| OCR Text |
Show SSE&393S5 nor i ml Hill AFB, - - Utah Vol. 54 No. 33, August 26, 84056-582- 4 1 999 t SIPS Watson visit oo My by Libby Vanhook Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs INSIDE: WRIGHT-PATTERSO- N AFB, Ohio If it's true that no news is good news, then the Global Retiree open tioning System rollover Saturday evening was the best of news for the U.S. Air Force. Air Force officials confirm the GPS system, includconstellation and its network of ing the stations ground support operated by Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo., continued to function normally before, during and after the rollover. A prepared and alert battle staff at Air Force Materiel Command headquarters, Wright-PattersoAFB, Ohio, was ready for any scenario when the rollover occurred. The GPS system, which counts time in epochs of 1,024 weeks rather than using traditional solar years, rolled over to 00 Aug. 21 for the first time since 1980, when the system's internal clock began. Just as Col. James B. Armor, director of the NAVS-TAGlobal Positioning systems Joint Program Office at Space and Missile System's Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., predicted, the Air Force team did an outstanding job of testing and ensuring the compliance of the system as a whole. "As of Monday morning, there were no AFMC GPS failures," said Lt. Col. Tom Bellnoski, AFMC headquarters Battle Staff director. "This proves that all AFMC personnel involved, and most of all the GPS program office at SMC, were well ahead of the game." 27-satell- ite .:'.; house Saturday Page 2 f- J ' '""V, n X ID check successful Page 3 Photos by Steven R. Ford R golf pro Tom Watson visited Hill AFB Monday to conduct golf clinics and catch a ride on an 1 6 from the 388th Fighter Wing. See related story, page 16, and additional coverage in today's Fighter Country Well-know- n 'i F-- , ; Summer Bash delights crowds "The AFMC Y2K office closely watched this rollover as an indication of how well they've prepared for Year 2000", said Dorothy Tuck, AFMC Y2K pro- Page 6 gram manager. The watch began when experts at Air Force Space Command uploaded the new almanac containing School zone safety stressed week 0000 information Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. (EDT) . Air Force users began testing their receivers that Page 9 evening, with no failures reported. Saturday evening was much the same following the approximate 8 p.m. (EDT) rollover. Battle staff personnel waited patiently for reports confirming 388th Fighter that no news was good news. By Sunday morning, only a skeleton crew remained Wing in the quiet AFMC Command Center, while battle staff personnel at Kelly AFB, San Antonio, Texas, switched their focus from GPS to the approaching Hurricane Bret and its 140 mile per hour winds. At other AFMC installations, life returned to normal as the Y2K countdown continues. Fighter Country Pages A-- C Employees mark years of service Page 14 n ns ITU u w by Barbara Fisher Lifeguards protect swimmers Page 18 Streets honor those who served Page 1A Hilltop Times online www.hilltoptimes.com Posi- " iff . Environmental Management Public Affairs ' Hill AFB workers soon won't be able to reach for that can or bottle of familiar cleaning solvent to pour on a rag or spray on an aircraft part to hand wipe it clean. On Monday, the use of High Vapor Pressure Solvents, or HVPS, such as the widely used cleaner Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) , cleaner, and approx20 other solvents used to imately hand-wip- e aircraft parts, will be banned at Hill AFB. A high vapor pressure solvent is one that evaporates quickly when exposed to air. Because it evapoMil-C-387- (CIDA-A-5928- 36 1) rates quickly, more of the solvent is required to do a job. These solvents, after evaporating, and in the presence of sunlight and nitro- - AFB workers Starting Monday, use to won't be able high vapor presHill sure solvents unless they have a waiver to do so and the solvents are clearly marked like these pictured here. gen oxide in the air, form ozone or smog. This smog can be seen as a brown haze in the sky especially during the summer months along the Wasatch Front. All the solvents on the HVPS list must be removed from work centers by Friday unless that work center has an approved Environmental Management Compliance waiver. If the work center has an EMC waiver, the solvent must be marked with an HVPS label and restricted to the use authorized by the waiver. This Hill AFB policy was signed into effect Aug. 20, by Maj. Gen. Rich Roellig, commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center, to comply with federal law. The Aerospace National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants NESHAP were developed under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 under Title III, Toxic Air Pollutants. The Aerospace NESHAP required compliance by Sept. 1, 1998, and applies to Hill AFB. Hill obtained extensions to allow delaying compliance until Sept. 1, 1999, in specific areas; however, these extensions cannot be renewed. ban on While this is a base-wid- e the use of these solvents, the Aircraft and Commodities Directorates, plus the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings, are the areas most impacted by the Aerospace NESHAP. Steve Rasmussen, the air quality program manager for Hill AFB, said the base has been working for the last four years to find suitable subcleanstitutes for these ers. "The theory behind lower vapor pressure solvents is that they don't evaporate as quickly and less is required to emulsify the soil or pull it up on a rag and get it off the hand-wipin- g . See Solvents, page 4 |
