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Show COMMENTARY TIMES March 22, 2007 Air Force "big picture" focus of transformation efforts BY COL JEFFSICK TIMES [O.lrt Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Col. Scott Chamber* 75th Air Base Wing commander Marilu Trainor Chief, Public Affairs 1st Lt. Gcnieve David .Chief of Internal Tech. Sgt. Crystal Robles Editor Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith Asst. Editor Beth Young, Mitch Shaw, <ind Airman 1st Class Clayton Murray ..Staff Writers Shannon Smith .. Page Layout & Design Deadlines: Editorial and news items, 3 p.m. Friday. For more information call 777-5333 For adverting call 625-4300. Published by Ogdcn Publishing Corp., a private lirm in no way connected with the U-5- Air Force, 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 ibis 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. Ever)'thing 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 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office staff in Bldg 152. Call 777-5333 with story ideas or comments, or send e-mail to "hilltop.timcs^/'hill.af.mil". GUI 625-4300-for advertising needs. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are U.S. Air Force photos THINK SAFETY Hill's Total 2007 DUIs: 3 Hill's Last DUI: Unit Involved: deputy commander It is easy for many of us to lose focus on the Air Force "big picture" and the latest transformation efforts, especially as we prepare for an upcoming Air Expeditionary Force deployment local exercise, the depot's spring computation, or even spring cleaning at home. Most of us have heard of the term "transformation" but don't understand its meaning. Transformation is about changing business operations in order to be more agile, lean, rapid, and nimble. If you go to the Pentagon there is an ongoing joke stating it is a requirement to use the word at least once in every sentence. The problem is that over time the term's use becomes diluted and misinterpreted. In the logistics world AFSO21 is personified in a less well-known term called eLog 21. After this, transformational initiatives start replicating, by some accounts, more than 400 initiatives out there. Needless to say it is in the best interest of all of us to have some focus and work only on those initiatives that have merit and allow us to continue to support our aging fleet, while the Air Force recapitalizes. ' Transformation means doing a better job in supporting the warfighter, and that is prob- KC-Xs, B-X's) and fund new mission areas such as cyberspace and space based platforms. The new Air Force will have improved command and control, stealth, precision weapons, and tracking systems that provide increased capability while using fewer platforms. This same logic is being applied to. the logistics systems and infrastructure. Air Force logistics must modernize in step with operational platforms. Transforming to support today's warfighter - Logistics capability must transform in concert with the operational forces in order to combat the growing threats in-an ever more hostile world. This is going to be difficult considering the need to increase support provided while decreasing support costs. For example, the Air Force has about 6,100 aircraft in the inventory, of that around 2,200 are either grounded or operating under some flight restriction. The eLog goals are to save 10 percent on the costs of maintaining the inventory while reducing the broke aircraft by 20 percent. We need another 440 aircraft to be mission capable on a daily basis, which, is nearly the equivalent of 40 per year production run of C-17s! With the reduced budgets there is not enough funding to buy all the Air Force required parts and supplies. Limited funding has to be applied to the right priorities to include having global awareness in order to pull those same assets from places where they are not required. Transforming to support . tomorrow's recapitalization • - Logistics support has a huge • impact on our ability to purchase new aircraft. The Air Force plans • to acquirejatitly 100 aircraft in the next six years; yet we are : hoping to retire 312. During this same six year period it is ! projected that we will have over • 840 aircraft grounded or not on • the flying schedule. We have to get better at supporting what we ., have while we find ways to free up funds, particularly through getting more efficient.in every \ aspect of our mission. This, in i essence, is the thought behind the establishment of a Global Logistics Support Center and ' Repair Enterprise 21. { We all have a roll in helping to j transform the world's greatest • Air Force. The first step in that process is to understand some of the new logistics initiatives like GLSC and RE21 and then ask your supervisor how you can help out. We all want our Air Force to continue to be the greatest on earth, and it will be as long as we all work together towards the common goal of supporting the warfighter as best as we know how. It is as simple as that. 777-7000 action.line.pa@hill.af.mil Handicap parking I am a retired civilian and military dependent. I am concerned about available parking spaces for disabled people at the base gym. I am disabled and unable to walk any distance. As of late January, there are only two parking spaces available. It bothers me, since it is a government organization and there are so many disabled veterans and people, that there is little concern for parking spaces for people with disabilities. The American with Disabilities Act is actually being broken and no one seems to be too concerned about it. A Thank you for taking the time to submit this action Hue, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and any other disabled person. The 75th Civil Engineer Squadron has surveyed the parking lot and checked the federal Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and discovered the fitness center parking lot is three spaces under the minimum requirement. The 75 CES has added temporan/ signs Photo by Beth Young Col. Scott Chambers, 75th Air Base Wing Commander gives a coin to Capt. Fran Bartz, 75th Medical Support Squadron for her support of the AFMC Commander's Conference held here in January. to denote the parking is reserved for handicap only, hi order to bring us into federal standards, we will be re-striphig the area in the spring to add the required number of parking spaces. We will continue to examine ways to keep our customers' interests and quality of life at the forefront. Please give your supervisor and chain of command the opportunity to work with you in answering questions and solving problems before calling the Action Line. This will help me better serve your interests. Items of basewide interest will be published in the Hilltop Times. ! a rile. s/> 1st Lt. Kristen Shadden 508th Airp-aft Sustainment Wing "Yes, because it would help alleviate parking constraints on the east side of base." ii Strategic perspective - The Fiscal Year 2007 DOD budget, approximately, $439.3 billion, transforms the Air Force from 100 wings to 86. This will modernize our fleet (C-17s, F-22s, F-35s, Global Hawks, CSAR-X's, When you call or send an e-mail, your comments will be recorded and staffed through the agency responsible for action. ^inM Drinking and Driving 'provide fides when designated drivers |jJt-'?>. - arc unavailable. 'Colt 777-1 til ant/ time to 884th Combat Sustainment Group, ably the best place to start. All logistics professionals need to reassess what we are doing to support the needs of today's warfighter. To do that we have to understand the external pressures being placed on the Air Force as a whole. National perspective - Most of us understand that the United States has more than 150,000 troops currently in the battle in Iraq along with 20,000 more engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan, but few realize this is on top of ongoing missions in Korea, Sinai, Horn of Africa, Bosnia, and other areas all over the globe. The Air Force has over 40 percent of its force either deployed or getting ready to deploy. Those of us in the logistics world know that none of this happens without the massive logistics skeletal structure holding it all together. The skeleton is getting old and needs to lean down to support the new weapons coming on line while boosting support to the legacy systems. There needs to be the same precision laser-guided logistics capability as there is with the new smart bombs. Do you think Hill Air Force Base should have some sort of internal mass transportation system? Chief Master Sgt. (Ret.) Richard Atkins Ogden Air Logistics Center "I sure do. With the current emphasis on battery powered vehicles and the price of fuel a system would be welcomed and it should be environmentally friendly to the base populace/' Kevin Slone 526th ICBM Systems Whig Airman 1st Class Chris Darlington Jo Hamsher 75th Air Base Wing Denise Daly 309th Maintenance Wing 84th Combat Sustainment Wing "I'm in favor if it worked in conjunction with the "Yes, it would be good larger scheme of public considering the rising transportation. I also think there would need to costs of fuel, and for dorm residents it would be a cost benefit analysis provide a means to get to see if the program is around." worthwhile." "No, I don't think they need a system. During nice weather it would be beneficial if people walked or rode bicycles." "Yes, but only on the East Side, since West Side offices are fairly close to the parking areas. People who have to park in Lot 1 and walk to Bldg. 225 would benefit from transportation to and from their work areas." |