-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! 0204. Emblem removed on C-9 aircraft WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Air Force directed the removal of the Red Cross emblem from the service's C-9 fleet in a move expected to expand the use of the aircraft. International law under the Geneva Convention limits the use of C-9 aircraft bearing a Red Cross to fly only medical missions. Based on this, the Air Force will remove the emblem so the C-9 fleet can be used for other missions; however, the area will be left uncovered to allow the emblem to be reapplied in support of a contingency or wartime operation. Units have until January 2002 to conduct the removal process in the most efficient and cost effective manner, Air Force officials said. 0205. Air Force tax filing assistance now available WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- More than 95 tax assistance offices Air Force-wide, staffed with about 5,000 volunteers, opened their doors and kicked off the 2001 income tax preparation and filing season. The free service is organized annually by the office of the staff judge advocate at their respective bases. Legal offices, in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service and volunteers from the military community, set up tax office facilities and recruited and trained volunteer unit tax advisers. Last year, the Air Force tax program saved the military community more than $11 million in tax preparation filing fees, said Maj. Melinda Davis-Perritano, deputy chief and tax program manager for the Air Force's legal assistance division. More than 125,000 federal income tax returns were electronically filed. Electronic filing improves the quality-of-life for people by enabling them to receive their income tax refunds in a fraction of the time it takes to process a paper return, and without paying an electronic filing fee, said Davis-Perritano. Electronic income tax filing services for Air Force members were introduced as part of the "People First" initiative, a quality-of-life program announced by the secretary of the Air Force in 1994. Tax assistance is considered "mission-related" legal assistance under Air Force Instruction 51-504, Legal Assistance and Preventive Law Program. "Air Force commanders like the dividends paid by the tax program because it is a great quality-of-life convenience that takes the worry out of tax preparation and puts money quickly back into their members' pockets," said Lt. Col. Walt Skierski, chief of the legal assistance division. People can contact their local base legal office for more information on the Air Force tax program office nearest them. 0203. Logistics review begins for Air Mobility Command SCOTT Air Force Base, Ill. (AFPN) -- The recently completed Chief of Staff Logistics Review is moving into the implementation phase for Air Mobility Command. "In essence, the CLR is an end-to-end analysis of how we conduct our logistics activities at the unit level in support of the expeditionary air force," said Col. Jeffrey Ackerson, chief of the transportation division at AMC's directorate of logistics. Implementation of the CLR will refine and test key logistics concepts, processes and some organizational constructs. The core areas of the review include enlisted technical training and officer development, material management, sortie production and fleet management, and contingency planning. "The implementation of the review requires a minimum of turbulence, works within our current resources and ensures support to the EAF," Ackerson said. Air Mobility Command is participating fully at the headquarters staff and unit level in this process. Concepts of operations are under development that will drive how the studies are accomplished Air Force-wide. Several of AMC wings will assist in developing and carrying out tests of CLR activities. Major areas of study and test locations are: -- Material management -- including the merger of supply and transportation squadrons at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J, and Fairchild AFB, Wash. -- Sortie production and fleet management -- including placing the Maintenance Aircraft Coordination Center under the wing logistics group at Pope AFB, N.C., McConnell AFB, Kan., and Travis AFB, Calif. -- Contingency planning -- including moving logistics plans under logistics at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., and Charleston AFB, S.C. Besides these tests, the CLR will examine revisions to Air Force logistics instructions and policies. AMC is represented on all of the Air Staff-directed action teams for each area. "We will also look at training issues for our enlisted force and the development of a dual career track for logistics officers," Ackerson said. Officer development will evolve to a maintenance-munitions track and a supply-transportation-logistics plans track. It will also include a "weapons school" for selected logistics officers. Finally, the CLR will include the development of pipeline metrics and methods for improving the activities of regional supply squadrons. While much of the CLR activity is still evolving, there are some specific action areas. The first area is the complete review and rewrite of Air Force Instruction 21-101, Maintenance Management of Aircraft. This AFI influences most of the processes used to generate and maintain aircraft. All logistics functional areas will begin their own AFI revisions to capture the key changes brought by the CLR. Current timelines call for completion of work on policies and AFIs by the end of the year. A second area of interest is material management. Combining supply and ground transportation will produce an organization with six flights: material management, deployed readiness, management and systems, travel support, vehicle management, and fuels. Although these branch names may change, the functions will remain the same. Many of the specific details and structure require further study, officials said. Finally, the timelines for these initiatives look for testing to start in June and continue into the spring of 2002 when the CLR initiatives are implemented Air Force-wide. "We are early into the CLR implementation phase and many of the concepts are evolving," said Ackerson. "We intend to keep all members of AMC informed and updated on the CLR as it progresses. "The CLR provides the logistics community a unique opportunity to shape the future of our support to the (aerospace expeditionary force) at the base level and improve how we support the mission from an AMC perspective," Ackerson said. "We are looking for widespread participation from the AMC logistics community across the command to produce the right results." There is much more to come and that the functional representatives on the AMC/LG staff will provide information to the field and are available to answer any questions on CLR issues, Ackerson said. "We will also provide information to your wing through your logistics group commanders and their points of contact," he said. The Air Staff transportation Web site at http://www.il.hq.af.mil/ilt/clr/index.html is available for those interested in checking on the progress of transportation initiatives. Other CLR functional areas plan to begin Web sites soon. 0206. Lieutenant convicted of theft, misusing controlled substance by Capt. John Rieder 88th Air Base Wing assistant staff judge advocate WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- A lieutenant assigned to the 74th Medical Group here pleaded guilty and was convicted Jan. 26 by a general court-martial for stealing and using a controlled substance, making a false official statement, and conduct unbecoming an officer. First Lt. Alyssa Phares' conviction arose from several separate incidents at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center here where the lieutenant, an emergency room nurse, removed vials of meperidine hydrochloride from the drug dispenser, injected herself, refilled the empty vials with saline solution, and placed the tampered vials back into the drug dispenser. Meperidine hydrochloride, commonly known as Demerol, is a controlled substance. Phares was sentenced by a panel of commissioned officers to confinement for 30 days, dismissal from the Air Force, and total forfeiture of all pay and allowances. (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service) 0207. Centralized avionics repair saves money, keeps people home by Staff Sgt. Dean J. Miller 48th Fighter Wing public affairs ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (AFPN) -- The 48 Fighter Wing's Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility, or CIRF, returned 14 jet engines and 275 avionics items to the Air Force inventory last year, saving both time and money. The concept was simple: use the 48th FW's logistics infrastructure to receive, repair and return F-15C Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle jet engines and avionics to units deployed to the Middle East, or to the worldwide supply system. "What we've done is kept units deployed to the Middle East from shipping all their support equipment -- which for an avionics facility is about two C-5 (Galaxies) of gear," said Chief Master Sgt. Frank Levand, 48th Logistics Group senior enlisted manager. "This has saved money and eliminated the need to deploy many different specialists." The repair facility saves time by cutting the pipeline, or shipping time for forward-based units and established an in-theater stock of avionics items. Pipeline time starts the day a broken engine or low-altitude navigation targeting infrared for night pod is shipped out of a forward area and ends the day the repaired item is returned. "When a deployed unit needs an avionics item they look to us first, because we're sending repairable items into the supply computers for worldwide issue, and maintaining them here until they are requested," Levand said. "For engines and LANTIRN pods, the deployed units ship and receive the same item back, fully repaired - but they also stage specialists here to assist in the repair of these items." The CIRF required separate accounts and processing procedures so 48th FW funds would not be used in support of other Air Force units. Units here provide manpower and service, and the deployed unit picks up the tab for parts and shipping. Just prior to Operation Allied Force, Levand said, a study proposed establishment of four worldwide CIRFs that would receive increased manning in times of crisis. Before the ink on the study was dry, the operation forced the concept into action. Deployed technicians were absorbed into the 48th Component Repair Squadron propulsion and avionics flights in support of the war effort. On a smaller scale, the effort continues today. A local operating instruction and pre-deployment communication at the flight chief level has proven key to the system, said Chief Master Sgt. Chuck Nail, 48th CRS propulsion flight chief. The instruction calls for LANTIRN and propulsion specialists to deploy here and augment the 48th CRS depending on how many pods and engines the unit has deployed. Deployed airmen work alongside their RAF Lakenheath counterparts. Master Sgt. Thomas Murray is a team leader deployed from Elmendorf's 3rd Component Repair Squadron in support of the 3rd Wing's Operation Northern Watch mission at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. "Our commander's marching orders were to build a quality product -- just like we do at home station," Murray said. "(RAF Lakenheath has) a much bigger, better facility than we do, so our job here is easy. And while we wait for our engines to come in, we're working on Lakenheath engines which is keeping the whole team sharp, and advancing the training of our younger guys." In the 48th CRS avionics flight, 118 airmen repair 300 to 350 avionics items per month. These include the various electronic "boxes" called line replaceable units and the LANTIRN pods -- critical to the F-15E's targeting capability. The CIRF concept allows the flight to repair the line replaceable units in numbers above the 48th FW authorization and requirements. These are placed on a separate worldwide supply account. Critical to the entire CIRF is the role of the supply and transportation squadrons -- ensuring the reliable flow of incoming and outgoing parts. "The parts are requested through the depot item manager; they manage our parts and determine who has the highest priority and where the parts are shipped," said Chief Master Sgt. Steven Webster, 48th Supply Squadron. "They even determine Liberty Wing eligibility for CIRF parts that we've repaired. "It's a great system because the benefits come at virtually no additional cost to the Air Force," Webster said. "We're doing it with the same manpower that's already here -- we're just increasing our workload for the benefit of the Air Force. Everyone needs parts to keep the jets flying; if we can help the depot, we're helping the entire F-15 community, which ultimately helps us." Once CIRF items are repaired or directed for shipment, the 48th Transportation Squadron steps in -- selecting the most reliable, timely and cost-effective service to ship the parts. Costs associated with shipments can be staggering; an F-15 engine shipped from Kuwait to the United States costs $13,836: another one repaired at and shipped from Lakenheath to Kuwait cost $6,461 -- a significant saving in shipping cost. "There are avionics components you can place in the palm of your hand that cost tens of thousands of dollars," said Roy Carter, 48th Transportation Squadron traffic management office flight chief. "These are expensive parts; what they represent to a flying mission somewhere makes them even more valuable. So, we're very careful in shipping and tracking them." In the last two years, the 48th FW has proven the CIRF concept works. U.S. Air Forces in Europe have embraced it, and it is being looked at for Air Force-wide potential. 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