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Show HILLTOP TIMES Hilltop TIMES July 18, 2013 Taking it to the streets 448TH From page 3 1 BY MARY Lou GORNY Hilltop Times editor happy when 6 6 am always the community comes out and supports us and you see them on the side of the road waving their flags," said Bart Burress, 448th Supply Chain Management Group, civilian worker, retired from the Army and an enthusiastic biker. "It's a good exposure for us to let them know we're out there," said Burress. More than 200 motorcyclists showed up to ride in one large group as a way to invite motorists to take another look and see others who share the road at the "See Me, Save Me" ride. Local law enforcement and Utah Highway Patrol escorted the group to ensure they could remain as a group during the 43-mile ride. The circular ride through local communities ended at the Hill Aerospace Museum. Dewey Swallow, retired base worker brought his granddaughter, Bailee Church, and was enthusiastic about the event: "They need to hold it twice a year." Said Swallow of his 11-yearold granddaughter, "She's been riding with me for five years and she is going to end up owning this bike when I get old enough and it's time to retire and turn it over to her." This was the second year she had participated in the ride, Swallow said. Andy Locke, a motorcycle safety instructor, and 75 ABW/ SCXX employee, explained that safety courses are a good idea. "There's a couple of months every year (here) where riding is very iffy and a lot of people don't ride." He recommended brushing up on skills like emergency braking and swerving. RODEO From page 1 Said Valerie Burke, Chief, Community Outreach, 75th Air Base Wing and longtime rodeo fan, "One of my favorite things about this particular rodeo is because it's held in an outdoor stadium. There is something about the feel and the atmosphere of an outdoor rodeo. I really don't know how to put my thumb on it, but it's something ALEX R. LLOYD/U.S. Air Force About 200 on- and off-base motorcycle riders participated in the fourth annual 'See Me, Save Me' campaign ride at Hill Air Force Base on July 11. Here the group rides south on Washington Boulevard. "We shouldn't be an afterthought" Colette Geiss, 75th Force Support Squadron Motorcycle Safety Rep, said she has been riding for eight years. When she was active duty she didn't ride, but when she got out, she picked up the skill from her husband, David, who works at Parker Hannifin. "Now we ride all over. We just came back from California where we did the California Coast on the bikes. It was a lot of fun," she reported. Colette owns a Military Air Force edition Harley Davidson custom 1200 Sportster, called "The Patriot," a bike sold only to military ID cardholders. She gets 50 mpg on her bike and her husband gets 45 mpg on his Yamaha. Master Sgt. Lamont Williams, 388th Maintenance Operations Squadron, said the ride was wonderful and he enjoyed it the whole way. "What a great impact," he added. Williams is currently assigned as the 75th ABW Security Forces Squadron "undershirt." Staff Sgt. Dustin White, 372nd Training Support Squadron, reported he was doing the ride because "we have many fathers and brothers out there. This will help people look for other things that are on the road such as motorcycles." Tech. Sgt. Kristopher Worcester, 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron, wants drivers to know that motorcycles are on the road and be aware they are out there. "We shouldn't be an afterthought," he said. Hazem Peralto, 367th Training Support Squadron, brought his wife, Santina, to the event. They especially like to ride in the summer months to take advantage of the outdoor scenery Utah has to offer. "It is very important that we make our four-wheel drivers aware. All of us concentrated in one spot shows that we do things safely and how to do that, and helps awareness." Sgt. A.D. Joseph, Layton Police Traffic Unit Supervisor, said the event was a cooperative effort between the local law enforcement agencies, the base and local riders to promote safety while participating in the event. He said that motorcycle police officers run into some of the same safety concerns that others do on their bikes. "They don't see civilian riders, they don't see law enforcement while we are out riding as well. We run into the same challenges," Joseph said. He was pleased after the ride at how smoothly the event went. Helen Knipe, Utah Department of Public Safety representative said, "Events like this are really important because they raise awareness of motorcycles here in Utah. We don't see motorcycles year-round, typically there are some riders that are out there when it is really cold, but otherwise they are not out on the road all the time." Allan Woods, Hill AFB Motorcycle Safety chief said, he was happy with the turnout and would like to thank all the riders who participated in this annual event. special to be out under the stars on a warm summer night watching the cowboy's bronco busting and the mad rush of adrenalin while watching the bull riders. There is just something special about that." The event will honor veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom, 2013 being the 10th anniversary, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. There will be a large group of volunteers from Hill AFB taking tickets, escorting community leaders, working out in the parking lots making sure that it's safe to park, letting in cowboys and livestock into the arena, and other acts of service. So it's likely you might see a familiar face or two. Burke, who remembers attending rodeos as a young fan, said that one of her favorite memories is watching the clowns distract the bulls from getting to the cowboys. "They are just as brave as the cowboys riding the animals." Families come together to attend the event as a group and it is one way to get in touch with Utah and the history of the West. "I think it is a good opportunity for new military members who might have just arrived at Hill AFB to learn a little about the community they will live, work and play in. A rodeo acclimates them to a little part of Utah's culture," said Burke. Tickets that night are $8 for military, $5 for children. Regular admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children. For more information, visit http://ogdenpioneerdays.com/rodeo/ogden.php. TECH. SGT. KRISTOPHER WORCESTER, 75th Logistics Readiness Squadro 4TH CAF From page 1 From page 1 Col. Lance Landrum, 388th FW commander, responded to questions about the development with media representatives. "We (the U.S. Air Force) were able to reprogram some money and 27 of our 54 F-16s will start to fly again and slowly ramp up over the next few weeks to get our pilots and maintainers up to speed safely. It's going to take a few weeks before we get up to a regular full flying schedule like you saw back before all this started in April. We need to do it slowly and safely because we have got nearly 30 pilots and hundreds of maintainers who have lost a little bit of currency, lost a little bit of proficiency, despite our best efforts. We are going to take it one piece at a time over the next few weeks and ramp it up," he responded. Additionally, the 421st Fighter Squadron will increase flying from a lower level of readiness back to their normal Combat Mission Ready status. Getting the maintenance routine, spare parts system and pilot proficiency up to a Cornbat Ready Status will take about 2-3 months of flying at the higher rates. The change to the flying hour program respresents congressional action on the $1.8 billion overseas contingency operations reprogramming action which made peacetime dollars available. This action is solely about Fiscal Year 2013 and there is still uncertainty in future budgets. Force Council has approved the use of $423 million of those dollars to restore flying hours for affected units. The money re-instates critical training and test operations for the CAF fleet across the Air Force for the remainder of FY13. This impacts not just Air Combat Command units, but also CAF units assigned to United States Air Forces Europe and Pacific Air Forces. For ACC, the restored flying hours will be allocated to combat aircraft and crews across the command's operational and test units, including the Air Warfare Center's Weapons School, Aggressors and the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. Previously announced decisions to cancel some major exercises and all Thunderbirds demonstrations for 2013 remain in effect. While the return to the skies means a return to crucial training and development for pilots, navigators, flight crews, mission crews and maintainers, the leader of the Air Force's CAF fleet cautions that this is the beginning of the process, not the end. "Since April we've been in a precipitous decline with regard to combat readiness," said Gen. Mike Hostage, command- er of Air Combat Command. "Returning to flying is an important first step but what we have ahead of us is a measured climb to recovery." "Our country counts on the U.S. Air Force to be there when needed — in hours or days, not weeks or months," Hostage said. "A fire department doesn't have time to 'spin up' when a fire breaks out, and we don't know where or when the next crisis will break out that will require an immediate Air Force response." The restoration of flying hours only addresses the next two and half months of flying up until Oct. 1. "This decision gets us through the next several months but not the next several years," the general said. "While this paints a clearer picture for the remainder of FY13, important questions remain about FY14 and beyond. Budget uncertainly makes it difficult to determine whether we'll be able to sustain a fully combatready force." Additionally, the restoration comes at a cost to future capability, including reduced investment in the recapitalization and modernization of the combat fleet. "We are using investment dollars to pay current operational bills, and that approach is not without risk to our long-term effectiveness," Hostage said. "We can't mortgage our future. America relies on the combat airpower we provide, and we need to be able to continue to deliver it." Nevertheless, the men and women of the 448th SCMW are "determined to not allow sequestration, travel restrictions and furloughs to impact our ability to support the warfighter," he vowed. This period of tight budgets has prompted the 448th to "examine our business processes for improvements" in demand forecast accuracy and in strategic sourcing, and to "make sure we are as lean, effective and efficient as we can be," Alsup said. The 448th SCMW has demonstrated its ability to "tighten its belt," he said. "The 448th leads all other AFSC units on Gen. Litchfield's 'road to a billion' challenge with more than $286 million in savings," Alsup said. "And I know we can do even more." One of Alsup's objectives is to develop stronger links between the maintenance and procurement elements of supply chain activities. "The AFSC structure really opens the door for even tighter integration between supply chain activities and the maintenance complexes at Tinker, Hill and Robins Air Force Bases," he said. Another of his objectives is to strengthen the relationship and "business process hooks" with the Defense Logistics Agency. Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark Johnson became director of DLA Aviation — the principal commodities provider for the Air Force and other services — "about the same time I became director" of the 448th SCMW, Alsup said. DLA is "a critical business partner and key to the success of the Air Force mission," he said, "and I intend to work closely with Gen. Johnson on ways to improve support to all Air Force supply chain customers." Alsup also said he looks forward to "continuing the business process re-engineering journey that the supply chain management community has been on for nearly 15 years, when the supply transformation initiative first kicked off." The 448th SCMW is an innovative "virtual wing" comprised of 2,800 personnel at four bases. The wing's four groups are the 948th SCMG, a virtual group with operations at all four bases responsible for enterprise guidance and procedure and execution; the 848th SCMG at Tinker AFB, Okla., requirements planning and execution; the 748th SCMG at Hill AFB, requirements planning and execution; and the 638th SCMG at Robins AFB, Ga., requirements planning and execution. 5 |