-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! 0893. Air Force requests $80.5 billion in 2002 budget by Staff Sgt. Amy Parr Air Force Print News WASHINGTON -- Defense officials recently released their proposed $329.9 billion budget for fiscal 2002, with $80.5 billion requested for Air Force-specific programs. The Department of Defense budget, the largest since the mid-1980s, targets pay, housing expenses, infrastructure, military health care, facilities and processes. According to Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Dov Zakheim, the DOD budget is broken up as follows: -- Procurement, $61.6 billion; -- Operations and maintenance, $125.7 billion; -- Research and development, $47.4 billion; -- Military personnel, $82.3 billion; and -- Other, $10.6 billion. The budget gives service members a minimum 5-percent pay raise, with targeted pay raises up to 10 percent for middle grades. Civilian pay raises are set for 3.6 percent, with targeted pay raises in critical skills, such as air traffic controllers. Out-of-pocket expenses for people living off base will be reduced to 11.3 percent and, according to Zakheim, will be eliminated by fiscal 2005. Quite a bit of the Air Force budget is dedicated to human resources and recruiting and retention, said Maj. Gen. Larry Northington, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for budget. "The Air Force is a retention service, and maintaining those field technicians is awfully important to us." The Air Force is trying to maintain its experienced people, targeting midlevel and senior noncommissioned officers, as well as midgrade officers, said Northington. "We put a substantial amount of money in bonuses and special pays, maintaining the enlistment bonus to attract folks in and, in many cases, expanding the reenlistment bonuses to keep them in." Other highlights of the Air Force budget include: -- Increased military construction, with 60 percent mission focused, 18 percent support related, and 22 percent dealing with quality-of-life issues; -- Sustaining current modernization programs, including revitalizing 2,189 military family housing units; -- Addressing degraded facilities; and -- Modifying, upgrading and improving reliability of aircraft, such as updating F-16 avionics and weapons delivery and improving E-3 radar systems. It is important to defense officials that military people are treated in a way they deserve to be treated, said Zakheim. "They're the ones out there. They're the ones risking their lives for us. Clearly, we can't play any games or take any risks with morale; it's as simple as that." 0897. Airman drowns in Alaska EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) - Airman First Class Nathanial A. Malli, a weapons-load crew member with the 18th Fighter Squadron here, drowned June 26 at 9:30 a.m. in the base's Polaris Lake. Malli's body was recovered at 12:12 p.m. by Alaska State Trooper rescue divers. Malli was part of a five-person base clean-up team. The drowning occurred when Malli and another airman on the clean-up team tried to swim across the lake, which was approximately 100 yards across and 25 feet deep. Reportedly, Malli became tired and could not reach the other side, while the other airman made it across safely. The supervisor of the team, who was on shore, tried to rescue Malli, but was unsuccessful. The supervisor then called 911, and base fire and security forces units responded immediately. Alaska state troopers also responded with a search-and-rescue diving team. Malli, whose hometown was Crofton, Md., had been at Eielson for one year. (Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service) 0896. July issue of Airman magazine available SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Air Force pararescuemen saving lives above icy waters in Iceland leads off the July issue of Airman magazine, available online at http://www.af.mil/news/airman. Also in this issue: -- Weekend in a War Zone. The Department of Defense has partnered with one of the busiest trauma centers in the United States to give Air Force doctors, nurses and medics a taste of the modern battlefield, an inner-city war zone. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/docs.html. -- Miracle in Illinois. Capt. Chad and 2nd Lt. Melissa Heyen were overjoyed to be having a son. But he was born premature and struggled to survive. The Heyens hoped and prayed and received an outpouring of support. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/preem.html. -- The 'Lifers.' Think you can work on the job for four decades? Maybe not. Many airman serve four years and say, "Adios Air Force." Some serve their 20 and retire. But those who stick it out for 30, even 40, years have their own reasons for staying. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/old.html. -- Bataan Recalled. More than 75,000 U.S. and Philippine soldiers were forced to march more than 65 miles through the scorching heat of the Philippine jungles to prison camps. Fifteen thousand soldiers died during one of the most devastating events of World War II. Marchers are honored each year with a memorial 26.2-mile march in the New Mexico desert. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/bataan.html. -- Laura's House. Laura's Muha has a big heart and a soft spot for young people. So with her husband, Darren, she helps airmen transition to service life at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. She invites them to dinner, tells them about Minot and that they're always welcome in her home. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/cook.html. In addition, regular columns like Airman's World and Consumer keep you up to date with what's happening in the Air Force. Click to http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0701/departfr.html. Look for copies of Airman on your base or on the Web at http://www.af.mil/news/airman. Call your public affairs office for details, or order copies for your unit by e-mailing a complete mailing address to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 0895. New program shortens operational environmental planning process by Capt. Denise N. Shorb Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- Special operators can now quickly assess the impact of environmental and cultural conditions at deployed locations in just 30 minutes, thanks to a new computer program developed by the Air Force Special Operations Command environmental office here. The Global Operational Environmental Review computer program streamlined the environmental impact review process, which currently can take up to three months to prepare. AFSOC/CEV, in conjunction with CH2M Hill, the primary development contractor and system integrator, created this innovative environmental planning computer program. "The Department of Defense is limited in its ability to quickly analyze and review potential environmental and legal impacts of a deployment or mission," said Mike Applegate, AFSOC environmental division chief. "Consequently, deployments or missions that require short notice to plan and execute aren't getting properly evaluated prior to execution for potential environmental impacts." Developed to provide a required environmental review capability on short notice in a secure or deployed location, the GOER program can also be expanded to meet all routine mission and exercise planning. "The program is designed to allow the user to input information such as base camp location, airframes to be used, activities to be conducted, and duration of these activities, and it will then generate an environmental impact statement based on the provided information," said Anita Allen, the regional technical lead for CH2M Hill. The program also identifies cultural concerns for the impacted area, said Applegate. "The program takes into account not only environmental concerns such as type of soil, endangered animals, and climate, but makes cultural considerations as well. Once the information is inputted into the program, it will highlight cultural landmarks, nofly zones, and religious holidays that need to be considered when planning an operation in any area." "We're trying to operationalize the environmental process," said Col. Michael Hrapla, AFSOC director of civil engineering. "We're doing this by developing a tool that automates a significant portion of the environmental review process, streamlines and prioritizes the critical information needed by the mission commanders and planners, and provides this info in a seamless, transparent manner to reduce any additional workload. "Forces today are required to accomplish their mission in an environmentally sensitive way in operations worldwide. This tool will provide that capability quickly, accurately, and efficiently for our special operations commanders." Currently, the GOER program has been developed for the Central Command area of responsibility. Applegate hopes to have a fully operationally capable global GOER program developed by 2003, covering all five areas of responsibility. One benefit of the program is that anyone can use it, because there are only four requirements for input: location, mission duration, equipment to be used, and the planned activity. The program then provides a commander's summary, an environmental review report, and a synopsis of applicable regulations. The commander's summary is a color-coded quick-look report summary that reflects three degrees of probable impact significance. Green indicates no significant environmental issues, yellow represents some significant but easily correctable environmental impacts, and red indicates potentially complex environmental or legal issues, which would normally require input from an environmental professional. The environmental review report is produced in the Air Force environmental impact analysis format. This report documents the pre-deployment environmental review required by various Department of Defense and Air Force Instructions. It provides details of the commander's summary report information. The last report provides any applicable regulations specific to the country or AOR. The GOER program spans the dividing lines between operational planning and environmental assessments, said retired Col. Jerry Cruit, an MH-53 pilot and contractor with AFSOC. "For any given deployment, it provides the operational planners and leadership with solid insight of what the environment can potentially do to both their people and their equipment. In addition, GOER points out potential legal and cultural pitfalls that planners and leadership need to be aware of," he said. The computer program and the data it provides will be useful to other DOD organizations outside of the Air Force, serving as a backbone for environmental reviews in the planning stages of a deployment, said Hrapla. Once completed, it could revolutionize the process for required stateside National Environmental Policy Act documentation by reducing the time required for data acquisition from months to minutes. 0894. Radar research may help operators see through foliage ROME, N.Y. (AFPN) -- Experts from the Air Force Research Laboratory's information directorate here awarded a $99,039 contract June 15 to a Utica firm that hopes to help radar operators better locate ground targets hidden under trees and bushes. AFRL officials awarded the contract to Integrated Sensors Inc. The nine-month agreement, "Foliage Penetration Synthetic Aperture Radar Enhancements," was awarded under the federal government's Small Business Innovative Research program. "Current radars have an inherent problem with 'seeing' through trees and vegetation that provide cover to vehicles traveling along the roads," said Jon Jones, program manager in the directorate's information and intelligence exploitation division. "The problem with maintaining surveillance on vehicles under these conditions is they can maneuver in ways that are unpredictable -- like stopping for periods of time or turning directions." The contract will allow scientists to investigate radars capable of seeing through foliage and use this information to fuse with existing systems, leading to a capability to track vehicles through move-stop-move conditions within the foliage cover, said Jones. Jones said two primary radar modes will be investigated -- synthetic aperture and ground moving target indication. Synthetic aperture radar develops radar images of the area to detect fixed targets, like vehicles that are not moving, he said. Ground moving target indication radar helps detect moving targets or vehicles. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? 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