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Show TIMES November 30, 2006 COMMENTARY Education: A key to 'Service before Self officer's service for promotion considerations. Everyone is fully aware that the Air Force is constantly changing. James Swanson Terms like LEAN, Balanced Score Card and Smart Ops 21 rain down almost daily. These terms are more than buzzwords; they are management philosophies that are going to be needed for the Air Force to succeed in the 21st Century. More, than 56,000 military and civilians are walking out the Air Force doors in the next couple of years. These people are not going to be replaced, but yet the work they are doing is still needed. More importantly, with the "War on Terror," our minds need to be active and educated to BY JAMES SWANSON 519th Combat Sustalnment Squadron director" TIMES Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Col. Scott Chambeis 75ih ABW Commander Chnrlos Freeman .....Chief, Public Affairs Barbara Fishoi Edilor Tech. Sgt. Crystal Roble9 Asstslani Editor Both Young. Mitch Shaw, Airman 1st Class Jonny Chang and Airman 1st Class Clayton Munay StallWritcrs Shannon Smith . ..Pago Loyoul & Design Deadlines: Editorial and news Items, 3 p.m. Friday. For more Information call 777-4598. Published by Ogden Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Horec, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commercial enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the 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 o\ the Air Force or Ogden Publishing Corp., o{ 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 oilibr nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office staff in Bldg. 152. Call 777-4598 with story ideas or comments, or send e-mail to "hilltop.umcs(« hi 11.af.mil". Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are U.S. Air Force photos. THINK SAFETY Hill's Totaj 2006 DUIs: 32 Hill's Last DUI: Unit Involved: Throughout my 30-plus years of federal service, both as an enlisted supply sergeant and a civil servant, I've observed an increasing emphasis in the Air Force to encourage its members to pursue both on and off-duty education as a means of self-improvement and professional development. Today, that emphasis on education is even more critical as the pace and quantity of change in the military and life beyond the base gates continue to accelerate at an almost overwhelming rate. Recently, the Air Force published guidelines that civilians wishing to be promoted to GS15 level need to have completed advanced academic degrees and professional military education as well. Similarly, the Air Force is- once again considering the advanced degree portion of an outsmart the enemy. Educated individuals are needed at every level in the military to find better ways to do the old processes more efficiently and deliver improved warfighting capabilities. Sometimes, it's difficult to add higher education to our "to-do" list. I've heard both civilian and military members say: "I'm too busy at work and do not have the time, or I have to study for my next stripe first." It is imperative that supervisors and commanders emphasize and support the educational needs of our workforce. One of my officers, Capt. Allen Boettcher, who has 16 years enlisted service and seven years of officer experience, shares these thoughts: "After years of putting off education, I discovered the importance and advantages of the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) degree program. It is an accredited science degree; it incorporates military classes' towards credits; it is accepted in full by some universities towards a bachelor's degree; the degree is required to get teaching posh tions and finally seems to bear a bigger influence each year on those last two enlisted promotions-E-8 and E-9. Some would say, 'WOW! This is too good to be true; why wouldn't everybody jump at the chance to get this free degree?' More importantly, the degree demonstrates a person's dedication to their career field - a key element of Service Before Self." Whether it is through the CCAF, professional military education, local college courses, or Internet-accessible education at deployed locations, the challenge one must set is to continually improve oneself through education, and, in so doing, living out the core value of "Service before Self." 777-7000 action.line.pa@hill.af.mil Cost of payday loans Q l understand that payday loans have been a major problem to Hill's Airmen for quite a while. What I don't understand is that since it is such a problem, why are these places allowed to advertise in our base newspaper and entice our Airmen? Is it because the paper is cost free to Hill AFB? If that is so, what price are our Airmen paying just so the base doesn't have to spend money on a newspaper? You are absolutely correct on both accounts. First, payday loans have been a serious problem for some of our Airmen. While these payday loan companies are doing business legally, our Airmen using them have certainly put themselves into a bind... Second, we shouldn't Photo by Airman 1st Class Clay Murray be allowing those companies to advertise in our paper - we asked the Col. Scott Chambers (right), 75th Air Base Wing commander, serves up publisher of our newspaper (the Ogden Publishing Corp.) to not accept Thanksgiving dinner (or a guest at the HHlcrest Dining Facility Thanksthose types of ads for publication in the Hilltop Times. To their credit, giving Day. Filming the event is a cameraman (left) from KSL-TV Chanthey agreed and have since stopped all ads for payday loan companies. nel 5 from Salt Lake City. As part of an annual tradition at Thanksgiving I applaud the Ogden Publishing Corp. for listening to our concerns and and Christmas, Hill commanders, chiefs and first sergeants serve the agreeing to stop running the ads. holiday meal to those eating In the dining facility. Just stopping the ads in the Hilltop Times, however, doesn't make the businesses go away, and before an Airman decides to take advantage of their services, I encourage a visit to our Airman & Family Readiness Center. The center offers financial assessments to help Airmen work toward achieving financial health. The flight leads a proactive campaign to educate the base population, and it offers a wide variety of assistance from financial counseling to training courses and in some cases, actually providing temporary financial assistance through the Air Force Aid Society. The center should be the first stop anyone makes before heading off base for assistance. While a loan from one of these businesses might seem like a quick and easy solution to a short-term financial problem, it can, and generally does, lead to serious financial problems when that loan is not paid off immediately. A recent case involved a senior airman who got a payday loan for $2,500 and a year later owed something more than $8,000! I urge everyone of Team Hill to use the resources we have at Hill and don't even consider using the payday loan companies. A When you call or send an e-mail, your com- Please give your supervisor and chain of fore calling the Action Line. This will help me ments will be recorded and staffed through command the opportunity to work with you in better serve your interests. Items of basewide answering questions and solving problems be- interest will be published in the Hilltop Times. the agency responsible for action. 75c6, Airmen AtfaJnat Drinktntf and Driving provide rid en when designated driver* arc unavailable. Phone numbers —The base agencies listed can be contacted directly if you have a complaint or a problem with their services: Security Forces '. 777-5550 24-hr. Crisis Information .. 777-3056 Services 777-4134 Base Restaurants 777-2043 Retirement/Compensation 777-6142 (civilian) Social Actions 777-3516 Employee Relations 777-7129 Military Pay 777-1851 Civilian Pay 777-62-16 Air Force Suggestion 777-6901 Program IC Complaints 777-5305 ftor appointment) IC Complaints 777-5361 (after hours) Fraud, Waste or Abuse 777-5361 (recording) 75lh Medical Croup 777-4918 Civil Engineering 777-1856 Hill Pride Hotline 777-7433 Public Affairs 777-5201 Public Alfairs Information. . 777-9696 Control Line Military Housing 777-2963 Maintenance Safely Office 777-3333 Union 777-3257 AFOSI Narcotics Hotline... 777-1852 Family Assistance Center ..775-3090 (when activated) Call 777-1111 any time to request a ride. When and how do you get your Christmas shopping done? Kimberly Harames Ogden Air Logistics Center Luwana Nielson Quinn Tidwell Joy Lincoln 508th Aircraft Sustainment Wing Cindy Gibbs 84th Combat Sustainment Wing 309th Maintenance Wing 526th ICBM Systems Wing "I do it on Black Friday, and then I'm done." "Normally I don't shop the day after Thanksgiving since there are too many people shopping. I do bits and pieces of it throughout December. Usually, I have a good idea of what I want to get for people, but there are lots of surprises." "I try to take care of it all year long doing some in "I get my shopping done stores and some Internet when I have a spare moshopping." ment when I'm not working, and I look in newspapers for all of those sales." "Get most of it done prior to Thanksgiving. Try looking for sales throughout the year and finish up last minute shopping sometime after Thanksgiving," Maj. Mike Cowan 388th Fighter Wing "We just go when we have free time on the weekends to knock it out, and my wife generally takes care of a lot of it." |