22dec97-afns

[AFNS]

Celebrating the Air Force's 50th Anniversary:
The Golden Legacy, Boundless Future...
Your Nation's Air Force
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Air Force News Service
This file contains 5 stories and 2 image cutlines
AFNS electronic filename: 22dec97
971620. People First: More on housing allowance changes - MUST RUN
971622. Officer assignment review group seeks input
971624. AFRC announces specialties eligible for bonuses
971625. DOD selects civilians for leadership, management program
971623. Veteran reflects on changes in Persian Gulf
971621a,b. Cleanup continues following Typhoon Paka -- Cutlines
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971620. People First: More on housing allowance changes
Note to Editors: SAF/PA has designated this story a must run for base
newspapers.

The last People First article outlined the basic rules of the new
housing allowance system called the basic allowance for housing taking
effect Jan. 1. This edition addresses the methods used to determine BAH
for each location and the allowance's rate-protection feature.

Question: I heard Air Force members are no longer going to fill out the
variable housing allowance survey. Is this true?

Answer: Yes, you no longer need to certify housing expenses annually.
Members will report housing-related information only once -- when they
arrive at each new duty station.

Question: Without a survey, how will the Air Force collect data to
determine housing rates?

Answer: A private contractor, Runzheimer International, will collect
nationwide housing cost data that will be used to compute BAH.

Runzheimer currently serves more than 2,000 businesses and governments
worldwide and is renowned for its accurate and reliable research.
Runzheimer's private-sector clients include more than 60 percent of the
Fortune 500 companies. Runzheimer's government clients include the
Department of Defense, General Services Administration, Department of
State, Office of Personnel Management, Internal Revenue Service and
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Question: How will they know how much it costs to live where I live?

Answer: Runzheimer will collect local price data of rental properties
based on the typical housing characteristics of civilians with
comparable salary levels. A comparable civilian salary equals the sum
of military basic pay, basis allowance for quarters (fiscal 1997, plus
2.8 percent), basic allowance for subsistence and tax advantage. BAH at
the with-dependent rate will be based on comparable civilians using
average family size.

The new allowance is not intended to guarantee airmen will find
affordable housing comparable to government quarters. BAH is based on
civilian standards and housing choices made by civilians of comparable
income in each location.

Question: How does the Air Force know the new system of measuring
housing costs will be more accurate than the old system?

Answer: Under the old system, airmen who scrimped on housing and
reported low expenditures on their VHA surveys, drove down low
allowances. Conversely, members who overextended their housing
expenditures contributed to inflation in housing allowances. Under the
new system, housing allowances will be tied to actual housing standards
and will not be influenced by airmen's choices.

Question: Other than changing the way our housing rates will be
calculated, are there any other housing benefits affected by the new
system?

Answer: Yes, VHA offset will be eliminated. Airmen whose actual
housing expenses are less than housing allowances will no longer see
their allowances reduced. This is a major benefit to anyone who chooses
to economize on housing. For example, military members will no longer
be penalized for being "sharers," or married to other members -- the
groups hardest hit by offsets. All airmen will receive the full amount
of housing allowance allotted for their grade and dependency status.

Question: Will my housing allowance still be "rate protected" if
published rates fall for my location while I am assigned there?

Answer: Yes, Air Force officials recognize that airmen make housing
choices and commitments based on market conditions prevailing when they
arrive at a new duty location. Later reductions in market rental prices
will be reflected in annually published rates, but airmen will continue
to receive the old allowance if it is higher. If annually published
rates are higher than the old allowance, airmen are entitled to the
higher amount, but is still only rate protected according to the date
they first arrived at a new duty location.
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971622. Officer assignment review group seeks input

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- In order to complete its
mission of reviewing the Officer Assignment System, the group
commissioned to study the system wants input from the officer corps.
The group developed a short survey for officers to fill out and it is
now available on the World Wide Web.

The OAS review group is currently on break from its meetings in the
Pentagon Dec. 11-12, and members are at their home stations receiving
verbal inputs from officers there. In order to give everyone a chance
to contribute, a survey site was set up on the Air Force Personnel
Center home page. It can be accessed using the URL address of
http://www.afpc.af.mil. It is the first item listed under the main
page's graphic, and the hyper text is titled "Take the OAS Review Group
Survey here."

Once an officer clicks on the hyper text, it will ask them to input
their Social Security number which will be protected. The number is
needed to verify the person taking the survey is an Air Force officer.
Officers can take the survey only once.

An alternate site for taking the survey is under the officer assignments
web site and can be reached by using the URL
http://www.afpc.af.mil/assignments/htdocs/default.htm.

Officers can access the survey now, and it takes approximately 5-10
minutes to complete. A section exists allowing officers to give their
personal feedback to the review group. Inputs will be taken through
Jan. 8.

The group reconvenes in Washington Jan. 12, and the results, along with
verbal input and team member experience, will be used to make any
necessary recommendations for improving the system to Air Force Chief of
Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan and senior Air Force leadership.

The results of the review will be announced around March. (Courtesy of
AFPC News Service)
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971624. AFRC announces specialties eligible for bonuses

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) -- Air Force Reserve Command officials
have authorized 40 Air Force specialties to get bonuses under the
command's enlisted incentive program.

AFRC develops a master bonus list every six months based on shortages in
career fields commandwide. From the list, wing commanders and career
enhancement officials identify specialties in their unit that are less
than 100 percent manned by traditional reservists to generate a local
bonus list.

Specialties in the command receiving bonuses beginning Jan. 1 are:
1AXXX; 1C0XX, 1C1XX; 1C3XX; 1C4XX; 1C5XX; 1C6XX; 1N0XX; 1N1XX; 1N2XX;
1N3XX; 1N4XX; 1N5XX; 1N6XX; 1TXXX; 1W0XX; 2AXXX; 2EXXX; 2F0XX; 2G0XX;
2M0XX; 2S0XX; 2T0XX; 2T1XX; 2T2XX; 2T3XX; 2T4XX; 2WXXX; 3A0XX; 3CXXX;
3EXXX; 3PXXX; 3V0XX; 3V1XX; 4A0XX; 4A1XX; 4A2XX; 4F0XX; 4N0XX; and
4N1XX.

The bonus period ends June 30.

Other criteria considered in specialties selected included chronic
shortages, persistent shortages in recruiting, projected unit manning
increases during the effective period of the bonus list, high
replacement costs, unattractive specialty, and historical difficulty in
recruiting.

Members should contact the career enhancement office in their military
personnel flight for further details. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)
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971625. DOD selects civilians for leadership, management program

WASHINGTON (AFNS) - Sixty-six of the Air Force's top civil servants have
been chosen to enter the Defense Leadership and Management Program.

DLAMP, an up-to-six-year training, education and development program, is
designed for selected GS- and GM-14 and -15 employees.

The program includes a 12-month career-broadening assignment across
Department of Defense components, attending professional military
education at a senior service school and attending up to 10
graduate-level courses in national security, leadership and management
issues.

A corporate board of Senior Executive Service members chose the Air
Force candidates based on their leadership potential and whether they
would likely occupy positions of increasingly greater responsibility.
Selections were based on performance, professional qualities,
leadership, depth and breadth of experience, job responsibility,
academic and professional military education and specific achievements
-- with an emphasis on executive core qualifications.

An OSD-sponsored orientation for all candidates is tentatively scheduled
for Jan. 26-30 and March 23-27. The first DLAMP professional military
education classes start in February. Graduate-level classes begin in
the spring. Senior-level Phase I PME will be held in the spring and
summer.

"We want to develop future civilian leaders who clearly understand the
Department of Defense's national security mission," said Roger
Blanchard, Air Force assistant deputy chief of staff for personnel.

The DLAMP selectees listed below "represent the best that Air Force has
to offer," Blanchard added. "They have a great opportunity to prepare
themselves for the challenges of leading and managing in the Air Force
and Department of Defense in the 21st century."

Civilians chosen include:

Andrews Air Force Base, Md. -- James D. Johnston

Arlington, Va. -- Cray J. Henry and Albert F. Lowas Jr.

Bolling AFB, D.C. -- Genevieve M. Haddad, Walter F. Jones, Thomas
Markiewicz and Leonidas Sakell

Brooks AFB, Texas -- Hendrick W. Ruck

Dallas -- Gary D. Lynn

Falcon AFB, Colo. -- Joseph J.F. Liu

Kelly AFB, Texas -- Sue A. Lumpkins, Linda K. Morrow and Laura S.
Perritt

Kirtland AFB, N.M. -- Michael D. Bates, Dale R. Hite and Albert J.
Starnes

Langley AFB, Va. -- Patricia Campbell

London -- Victoria H. Cox

MacDill AFB, Fla. -- Robert L. Buhrkuhl and Gary W. Robinson

Maxwell AFB, Ala. -- Kenneth E. Lavoie

Pentagon -- Barbara J. Barger, Timothy A. Beyland, Mary T. Bonnet,
Robert S. Boyd, William V. Corsetti, Christopher Carey, Donna L. Edsall,
Dale O. Jackson, Josephine MacMichael, Joseph G. Diamond, Delia E.
Donatelli, June F. Forte, George H. Franklin, Lisa J. Gagnon, Gregory L.
Giddens, Thomas J. Girz, Jay H. Jordan, Edward C. Koenig III, Steve L
Mann, Michael R. Sullivan, Barbara A. Westgate and Patricia Zarodkiewicz

Randolph AFB, Texas -- Lester B. Coalson Jr., Kay M. Jeffers, Roserika
Kennedy and John Miner.

Tinker AFB, Okla. -- Winifred E. Okumura

Whiteman AFB, Mo. -- Eldon E. Hix

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio -- George H. Baum, Wendy B. Campbell, Gregory
E. Colbert, Raymond R. Flores, Marvin L. Garcia, Donald D. Gregory,
Richard D. Harstad, Stuart Hazlett, Terry J. Jaggers, Richard E. Knoll,
Margaret LeClaire, Forest Oberschlake, Leif E Peterson, Patsy J. Reeves,
Kathryn J. Sowers, Mark K. Wilson and Gary A. Woods.
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971623. Veteran reflects on changes in Persian Gulf

by Master Sgt. Kevin Walston
1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) -- Life in the Persian Gulf for
deployed airmen has often been rough. Living conditions and standards
are a far cry from what most are used to, but it's a lot better today
than it used to be.

Just ask Rex Frey.

As a young, gung-ho second lieutenant at the onset of World War II, he
was one of the first U.S. airmen ever deployed to the region. During
his 13-month stint in the Middle East, he served from the streets of
Casablanca, Morocco, to the mountainous regions of Abbadan, Iran, and
quite a few points in between.

A retired Air Force colonel with more than 27 years of service as a
pilot and weather forecaster, Frey has fond memories of some good and
bad times in the Persian Gulf. One will always stand out in his mind.

"In June 1950, a group of us were sent out into the Rub-el-Khali desert
in Saudi Arabia for two weeks to test the feasibility of rescuing downed
airmen," he said. "Daytime temperatures hovered around 117 degrees
Fahrenheit, and we survived off two gallons of water or juice a day."

The data they collected during a period Frey arguably calls "one of the
roughest times of his life" was a benchmark for search and rescue
procedures the military still uses today, he said.

Frey remembers a region not only rich in history and culture, but also
where conflicts between Americans and Arabs were few and far between.

Things have changed, he said.

"Whether it's Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), or Basra, Iraq, or even places
like Iran and Bahrain, I've been there during a time when things were a
lot different than today."

Protection from terrorist attacks wasn't a major concern, he said,
adding that "the only folks concerned with that type of thing were on
the front lines of the war.

"We had our ups-and-downs, as always happens when you throw together two
different groups of people, but generally, we never had a problem that
concerned the safety of our people and equipment," he remembered. "The
Arabs and Americans shared a lot of good times and we all tried to make
the best of an awkward situation."

Although more than 29,000 U.S. troops are stationed at several locations
throughout the region, the main military mission of U.S. forces in the
region is in support of the U.N. mandated "no-fly" zone over Iraq, an
effort Frey describes as a "necessary evil considering the conditions of
the area today.

"Way before there was a threat from Saddam Hussein, we had friendly
relations and no problems with the people in the region," he said.
"Things are a lot different now, but in some ways, things are still the
same."

Frey said airmen in the region must respect the Arab religious beliefs,
which have a lot to do with the way they live and think.

"Most of us had never seen a mosque until we got over there," Frey said.
"There was a lot about what they did that we didn't understand, but we
respected their right to do it. I think that helped us get along so
well with them."

In 1945, the British controlled Iraq and Iran. Saudi Arabia was an
independent state and was able to control its own destiny, especially
after oil was discovered in the 1930s, Frey said.

"I closely watched the buildup of our forces leading up to the Gulf
War," he said. "The routes the guys were flying I'd flown years ago.
The staging areas and places our forces were deployed to . . . I know
the area like the back of my hand."

After completing aviation cadet pilot training in June 1944, Frey began
co-piloting C-46 aircraft from the United States to North Africa.

His mission with the Air Transport Command -- today's Air Mobility
Command -- wasn't totally unlike many of the things Air Force people are
still doing in the region today.

When they weren't flying, Frey said he and his fellow airmen lived in
makeshift barracks with concrete floors, handmade, mud-brick walls and
roofs constructed from the sides of packing containers.

"Getting into an air-conditioned place was a luxury for us," he said.

While family members today keep in touch with deployed people via morale
calls and e-mail, Frey said letters took up to a week each way from
Dhahran and would have taken longer if not for an arrangement with Trans
World Airlines to deliver military mail pouches in 1950.

"I couldn't pick up the phone and talk to my wife like they can today,"
he explained. "In 1950, we were able to use Morse code and Teletype,
but there still weren't any voice communications."

Frey said he forged some lasting friendships during his tour in the
region and says today's airmen have a lot to be thankful for.

"The days of marking long strips of sand with burnt oil to outline
runways are a thing of the past," he said. "Our lighting was portable
and it was essential to make sure we had sufficient amounts of it in
case of emergencies.

"It may not be the best place on the earth to be deployed to, but it's
been a lot worse than it is today," Frey said. "I'd urge airmen to get
to know the people and the culture. These are experiences that will
last a lifetime." (Courtesy of Air Combat Command News Service)
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Note to editors: The images for AFNS stories are available in the news
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login: anonymous, password: guest; change directories to AFNS and get
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971621a,b. Cleanup continues following Typhoon Paka -- Cutlines
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971621a.gif and 971621a.jpg
(From left) Staff Sgt. Louie Dyer, Master Sgt. Sheila Burby, Tech. Sgt.
Warren Mechling and Senior Airman Martin Cochran from the 36th Supply
Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, pick up debris in the base
housing area following Typhoon Paka. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Ball)

971621b.gif and 971621b.jpg
Tech. Sgt. Norm Gante and Staff Sgt. John Collins of the 36th Services
Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, remove a door from the troop
storage cooler that was heavily damaged by Typhoon Paka. (Photo by
Staff Sgt. Steve Ball)