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Show O FLltopTiroM September 19. 2002 Commentary Consequences follow DUI charge Air Force leads in vigilance, power by Airman 1st Class Johnny Thompson 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron AVIANO AB, Italy (AFPN) - On April 27, 1 by Darren Heusel was charged with Oklahoma City ALC Public Affairs driving under the influence. I started ray evening by drinking with some people in the dorms for a going away party. Later, I went to a local club off base for an hour or so and left about 2:30 a.m. It was raining hard and I was halfway home when I ran through a water puddle and my car veered to the right. I overcorrected to the left and my car flipped over three times and ended up on the other side of the road, upside down in a field. All I could think about was my wife and kids. I was trapped inside my car, the power was off, and for a minute I thought my windows were rolled up. I realized the back window on the passenger side was down and I was able to crawl out ' Thanks to God I didn't have a scratch on me. I remember talking to someone who has a friend, who had an accident similar to mine, but he wasn't so lucky. Since I was under the influence of alcohol my reflexes were slow, and I just went with the flow. My blood alcohol content was .20, which was more than twice limit the Ipcnl ......... After the accident I started really thinking not just about how but affected my career, my actions my family and could have affected the families of others. I couldn't stop asking myself, "Why was I so irresponsible? What if I had died? What if I had hit someone else and what if they had kids in the car? How would my wife explain to my kids what happened and how selfish their DUI self, your family, friends and about others you could have endan- gered by your actions. Think about the affect it would have on them. I was lucky. I am still alive and able to be with my family, and tell my story, someone else might not be so lucky. That one night changed my life. My mistake hurt my career. I received an Article 15 and my commander punished me by taking a stripe. I was a senior airman with six years in the military. I now am an airman first class. I also was given 30 days extra duty and a reprimand. It will take me 18 months to put senior airman back on and the loss in pay of $283.80 a month over the next 18 months will be $5,108.40. In addition, I lost my driving privileges for a year. I am lucky, however, because I still have my life, my wife has a husband and my children still have their father. Aviation pioneers from TINKER AFB, Okla. (AFMCNS) H. Gen. like "Hap" Arnold, shared a Henry long ago, vision that the security of the United States would be best served by an independent air arm. Sept 18, 1947, Arnold's vision became a reality when the U.S. Air Force was formed. Now, 55 years later, that service has become the world's leader in global vigilance, reach and power. Arnold's vision has come to reality on several occasions in America's history. Most recently after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast, as President George Bush said for the United States and its allies to defeat their new adversary, independent battles would have to be "fought on a variety of fronts, in different ways." The Air Force first flexed its muscles over the skies of Germany in 1948 during the Berlin Airlift. Known as the largest airlift in history, history shows the grueling operation kept the island of freedom afloat behind the Iron Curtain. if father was?" Right now I'm just trying to get my life back together and be the father, husband and the kind of airman that I should be. I will say that drinking and driving is very serious. Before you drink and drive, try to think I mean really think about your- " The next big test for the Air Force was to achieve air n Korean Peninsula in combat superiority over the 1950. That was before the era of precision and standoff war-tor- weapons. It will be a long hard process to keep my career and family in a positive shape, but I will do everything I can to get back on my feet It took an incident like this for me to really think about my life, my family and the lives of others on the road. As a member of the Air Force I hear the briefings, I see the Armed Forces Network spots, I read the articles about not drinking and driving, but it took an experience like this to realize that it is simply not worth the risk of driving a vehicle or even getting into a vehicle when the driver has had just one drink. In my situation, I simply quit drinking. Be responsible, use common sense, and listen and learn from my experience. Hopefully, my story can save your career, and, most important of all, save someone else's life and yours. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service) Heroic airmen also hastened the end of the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia with tactical and strategic bombing amid some of the heaviest concentration of enemy air defenses ever experienced, according to historic records. And they set the standard for timely and precise employment of massive yet efficient airpower during Operation Desert Storm. Service leaders said lessons learned in the Persian Gulf have evolved into today's core competencies for the Air Force: air and space superiority, global attack, rapid global mobility, precision engagement, information superiority and agile combat support. The latest example of this could be seen over the skies of Afghanistan and in Operations Northern and Southern Watch, Allied Force and Sustain Hope. KC-9Famed aircraft such as the 6 and led the way in those earlier air assaults B-2- 9, F-8- 0, B-4- 7, F-5- 1, C-5- 4, 7, F-1- F-8- from bygone installations like Tuy Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, and Dow Air Force Base, Bangor, Maine. But the warhorses of yesteryear would eventually give way to more modern airpower platforms such as the airborne laser, unmanned aerial vehicles and Joint B-- l, B-- 2, F-1- 5, F-1- 6, F-2- 2, Hill Street views STARS. In just half a century, as history shows, the men and women of the Air Force have firmly established themselves as a major player in the nation's defense and become the world's leader in aerospace technology. 'What experience have you had using the Civilian Personnel Data program?' Angie Kracht Protocol officer Aircraft Division "I used it to apply for several jobs and went on five interviews, one of which led to the job I have now. I think it is a great program because it gives you an opportunity to know Hyange James Production acceptance " what is available and the employer the opportunity to know who is looking." V BiMwnHnsanHHMeKaKHHBMi i I , f' A V; f. .,' f, J Shirley Ross Production acceptance certification assistant Aircraft Division "I have used it quite often and I think it is neat that you can look up the jobs that you want to see, instead of having to go through all of them. I also like that you can look to see if you qualify or not Some-timwhen a job has been closed it still says that it is open. So it has got its good points and bad points." Lit. -' I ' Dolores Warg Production acceptance certification assistant Aircraft Division "I haven't used the program often but I like the fact that it will notify you when a job you are interested in comes open. If something comes up that was worth it I might put in for it" ! ' i ' - - A , . ' r y ' I do like that I can check on the status of positions I am applying for." Richard Snow Chief of resources section Aircraft Division "I have used STAIRS. One of the technical difficulties is that the resume input process is time consuming. Once that is done it is easy to see the jobs available. However, people are not very educated about it People call to ask for resume information. Ether they aren't getting the information from the system or they are not aware that it is there." Brian Weston 0 ft 1 Aircraft electrician wage leader Aircraft Division "I used it because it was advertised but I didn't see anything of significance. This system is lot easier than the one before it I am always looking to see what opportunities are out there." w""- - "Air Force people building the world's most respected Air and Space Force A. hSwijA TrlJuH Quality Systems for America's Air Force US -- Swing shift parking certification assistant Aircraft Division "I really like the program, except that you cannot delete past selections. You have to look through all the old ones again to see the new ones. I es BrTrf fft iltV'irinr- Action Line Published by Ogclen Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way connected with ihe U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commer-,ci- ul enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the in lot 23. When I started I car-po- passes. They said was okay to park there after-hourWhy do they give tickets instead of monitoring the carpool passes? How many times does one person get In a car that has a pass? That is a bigger problem. Why can't we use the lot on swing shift? 625-430- 0 ol s. Hill Supplement 1 states that "Carpool spaces be used for employee carpools from 6 a.m.-- 5 p.m. on regular duty days. At all other times, these spaces will be available for open parking." If you were parked in Lot 23 before 5 p.m. on a regular duty day then the ticket was justified. After 5 p.m. on regular duty days and on weekends and holidays the carpool lots become open parking. If you received a ticket after 1700 hours you can bring the ticket to the MAB parking lot and explain the cirmonitor, Garry White, Ext. cumstances. It is very possible that someone with a carpool pass may get into a vehicle and drive off, but it cannot be assumed that they are abusing the parking area. Drivers often do pick up other riders in other areas on base. Because of this and the possibility of misuse we do monitor the carpool passes with each new request and revalidate all passes yearly. AAF 131-20- 4 ACTION LINE is your opportunity to make Hill AFB a better place to live, work and play. When you call Ext. or send on Outlook to "HILL ACTION LLNE" your comments will be recorded and staffed through the agency responsible for action. Please give your supervisor and chain of command the opportunity to work with you in answering questions and Col. Ssb Romano II! 75th ABW Commander solving problems before call- ing ACTION LINE. This will help me better serve your interests. Items of basewide interest to the Hill workforce will be published in the Hilltop Times. Global Power and Reach for America." U.S. military services. Contents of the Hilltop Times are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force. The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Air Force or Ogden Publishing Corp., of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the Ogdcn Air Logistics Center Public Affairs Office staff in Bldg. 1102. Call Ext. with story ideas or comments, or send to "hill top.pa hill.af.mil". Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are U.S. Air Force photos. TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT, CALL ticket a parking was told we couldn't get the Ql gotswings it Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Scott Bergren Ma. Shawn Mecham Maj. Gen. Commander, Bill Orndorff Gary Boyle, Beth Young, Airman Micah Garbarlno, 2nd LI Garrett Grochowskl Deadlines: OO-AL- C Director, Public Affairs Editor Staff writers Editorial and "Around the Hill" Items, 3 p.m. Friday, sports articles, 9 a.m. Monday, classified ads, 2 p.m. Tuesday, week of publication. For more Information, call the editor, Ext |