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Show nn Hill nn AFB, Utah 84056-582- 4 vm o W7Nn www.hiIltoptimes.com hiIitop.pahill.af.mil Vol. 57 No. 45, November 15, 2001 Patriotism on the roll X- INSIDE: V k 1 1 ...1 JH T '.Si' l . v Snow removal priorities Page 2 yy B-- 2 presentation IT 2 Commander's Call Q& As Page 3 v Y At ground zero Pages 4r 0 6-- 7 t) 7 -- .4 Services holiday hours Page 8 Photo by Tech. Sgt. Timothy Trager Hill AFB Modern System Q&As Page 10 Base Information Transfer Center stays vigilant by Gary Boyle Hilltop Times staff The Base Information Transfer Center at Hill is staying vigilant to new and old mail threats. The BITC handles more than 8,000 pieces of mail daily. All official mail is channeled through BITC including interoffice and dormitory parcels. Mail to base housing is handled by the Clearfield Post Office. .. All official mail must have typed addresses on EOD Page 13 employees take their love of country to the street. the parcel. Interoffice mail must clearly have "to" and "from" office symbols posted, except Government Messenger Envelope, OF SF Form 65 also known as holy joes. Mail will only be picked up and delivered to stops established by the 75th Communication Squadron. With the addition of three machines, BITC personnel are now most of the letter size parcels and all handwritten letters and flats that go through their center of operation. Since not all packages fit into the machines, X-r- a stamp stating the contents have been ed put on parcels that have under gone the procedure. Packages that don't fit into the machine will be opened at random and all suspicious parcels will be opened. The y machines will detect anything that can be used to make a bomb, like batteries or metal, which until recently has been our primary concern. Unfortunately the machines can't detect or destroy a biological threat, such as anthrax," said Base Official Mail Manager Ken Nelson. Mail sorted through BITC is done by hand so will be X-ra- airborne anthrax has little chance of spreading through the facility. Bioenvironmental Engineering recently inspected the facility and confirms this and recommended frequent hand washing with soap and water as a protection measure. The motion of mail going through the sorting machines is what shakes up the dust. Every piece of mail we handle is done by hand and verified by a person. We even have rubber gloves and masks for our employees to wear if they wish," said Nelson. "We receive mail from the U.S. Postal service in the morning. That mail is sorted and designated to a certain truck that follows a daily route. On the truck the mail is sorted again to specific offices. There are two people per truck, one person delivers and picks up mail while the other person stays with the truck ensuring no one can put mail on or take mail off the truck." BITC personnel receive ongoing training on ."' suspicious parcels. "All of the letters containing anthrax, to my n knowledge, have had envelopes and shared similar characteristics," said Nel- . hand-writte- son. ' Security Forces also goes through BITC with g dogs throughout the day even though they too are immune from detecting a biological threat. "Just because there is a new threat it doesn't mean the old threat has gone away," said Nelson. "Recent incidents have increased our awareness on what we receive and deliver." bomb-sniffin- Photo by Marvin Lynchard Sherry Durst sorts through mall at the Base information Transfer Center. |
