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Show Hilltop TIMES ABOVE ALLAIR I SPACE I CYBERSPACE Weekly Since 1948 •B; Utah 84056-5824 www.hilltoptimes.com hilltoptimes@standard.net Vol. 68 No. 18, IN THE KNOW F Avenue, 6th Street intersection to close The 75th Civil Engineer Squadron will be closing off F Avenue and 6th Street to run steam line across "F" Avenue (approximately 25 feet). The road closure will be from 8 a.m., May 13, until 4 p.m., May 15. All affected personnel will need to find alternate routes. More 6th Street updates on project The 75th Civil Engineer Squadron's pavement construction project on Southgate Drive (Wardleigh Road to 6th Street) requires the excavation of the old concrete, asphalt and some sidewalks and curbs. Starting April 24, the east half of Southgate Drive (Wardleigh Road to 4th Street) and the loading zones in front of Building 225 will be closed. Starting approximately May 10, the west half of Southgate Drive (Wardleigh Road to 4th Street) and the parking spaces in front of Building 100 will be closed. The center crosswalk between Buildings 100 and 225 will also be closed during this construction. Additional information will be published providing motorists with information as construction continues on 6th Street. Hill to take on more responsibility in civilian hiring By Air Force Personnel Center Public Affaire R ANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — The Air Force Personnel Center and Air Force Materiel Command are partnering to reduce the number of Air Force civilian personnel actions currently in the system. Four AFMC bases will temporarily assume responsibility for all AFMC civilian fill actions. The large civilian centers at Hill Air Force Base; Robins AFB, Ga.; Tinker AFB, Okla., and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will assist AFPC by working all AFMC civilian actions until September 2009, when the responsibility will return to AFPC. "We are carving out time to establish a flexible process that will allow for the ebb and flow of civilian actions in the Air Force," said Maj. Gen. K.C. McClain, AFPC commander. "New initiatives of the past 12 months, such as the implementation of a new staffing tool and NSPS, have culminated in a build up of work." AFPC now fills positions using both General Schedule and National Security Personnel Sys- tem processes and rules, which has significantly increased workload and the need for advanced training. Under NSPS, the classification system, compensation structure and staffing component varies drastically from GS, impacting AFPC's ability to swiftly fill civilian vacancies. Since the four AFMC civilian centers still process civilian actions, they are equipped and staffed to absorb the temporary workload. This initiative will benefit other major commands within the Air Force by freeing up AFPC manpower to support Sharing esprit de corps Expo volunteers needed May 7 Volunteers are needed for the outdoor portion in Centennial Park of the May 7 Outdoor Adventures and Fitness Expo for: set-up from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; trash detail and serving food from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and tear down from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. To help, contact Deborah Whittington at 777-2225 or email Whittington.Deborah® hill.af.mil. Survey results help guide HARC alcohol initiatives BY LEE ANNE HENSLEY Hilltop Times staff I Time change for presentation of colors Due to an overwhelming response from the Ogden community, the first annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival on May 7 has changed the time of the color guard presentation from the originally scheduled time of 6 p.m. to instead take place during the concert. Those who attend the concert pre-show at 6 p.m. will now be entertained by local performers. The official time for the concert to begin is 7 p.m. Tickets are available for $5 to military and government civilian employees with proper identification at the Hill Air Force Base Information Tickets and Travel office at 777-3525 or afternoons at the Peery's Egyptian Theater ticket office at 395-3227. their hiring requirements. Air Force wide, AFPC currently has more than 9,500 requests for personnel fill actions in process, with 500 to 700 new requests coming in weekly. AFMC employs 39 percent of the Air Force civilian population. "This is one of many initiatives AFPC is taking to reduce the number of vacancies," said Gen. McClain. "We fully understand the mission impact and appreciate the support, not only from AFMC but from all major commands, in working this critical issue." RYAN MCGEENEY/Standard-Examiner Capt. Zach Manning (left), Brandon Ekins, 9 (center), and Capt. Tom Graham watch an F-16 fighter jet fly overhead at Hill Air Force Base as part of a Viper West demonstration for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Tuesday, April 29. Viper West show, Air Force pilots lighten kids7 day BY MITCH SHAW Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau mishaw@standard.net P ilots from Hill deploy to all parts of the globe to defend the nation, but on Tuesday, without even leaving the base, they performed one of their most important missions. * The 388th Fighter Wing hosted eight chronically and terminally ill children and their families as part of its "Pilot-for-a-Day" program. Hill partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Primary Children's Medical Center to give the kids a tour of the wing and become honorary pilots for the day. "We try to find kids with an interest in aircraft," said Lt. Beth Woodward, spokeswoman with the 388th. "It's really an important program." The children spent the day with Hill's 4th Fighter Squadron, flying in an F-16 simulator, touring the squadron's aircrew flight equipment section, viewing an F-16 static display and attending an airpower demonstration by Viper West — an F-16 demonstration team stationed at Hill. Nine-year-old Kaysville twins Carter and Caden Erickson participated in the program and got a firsthand view of a day in the life of an Air Force F-16 pilot. "This is way fun," said Caden. "I love seeing the jets fly." The Erickson twins were diagnosed with leukemia almost six years ago. After extensive chemotherapy, the disease in both has gone into remission, but they still fight daily battles. "Obviously, it can be pretty rough on a ' family," said Troy Erickson, the twins' father. "Sometimes they want to know why this is happening to them, why they have to deal with it and other kids don't." See DEMONSTRATION I page 6 n response to alarming data collected from Hill AFB airmen reporting higher than average alcohol consumption habits, a team of Hill AFB representatives from base organizations has been assembled to address this issue. The Hill Airmen for Responsible Choices team held its first meeting in January to propose solutions to recent survey results that reveal the alcohol consumption habits of Hill airmen is 4 percent above the national Air Force average and 7 percent above the Air Force Materiel Command average. "The numbers highlight a disturbing trend about alcohol abuse at Hill Air Force Base," said Col. Kevin Schneider, a team leader for HARC. The anonymous survey, called the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was distributed online by Team Hill. The Community Action Plan questioned airmen of all ranks and ages about their level of alcohol consumption and their ability to make informed decisions under such circumstances. Once the results were calculated, it became clear that responsible drinking is a top priority for Hill airmen to become aware of. Although irresponsible drinking and decision making are demonstrated by people of any age and rank, the statistics revealed a large age group that is more susceptible than most. "Unfortunately, what our statistics show is that 60 percent of the people identified as alcohol abusers are E-l through E-4s. Those numbers are also mirrored by what we see in the blotter with DUIs and other alcohol-related incidents," noted Schneider. "That is See HARC I page 5 Base Theater Free Movies Friday, 7 p.m. - "Golden Compass" (PG-13) Saturday, noon, and Sunday, 1 p.m. - "The Pirates Who Don't Do • a Thing" (G) Saturday, 7 p.m. - "Rambo" (R) For review see page 4 inside this week's Hilltop Times for..... Ready to help SARC offers place of safety, sifljort See page 4 Tree City USA Base leaders support program See page 3 Awards and more awards See pages 8-12 |