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Show Hilltop Weekly Since 1948 Field trip ROTC cadets visit Travel update Hill Billing cycle to learn Air Force ways government credit card Page 4 c changes for Thank you ! Appreciation letter leads to TV Page 5 y-- n 64U06-&8Z- 4 31 r appearance Page 9 vvvvw.niiitoptimes.com hiiitop.timeshill.af.mil Vol. 66 No. 3, 'Js&3&. i' i Science Fair judges still needed ? ' 1 . . ,H i AW wmjrsr The 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office needs volunteers to serve as judges for the North Park Elementary School Science Fair. The volunteers will judge fourth, fifth and sixth grade science projects p.m., Jan. 26 at the school, A BY STAFF SGT. C. TODD LOPEZ WASHINGTON (AFPN) The Air Force used the best parts of several civilian efficiency programs to e develop an Air program called "Smart Operations 21," Secretary of the Air Force MiForce-uniqu- 4230 South 2175 West, Roy. Volunteers need to arrive at the school by 12:30 p.m. to receive judging instructions. Those interested should send their full name and duty phone to jennifer.moore hill.af.mil no later than Tuesday. process-improveme- j -- plans job fair Photo by Carl Burnett Snow glistens on the Hill Golf Course after a recent snowfall. While it's serene and peaceful on the Golf Course during the winter, the 75th Civil Engineer Squadron's snow removal crew works around the clock to keep Hill's flight line, streets and sidewalks free of winter ' snow and ice. , Fun for some, work for others BY JOHN D. LINF0RD and SENIOR MASTER SGT. MARIA MALD0NAD0 75th Civil Engineer Squadron - 777-468-1. , Try to imagine 2.2 million square yards of concrete. Perhaps it's easier to visualize as 20 million square fegfev 455 acres, or 1 squarene of paved airfield. Any way you measure it, the Hill Airfield covers a lot of area. Now, imagine burying the airfield under six incnes of snow. How much snow is that? How much will that snow weigh? And, how long does it take the 75th Civil Engineer Squadron's Snow Barn professionals to move it out of the way? An engineer might say it's about 227 acre-feof snow. How can those of us who aren't engineers grasp how much snow we're talking about? Try this: A Snowbasin Ski Patroller said that perfect skiing powder contains 5 percent water; 10 percent water content is on the light-en- d of heavy snow. That's the average snow at Hill: 10 percent water content. A snowfall on to be the airfield works-ou- t nearly 10 million cubic feet of snow, or 1 million cubic feet of water, which equals about 74 million gallons. That's more than the water in Shamu the KillWe're er Whale's talking about 590 million pounds, or 295 thousand tons of water, in the form of snow, scattered over acres and acres of concrete. 10-tim- es fish-tan- k! said Snow Barn supervisor Dave Ferguson. "It is in times like that especially when about half of our Airmen are deployed that the incredible bargain we have with our permanent-seasonemployees becomes glaringly apparent." From the time a snowstorm ends to the time the airfield al et Base Theater Movies Friday, 7 p.m. "The Man," -P- G-13 six-inc- Saturday, Noon "Scooby Doo1,"-P- G Saturday, 7 p.m. "The Great Raid," R - Today - Snow showers 34720' F- - h Photo by Carl Burnett Snow Barn vehicle plows Wardleigh Road during Sunday's snowstorm. The 75th Civil Engineer Squadron snow removal team keeps the flight line and 152 miles of streets and roads and hundreds of parking lots across Hill free of snow during the winter. A "Beginning the day after Christmas in 2003 for about a month, we were pounded with the heaviest snowfall on record (160 inches instead of the 70 inches on average that falls here in a year)," "7 Friday - Morning snow showers s 31722" Saturday F Partly cloudy 33716' F Sunday - Partly cloudy 33712' Monday F Partly cloudy 33716' F chael W. Wynne said. The program will take the Air Force forward in a journey of the secretary said at a conference at Andrews AFB, Md. The process will help improve the Air Force's process. "The name came from a convocation of the senior operators in the field who thought we could continue our journey into higher quality and better performance by using a term that would relate to airfield operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations,, unmanned aerial vehicle operations or cyberspace operations," he said. "So Air Force Smart Op erations 21 is the ideal project name for this journey we are embarking on," he said. The program is based on both Lean and Six Sigma business process improvement tools. These tools were developed chiefly in the private sector to focus on increasing value to customers, save time and money, reduce waste and improve quality. A process is made lean by it to eliminate steps that add no value to the end product or by combining process steps to save time. For instance, moving tools and supplies closer to a work area helps reduce the number of footsteps workers must take to complete their jobs. It is also about minimizing "batch and queue" processes. In manufacturing, a raw material may need to pass through several workstations before it becomes a final product. The initial workstation may drill a single hole or make a single cut in a batch of several thousand pieces of raw material. is cleared, is typically only 72 hours. The snow crew's ability to keep the airfield open and safe while it's still snowing takes an extra effort. "With this group of ex perienced professionals on duty 247," Mr. Ferguson said, "we can have up to 15 pieces of enormous, special- snow reized, heavy-dutmoval equipment operated profesby knowledgeable sionals out on the runway in about 20 minutes. Readiness, professionalism, keen and quick performance response are what we're all about." Once the snow crew gets out on the airfield, removing the snow isn't as simple as just racing up and down the runway and taxiways, Mr. Ferguson said. The airfield is bristling with difficult and potentially dangerous obstacles including: four emergency arrest barriers, hundreds of runway and taxiway lights, dozens of signs, buildings, manholes, munitions vehicles and aircraft support equipment. "There are also more than a dozen snow removal vehicles operating simultaneously, not to mention more than 100 aircraft with their crews, maintenance and support personnel at any given, time," Mr. Ferguson said. "And then, you have to know y, See Snow, 3 The semi-finish- ed parts then go into a queue, waiting for the See Smart Operations, 3 309th revamps pylon process BYG. A.V0LB Ogden Air Logistics Center Public Affairs customers world wide, the pylon shop has recently undergone a massive Lean process, cutting several "flow" days off the production schedule. So the pylons are returned to the supply system much earlier than expected, enabling aircraft worldwide to upgrade munitions capability quicker. Flow days aren't, however, the only advantage gained from Leaning the process. "One of the immediate savings we noticed 1 was in the reduction of inventory," said Capt of director the Joe Fuller, operasquadron's tions. "Less assets out on the shop floor meant we needed less spare parts in our supply sections. This not only reduces our overhead, but also frees up valuable square footage out on the shop floor, allowing us to pursue additional work to bring in." In the near future, the shop will be adding the 0 to their cusPhotobyG.A.VMb tomer list. Timothy Smith, an ordnance systems mechanic with the 309th 16 Bridging an 6 pilot's command to engage targets with the munitions hanging from his aircraft are pylons housing cables necessary to complete the exchange. The more intricate the weapons system, the more complex the cables delivering commands to the munitions and the configuration of the pylons themselves are. Here at Hill, the 309th Commodities Maintenance Squadron t is busy ensuring 6 pylons are rewcrked Century smart munitions. The result is a better equipped aircraft able to use more precise munitions and limit collateral damage on the "War on Terror" battlefield. "The current modifications consist of removing the wiring harness, machining the pylon to except a new, larger version, then installing it and reassembling the pylon," said Steve He's also received positive feedback from Morlock, 309th CMXS armament flight chief. "Then we have to perform electrical tests to customers on providing a more predictable ensure everything is working as planned and schedule and increased production, and cred- finish it all off with a paint job." As an added benefit to Air Logistic Center F-SeePylon, 3 F-1- (3? nt product-developme- nt Friday The Family Support Center plans a job fair Friday from noon to 4 p.m. in Bldg. 150. More than 30 companies will be available to discuss current job openings. Job seekers should bring copies of their resumes, letters of recommendations, three to five references and be prepared to complete job applications. In addition to the job fair workshop, the FSC offers a wealth of information for employment seekers, such as employment workshops that include: Transition Assistance Seminars, Resume Writing, Interviewing Techniques, How To Fill Out A Job Application and many more. All classes and resources the Family Support Center provides are open to anyone with access to Hill. For more information regarding these programs, call the FSC at AF improves production with Smart Operations 21 Air Force Print News 1-- 3 FSC XI a F-1- for-21s- A-1- Tuesday - Partly cloudy 34719' F Wednesday - Few snow showers 36721 F 1 Com-modifi- es Maintenance Squadron, stows cannon plug In newly machined pylon. The plugs serve es the commend cable between armaments loaded under the wing and pilot commends In the cockpit. The updated pylons, fitted with a more harness, ensure the aircraft can make use of 21st Century smart weapons. F-- hi-te- . i i i |
