AF News Svc 7 Mar 94
CMSgt Mike Bergman
From CMSgt Mike Bergman <ber...@afpan.pa.af.mil>
134. New homosexual policy released
135. B-2s officially named "Spirit"
136. Competition merges space, missiles
137. Base donates 1,700 computers
138. Surgeon general optimistic
139. Missile squadron inactivates
140. First military jet pilot dies
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134. New homosexual policy released
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Air Force has released
implementing instructions for the new Department of Defense
policy on homosexual conduct in the military.
Revised regulations and new guidelines, released Feb. 28,
reflect the law enacted by the 1994 Defense Authorization Bill, but
differ little from the military's former policy, according to Air
Force legal officials in the Pentagon.
The main difference, officials said, is that the military no longer
asks recruits or members about their sexual orientation, nor
investigates members solely to determine their sexual orientation.
Additionally, people who state they are homosexual or bisexual
now have an opportunity to prove "by a preponderance of
evidence" that they do not engage in or have a "propensity to
engage in" homosexual acts. Proof may include testimony from
others about the person's past conduct, character and credibility,
officials said.
The Department of Defense first released the new policy in
December, but later revised it to state that a person's sexual
orientation is considered a personal and private matter and is not a
bar to service entry or continued service unless manifested by
homosexual conduct. The original version included the statement
that homosexual orientation is not a bar to military service.
Deleting the statement somewhat clarified the policy, but didn't
change the meaning, said Pentagon spokeswoman Kathleen
deLaski at a March 2 press briefing.
She said the revision also emphasizes that "DOD judges the
suitability of persons to serve in the armed forces on the basis of
conduct, not sexual orientation."
The new directives "make it clear that no defense criminal
investigative organization or other DOD law enforcement
organization will conduct an investigation solely to determine a
servicemember's sexual orientation," deLaski said.
Air Force and the other services will now train commanders and
people involved in recruiting, accession processing, and
administrative separations about issues such as when an
investigation is appropriate.
Additionally, the services will inform people about DOD's
policy on sexual conduct, including homosexual conduct, when
they enter the military and periodically thereafter.
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135. B-2s officially named "Spirit"
LANGLEY AFB, Va. (AFNS) -- Air Combat Command will
officially name the B-2 stealth bomber "Spirit" during a ceremony
with Northrop Corp. March 31 in Palmdale, Calif.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sponsored this aircraft,
and Lt. Gen. Stephen B. Croker, 8th Air Force commander, will
preside at the ceremony, said ACC officials here. Kent Kresa,
Northrop's chairman and chief executive officer, will serve as host.
ACC-1, the first aircraft delivered to Whiteman AFB, Mo., in
December, already bears the name "Spirit of Missouri." In
recognition of the California aerospace industry, and particularly
its support of the B-2 program, the second of the 20 bombers will
be named the "Spirit of California" as it departs April 1 for its new
home with the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman.
As B-2s are delivered, each will be named after a state, ACC
officials said. (Courtesy ACCNS)
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136. Competition merges space, missiles
by TSgt. Gary Pomeroy
Air Force News Service
WASHINGTON -- Air Force Space Command will hold its first
command competition -- Guardian Challenge -- May 1-6, at
Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
The competition is the first to combine space and missile
activities, and will include space operations and communications
as well as missile operations, maintenance and communications.
The primary focus of Guardian Challenge is to enhance crew
and individual professionalism and mission understanding, said Air
Force Space Command officials at Peterson AFB, Colo.
The competition includes the framework from the former
Strategic Air Command, and later Air Combat Command, missile
competition -- Olympic Arena. The new name symbolizes the
merger of space and missile activities under Air Force Space
Command.
"Guardian Challenge offers a new opportunity for operational
space squadrons to sharpen their performance under the demanding
rigors of competition," said a statement from Maj. Gen. Patrick P.
Caruana, 14th Air Force commander at Vandenberg.
"The 14th keeps alive the heritage of the historic Flying Tigers
of World War II fame -- now as the Air Force's only space
numbered air force," Caruana said.
"Guardian Challenge gives us the opportunity to showcase the
world's premier missile force," said a statement from Lt. Gen. Dirk
Jameson, 20th Air Force commander, who is responsible for the
nation's intercontinental ballistic missile force from his
headquarters at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.
"Combat capability tests like Guardian Challenge allow us to
hone our skills and increase our combat readiness, ensuring our
20th Air Force warriors are the finest in the world," Jameson said.
More than the name of the competition has changed for the
missileers. Each squadron within the four ICBM wings will send
teams to Guardian Challenge. In past years, wings have been
represented by two primary teams and two randomly selected
teams.
In another change, the security police portion of the competition
has been dropped, streamlining the event. Command officials
noted that there are other competitions geared specifically for
security police.
Operations crews and communicators in the space portion of
Guardian Challenge were evaluated at their home units or at
Peterson in February. The space competitors will travel to
Vandenberg the first week of May.
"This is yet another step in the total integration of space
operations into today's fighting Air Force," Caruana said.
All missile operations, maintenance and communications
competitions will occur at Vandenberg between May 1-6. Winners
will be announced at Vandenberg.
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137. Base donates 1,700 computers
by Sherry Medders
COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. (AFNS) -- High school students
throughout northeast Mississippi are getting computer training for
the first time thanks to a group of base volunteers and their dream
called Operation Computer Hope.
The group recently donated 1,700 obsolete and excess
computers to the schools, none of which offered computer classes
because they don't own a single computer "and probably won't
have the funds to buy any anytime soon," said retired Maj. Randy
Gunter, formerly of the 14th Operations Support Squadron here.
With the highest poverty rate in the nation, Mississippi lacks the
tax base to fund computer labs in many of its rural public high
schools, Gunter said.
Operation Computer Hope began in November 1992 when
Gunter was teaching computer applications at night under a school
parent involvement program. He realized then that business
technology training in most Mississippi schools consisted of typing
on manual or old electric typewriters.
At about the same time, Gunter heard that Air Education and
Training Command had at least 1,000 NCR work stations that
ultimately would be "sold for scrap metal at pennies per pound"
because no federal agency wanted them and no commercial market
existed for them.
"But I knew the NCR system with existing software -- word
processing, spreadsheets and database -- would meet the
curriculum requirements for computer literacy defined by the
Mississippi Department of Education," he said.
Gunter approached AETC officials with the idea of declaring
the computers excess and donating them to public schools near the
base. Officials approved the proposal.
When the Unisys Corp. heard about the project, it transferred
the software license agreements from the Air Force to each school
district, Gunter said.
Those involved with the project believe it to be the first
program in which excess Department of Defense-owned computers
have been donated for use in education.
"This is a sign of quality initiatives working among individuals.
It's a sign of today's Air Force," said Air Force Secretary Sheila E.
Widnall. She and Congressman G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, D-
Miss., visited one of the computer laboratories at a local school
Feb. 25.
The goal of Operation Computer Hope is to place 2,000
computer work stations in high schools throughout northeast
Mississippi. The computers are usually set up in two 24- or 32-
station labs.
Gunter, assisted by Capt. Kurt Meidel of the 14th Operations
Support Squadron; Teresa Whitaker of the base's small computer
office; and Tony Hawkins, a former simulator contract employee;
installed the first two computer laboratories in August. They also
train teachers and show them how to maintain the equipment.
"The project has been a lot of hard work for a lot of people,"
Meidel said. "But to walk into a classroom and see the enthusiasm
of the students and teachers makes it all worthwhile."
Gunter, who retired from the Air Force in January and is now a
doctoral candidate at nearby Mississippi State University,
estimates the 1,700 computers the base has collected so far will put
two complete labs in high schools in six counties. That will allow
some 7,500 students to learn computer applications and
keyboarding each year.
It would cost the schools about $30,000 to set up each lab,
Gunter said. (Medders is with the 14th Flying Training Wing
public affairs office here)
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138. Surgeon general optimistic
by George Horton Kelling
LACKLAND AFB, Texas (AFNS) -- For all the changes and
challenges facing military medicine, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Alexander M.
Sloan, the Air Force surgeon general, remains optimistic and sees
Air Force medicine as a success story.
In a keynote speech to the Air Force Region of the American
College of Physicians, Feb. 28, he cited innovations put into effect
by Wilford Hall. He said that a quality Air Force process action
team which enhanced coordination and communication between
orthopaedics and radiology "deserves national recognition."
Sloan reminded the more than 200 assembled physicians that
the Air Force Medical Service is part of the nation's defense. He
noted troubled areas around the globe and stressed that "medical
global reach continues to be vital." He also said that, in an age of
innovation and change, "We will maintain the medical base to
support the military force structure."
The meeting, held in San Antonio, was the academic highlight
of the year for Air Force physicians in internal medicine and
related specialties. Among its goals were providing updates in
preventive medicine and health care delivery.
Sloan noted that the armed forces have been deeply involved in
new approaches to health care delivery for more than 10 years, and
traced the evolution of the health care delivery revolution from the
Air Force's health care finders program of the early 1980s -- a
program that located civilian providers interested in giving medical
care to military beneficiaries -- to today's Tricare, a tri-service
regional plan to integrate care between the military and civilian
sectors.
The general said he is proud of the Air Force's record in health
care delivery and pointed out that regionalization is the key to a
successful program. "We need 400,000 recipients to run a
vertically integrated care system," he noted. "You can't do that
with 40-mile catchment areas. You need regionalization."
He stressed that preventive medicine is the cornerstone of
managed care because the emphasis is on a healthy person.
Among the programs he is pursuing are improving the general
health of the Air Force beneficiary population (to include
maintaining smoke-free work areas) and a program to provide
healthy food in dining facilities.
He expressed concern with the continued problems of alcohol
abuse and said it was "the Air Force's leading cause of years of
potential life lost." Clearly, there is work to be done in that area,
he said.
He noted military medical education programs are getting
smaller, but the Air Force program is expected to continue without
drastic changes. The percentage of physicians involved in medical
education programs should remain at about the current 24 percent
level, he said.
The general, a specialist in internal medicine since 1963, was
presented with the American College of Physicians' Laurate Award
for more than 30 years of contributions to internal medicine.
(Kelling is with the Wilford Hall Medical Center public affairs
office. Courtesy AETCNS)
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139. Missile squadron inactivates
by Capt. Lee-Volker Cox
F.E. WARREN AFB, Wyo. (AFNS) -- The Air Force said
farewell to one of its most decorated and respected units March 4
when the 3901st Missile Evaluation Squadron here inactivated.
For 33 years, America looked to the unit as the guarantors of
strong intercontinental ballistic missile deterrent force, said base
officials. The 3901st evaluated all Air Force ICBM units and
worked closely with contractors to develop missile system
requirements, officials said.
"The 3901st helped ensure our ICBM forces were a credible
deterrence, feared by our adversaries and trusted by our friends and
allies," said Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall, in a
message of appreciation. "You will always have the respect and
gratitude of the American people."
Gen. Charles Horner, Air Force Space Command's commander,
called the unit "the vanguard of strategic deterrence" that had
ensured "our missile maintenance personnel, communicators,
security police and missile combat crews were razor sharp."
Many of the 3901st evaluators are now with 20th Air Force and
the Air Force Space Command inspector general and will continue
to inspect missile units, officials said. The 20th handles the day-
to-day operations of the nation's ICBM force. (Cox is with the
20th Air Force public affairs office)
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140. First military jet pilot dies
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFNS) -- The first U.S.
military pilot to fly a jet aircraft and a veteran of repeated tours at
Wright Field here died Feb. 27.
Retired Lt. Gen. Laurence C. "Bill" Craigie was 92. He died at
the March AFB, Calif., base hospital.
Craigie became the first military pilot to fly the secret Bell XP-
59A on Oct. 2, 1942, after it had been flown twice by a civilian test
pilot. He is also credited with overseeing the development of 11
fighter aircraft, six bombers, two transports and two trainers.
In the late-1940s, Craigie and Lt. Gen. Orval R. Cook
developed the Cook-Criagie Procurement System that kept
airplanes from getting into service without proper testing.
An air command veteran of World War II and the Korean War,
Craigie was Allied air commander on the island of Corsica in the
Mediterranean theater in 1944. In 1950 he became vice
commander of Far East Air Force in Japan and later served as an
Air Force delegate to the Korean War peace talks.
Craigie was born in Concord, N.H., Jan. 26, 1902. He
graduated from West Point in 1923 and won his pilot's wings the
following year. He served as a flight instructor at various
assignments before coming to Wright Field in 1934 to attend the
Air Corps Engineering School. After graduation, he became chief
of the Air Corps Material Division's Training and Transport
Engineering unit. After several other assignments, Craigie
returned to Wright Field in 1948 as the Air Force Institute of
Technology commandant. (Courtesy Aeronautical Systems Center
public affairs)
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\\ {*} // ber...@afpan.pa.af.mil
\ CMSgt / ___________________ /____________________________________
\ Mike /
\ Bergman /
\ /
Mike Chan
From Mike Chan <chan_m...@tandem.com>
In article <CMKDw...@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>, CMSgt Mike Bergman <ber...@afpan.pa.af.mil> writes:
[snip]
> ACC-1, the first aircraft delivered to Whiteman AFB, Mo., in
>December, already bears the name "Spirit of Missouri." In
>recognition of the California aerospace industry, and particularly
>its support of the B-2 program, the second of the 20 bombers will
>be named the "Spirit of California" as it departs April 1 for its new
>home with the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman.
> As B-2s are delivered, each will be named after a state, ACC
>officials said. (Courtesy ACCNS)
:) When the AF wants more B-2's and the vote hinges on some
congresspeople, it can say "we'll name this awesome airplane
after _your_ home state!" Read it somewhere that this worked
for the USN. E.g., nuclear cruisers and FBM subs named after
states and 688 subs after cities. Rickover supposedly said
(in reference to not naming 688s after fishes), "Fish don't
vote!"
_________
Mike Chan
My opinions are my own, not my employer's.