[air-force] Digest (06/07/2000 00:01) (#2000-105)

[Veterans News & Information Service]

(#2000-105) - Topics This Issue:

1) Air Force Print News, June 7, 2000

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Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 16:36:48 -0700
From: "82. USAFnews" <usaf...@AFNEWS.AF.MIL> (by way of Christian Wilson
<listm...@lists.militaryhub.com>)
Subject: Air Force Print News, June 7, 2000

Air Force Print News, June 7, 2000
This file contains 4 stories and 5 image cutline

000857. Tough tanker drivers turn softies
000857a,b - image cutlines
-- http://www.af.mil/news/Jun2000/n20000606_000857.html

000858. F-22 flight tests resume
000858a - image cutline
-- http://www.af.mil/news/Jun2000/n20000606_000858.html

000860. Air Force Drug Lab - Filling the cup of deterrence to promote a 'Fit
Force'
000860a,b - image cutlines
-- http://www.af.mil/news/Jun2000/n20000606_000860.html

000861. Former Secretary of the Air Force dies
--http://www.af.mil/news/Jun2000/n20000606_000861.html

All stories in this message as well as any referenced images are in the
public domain and do not require copyright release. Please credit all
photos to the U.S. Air Force. Story submissions should be sent to
ne...@afnews.af.mil.

000857. Tough tanker drivers turn softies
by Master Sgt. Louis A. Arana-Barradas
Air Force Print News

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Capt. John Arehart and 1st Lt. Cody Handley
think of themselves as rough and tough tanker drivers.

That might be true when they're up in their KC-135R Stratotanker refueling
allied war birds that patrol the skies over northern Iraq. But on the ground
they're softies - proud parents to baby birds.

The two 92nd Air Refueling Squadron pilots are on a 45-day Operation
Northern Watch tour at Incirlik from their home base at Fairchild Air Force
Base, Wash. On their way back to their room after a mission last week they
found a nest that had fallen from a stairwell overhang at their dormitory.

Scattered around it they found four chirping and flopping baby birds,
Arehart said. They knew the survivors wouldn't last long without their help.

"They were just a few days old," he said. "We just couldn't leave them there
to die."

So they adopted the tiny birds, each no more than a couple of inches long
with bright yellow beaks. They don't know what kind of birds they are, but
that doesn't matter.

"We just wanted to give them a chance to live," Arehart said.

The two pilots took their new babies back to their room. Then they built a
nest out of grass and twigs in a plastic box. They keep the box on the ledge
just outside their room's window. They haven't given their "children" names
yet, though.

They didn't have time to capture bugs to feed their brood. So they rushed to
the commissary to find a suitable substitute. Baby food did the trick.

"We feed them strained carrots and beef. That was the closest thing we could
find to something that looked like worms," Handley said. They squeeze drops
of the food from a plastic bag into the always open beaks of their feathered
babies.

"They eat the stuff like crazy," he said. "It's great to see them eat it
up."

They want to watch the baby birds grow up. Then they can act like a proud
mama and papa when they watch them fly away, Arehart said.

"But he (Arehart) will be the mom," Handley said.

000857a.gif and 000857a.jpg
When they found a nest with some live baby birds, Capt. John Arehart (left)
and 1st Lt. Cody Handley adopted them. They're raising them on baby food in
a nest they made and keep on the windowsill of their dormitory room. The
pilots from the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron, Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
They are currently on a 45-day rotation as part of Operation Northern Watch,
refueling aircraft patrolling the skies above Iraq. (Photo by Master Sgt.
Keith Reed)

000857b.gif and 000857b.jpg
These four baby birds were in a nest that had fallen from where birds had
built it in on a stairwell overhang at a dormitory. Capt. John Arehart and
1st Lt. Cody Handley adopted them. The pilots from the 92nd Air Refueling
Squadron, Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. They are currently on a 45-day
rotation as part of Operation Northern Watch, refueling aircraft patrolling
the skies above Iraq. (Photo by Master Sgt. Keith Reed)

000858. F-22 flight tests resume
by Ray Johnson
Air Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN)-- Flight testing for one of two F-22
Raptors here has resumed following a nearly four-week delay because of
minute cracks found in the jets' canopies.

Aircraft 4002 resumed restricted test flights June 5.

The hairline surface cracks, which are less than an inch long, were
discovered in a lower area where 140 bolts attach a 190-pound transparency
to the canopy frame, and aren't visible to a pilot sitting in the cockpit.

Safety concerns over possible bird strikes during low-level, high-speed test
sorties, which might increase the chances of a canopy shattering, was one
main reason for temporarily delaying flight tests of the next-generation
fighter, according to Col. C.D. Moore, director of the F-22 Combined Test
Force here.

Because of the conservative nature of the Raptor test program, the F-22 CTF
wanted to completely understand the cracks' impact, especially with the F-22
being pushed toward the flight envelope's edge during every sortie.

An F-22 tiger team has determined an existing canopy has sufficient residual
strength for continued flight tests "as is," following an intensive
investigation into the canopy cracking phenomenon, according to F-22 program
officials. While testing with this canopy, 4002 will be operating under
restrictions to minimize the risk of a catastrophic bird strike (avoiding
the high speed, low altitude region), but this limitation has no effect on
the completion of the required testing. Additional new canopies are being
fabricated for the remaining test aircraft.

The F-22 canopy tiger team included representatives from the aircraft's
canopy transparency manufacturer, Sierracin Sylmar Corp., as well as F-22
and F-16 canopy experts from Lockheed Martin Aero and the Air Force, said
Maj. Gen. Claude Bolton, Air Force program executive officer for fighter and
bomber programs.

The team's preliminary findings suggest the root cause of the cracking is
most likely higher than expected stresses induced during manufacturing,
assembly, and installation operations of the transparency and canopy
assembly and/or degraded material due to a chemical reaction on the
transparency material, polycarbonate.

Both Bolton and Moore noted the cracking isn't an unusual aircraft
development issue; this has happened before during flight testing for other
weapon systems.

"This is no different than other developmental subsystem challenges that we
have had in the past," Moore said. "We expect to see these type of things.
It's just a matter of understanding the problem, correcting it and pressing
on."

"To help compensate for the delay in flight tests, we have extended flight
testing for aircraft 4001 until this fall, and until 2001 for aircraft 4002;
both aircraft were scheduled to end flight testing earlier," Bolton said.

Moore affirmed that the cracking will not impact the F-22 CTF's ability to
deliver established test objectives by year's end. Logistics testing
planned for later this year took place during the delay in flight testing.

As for static tests of the F-22, officials noted that as of June 6, the F-22
program has completed six of 19 ultimate static tests on Aircraft 3999,
which is the static test aircraft. The seventh was scheduled for June 6,
two days ahead of schedule.

Static tests are necessary to verify structural strength of the airframe to
ensure the aircraft doesn't experience any detrimental deformations at limit
load levels and failures at ultimate load levels. Testing on this aircraft
began Feb. 2, with ultimate static testing currently slated to be completed
by Oct. 23.

000858a.gif and 000858a.jpg
F-22 Raptor test aircraft 4002 lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base,
Calif., June 5 after flight testing resumed for the Air Force's
next-generation fighter. Testing had been temporarily delayed until an F-22
tiger team could evaluate the cause of hairline cracks in the canopies.
(Photo by Derk Blanset)

000860. Air Force Drug Lab - Filling the cup of deterrence to promote a
'Fit Force'
by Senior Airman Oshawn J. Jefferson
Air Force Print News

BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The phone rings at your desk and it's the
orderly room. Once again you've been dinged for a urinalysis. For most of
us this is just an unwanted annoyance during our busy day. But for the Air
Force Drug Testing Laboratory, winners of the 1991 General Ronald Yates Team
Excellence Award and a Chief of Staff's Team Excellence Finalist, the this
is the first step in promoting a "Fit Force."

"We pride ourselves on helping to make sure the Air Force is drug free",
said Lt. Col. James Swaby, Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory's division
chief.

The lab's primary mission is to deter and detect the use and abuse of
controlled and illegal substances by military personnel through a
comprehensive drug-testing program.

Drugs are detected in urine samples using three separate laboratory
procedures. The first two tests are immunoassay procedures, and third and
final test is gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. GCMS testing produces
an almost "fingerprint-like" identification of the drug. All three tests
must be positive before a service member's sample is reported positive.

AFDTL also prepares litigation packages on positive samples and provides
toxicologists as expert witnesses in support of USAF judicial
courts-martial.

The lab develops new methodologies for drug detection in response to
changing drug threats. "We are continually searching for new methods to
improve current testing, and developing new methods for changing drug
threats," said Lt. Col. James Kuhlman, AFDTL technical director. "People
are always finding a new kind of drug to abuse, or are thinking of ways to
mask their drug use."

As one of six DOD forensic toxicology drug detection laboratories, AFDTL is
the sole laboratory testing Air Force service member samples. The lab
performs more than 2 million member and quality control drug tests per year
on more than 300,000 service member samples. Urine samples are tested for
evidence of drug abuse from marijuana, LSD, cocaine, amphetamines,
barbiturates, morphine, codeine, PCP, ecstasy and others.

"AFDTL is a key player in the field commander's ability to maintain a
healthy operational ready force," Swaby said. "We maintain very high
standards because we can't afford to make a mistake when a service member's
career is at stake." The laboratory is accredited by DOD and is inspected
at least three times per year. It also has a very extensive quality
assurance program and participates in both open and blind proficiency
programs.

The AFDTL is not only a top rated lab in DOD for accuracy but also for
efficiency. The improvement in efficiency occurred after some major changes
since 1996.

"When I first arrived, the lab was in trouble and needed some major
reengineering and reorganization," Swaby said.

In 1996, compared to the other five DOD drug-testing labs, the AFDTL had the
smallest workload, the most people, the slowest specimen processing times
and the highest costs. In short it was the least competitive drug lab in
DOD. DOD made it clear, the AFDTL had to become competitive or DOD would
have to consider closing it.

At the same time there was discussions in DOD to consolidate the six
separate DOD drug labs into three or four large labs. The AFDTL was clearly
not in the running to be one of those consolidated labs. "So we knew we had
to make some changes," Swaby said.

At the start of Fiscal 1997 the lab began a major reorganization project.
The staff at Brooks initiated a complete reorganization of the entire drug
testing division. The changes included reengineering virtually every
process, restructuring the organization, facility renovations, new
technology infusion, cross training the staff and right sizing.

In the 18-month implementation of the reorganization, the AFDTL increased
its workload 31 percent, the number of tests run per specimen 27 percent and
its capacity 140 percent. At the same time it cut the military staff 84
percent, the civilian staff 17 percent, cost 46 percent, positive specimen
processing time 81 percent and negative specimen processing time 89 percent.

In the process it supplanted the DOD specimen processing standards of six
days for positives and four days for negatives for the first time. DOD
subsequently lowered the standards to five days for positives and two days
for negatives, which the AFDTL also surpassed.

An added benefit to getting the processing time for negative specimens below
two days was that it enabled the Air Force to begin new accession testing
for the first time. Now upon arriving at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas for
basic training, all new airmen are tested within the first 72 hours.

All this was accomplished for an initial investment of $710,000, which
resulted in more than $800,000 savings in operating costs each year. An
additional $6 million was saved in just the first 12 months by identifying
and weeding out new recruits who arrived for basic training on drugs.

The AF drug-testing program continues to produce the best end product in DOD
in the form of the lowest positive rates. But now the AFDTL is one of the
top two DOD drug labs for the fastest processing times. At the same time it
has the lowest cost-per-test at less than $1.25 and the lowest
cost-per-member deterred from taking drugs at $8.00 per person. All in all,
the AFDTL is easily one of the top two drugs testing labs in DOD and the
best candidate for one of the consolidated DOD drug testing labs.

"In just 18 months the AF drug-testing lab went from being the worst in DOD
to being arguably the best," Swaby said. "In other words; "Worst to First".

000860a.gif and 000860a.jpg
Rose Arispe, Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory lab technician, checks bar
codes on urine samples in the immunoassay laboratory. (Photo by Senior
Airman Oshawn J. Jefferson)

000860b.gif and 000860.jpg
Al Lanham, Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory lab technician compares the
identifiers on a urine bottle with the chain-of-custody in the specimen
accessioning laboratory. (Photo by Senior Airman Oshawn J. Jefferson)

000861. Former Secretary of the Air Force dies

WASHINGTON (AFPN)-- The last surviving founder of the U.S. Air Force, and
its seventh service secretary, died June 5. Funeral services will be here
June 8 for Eugene M. Zuckert who was 88 years old.

Zuckert was one of a small group of civilians and officers who created the
Air Force and was the last survivor of the 16 initial presidential
appointees in the Department of Defense.

He was appointed secretary of the Air Force on Jan. 23, 1961 and served
until Sept. 30, 1965. His tenure spanned the Cuban missile crisis and the
beginning of the Vietnam War.

Today, the Air Force award for outstanding management achievement is named
in honor of Zuckert. He was also responsible for establishing the Air
Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal as a ribbon award in 1964. It was
converted to a medal seven years later.

Zuckert was born in New York City on Nov. 9, 1911. He graduated from Yale
University in 1933 and received his law degree and masters in business
administration in 1937 from Yale and Harvard, respectively, under their
first combined law-business program.

>From 1937 to 1940, Zuckert was an attorney for the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission in Washington and New York. From 1940 to 1944, he was
an instructor in relations of government and business at the Harvard
Graduate School of Business Administration, advancing to assistant professor
and later to assistant dean of the school. He was responsible for
administering a wartime training program for business that is known today as
Harvard's Advance Management Program.

While a member of the Harvard faculty, Zuckert served as a special
consultant to the Army Air Forces in developing statistical controls. He
was also an instructor in the Army Air Forces Statistical Control School at
Harvard, which trained more than 3,000 Air Force officers.

Zuckert entered the Navy in 1944 and was assigned to the office of the chief
of naval operations as a lieutenant. A year later, he was released from
service to become the assistant to Stuart Symington, then the surplus
property administrator and later, a U.S. senator from Missouri. When the
senator became the assistant secretary of war for air in 1946, Zuckert
followed him to the Pentagon.

When the Air Force became a separate service on Sept. 18, 1947, Symington
became its first secretary of the Air Force, and Zuckert took the oath as
assistant secretary of the Air Force (management) on Sept. 26, 1947.

During his four-year tenure as assistant secretary of the Air Force, Zuckert
instituted a program of "management control through cost control," with a
goal of placing the Air Force on a business-like basis using accepted
industrial practices as a yardstick for establishing procedures. He also
established new methods of budgetary reporting and control that permitted
division of Air Force appropriations into 12 major components representing
the main functional elements of its programs. This reform enabled the Air
Force to come closer to its goal of a true "performance" budget.

Zuckert also oversaw the establishment of the Air Force Loyalty and Security
Program and in July 1948, he served on a committee to develop a unified
court-martial code for the armed forces.

In 1952, Zuckert was appointed a member of the Atomic Energy Commission and
served until June 30, 1954, when he returned to private practice, co-wrote a
book on atomic energy and served as a consultant to and director of a number
of companies.

Upon leaving the Air Force in 1965, Zuckert became a partner in the
Washington, D.C., firm of Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger. He remained an
active partner until 1988. He also served on the boards of director of the
Martin-Marietta and Washington Gas companies until the mid-1980s.

Twice widowed, Zuckert is survived by his wife, Harriet Zimmerly Zuckert and
three children. They are Adrienne Z. Cowles of Connecticut, Robert B.
Zuckert of Hawaii (from his first marriage to Kathleen Barnes Zuckert, who
died in 1945), and Gene Z. Farris of Arizona (from his second marriage to
Barbara Jackman Zuckert, who died in 1985). He is also survived by six
grandchildren.

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End air-...@lists.militaryhub.com Digest (06/07/2000 00:01)
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