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Show Times 0 tlilhop 25. July 2CC2 Privatization helps upgrade housing units HillAFB weather outlook 5-d- ay www.alrfield-cps- . hill.af.miloswweather I BUT 171 95 High 70' Low Mostly cloudy with scattered afternoon thunderstorms Mlllll W by Tech. Sgt. Scott Elliott Air Force Pnnt News WASHINGTON The Air Force is halfway home in its effort to upgrade housing units deemed sub- standard. "We have about 103,000 houses in the Air Force inventory, worldwide," said Binks Franklin, chief of Air Force housing program management. "Of that, about 46,000 are what we would classify as inadequate and require revitalization." The Air Force has until 2007 to complete the task. The secretary of defense originally established a 2010 suspense in 1996, but the Bush Administration moved the deadline up in 2001 to accommodate quality of life initiatives. Franklin said Air Force officials are looking at different ways of accomplishing the task. "One of the ways we have of getting there is to have a private developer take ownership of these units, then revitalize and operate them for 50 years," he said. According to Franklin, it is basically a money issue. "We can't find $100 tol50 million to redo the housing at each base," he said. "All we can get is the appropriation from Congress for military construction. ThaL.will only take care of, maybe, 100 or 200 houses (per base)." Private industry, however, has other financial options, he said. turning to private industry and saying, You financing, agree to revitalize or rebuild get the houses now, and well turn over ownership of these (houses) to you," Franklin said. So far, privatization contracts have been awarded at Lackland and Dyess Air Force Bases, four locations "Wre're long-ter- 95' High 70' Texas; Robins AFB, Ga.; and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska for a total of 2,320 units. Hie acquisition process is under way at Kirtland AFB, N.M.; Patrick AFB, Fla.; AFB, Ohio; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; and Hickam AFB, Hawaii, which will affect another 6,i34homes. Concept development is also under way for 6,049 units at Dover AF B.Del.; Hill AFB, Utah; Moody AFB, Ga.; Altus AFB, Okla.; Lackland AFB (Phase II) ; and Of futt AFB, Neb. Another 13,827 homes at 15 bases are expected to join the privatization process by the end of fiscal 2003. it's one of the tools "Privatization is not the cure-alwe have to revitalize our housing by 2007," said Col. Jim Holland, chief of Air Force housing. "Without it, it would take us in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 years to get our housing in line with standards," he said. "And by the time we did that, we would have to be going back to fix (them) again." The way the funding situation is currendy structured, a captain living in Air Force housing today would be a general officer before his house was renovated. "According to the traditional (military construction) process, it takes that long," Holland said. With privatization, housing revitalization is both Holland said. quicker and more "At Lackland, it would have taken $50 million," he said. "Using privatization, it cost us $6.8 million, so we wound up saving more than $43 million instantaneously." In exchange for repairing or rebuilding base housing, contractors are paid monthly "rent" equivalent to each occupant's basic allowance for housing. Though that amount of cash flow may tempt many companies to compete for the contract, Holland said Wright-Patterso- n l; cost-effectiv- e, Low Low in Hail and farewell ufr-- t n,.., in ,.. iV . Partly cloudy MP High 67 Low Partly cloudy IIMfif'WItflrlMlllWMllWMII'll Photos by Gary Boyle Air Force career, Col. David Beecroft retired as 75th Air Base Wing comBringing to an end a mander July 18 at the Thornton Community Center. Friends, family and colleagues came together to bid farewell to Beecroft who was at Hill for 14 months during which he guided the wing through Operation Bright Star, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the 2002 Winter Olympics. He leaves military service to begin civil service as the Federal Security Director Nashville International Airport. "I am not retiring, I am just changing uniforms and still serving our nation. This ceremony is not about me, It's about people willing to give their ail In the service of their country. Our survival as a free nation rests squarely on your shoulders," said Beecroft, who then presented four individuals, a civilian, an officer, an NCO and enlisted airman with Air Force and command service awards. "I chose these people to represent all of us, those who came before, those who serve now and those who will follow. There Is no finer Air Force In the world or Air Force people." Donning a black beret Beecroft announced, "I came in Security Forces, I'm going out Security Forces." Master Sgt. James Purtell, on behalf of the 75th ABW, then presented him a folded American flag and Beecroft left the ceremony arm in arm with Linda, his wife of 33 years. 26-ye- 98 High 65' Low Partly cloudy Annual steam system outage starts Sunday The annual steam outage for the 519 distribution system begins Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and continues through midnight. After the outage, no steam will be supplied to facilities that have steam-generat- hot water or use steam in an industrial capacity. Buildings affected are 245, 249, 308, 332, 345, 349, 350, 351,357, 358,361,363,364, 365,366,400,430, 440,441, 445,450,460,461,475,483, 517,518,519, 520, 521,522, 523, 524, 525, 534 and 570. The outage is necessary for annual repair and maintenance. For more information on the outages, contact Daniel Bybee, boiler operations, at Ext or f i ar by Linda D. Kozaryn American Forces Press Service fTl 96' 50-ye- 9 months into war, much achieved, much remains Partly cloudy 94; High 68 getting the Air Force's nod of approval is not easy. "We're not talking about some company specializing in other ventures," he said. These companies are cop property management with strong petent in long-terJ financial resumes. The process we go through to make a selection may appear lengthy, but we have to make sure they're qualified," he said. "WVre not afraid to go into negotiations and come out without a deal," Holland said. "We're not going,to deal thiat rush into a bad contract, because a comour derail would 5 in obviously years goes bad adethem to families Air Force to our mitment provide j quate housing." in airmen the to privaresiding colonel, According tized homes often see benefits beyond just new conj struction or renovation, "If a developer wants to exceed the standards we se t, press, by all means," Holland said. "For example.iat Robins, the contractor provides all landscaping services. Some have two-cgarages. Some will probably j have lawn sprinkler systems." sa?d. Holland not is The system perfect, though, Because each state has different laws and building j codes, each case has been unique. There have been growing pains, but we've learned a lot," he said. There is one thing in common among all the privaj tized housing projects. j "We're getting rave reviews," Franklin said. "We have people in houses at Lackland, Dyess, Elmendorf and Robins, and we've had tremendous success," Holland said. "People are extremely happy." Portable program helps spouses accounting, bookkeeping services, marketing sup- by Staff Sgt. A.J. Bosker port, translation and technical writing. Virtual assistants receive their work assignments Air Force Print News WASHINGTON Besides the normal stress associated with moving, military spouses often must give up their jobs or careers, and hope they can begin again in a new location. It is a frustrating dilemma for many, one that can sometimes be made worse by local and state require-mentBut, help is on the way, in the form of a s. new family support program designed to help spouses help themselves, said Linda Brown, Air Force family matters expert at the Pentagon. "We wanted to attack this and develop something for these spouses that was portable from base to base, but still had longevity and continuity," Brown said. The approach taken by the Air Force was to help spouses become virtual assistants. Virtual assistants are entrepreneurs who establish their own home business online and offer a variety of services. These services vary from one person to the next, based on their area of expertise, and can include providing administrative support, competitive research, Web site design, legal research, and communicate with their clients via phone, online messaging. fax, mail and real-tim- e The Air Force worked with Staffcentrix, a company that specializes in assisting people to become virtual assistants, to develop a training plan and support base for military spouses interested in this pro- gram. "We chose to run a one-yetest of die virtual assistant program for spouses at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., a somewhat isolated stateside base, and began looking for spouses to participate," Brown said. "When I saw this program advertised on base, my first impression was this is something that would definitely be worth trying," said Maschel Fleming, a military spouse at Cannon. Fleming and other spouses attended two two-da- y training classes in April that helped them identify ar their business strengths and weaknesses, and provided them with guidance on how to become virtual assistants. The military husbands and wives were also invited to the training and were encouraged to ask questions about the program. t WASHINGTON Nine months into the global war on terror, the nation remains closer to the beginning than to the end, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday at the Pentagon. "Our goal is that Afghanistan not become a base for global terrorist networks again," Rumsfeld said. That work is, of course, by no means complete. Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives are still at large, some in Afghanistan; others fled across the borders waiting for the opportunity to return." Danger remains as evidenced by the recent attacks on U.S. forces in Kandahar and in Oruzgan Province, he said, and by the several firefights between Pakistani forces and al Qaeda. Coalition forces continue to search caves and to sweep for arms, intelligence and small pockets of terrorists. In recent weeks, he noted, local Afghans have told U.S. and coalition forces where to find weapons caches, which are then either destroyed or turned over to the Afghan National Army. To date, Rumsfeld noted, the campaign has caused fewer tragic losses of civilian life than any war in modern history. He said U.S. and coalition forces have gone to "extraordinary lengths not only to avoid civilian deaths but to save civilian lives." "It's an unfortunate fact of war than inevitably innocent civilians are killed," he said. This has been true throughout the history of warfare and it remains true even in this muniage of advanced technology and precision-guide- d I tions." While much work remains to be done in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said, the U.S.-le- d effort has accomplished much in reversing the tide of terrorism and restoring freedom to the Afghan people. Rumsfeld highlighted the transformation that's taken place in Afghanistan. Nine months ago, he said, "it was a pariah state, a training ground for thousands of terrorists." Al Qaeda had free rein to plan and organize attacks and Taliban brutally repressed the Afghan people. Today, Rumsfeld said, the Taliban are no longer in power and al Qaeda are on the run. Together with coalition partners, we've rounded up some 600 terrorists in Afghanistan and many hundreds more worldwide," he said. They're being interrogated. They're yielding information that is help' ' ing to prevent further violence and bloodshed." The humanitarian crisis has been averted and the Afghan people have been liberated. The U.S. and coalition partners have delivered about 500,000 metric tons of food since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, enough to feed 7 million Afghans. Last winter's dire predictions of humanitarian disaster never came to pass, Rumsfeld said, and Afghanistan is once !; again a free nation. the recent the Loya Afghan peoThrough Jirga process, ple have exercised their right of self determination," he said. "A new president has been chosen, a new cabinet has been sworn, a transitional government representative of the Afghan people has been established to lead the nation for the next two years." U.S. officials are working with the new government to lay the foundation for long-terstability and to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a terrorist haven. The United Statefe and 28 countries are supporting the creation of an Afghad national army. Demining teams from Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland and Jordan are helping to clear land mines, although an enormous number remain, U.S. military engineers and civil affairs teams have dug wells, built hospitals, repaired roads and rebuilt schools. Russia cleared out and rebuilt a tunnel on the main artery linking Kabul with the north, allowing transportation of food, medicine and supplies. Jordan built a hospital in Mazarve Sharif that has treated 86,000 people, including 18,000 ! m Deri-mar- k, j children. j "Perhaps the most important measure of progress is the flow of people," Rumsfeld said. Since January, many hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and internally disJ placed persons have returned to their homes. "When it comes to coalition efforts," he noted, "the Afghan people are voting with their feet. They're coming back to their homes, and indeed it is a vote of confidence in the progress that's being made in Afghanistan." Rumsfeld said 70 nations are supporting the war on terrorism, and 35 have posted representatives at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla. |