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Show MRop$" June 4. 1898 Past cuts produce stable force limiting captain and major selective continuation, Drawdown programs WASHINGTON (AFNS) have gone so well in the last decade that Air Force officials do not expect to use similar manning cutbacks in the future. for many enlisted grades! lowering lowering promotion opportunities to minimum levels, cutting accession levels to"85 percent of and rolling back set dates of separation. Entering fiscal 1995, however, the Air Force had achieved more than 90 percent of reductions required by the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal re With the force already reduced by 90 percent toward 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron volunteers Scott Owen, foreSrA. Craig Lewis and SSgt Keith Irvin clear ground, and away an overgrown dying bush six feet tall and 10 feet In length from an elderly woman's yard as part of the squadron's "Christmas in April" project r) Christmas comes early Salt Lake house was small The City one-bedroo- m enough to fit into many garages. The carpet was worn, the paint old and discolored, and the large fenced-i- n lot woman was overgrown. But to the feeble inside, it was home. Working through the support of the Salt Lake County Aging Services "Christmas in April" program, Hill's 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron members spent nearly 12 hours April 25 mowing and edging grass and weeds nearly 10 inches in height; and clearing away more than two full dumpsters of undergrowth, including one dying bush that measured six feet tall and over 10 feet in length. As a finishing touch, they lined the front porch with a beautiful array of flowers. But the inside of the home needed some help, too. Carpeting and rotted tiled floor was pulled up and replaced with beige carpeting in the living room and bedroom and new linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom. They repainted the entire inside of the house and repaired loose kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. According to Lt Col. Kelley Crooks, 84th RADES commander andoneofthis year's volunteers, "It was a total team effort which greatly improved the condition of the woman's home and yard." All the members of the 84th RADES team left the home exhausted, dirty and sweaty, but extremely satisfied with a job well done. its goal, personnel officials say the service enjoys more stable manning and greater promotion opportunities now and for the foreseeable future. The Air Force has gained much unexpected experience with cutbacks, spending 34 of its first 50 years reducing force levels. The last 11 years have seen the most substantial reduction, from a baseline of 608,199 military members in fiscal 1986 to a projected 371,409 at the end of fiscal 1998 - a 38.9 percent drop. Although military strength is projected to reduce further at least through fiscal 2003, projected future end strength represents only a 7.3 percent reduction from today's force. "The Air Force has accordingly announced that special loss programs will be used sparingly in the future," said Lt Col. Cheryl L. Dietrich, chief of officer plans at Air Force headquarters. "This is not a sudden change in policy, rather part of a gradual process that began in fiscal 1995, after the bulk of the drawdown had been accomplished." Of the 236,790 reductions the Air Force has taken between fiscal 1986 and 1998, more than 60 percent were between 1990 and 1994. Generating 144,553 personnel losses in five years required every tool in the Air Force's toolkit, according to Dietrich. Many of these were temporary programs legislated by Congress to let services meet new requirements, such as the voluntary separation incentive and special separation benefit, commissioned service time and time in grade waivers, temporary early retirement authority and expanded programs for selective early retirement boards and reduction in force. The Air Force also enacted policies to cut end strength and manage a rapidly declining force. These included waiving active-dutservice commitments, 1991. field-grad- intelligence and air traffic control. "In retrospect, she added, "the Air Force has successfully drawn down to 60 percent of its former strength through a balanced approach spread throughout the force from accessions through the retirement-eligible population." naveYou ' ft That's all you hear any mor- eJay Leno jokes about it, Howard Stern makes fun of it, but for the 30 million men that suffer with ipttncafl IMPOTENCE... IT'S - pro- force-shapin- y J drawdown-relate- d end-streng- th end-streng- th I Heard The It also began to limit targets became easier to meet grams as and force stabilization became an increasingly important priority. Although 1995 saw the largest enlisted additional loss program since the onset of the drawdown, officer programs were cut back. After four straight years of selected early retirement bonuses and one officer reduction in force, the Air Force returned to voluntary loss programs only. The exception was a small, g nurse corps SERB. Fiscal 1995 was also noteworthy as the last year the Air Force offered voluntary separation incentive and special separation benefit programs. Eligibility for temporary early retirement authority became gradually more limited from fiscal 1995 on, with pilots, navigators, air battle managers and most nonline specialties eligible only when deferred. In fiscal 1996, enlisted end strength was on target before the fiscal year even began. So, the enlisted temporary early retirement program was closed early, making this the last year drawdown programs were offered to the enlisted corps. This year's TERA program was the most tailored since the drawdown began. Besides further limiting rated officer participation, the Air Force restricted e participation in several career fields that were below 90 percent field-grad- e manning, such as NO JOKING MATTER!!! Quit Being A Statistic and Do Something About It! Bldg. 430, Hill AFB, UT 776-336- 8 Mon.-Sa-t. 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