-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! 0487. Three airmen among 16 killed in Vietnam helicopter crash WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Three active-duty Air Force people were among the 16 killed in a helicopter crash in central Vietnam April 7. Maj. Charles E. Lewis, 36, of Las Cruces, N.M., Master Sgt. Steven L. Moser, 38, of San Diego, Calif., and Tech. Sgt. Robert M. Flynn, 35, of Huntsville, Ala., were assigned to Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, based at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. The helicopter crashed during a routine mission while preparing for a recovery operation involving unaccounted-for Americans lost during the Vietnam War, said Army Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, during a press conference April 7 at Camp H.M. Smith. Since 1985, American teams, with the full support of their Vietnamese counterparts, have conducted investigations and excavations in that country. As a result, the remains of more than 600 Americans have been recovered and identified. A board of officers will investigate the accident. 0488. Soybean oil helps fuel Air Force biodiesel test by Staff Sgt. Andeelynn Owens 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT Air Force Base, Ill. (AFPN) -- Starting May 1, all diesel-powered government vehicles here will test an alternative fuel, known as B20 biodiesel, that is 20 percent soybean oil and 80 percent diesel fuel. The Air Force and Defense Department are conducting the one-year test to determine if the use of B20 will help reduce pollution and contribute to the national goal of cutting down the use of imported oil by 20 percent. Commercial use has shown that biodiesel fuel produces significantly lower exhaust emissions than other petrol-based diesel and costs the same per gallon as the standard product. The test involves 270 diesel-powered vehicles assigned to the 375th Airlift Wing and the 126th Air Refueling Wing here. The base will dispense an estimated 65,000 gallons of the fuel during the one-year trial. "In the next year the base fuels lab, along with the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armament Command petroleum labs, will be collecting and analyzing data for increased usage of this product DOD-wide," said Steve Stroot, 375th Logistics Support Squadron. "As (Scott AFB) is the first base in the Air Force to test B20, we want it (the test) to succeed. Most of the bugs have been worked out with the exception of some of the minor sampling analysis." The DOD's transportation and fuel communities have developed an in-depth plan of attack to measure the suitability of this product, said Master Sgt. Tim Kearney, Air Mobility Command's fuels operations superintendent. "The demonstration (at Scott AFB) will collect data that should allow other units throughout DOD to make informed decisions on B20 use at their installations." Biodiesel is being tested now because of the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Clean Air Act requires federal agencies to buy at least 75 percent alternative fueled vehicles for their fleets. The act was amended in 1998 to permit federal agencies to use biodiesel to meet up to half those requirements. Master Sgt. Ron Guay, the AMC vehicle operations superintendent, has championed the use of B20 biodiesel in the Air Force. "The advantage of using B20 biodiesel versus other alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas, propane or ethanol fuel, is that there are no modifications required for the fuel storage and delivery infrastructure," Guay said. "The real advantage B20 use has over other alternate fuels on the market is that no vehicle adjustments or modifications are required." Other agencies which have an integral role in the effectiveness of the project include U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, Warren, Mich.; Air Force Installation Logistics Office, Technical Division, Air Force Petroleum Office, Kelly AFB, Texas; and Alternate Fueled Vehicle System Program Office, Warner-Robins AFB, Ga. (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service) 0485. Air Force takes three of four top commissary awards for 2000 by Kevin Hennelly Defense Commissary Agency Public Affairs FORT LEE, Va. (AFPN) -- The Defense Commissary Agency has announced the winners of the 2000 Best Commissary Awards. Air Force commissaries were selected as the best in three of the four categories. The winners are: -- Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., winner of the Bill Nichols Award for the Best Large Commissary in the United States; -- Beale AFB, Calif., winner of the Richard M. Paget Award for Best Small Commissary in the United States; -- Osan Air Base, Korea, winner of the Dan Daniel Award for the Best Large Commissary Overseas; and -- Livorno Commissary, Camp Darby, Italy, winner of the L. Mendel Rivers Award for the Best Small Commissary Overseas. "The management teams in all of the competing commissaries displayed great commitment to our strategic objectives," said Maj. Gen. Robert J. Courter Jr., director of DeCA. "The performance of these stores shows how DeCA's effort to increase sales, reduce unit costs, shape our work force, improve our infrastructure and leverage technology translates into an improved benefit for our customers. "I appreciate the leadership displayed by the store directors of all the competing commissaries in keeping their shelves stocked, offering their customers great produce, taking care of their stores' appearance and keeping in touch with their customers," Courter said. "I congratulate all of the competitors and especially the winners." The Best Commissary awards are named in memory of statesmen who protected the commissary benefit and championed quality of life issues for the military and their families. Competition winners and finalists will each receive engraved trophies. The finalists are: -- Best Large Commissary in the United States: Offutt AFB, Neb.; March AFB, Calif.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Calif.; and Norfolk Naval Base, Va. -- Best Small Commissary in the United States: Minot AFB, N.D.; Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.; China Lake Naval Weapon Station, Calif.; Whiting Field Naval Air Station, Fla.; and Dahlgren Naval Surface Weapons Center, Va. -- Best Large Commissary outside of the United States: Vicenza, Italy. -- Best Small Commissary outside of the United States: Keflavik Naval Station, Iceland; and Camp Kinser, Korea. Three evaluation teams here conducted on-site evaluations of the 17 nominees. The evaluations covered six major areas dealing with the scope of commissary operations: management, customer service, grocery, meat, produce and accountability controls. The teams were particularly interested in each competitor's integration of DeCA's strategic objectives in their day-to-day operations and their attention to leadership issues. Team members evaluated each commissary against a comprehensive list of criteria and talked with managers, employees, customers and installation officials. 0486. Special center validates improved warfighting capabilities by Capt. Todd Fleming Aerospace Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center Public Affairs LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- The Combined Aerospace Operations Center-Experimental here has proven its worth, according to Air Force officials. The center recently completed an operational assessment that will result in the delivery of command and control hardware and software with innovative and expanded capabilities to the new CAOC at Prince Sultan Air Base in Southwest Asia. "The system is working very well," said Lt. Col. Randy Lefevre from Central Air Forces. "We're ensuring the process is working end to end and we're fine-tuning that process for us. CAOC-X is a phenomenal testbed and tool to bring this (command and control) system out." A CAOC is the primary theater command and control, or C2, facility responsible for orchestrating an air campaign for a coalition effort. The new CAOC at Prince Sultan AB is responsible for overseeing enforcement of the no-fly zone over Iraq. CAOC-X was established by Air Combat Command and Air Force Materiel Command to help operators, acquisition professionals, testers, and industry experts quickly deliver the newest technologies and processes to aerospace operations centers through a process called spiral development, said Col. Craig Lightfoot, CAOC-X director. CAOC-X represents a new paradigm in Air Force thinking that recognizes the need for quicker delivery of the latest technology, particularly in the area of information technology, Lightfoot said. Much of the effort of CAOC-X is focused on turning the AOCs into a standardized weapon system that has a professional core of C2 operators and current and standardized technology and processes. The Air Force is focused on creating expeditionary CAOCs that have a small hardware and personnel footprint, employ certified operators, and provide decision-quality, actionable information that enables the commander and his staff to command aerospace power. Currently, all of the AOC's around the world have different configurations. The goal is to standardize them into a single weapon system configuration allowing for some minor variations based on mission needs. "Although now a hub for bringing in good ideas, CAOC-X will ultimately serve as a prototype for all AOCs," said Col. Pete Hoene, Electronic Systems Center. "It is both a development and assessment tool." "While short-term exercises and experiments help decision-makers determine what works well and what areas need improvement, the ability to rapidly develop, and realistically test promising initiatives is essential to realizing the true vision of the AOC weapon system," he said. The successful operational assessment completed by the CAOC-X is a prime example. "We've been doing an evaluation to ensure the necessary information can be integrated and passed over networks," said Dennis Yaskowsky, Theater Battle Management Core Systems senior analyst. "The operational assessment will take the data and evaluate how the information will support the warfighter in terms of speed of service, data reliability, and executable efforts. "By April, we are going to deliver the Block 10 baseline, the initial configuration required to establish Prince Sultan Air Base in the use of s in the CAOC," he said. The Block 10 baseline is the first series of capabilities that will be delivered to AOCs throughout the Air Force. Additional capabilities will be added and further developed in future "block" deliveries, similar to how other weapons systems are currently upgraded. The Theater Battle Management Core System is the suite of command and control software required to orchestrate aerospace operations. It consists of many systems integrated together into a complete battle information system. The capabilities being delivered in the Block 10 baseline include the ability to produce and disseminate to coalition forces a releasable air tasking order and a 24-hour plan to execute air operations. It also has the ability to create an air picture of the battlespace that shows where all aerospace assets are located at a given time that can be released to other coalition nations. Other capabilities include the ability to disseminate releasable intelligence products; and reduce the hardware footprint in an open coalition environment, meaning cutting back significantly on the amount of equipment that is required in a CAOC. "We identified several hardware, software, and process issues that we worked through cooperatively to provide the best solution to the field," said William Merrill, CAOC-X systems manager from ESC. "Had we not done this here, we would have discovered these issues at Prince Sultan and been forced to work through them on the spot with a lot less support and within the time constraint pressures of standing up a new overseas facility." "The bottom line," Yaskowsky said, "is getting the systems to the operators in the field in the minimum amount of time." In addition to the AC2ISRC and the Electronic Systems Center, the CAOC-X team has participants from ACC's Aerospace Operations and Communications and Information Systems directorates, 8th and 9th Air Forces; Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, the Command and Control Battlelab, the 46th and 605th Test Squadrons, the 609th Air Communications Squadron, Air Mobility Command, and the Command and Control Theater Innovation Group, and Air Force Special Operations Command. The organization also relies on key information technology and defense companies. "This has been an outstanding team effort from all the organizations and communities working together as a team to mitigate risks, thereby ensuring the best C2 system is fielded at PSAB in support of (Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia)," said William Diemand, 605th Test Squadron. "After plenty of growing pains, we've put together the A-team and chartered a course many thought was impossible," said Capt. Tony Perkins, CAOC-X chief of communications information. "It normally takes about two years to move an AOC based on civil engineering, communications, operations, and testing and assessment requirements. We're doing it in nine months." *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? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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