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Show HILLTOP TIMES TIMES May 8, 2008 BEST Keeping them airworthy Top, aircraft electrician Neil Higley works on an F-16 at Hill Air Force Base. Left, an American flag is attached to a modification platform where base employees work on F-16s. Base workers integral part of warf ighters' flying efforts BY MITCH SHAW Standard-Examiner staff mishaw@standard. net H ILL AIR FORCE BASE — There's no room for mistakes when working on some of the top U.S. warfighters. That's why, when it comes to keeping the world safe in the ongoing battle against terrorism, the civilian team fighting the battle at home works as earnestly as the Air Force's active-duty service members. Hill Air Force Base employs nearly 20,000 civilians, who make up more than 90 percent of its total work force. As one of three aircraft maintenance facilities in the Air Force Materiel Command, Hill provides worldwide engineering and logistics management for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The base also performs depot maintenance on the F-22, F-16, A-10 and C130 aircraft, keeping the planes in the air and performing at the best of their capabilities. The 309th Maintenance Wing has more than 8,000 employees. Most are civilians who have never served in the military or had any previous military affiliation before working at the base. They don't wear an Air Force uniform, but their role in keeping Air Force planes in the air is just as integral as the pilots flying the aircraft. "Nothing happens in a vacuum," said Gregory Hoffman, director of the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. "There are a lot of components involved in success and in defending freedom." Hoffman's squadron performs precision upgrades to the A-10 Thunderbolt that make the plane, which was originally going to be retired in the late 1990s, viable until at least 2028. "It's a pretty old plane, in relative terms," Hoffman said, "so we had to ask ourselves, 'What do we do with it today?' because the battlefield is totally different today than what this plane was designed for." The 571st has a relatively small work force of about 100 employees, and many learn on the job, sometimes spending as long as two years in on-thejob-training status. "I have the youngest work force in the aircraft group," Hoffman said. "Most of these folks have never worked with aircraft. They have done a tremen- DREW GODLESKI StandardExaminer "\t forces you to do your best because you know there's a lot riding on your performance. We aren't working on Pintos here. Pilots can't pull over on a cloud and pop the hood when something goes wrong." GARY LUCERO, Hill employee dous job rising to the challenge. These are the people that make the A-10 fly." Syracuse resident Gary Lucero has worked on aircraft at Hill with the 571st for more than seven years. "First, when you see a completed project, that obviously is very satisfying," he said. "But I think the biggest thing is knowing that the guys who are actually out there defending our country are using these very planes that we work on every day." Lucero said knowing who flies the planes he works on and why they fly them drives him to do his best. "Yeah, there is some pressure, but I think that's good," he said. "It forces you to do your best, because you know there's a lot riding on your performance. We aren't working on Pintos here. Pilots can't pull over on a cloud and pop the hood when something goes wrong." Co-worker Winter Martinez said she applied for three years before landing a job upgrading A-lOs. ~" " "This is my dream job. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing." Civilians in the 573rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron work on F-16s, stripping old systems from the planes, building new electrical systems, and adding new and improved parts. Layton resident Diane Boston has worked with the 573rd for six years and makes modifications to two or three F16s every week. She said there is little room for mistakes when working with such important equipment. "With us, it's all about quality. And -- '^l-• JJ* w'TrJjt HAFB civilian workforce at Hill Air Force Base: • Is the largest single-sit© employer in Utah. • Retains a civilian employee population of about 20,000, which makes up more than 90 .percent of its total work force. 1 Boasts the largest civilian i '.V employee population in the Air Force. • Has always employed a large number of civilians. During World War II, the base's civilian workforce was more than 15,000. • Employs nearly 1,000 civilian engineers and scientists. • Pumps more than $1 billion directly into Utah's economy every year. • Maintains an annual civilian payroll of more than $1 billion. • Civilians earn almost double the state average. Source: Hill Air Force Base we remind people who don't know. I think everyone here realizes they have to be on their game at all times." Mike Rowe, also a 573rd employee, has lived in Davis County his entire life and has devoted 26 years to working as a mechanic at Hill. "We have to keep the planes flying to support the Air Force," the Sunset resident said. "We don't take that lightly." Rowe reports to work every day by 5:30 a.m. He said he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. "Some people call me crazy, but I really do love my job. And I think the main reason I love it is because I know I am part of something that is much bigger than myself." Hoffman agrees. "We have unbelievable people working here. That's the bottom line," he said. "Without these people, we don't have an Air Force." From page 1 judges from both the government and private sectors over entries from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps in the 2007 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards competition. "The success of our program depends on the environmental consciousness and ethic of many, many individuals — from our leadership, to the people on the front lines in our production areas," said Bob James, the Hill AFB Environmental Quality Team's division chief. "This year everyone's efforts were recognized. We're proud to receive this award on behalf of the entire Hill AFB community." The Hill AFB Environmental Quality Team is responsible for overseeing all Hill AFB environmental programs and those at the Utah Test and Training Range, the nation's only permitted site for demilitarization, by detonation and burning, of explosives greater than 10,000 pounds. The team also oversees environmental efforts at the little Mountain Test Annex, a 740-acre secure Air Force facility on the west end of 12th Street in Ogden. For the 2007 award, the environmental team was recognized for: • Reducing hazardous waste costs by more than $440,000 annually • Establishing a new recycling program for scrap metals and other materials that made $43,000 • Demilitarizing more than 1 million pounds of stockpile missile motor propellant, burning 680 tons of NASA Titan propellant, and successfully transporting and detonating the first 81,000 pound, first-stage Trident missile motor for the Navy • Helping transform more than 1 million pounds of spent abrasive blast media into construction blocks • Producing 24.8 million pounds of scrap metal from . bombs and targets, avoiding $5.84 million in disposal costs • Making drastic facility and operational improvements to reduce by 95 percent the amount of storm water going into the industrial waste water treatment plant, thus decreasing treatment costs • Training more than 13,500 employees on environmental topics • Managing 317 archaeological sites and 364 historical buildings and consulting regularly with 19 local American Indian tribes • Processing more than 4,000 National Environmental Policy Act documents • Hill's being named Tree City USA for the 14th year in a row Two agencies the Hill group works with daily on environmental issues — the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency — congratulated the Hill team on receiving the award "Utah is clean because of Hill AFB's outstanding work to set and achieve worthy environmental goals," said Rick Sprott, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. "Their innovative action and professionalism has improved the quality of life for many Utahans living, working and recreating near the base. Their commitment to protecting human health and the environment is impressive and serves as a model for others to follow. As one of their partners, DEQ is pleased with their work and supports their continued efforts." "Hill Air Force Base has an excellent record working with both EPA and the State of Utah to quickly deal with environmental problems and to prevent their recurrence," said Robbie Roberts, administrator of EPA Region 8. "As one of the largest and most complex industrial activities in the state, its environmental record is clearly superior." |