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Show 2 HifftopX HillAFB weather outlook ? 5-d- ay www. nrft''" airfield-ops- . hill.af.miloswweather 75th ABW public affairs I J d ' 11 88" High 62" Low Partly to mostly cloudy, chance of atemoon and evening thunderstorms plans new exchange needed." The present BX opened March 28. 1972. and was 31.400 square feet. It was remodeled in 1987 to add a mini mali and fast food outlets. The building is owned by Hill AFB. and base officials will determine its future use. According to Fredin. the new store will have an expanded clothing area and wider aisles for easier access to merchandise. He said the store will carry a wider variety of products, but at this time he doesn't know what that will be. Also, AAFES furniture retail section will be part of the new store. Robin Hood, Anthony's Pizza and Taco Bell if by Rhonda Elmore The Army-Ai- r Force Exchange Service will break ground in September for the new 93.000-squar- e foot Base Exchange. Completion date for the S10 million store is scheduled for November 2002. The new BX will be located in what is now an empty lot north of Burger King, and will extend beyond 5t!i Street. The store will face east with the back of the building near F Street. Additional parking will be built to the east. The building will extend beyond 5th Street. "Our present store is only 55.000 square feet, but our new store will be 93,000 square feet," said Tom Fredin. AAFES general manager. "There will be room for future expansion , will move to the new food court. Fredin explained, "as well as a Cinnabon and Charley's Steakery." Groundbreaking dates and further details will be announced later. of depots Symposium emphasizes importance n by Gary Boyle Hilltop Times staff Hundreds of Air Force Association members gathered in Ogden last week for the annual Focus on Defense which followed the theme Depot Maintenance in the 21st Century - Supporting the Warfighter. Participants also took part in the 22nd Annual AFA Charity Invitational Golf Tournament, which benefits the Aerospace Education Foundation. Money goes to a variety of programs including university and high school ROTC, operating assistance, space programs, and science fairs. Participants raised more than $30,000, according to golf tournament chairman Karl McCleary. "Our center has evolved a lot over the past few years," said Ogden Air logistics Center commander Maj. Gen. Scott Bergrcn as he opened the symposium. "We're not your 'father's depot' any more. We're taking on new challenges and partnerships with indussym-posiu- 90 High 62' Low Partly to mostly cloudy sMI life! 88 High 60 Low Mostly sunny mmy i 9 88 High 62 Low Mostly Sunny 3 90' High 68" Low Partly cloudy Hill AFB DUIDW Report Date of last DUI: April 16 Days since last DUI: 12 Squadrons that have been DUIfree for six to 12 months are the 75th Civil Engineering Squadron and the 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron Information current as of June 26. Airmen Against Drinking and Driving 586-AAD- D (586-223- 3) tr i ' ' I 4 " ' J " - v 1" iLn-- - - izing in just one. One of the concerns the general voiced was the aging of the civilian workforce. At Hill more than 70 percent of civilian workers will become eligible for retirement within the next five years. AFMC has more than 40 percent of the civilian work force in the Air Force, with more workers older than 60 than those 30 years old or younger. Software engineers are a major concern for the AFMC in particular, Lyles noted. "In the last decade we did a lot of downsizing and restructuring and that created a gap in our workforce. We're hiring agin and we need to get the word out." Lyles said. "We need to find and hire the right people. That includes blue and white collar workers." National Chairman of the Board for the AFA Thomas McKee said the AFA would soon be putting together a list A 'V z& 1 try. "This past spring we had the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board here for a Gen. Lester L. Lyles, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, delivers the keynote address at the Focus on Defense Symposium. conference. Many of their members had never been to a depot before. They were all amazed at the amount of activity that takes place at Hill," he said. "Our motto is 'Innovation and Excellence' and I am confident you'll see that come to life as you travel throughout Hill AFB. We are proud of who we are and what we do." As the keynote speaker Gen. Lester Lyles commander of Air Force Materiel Command, explained how important depots are to the Air Force and in sus- - taining an aging aerial fleet. "When I first took ver at AFMC I thought I could focus on two areas -acquisition and applied technology. I figured the depots had all been taken care of," Lyles said. "I quickly learned how important depots and depot maintenance were. They are key elements for Air Force readiness." He emphasized the importance in finding better ways to do things in making a more efficient environment Lyles pointed out that at Tinker AFB, Okla., Photo by Marvin Lynchard are sent through in a line and if one plane has serious problem the repair line flow can be interrupted. One plane can cause the delay of many aircraft. "At a commercial airline where similar repairs are done planes go into an individual dock area inside the hanger. In this way one plane's repair has no effect on any other," Lyles said. The general added that depots and individuals must be able to work on a variety of systems instead of special of hot topics to take before congressional members, among which may include retention and recruitment, infrastructure, an increase in military spending to four percent of the gross domestic product and a larger share of this spending for the Air Force. AFA executive director John Shaud pointed out that success would rely on a team effort between the Air Force, congress, military and civilian workers, and private industry, with every player doing their part. Other noted speakers included AFA National President John Politi, Air Force Lt. Generals Michael Zettler and Stephen Plummer, along with several executives from industry. Secretary outlines vision for Air Force by Master Sgt. Joe Bela U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service VERSAILLES. France (AFFN) Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche discussed his vision of the future for the Air Force during a June 21 visit here. Roche, who is the 20ih person to hold the service's highest civilian leadership position, addressed several issues during his stop at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial here. The memorial is dedicated to American aviators who fought for France before the United States' entry into World War I. A proponent of positive change, Roche plans on tackling several issues affecting today's Air Force, including retention. "The issue, first and foremost, is to find out why we have members of our Air Force leaving, especially at midcareer. From a business standpoint, it is so much more efficient to retain good people than to try and replace them," he said. "In the Air Force, we really want to recruit for careers. We'll always have Americans joining the Air Force with the intention of leaving after a few years. If, however, there are obstacles for people who plan on making the Air Force a career, the first thing to do is to find out what (the obstacles) are and to address them." Treating airmen in the same manner that successful companies treat their employees is one way of improving retention, said Roche. "Successful organizations know that people are a valuable resource that are very hard to replace," he said. "You can't train a master sergeant or a pilot in any other way except as a master sergeant, or a pilot. You can't go out on the market and hire one. You have to train one. "Each airman, officer or enlisted, is the key to our future. That's the kind of attitude that will change the climate," he added. Roche believes there is a need to be more efficient in the way we do business, "but it's not because we did anything wrong," he said. Any large organization, over time, will engender some inefficiency. That's why it should have a process of continually trying to improve and change, to look to do things smarter. "Change isn't something to be feared. We don't necessarily have to run out and embrace change, but we certainly have to recognize that change a continuous basis of trying to get is healthy better," he said. Although Roche said the Air Force has done a lot in terms of using its resources efficiently, he just wants to look across the board because "it's a broad issue with no simple answers. "Any organization can get into habits and unless it works to become more efficient, it will consume more and more of its resources inefficiently," he said, "Quite often, it's an accumulation of lots of little things," he explained. There may be layers of management we just don't need. There may be reports we're generating that no one really makes use of anymore. While they may have been worthwhile at one time, they never went away. "We just want to make sure that the demands on our people are demands that are legitimate," he added. All three services are currently working together to find ways of making the U.S. military more efficient, according to Roche, and funds generated from this approach could be used in other areas where they may be needed. Roche, who spent 23 years in the Navy and retired as a captain in 1983, believes ties between the military and private industry will play a major role in the Air Force's quest toward efficiency. "The Air Force has always been associated with corporations who are at the leading edge of technology," he said. "From the early days of commercial aviation, the Army Air Corps came along and asked, 'Look, can we make the engines a little bit more powerful, so we can go a little bit cost-savin- g expects these aircraft to help shape the future of Air Force aviation and weaponry. "People who are intimately familiar with airplanes tend to think of the 2 and the Joint Strike Fighter as substitutes for each other. They're not," he said. "The because of its stealth, super cruise and dramatic avionics, truly changes the character of air war," said Roche. "For the first time in history, we can have airplanes over an opponent's territory virtually undetected. If an opponent (retaliates) with another airplane, the 2 can deal with it quickly and then return to its F-2- F-2- 2, F-2- stealthy state." It is the key to airspace dominance and supremacy. Dramatic in both war and peace, it will serve as an incentive for deterrence, he added. Calling the Joint Strike Fighter a different kind of airplane, Roche said that, while it also has stealth features, it's really on a continuum with other aircraft. "It's really a very good airplane, but it won't change war. "In both cases, we're learning to exploit what we have by changing the sorts of systems we carry and modernizing electronics," he said. The pace is dramatic. Every 18 to 36 months, a new generation of weapons-relateelectronics is available. Weapons are getting far more precise, far d more lethal." Roche's vision for the future also relies heavily on taking care of people who, he says, are vital to the success of the service. "I've lived a military career, occupied military housing, and used military hospitals. I've associated a good portion of my life with military families," he said. "I think I bring an affection for the value of our people. It's important to appreciate and value our airmen, and I hope they recognize that they are very hard to replace. further or a little bit faster?' Whether it's infor"It's an understanding that people make the difmation technology, materials, avionics or any- ference. It's not just to 'mouth' the but also to have lived it," he said. "Whenphrase, thing else, that won't change." tour of my Today, the Air Force's drive for better, faster duty is over, my vision is to leave behind a betweapons systems has taken shape in the form of ter Air Force with people who are even more the 2 Raptor and Joint Strike Fighter. Roche proud than they are today." F-2- |