliminated routine will? carpet cleaning from the custodial cona of tract due to the expense, so if your orgawhere are areas number There each of you can help, starting with base nization has to provide special funds appearance. Some of you may think for a carpet cleaning, funds are directly appearance is just a Civil Engineer or removed from other essential support base detail thing. It isn't. While many operations. You may be new to a winter environof you may remember the 44 inches of snow we received in January 1996, that's ment and unfamiliar with winter safety. , er pants can pick up ice melt at most local hardware stores. OK, you see my drift. We're not asking for major commitments on the use of your resources to save CE's - just a conscious effort from everyone to look around and see what can be done to help our base appearance, inside and out. This is especially important during a period when brown grass and leafless trees only serve to make our base look cold and less cheerful, and a time when loose trash stands out even more. While given this chance to get on my CE soapbox, I'd also like to put in a plug for winter energy conservation. Winterizing base facilities is critical for using energy efficiently and saving money during the frosty season. Hill spent some $15 million on energy last year, most of it during the winter heat season. Saving just a fraction of this could go a long way toward funding other base requirements. Ogden ALC and Hill AFB instructions specify all thermostats should be set between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Warehouses shouldn't be warmer than 55 degrees. When you see exterior doors propped open to cool off a facility that's receiving too much heat, please say something to your building custodian. or to my staff so we can get the problem analyzed and fixed. Many of you have window blinds. Opening them during the day allows the sun's heat to enter - that's good. But if you don't close them again in the evening, all that heat simply escapes back outside. You can help on our electric consumption, too. Do you know that a computer monitor left on consumes some $40 per year? Multiply that by all the computers at this installation and you can see why our other projects to reduce electricity consumption only seem to keep us at a steady state at the end of the year. I encourage you to, at least, turn your monitors off every time you leave your office and to turn your computers themselves off when you go home at night. Bathroom lights, office lights - they all add up and take funds away from other projects we'd all like to see funded. Hill is a wonderful base in a wonderful location and is surrounded by some pretty great folks. We live in a place where Air Force people worldwide dream to come. As the base's current custodians, we owe it to ourselves and all those others to make this "home" the best place it can be. I encourage you to show your commitment to excellence by your actions, not leaving it to someone else to make it happen - when you show an effort, those around you can be inspired to do the same. We will all be better for it! You can help from a simple commitment to reducing base litter, to a willingness to walk through your facilities encouraging electric savings. No sin- gle act might make the difference, but adding several hundred together, the result should be astounding - trust me, you'll be even more proud of Hill AFB than you are now. Please be safe this winter and enjoy all the season has to offer. i - ro un d 6 for makes we Mentoring dp rofessionals 1 1 i The Air Force has practiced mentoring for many ers." It is a professional development program that encourages open communication between a years. Only recently, however, has mentoring develin senior and junior member about such things as essential an as formalized been ingredient core and values, career development, duty perforcompetent professional oping mance, professional reading programs, profesfuture leaders both officer and enlisted. Mentoring is a relationship in which a person sional associations and professional and advanced of greater experience and wisdom helps guide the education. Several recent initiatives were completed to help professional development of a more junior perthe mentoring program more effective. reach make to is of son. The goal mentoring help people In The 97, the Air Force published Air Force full July their primary responsibility potential. Air Force Mentoring, which for mentoring rests with each rater or supervi- Instruction how to start and manage a on sor; however, others may also serve as mentors. provides guidance This or publication includes a mentoring program. Mentoring is not a "sponsor," "grooming" assist to resources of list is mentors, the Chief of not for It only program. List and a mentoring Professional Staff burn as "fast identified Reading been who few have a select well-rounde- d, 36-340- 1, promot- ion-enhancement "Air Force people building the world's most respected Air and Space Force Quality Systems for America's Air Force Hilltop Times Published by MorMedia. Inc.. a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commercial enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. military' sen ices. Contents of the Hilltop Times are not necessarily the official views of. or endorsed by. the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force. The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the serDepartment of the Air Force or MorMedia. Inc.. of the products r vices advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex. national origin, age. marital status, physical harWicap. political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user ir patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the Ogden Air K. Ext. Logistics Center Public Affairs Office staff. Bldg. 102. Room 1 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are U.S. Air Force photos. TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT, CALL 1: -- OOR COPY toolbox that lists organizations, associations and programs that support professional development. is available at http:afpubs.hq.af.mil. AFI 1 Mentoring can be accomplished at any time. An excellent opportunity is during performance feedback sessions, although mentoring should not be limited to only these sessions. On Nov. 3, the Company Grade Officer Performance Feedback Worksheet (AF Form 724) and Enlisted (airman 36-340- basic through technical sergeant) Performance Feedback Worksheet (AF Form 931) were revised to include mentoring as a topic to discuss and doc- ument during feedback. To find out more about the mentoring program, contact your supervisor or unit commander. Global Power and Reach for America. Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Maj. Gen. Rich Roellig Ma). J. Robert Ballew Bill Orndortf Commander, Director, Public Affairs Office Chief of Internal Information Frances Kosakowsky Sue Berk, Lisa Ryan, Jennifer Edmonds Deadlines: OO-AL- C Editor Staff writers Editorial and "Around the Hill" items, 3 p.m. Thursday, seven days before publication; sports articles, 9 a.m. Monday, week of publication; classified ads, 2 p.m. Tuesday, week of publication. For more Information, call the editor, Ext. 625-430- 0 |