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Show HILLTOP TIMES The Utah Shake Out to hit Hill April 17 BY MARY Lou CORNY Hilltop Times editor 0 n April 17 at 10:15 a.m., Hill Air Force Base will take part in the Utah Shake Out exercise. Bruce Hayrada, 75th Air Base Wing Plans and Programs Office, explained recently that the exercise will involve all facilities on base. Utah experiences a major earthquake every 350 to 400 years. The last major earthquake to hit Utah occurred 350 years ago. According to the Utah Shake Out official website, everyone participating in this statewide exercise should "Drop, Take Cover and Hold on," for 60 seconds. Everyone participating should drop to the ground, get under any available cover they can (desk, table, chair), and hold on to anything they can brace themselves with. The key is to protect themselves from anything falling from the ceiling, walls and shelves. As part of the Hill exercise each building facility manager will look at what would happen if a 7.0 earthquake occurred in downtown Salt Lake City and what impact it would have on their building or facility. At '.5.2 Shake • on Frea Out. if it* 41 'K. DROP! COVEN! HOLD ON! April 17 @ 10:15 11J11. Stuet Register at www.ShakeOut.orgiutah that point the scenario will involve estimating how they and their personnel responded and then later generate a report about the number of people who participated and the amount of "damage" sustained. The exercise will include everyone at Hill AFB but should take no longer than 15 to 20 minutes. "All public employees must be prepared and coordinated to survive a major earthquake," the ShakeOut Drill Manual explains in preparatory information for the exercise. Said Harayda, the goal is to reach a certain level of basic safety information during this exercise at Hill. Annual exercises thereafter will build upon that in subsequent years. Schools, businesses and government agencies and facilities throughout Utah will take part. Families and private organizations can also visit the website (www.shakeout.org ) and sign up to formally participate and raise their own level of preparedness. Families are suggested to have 3 days of water on hand for each individual, an agreed upon meeting point away from home nearby in the event of an emergency and a contact family member out of state each person could reach to let others know they are OK in the event they should become separated. Watch for more information in the Hilltop Times in following editions as Team Hill prepares for this statewide experience in taking action to ensure that such a disaster does not become a catastrophe. Team Hill, local community helps 388th FW family in crisis BY ANDREA V. MASON 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs A major step forward was just taken by a local Air Force family whose home they were renting turned out to be contaminated with methamphetamine. Tech. Sgt. DuWayne Douthett, his wife Wendy and their two children moved into their home nearly a year ago only to find out in January it contained harmful toxins after their children endured serious health problems. After a meth test confirmed the house was deemed uninhabitable due to the poisonous fumes remaining in it, the family ended up losing nearly everything including clothes, furniture and kitchenware. Studies show that meth manufacturers use highly toxic chemicals like benzene, muriatic acid, battery acid, freon and lye. Exposure of these chemicals can cause burns to the skin, eyes, nose and mouth, breathing problems, fatigue, depression, dizziness and, in severe cases, death. Once the family learned they had to move, the 388th Fighter Wing key spouse program quickly kicked into action. The squadron's key spouse notified Holly Cope, the 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit key spouse. She then shared the family was in desperate need of help with Staci Long, the 388th FW's key spouse mentor and wife of the wing commander, Col. Scott Long. Long asked Col. Rick LeBlanc, the 388th FW vice commander, to establish a task force to help the Douthett family and ensure their needs were met. Douthett also contacted his 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) acting first sergeant, Master Sgt. Carrie Morgan, who swiftly guided the family to base lodging, emergency funds and donated gift cards from Operation WarmHeart. In addition, Morgan referred the family to the medical group and Capt. Eric Frenck from the Area Defense Council for some legal guidance. Admittedly, it's been a difficult two months for the couple who had moved into temporary base housing after evacuating their home. At first the couple didn't know Courtesy photo/U.S. Air Force U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. DuWayne Douthett and his wife, Wendy, shop for furniture after the Falcons, community leaders who once served as 388th Fighter Wing honorary commanders, provided a donation of nearly $1,500 to assist the family with buying new furniture. In January, the couple learned their home was contaminated with methamphetamine and ended up losing nearly everything. where to turn for help when they learned they couldn't live in the home, which they signed more than a four-year lease on. However, after the military and community heard of the family's hardship, the help and support began cascading in. Within 24 hours, Team Hill formed the task force with 16 different agencies from across the base to determine how they could best help the family in need. "The immediate outpouring of Team Hill support was very robust. The day after we learned about the contamination, numerous representatives from across the base joined together at the Airman and Family Readiness Center to establish a way ahead," said LeBlanc. Lt. Col. Abigail Ruscetta, AMXS commander, and Morgan coordinated various donations throughout the military community as they came forward. Some were from the base's Thrift Store, Airman's Attic, base chapel, members of the 388th FW, AMXS and more. "The response was immediate, and though our squadron is tenacious, we couldn't have helped the family nearly as much without everyone's overwhelming support. I'm also grateful for the key spouses' quickly helping out in a time of need," said Ruscetta. The squadron's key spouses joined together and provided evening meals for nearly two weeks. Additionally, they collected donations of furniture, blankets, dishes and appliances to give to the Douthett family. "It was wonderful to see the families and communities immediately come together," Cope said. "When people know what they need to do to help, they tend to respond immediately to help their Air Force family." Wendy said that the Falcons, community leaders who once served as 388th FW honorary commanders, provided a donation of nearly $1,500 to assist with the family buying new furniture. "I'm so thrilled, and it's very comforting for our family to be living in a clean and safe home with new furniture," Wendy said. The couple expressed gratitude for all the military and community help they've received because, they admit, they couldn't have gone through this alone. "I certainly have a new appreciation for the military, my leadership and the community who so strongly support the military at Hill Air Force Base," Tech. Sgt. Douthett said. "Words cannot describe how thankful we are for all the help we've received from the wing, Hill Air Force Base, the Falcons, the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints, family and friends. So many people donated their time, their money and their efforts, and we'll always be grateful for their support," Wendy said. Wendy said she's been so inspired by the outpour of community support that she'd like to possibly establish an organization to help those who experience similar grief after learning their homes are contaminated by meth. "It's too often that sellers or renters aren't forced to unveil previous drug activity or if the home was a meth lab. I'd like to help see that a meth-contaminated house is disclosed to buyers or renters before they move in," she said. See FAMILY I page 6 } CONSENT From page 1 his sister had been raped. A young college student at the time, he struggled with the effect it had upon his sibling and upon his own life as a young man. He soon realized that no one was addressing the most serious cause of sexual assault — the failure to gain consent. Hence the eventual development of his one man show, a humorous look at some of the elements involved, as well as a book on the topic and another book about several survivors of sexual assault. "It's all about awareness," said Janaee Stone, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. "We notice here at Hill we seem to have a higher number of reported sexual assaults, but statistically in general we know that 90 percent of all incidents go unreported. "We hope we are underneath that 90th percentile," said Stone. Other events scheduled during the month include self-defense courses, a luncheon and a joint awareness event with Your Cornmunity Connection in Ogden at which Stone will talk about bystander intervention. "We know that in 60 percent of all violent crimes there (was likely) a bystander who could have intervened and of that 60 percent, only 5 to 10 percent actually intervened," Stone reported. "So that whole prevention piece is we're trying to get people to know that if they see their buddy who is making a poor decision (that they'll) intervene and stop him before making a really bad mistake," she said. "The most amazing part of my job," said Stone, "is when I will have a victim that will re-contact me about six months or a year down the road and say, `Because of your office, TIMES 5 April 5, 2012 I have a life.' "I don't care about any of the awards that our office has won," she said. "The one thing that I do care about is that the victims who come forward and contact us; get the help and resources they need." She said that she and the victim advocates work hard to help them become survivors as they provide guidance and resources to assist them. Stone also reports a new reporting option came out in January 2012 that allows military dependents over the age of 18 to choose to do a restricted report. "That means a military spouse or dependent can walk into our office and they can report that they've been a victim of rape or sexual assault and we will not have to notify law enforcement at all," she said. That was already the case for anyone who was active duty or a reservist on active duty orders in regards to choosing to make an unrestricted report. Another key part of the month of awareness events is the luncheon, April 26, at which Mary Lauterbach will speak. Lauterbach lost her daughter, a Marine, to murder after her daughter reported a rape and subsequent pregnancy to her leaders. The subsequent investigation of her rape claims went sour because she had been found to have not told the truth before on other occasions. Lauterbach has talked frequently about these events in regards to her daughter's murder and hopes to raise awareness about the issue of sexual assault. Many of the events have been closely coordinated with Julie Pinchak, Family Advocacy Outreach Manager, who has provided support with the child abuse element in this month's awareness events. Sexual Assault Awareness Month events April 12 -- "Can I Kiss You" monologue presentation by Mike Domitrz at the Base Theater at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. April 14 -- "Take Back the Night" event at Your Community Connection, 2261 Adams Ave., Ogden, at 5 p.m. April 17 -- Strike Out Child Abuse/Sexual Assault at the Base Bowling Alley April 18 -- Free women's safety classes and self defense demonstrations, YCC, 2261 Adams Ave., Ogden, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 21 -- "Women's Empowerment Workshop" at YCC, 2261 Adams Ave., Ogden, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Space is limited so call Mike at 801-391-1638 to reserve your spot. Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door April 23 -- Self defense course, Warrior Fitness Center Bubble, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 26 -- Luncheon with guest speaker Mary Lauterbauch at the Landing, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Menu includes beef or vegetable lasagne, green salad, vegetable, garlic bread and cookie, iced tea, lemonade and ice water, $11 members, $13 nonmembers. For ticket information contact the Sexual Assault Prevention Representative at 801-777-1985 or 801777-1964. |