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Show ullis exercise challenges Air Force team . by.Capt. Len Zigment . Control Center (LCC) from the The Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) on our left was blown up, shortly the TEL liehind us exploded, later the Command Post on our right was destroyed. The night sky was bright from, the explosives and flares going off all around the site. Aggressors were reported everywhere. leaving the four of us t rying to defend our Launch sur-rounde- d. enemy. Then suddenly. . This is typical story heard by wives from any of the 22 Air Force maintenance and operations personnel who were part of the first Ground . Launch Cruise Missile (GLCM) Flight in history. Flight in this context is an organizational term similar to platoon in the Army. THESE Dugway members of the .GLCM Test Team were part, of a I am: riy,ke " 97 20, 30 Test tenance, operations, security police, supply, and analysis sections, left the quiet of Dugway and stepped into history. During their stay at Camp Bullis they joined with 44 security policemen to defend the entire flight of 69 personnel and 22 vehicles from repeated day and night aggressor attacks. Twenty-fiv- e were finally to return on March 22 - lean, hungry, tired, and glad to be home. The flight spent several days pre' paring for the exercise by picking up surrogate vehicles and equipment and becoming acquainted with the local terrain. Hie entire next week was dedicated to briefings and training to include a short field exercise with several attacks. In order to add realism the M16s and M60s used the new Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) equipment. This equipment consisted of a unit mounted on the front of the weapon. ADDITIONALLY, each combatant was required to wear a body and head harness filled with sensors. Using this equipment there was no question whether you had a near miss(one beep) or a kill (continuous tone). In order to SSgt. Alonzo demonstrates the use of ground cover during the Camp Bullis training exercise. eliminate the noise, you had to take the key to the device on your weapon The dispersal exercise was filled and use it to turn off your harness; with thus you had an inoperable weapon many memorable experiences. On a light note was the visit from a and were dead For 13 long, lonely days the flight friendly farmers bull to the tent of existed on little sleep, plenty oif TSgt. Villareal during the night. The rations, and a lot of pride and espirit inquisitive bull riped off his tent and de corps. Convoying to each dispersal proceeded to roll TSgt. Villareal, launch site was a repetition of the pre- - stuck in his sleeping bag, around like a vious.one: park the vehicle in ac- toy until help arrived. The highpoint was a battlefield cordance with a master plan, string from Maj. Gen. Carl Cathey, Jr., visit cables to the critical vehicles, camouflage vehicles, setup a close-i- n defense who presented medals to six Dugway and perimeter, camouflage the fight- personnel. He also praised the men in an ing positions, and finally spend the for their highly responsible role hard-the Each year, approximately delays we suggest the following: filled with exercise rest of the time guarding the site until personal File an Application forRetire-era- l 100,000 v , employees retire from Fed- ships. aggressors attacked. least two weeks Service. Getting them on the ment, retired roles, and then insuring that before the planned retirement date monthly checks go out on a continu- - giving the agency a better lead time, ing basis is- a prime responsibility of Review your Official Personnel the US Office of Personnel Manage- ment (OPM) Since there are over Folder at least a year ahead of time 1.2 million retirees and 300,000 to make sure it is complete and all is sound-activat- ed laser-produci- ng laser-sensiti- ve What to expect when you retire from Civil Service TSgt. Mehrtens guards the Launch Control Center from the aggressors. SF-280l,- Skull Valley Fur Co. uckskins, Black Powder arid fun by SSG Phil Hale Heres a recipe for family fun that was made for this place: Take about 20 families Dress then in handmade and designed buckskin a, Garnish with beads , long wigs, knit caps, (with of course(, buck and or throwing knives, tomahawks, powtler horns, handmade pouches tassle and belts. muxxle Sling orer the shoulders a loader purchased in kit form and lovingly handcrafted. Place in a warm sunny location such as Ft. llridger, Wyo., Simpson Springs Pony Express Station, Lookout Pass Pony Express iStation or Clorer Creek picnic area. . black-powd- er Season with generous portions of mulligan stew, blanket shoots, tomahawk throws, trap setting races, knife throwing and displays of handcrafted wares. Simmer thoughout 120 years of history and you have the Skull Valley Fur Co., Dugways only Buckskin and Black powder muxxleloading club . This hardy band formed the club last year at a Shoot at White Rock among several Dugwayites who shared a common interest in the Mountainmen of this area and their way of life. Big John Swenson, a security guard here, is the Booshway or leader of the band which meets in organizational meetings the first Monday of every month at the Dugway Legion Hall in Fries Park. Swenson explains the purpose of the club: What we in the Skull Valley Fur Co., the Mountainmen of the Wasatch and other groups are doing is actually preserving a relatively short period of time in the history of the intermountain area, the fur trapping period between 1820 and the late 1830s. To support the hat trade in the Eastern part of the country, companies such as the Hudson Bay Fur Co. and others sent trappers into the Wasatch and the rest of the Rockies to trap beaver, fox, muskrat and other fur bearing animals. These trappers, or Mountainmen as they came to be called, were for the most part loners who set their traps and lived a harsh existence off the land- In order to survive in the wilderness, they had to get to know, and strike friendships with the Indian tribes in the area. Much of the clothing of the mountainmen and the tepees that they lived in were rem. . nants of the Indian culture adopted by these pioneers. Barter was the way of trade in those days, the mountainmen traded pelts, beads, and steel for other necessities like blankets from the Indians. This method is kept alive wherever and whenver the mountainmen meet; trading for goods. Twice a year or so, the companies would, send several wagons from the east to a p point where the mountainmen would congregate to vget paid, turn in their pelts, and get more provisions ' that would be needed later in the year. One of the largest of these gatherings took place at Ft. Bridger in Wyoming. This Rendezvous, as it was called, was the highlight of the year with mountainmen from all parts of the northern, rockies gathering to swap tall tales, ' v'v trade their wares, compete in muzzleloading competitions, hatchet throwing, knife throwing, and trap setting competitions. For many of the trappers it was the rally time of the year they saw other white men. Ft. Bridger was named after one of the most famous of mountainmen, Jim Bridger. The Skull Valley Fur Co. has Rendezvous of their own as well.. Some are small and consist of generous ll Stew, a portions of what Big John calls concocdisastrous sometimes delicious, sometimes tion made of whatever the members bring, shooting and other contests, and a lot of family fun. The next of these is scheduled for the Pony Express Station on Lookout Pass at about noon on Saturday, April 25th. The larger Rendezvous of the Fur Co. will be held June 26, 27 and 28 at the Simpson Springs Pony Express Station. This is the really big one of the year where they get all their gear together and live out in the wilds for three days. The annual Rendezvous at Ft. Bridger istradition-all- y held around Labor Day. ' Dugwayites are welcome to come out and spend the day with the Fur Co. anytime, bring along some stew fbdns and your own tableware and drinks if you plan on eating and enjoy some real western fun. For those of you hot willing to make the dusty trek up Lookout Pass, look for- the Fur Co. to be set up again this year at Dugway Days July 15. Go-to-He- F . 5 t mk 'Trader John Furnas displays the trademark of the Skull Valley Fur Co. Muzzleloaders Club surrounded by on left standing Booshway Big John Swenson, holding the bear skin is Chuck Redeye Bowcutt and in the homemade blanket suit Randy Plenty Spirits Koplitz. at . survivor annuitants, its obviously a in order: big job. And, without question, to re: tirees an important one. If military service is involved, make sure to include a copy of your If youre thinking about retire- - DD-21- 4 Military Discharge Certifi-men- t, a review of the process should cate (or other equivalent' document) be of interest. It will give you an along with your retirement' applica-ide- a of what to expect,, and some tjon hints on ways you can help make the system work. Make sure that life and health insurance and surviv-take- s Once an employee retires, it are protected by comneits about a month for the employ- - J . e necessary papers before ing agency to close out all records P'rog eave and send them to OPM in order to you get the annuity process rolling. If you have drawn money out of the Retirement Fund at some point, OPM assigns an identifying CSA QPM will the opportunity number to each case upon receipt of. tQ make a give you redeposit during the records, and informs the annuitant. processing period. Until the rede-Unle., you receive this number, any d hlll s ial paymets queries should be directed to your lie authorized without credit for former agency. the redeposit service. So that new retirees are paid as AU er , processing period ends, soon as possible, OPM usually places rctirees aresent as Annuity State-paymethem in a special pay status (partial wh,ch explains regular month-aboof final annuity) usually ,ment after receiving 1 payments and when to expect 10 work-day- s records and it is clear that an an- - em is in order. nuity If a check is not received within If for some reason it takes partial a few days after it is due, a retiree payment longer thah four to six should first contact the local Post weeks to begin (after receiving your Office to see if it has been misdeliv-CSnumber) and a personal hard- - ered. If the Post Office cant find it, ship exists, contact OPM: If no hard- - notify OPM. Since a signature is ship is involved, however, its a good needed to stop payment and assign idea to wait a little while longer be- - another check, your notification fore querying OPM. To make a must be inwriting. Clearly label the query, you'll need to use your CSA mailing envelope NON RECEIPT number, or date of birth and social OF CHECK" which will help speed security number. up the process. OPM immediately post-retireme- . nt - ss nt ut A . notifies the. Treasury Department Under normal circumstances, which will stop payment on the lost check and issue a replacement, partial payments last from two to three months until the final rate of pay is established. Incidentally, by far the biggest reason for- non- - delivery of retire-Ther- e are, however, circum- ment checks is failure on the part of stances which can complicate timely the annuitant to notify the Post of payments. Peak periods in ffee of a change in address. OPM the workload,, and delays within routinely processes about 40,000 per month. One agencies due to incomplete records in this are just a few of the possible snags way to avoid problem is to have the process. your annuity check directly deposit ed to a bank or other financial insti-I- n an effort to avoid some of the tution. - Of-recei- changes-of-addre- ss - - V- - pt |