Reservists who commute to Joint Base Lewis-McChord for duty receive travel pay based on distance. Those traveling from outside an established commuting area are eligible for lodging. That commute area has recently changed.

Based on a policy memorandum recently signed by the Joint Base Lewis-McChord commander, Col. H. Charles Hodges, and coordinated with the 446th Airlift Wing commander, Col. Bruce Bowers, Jr., the local travel area surrounding JBLM has been redefined.

The local travel area surrounding JBLM is defined as Pierce and Thurston counties and portions of Lewis, King, Kitsap, and Mason counties. Zip codes more precisely identify the commute area.

Reservists can find the new policy, with list of zip codes defining the commute area, on the wing's SharePoint page under "Announcements."

The new policy memorandum supersedes previous procedures for determining local commute area contained in 446th AW/CC Interim Guidance Memorandum dated Aug. 4 , 2009 and becomes effective for Reservists for all travel beginning Nov. 1.

"Before, the guidance we followed to determine the local commute area was 50 miles or one hour drive time. But, the Joint Federal Travel Regulation specifies that we can't use an arbitrary radius to define the local commuting area," said Butch Cruz, 446th AW Financial Management Office. "And the JFTR also gives the installation commander the authority to establish the commute area."

"I think a few more people will now be outside the local commute area, thereby increasing requirements for lodging a bit," said Cruz, who also is a senior master sergeant with the 446th Operations Group. "An area we focused on was Seattle. Under the new policy, the Seattle area north of I-90 is now outside the local commute area. Previously, some of those areas were considered local."

The Air Command and Staff College is launching a new version of the non-master's "correspondence" program during the last week of September.

This comprehensive distance learning transformation is designed to enhance critical thinking skills and improve the educational value of professional military education for mid-grade officers and civilians, officials said.

While the content remains similar, the learning experience will be completely different. Along with lesson narratives, reading materials and lesson progress checks, students will encounter videos, computer-based interactive learning activities and "game-like" exercises, all available in an online environment. Self-paced study will be enhanced through collaborative online seminars that enable students to engage more deeply in course concepts via faculty-guided, peer-to-peer interactions.

"Senior leadership has charged us to develop adaptive, critical-thinking leaders capable of meeting the dynamic challenges presented by our complex security environment," said Dr. Bart Kessler, dean of distance learning programs at ACSC. "We are working to meet that challenge with the next-generation ACSC distance learning program."

Building on lessons learned from the online master's program launched in 2007, ACSC distance learning developers leveraged technology and collaborative learning to create an interactive learning experience that eliminates the traditional "box of books," comprehensive multiple-choice exams and trips to base test centers. While several hundred officers and a number of civilians are able to attend ACSC in-residence for 10 months each year, the distance learning programs enable thousands more to complete PME at their own pace from locations around the globe.

Current distance learning students have received notification about program completion deadlines as a means to help prevent any interruptions in student PME progression.

More information about the new ACSC DL program will be posted at http://www.au.af.mil/au/acsc/distance-learning.asp. 

(Courtesy of  Air Command and Staff College.) 

Air Force officials are urging Regular Air Force Airmen who are eligible to reenlist or extend their current enlistment in December and early Jan. 2013 to complete these personnel actions through the myPers website and their base military personnel sections or force support squadrons by Nov. 15 to avoid processing delays and military pay issues.

Airmen need to accomplish these actions because the Air Force is upgrading and transferring the Military Personnel Data System to the Defense Information Systems Agency's Defense Enterprise Computing Center in December. The upgrade project is scheduled to take about 23 days to complete, during which time, MilPDS will not be available.

MilPDS is the primary records database for personnel data and actions that occur throughout every total force Airman's career. MilPDS is also used to initiate Airman pay actions, maintain Air Force accountability and strength data and support a host of interactions with other Air Force processes and systems that rely on personnel data.

Airmen should access the myPers website and work with their base MPSs or FSSs to minimize the impact the MilPDS upgrade will have on processing military personnel transactions like reenlistments or extending current enlistments.

Reenlistment-eligible Airmen or Airmen with service-directed retainability requirements such as Permanent Change of Station or retraining orders should contact their base MPS and complete their reenlistment or enlistment extension paperwork by Nov. 15.

"Airmen who accomplish their reenlistment or enlistment extension by Nov. 15 should not experience interruptions in their pay because their MPS can process their actions and clear any rejects in the system prior to the MilPDS upgrade," said Michael McLaughlin, Air Force Personnel Center reenlistments branch chief. "Getting these personnel transactions completed and into the Defense Finance and Accounting Service system are the fastest means to update an Airman's pay and entitlements and will reduce the need for DFAS to manually override or correct an Airman's pay record."

Airmen can reenlist during the upgrade in December, but they may experience additional delays in processing these transactions to DFAS if their date of separation expires during the MilPDS upgrade. AFPC officials also noted there are no changes to the Selective Reenlistment Bonus or Critical Skills Retention Bonus eligibility criteria.

The Air Force processes more than 60,000 reenlistments and enlistment extensions annually.

Reserve and Guard members will receive specific instructions from the Air Force Reserve Command and Air Reserve Personnel Center concerning how the MilPDS upgrade will impact their personnel programs. More information is available on the ARPC public website at http://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil.

FSS and MPS representatives are continuing to host MilPDS upgrade briefings to help base leadership and Airmen understand the upgrade's impact on Airmen and Air Force personnel programs.

Officials will continue to release additional information and guidance to the Air Force's manpower, personnel, services and pay communities and total force Airmen to continue to educate them on how the service will perform critical personnel and pay tasks during the MilPDS upgrade.

For more information about the MilPDS upgrade, visit the myPers website at http://mypers.af.mil.

While Brad Johannes stood on third base as the potential game-winning base runner, one thought ran through his mind.

"All I could think about was my 0-for-5 game," Johannes said. "I was hoping I could make it up to the team."

Johannes did just so as he beat the throw at home on a slide that lifted the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron to a 16-15 victory over the 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord installation softball championship Aug. 31 at McChord Field.

With the game tied at 15 after the seven innings of regulation, a base runner was automatically placed on second base to start the extra inning. At the top of the eighth 56th MMB was unable to bring the base runner home. At the bottom of the inning Johannes was placed on second. He advanced to third and then scored on a grounder by pitcher James Abney.

This was the fifth and final season Johannes played with the Engineers; he will PCS next week to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

"I just wanted this last one before I went," he said.

After winning the JBLM Air Force softball championship on a rally in the final inning the previous week, the Engineers were used to fighting from behind. The 56th MMB created a quick 9-1 lead after just two innings, but the Engineers slowly chipped away at the deficit to take the lead in the fifth inning before the score was tied in the seventh.

"There were always ups and downs but we always had a way to come through," Abney said. "We always developed that spark that got us some hard fought games. It wasn't an easy season, but it was a successful season."

Abney was the only Engineer to hit a home run with a hard shot down the left field line, while Nicholas Doyley led the 56th MMB Warriors with an out of the park homer.

"I'm usually just a base hitter," Doyley said. "That's only my second home run of the season."

Doyley caught for pitcher Tommy Crumedy. The 56th MMB lost its first game of the intramural season and won every game afterward, including the Army championship, but fell short in the grand finale. The team was missing a couple players from their roster, but Doyley chalks the loss up to complacency.

"We just relaxed too much," Doyley said. "We had too comfortable of a lead."

The Engineers celebrated the start of their Labor Day weekend when they received their installation championship trophy.

Bombs are dropping all around, gun fire can be heard in the distance, a C-130 Hercules makes a low pass of the battleground and overhead members are parachuting in. This may sound like a scene from a video game or movie, but it was the actual scene of the McChord Field Combat Dining-In, Aug. 17 at Heritage Hill.

More than 600 Airmen from the 62nd Airlift Wing, 627th Air Base Group, 446th Airlift Wing and other tenant units attended this year's event.

The event included an obstacle course, water fights, multiple points of order that sent members to the "grog," a simulated kidnapping of the wing commander and guest speaker, a fly over by a C-130 Hercules and two separate parachute jumps in which one included the guest speaker, Chief Master Sgt. Bruce Dixon, 24th Special Operations Wing command chief master sergeant.

"Overall the evening was a success," said Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Moore, McChord Field Honor Guard NCO in charge and combat dining-in event organizer. "As I looked around throughout the night, almost everyone had a smile on their face."

The dining-in ceremony is a formal military ceremony for members of a unit, which includes a dinner, festivities and other events to foster camaraderie and esprit de corps.

"The U.S. Air Force dining-in roots back to the 1930s with General H. ‘Hap' Arnold's wing-dings," said Chief Master Sgt. Gordon Drake, 62nd Airlift Wing command chief and sergeant-at-arms for this year's event. "This event gives the commander an opportunity to meet socially with their subordinates and enables military members of all ranks to create bonds of friendship through an atmosphere of camaraderie and fellowship."

That camaraderie and fellowship was prevalent throughout the evening when members of different units worked together to steal the chairs of the head table, planned water gun attacks on other units and coordinated abductions of commanders and other members from sister units.

"Squadrons and groups sat with each other, attacked and dined with one another and best of all, rallied with each other to shoot water guns, water balloons and acquire ‘other' items from the mess," said Senior Master Sgt. Angela Fernandez, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron first sergeant and madam vice for the event. "It really brought everyone together.

"Besides all of the mad fun everyone was having, I believe our guest speaker was the highlight of the evening," she added. "He reminded us of what we were here for and as well what and who we need to be...one team, one family, one fight."

Drake also pointed out another highlight of the event.

"Chief Dixon parachuting into the event certainly stands out as a highlight of the evening," said Drake. "My favorite part of the event was the motivating and uplifting speech given by the chief. It really summed up what it means to be an Airman."

With the sun setting behind the command building on McChord Field, the shadow cast a scene of a torn battlefield littered with remnants of water balloons, water guns and a battle that lasted for hours on end.

"The importance of this event was to bring everyone together to increase camaraderie, enjoy good fellowship and establish social rapport," said Fernandez. "Six hundred people from across the base in one place played, dined and just had fun together. Pretty awesome."

On one of the hottest days of the year in Washington, Airmen from McChord Field are headed to one of the coolest places - Antarctica.

Eleven 446th Airlift Wing Reservists, 23 active-duty 62nd AW Airmen, and one Airman each from the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron and 627th Logistics Readiness Squadron, departed Aug. 16 in support of Operation Deep Freeze's winter fly-in. The WinFly phase of ODF delivers advance teams and cargo for the upcoming main season of the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic program.

The McChord Field Airmen traveled to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, before they arrived Saturday at Christchurch, New Zealand to become the 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. The first scheduled flight to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, was Monday's WinFly, with subsequent flights Tuesday and Thursday.

Landing 15 miles from McMurdo on the ice runway known as Pegasus, the C-17s carry in scientists and support personnel to start early pre-summer projects, to augment maintenance personnel, and to prepare skiways and ice runways at McMurdo.

Christchurch is the starting point for forward deployment to McMurdo Station. ODF is unlike any other U.S. military operation. It is one of the military's most difficult peacetime missions due to the harsh Antarctic environment.

"Weather and fuel planning are the primary challenges of flying ODF missions," said Lt. Col. Bill Eberhardt, 728th Airlift Squadron and last season's 304th EAS commander. "When you go down there to McMurdo or airdrop on the South Pole, there's only one runway within about 2,200 miles you can land on. So you have issues with mission planning; if you lose an engine or something like that you don't have a lot of options."

ODF is a unique U.S. military peacetime operation during which Airmen based out of Christchurch, New Zealand, work in the harsh Antarctic environment.

Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica, led by Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, is scheduled to begin the ODF main season at the end of September.

ODF is divided into three seasons, WinFly, Main Body and Winter. It involves active duty and Reserve C-17 support from McChord, LC-130 support from the New York Air National Guard and other aircraft necessary to support the mission; U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers and the U.S. Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One to provide critical port services at McMurdo Station.

McChord Field has participated in ODF since 1983 using the C-141B Starlifter. The 446th AW got involved in 1995. The first C-17 trial for use to support ODF was Oct. 15, 1999.

This from The News Tribune: A former stockroom foreman at the McChord Field Exchange has been accused in federal court of stealing more than $325,000 in electronics and other merchandise from the store.

Andrew Quitugua allegedly admitted stealing from the exchange for nearly three years and selling the ill-gotten goods to a man he met through Craigslist, court records show.

Quitugua, who has yet to enter a plea, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma next month for a pre-trial hearing.

Read the entire story here.

In an effort to save time and money, the master personnel records branch staff at the Air Force Personnel Center wants retirees and former Airmen to know the correct procedures for requesting medical and personnel record information.

"Knowing the correct procedures can not only cut down on the requestor's wait time, it can also cut the routing time and our workload," said Capt. Darren James, branch operations officer.

Airmen who retired on or after Oct. 1, 2004 can request copies of records such as a DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), performance reports and other information by writing to AFPC/DPSIRP, 550 C St. West, Suite 19, Randolph AFB TX, 78150; faxing 210-565-4021; or visiting the eBenefits website at www.eBenefits.va.gov.

People requesting their own records need to send a completed Standard Form 180, Request Pertaining to Military Records, or a letter that includes their name, full Social Security number, contact information, specific record requested, and a signature. People requesting a deceased relative's record need to provide the above information, plus their relationship to the former Airman so next-of-kin relationship can be verified. Proof of death must also be furnished.

Veterans who retired before Oct. 1, 2004 must visit the National Personnel Records Center website at http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/ for record request instructions. People requesting the record of a deceased relative who retired before Oct. 1, 2004 may now use the NPRC website to order a copy of the military records.

Regardless of the request procedures used, processing can take time. Response time for records requests sent to NPRC varies and depends upon records availability and workload. NPRC receives approximately 4,000 to 5,000 requests per day. Officials at NPRC ask that people do not send a follow-up request before 90 days have elapsed as it may cause further delays.

Veterans who retired after Oct. 1, 2004 can access certain records online by registering for a premium account on www.eBenefits.va.gov. Click the register button at the top of the home page and follow the instructions provided to obtain a premium account. The website is managed by Veterans Affairs and may not be inclusive for all retirees.
"Requests processed through AFPC normally take 5 to 10 business days however, manning cuts across the Air Force have made it challenging for us to provide timely customer service to our veterans; so we are using technology to our benefit," said James. "There are definitely time and money savings associated when veterans access their records through the eBenefits website. The immediate savings we've seen by using eBenefits cuts the processing time tremendously from the current 5 to 10 business days to 24 to 48 hours."

Medical and dental records for all Airmen who retired before May 1994 are stored permanently at NPRC (see link above). Medical and dental records for Airmen who retired or separated after May 1994 are maintained by the Veterans Administration Service Medical Records Center at 888-533-4558.

For more information on records requests, visit the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AFNS) -- The 62nd Airlift Wing began the winter flying period Aug. 20 as part of its support of the U.S. Antarctic Program and the National Science Foundation.

The period, known as WinFly, is scheduled to last until Aug. 28 and will deliver advance teams and cargo for the upcoming main season of Operation Deep Freeze.

A C-17 Globemaster III aircraft operated by the 62nd AW and its Reserve associate wing, the 446th AW, will deploy to transport NSF personnel and cargo to Chistchurch International Airport, New Zealand.

Christchurch is the starting point for forward deployment to McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

WinFly and ODF are unlike any other U.S. military operations and present unique challenges for all members involved.

"Flying into Antarctica during WinFly is challenging because it is dark almost all day," said Maj. Matt Armstrong, 62nd Operations Group executive officer.

Unlike a traditional concrete runway, the airfield is carved out of the ice making it very difficult to discern the runway from the surrounding ice, said Armstrong.

Traditional airfield lighting is not feasible in the remote, icy airfield, so special reflectors are placed along either side of the runway to help the aircraft's lights reflect back into the cockpit.

"We have to adjust for crosswinds early and make a very straight approach to the runway," said Lt. Col. Brent Keenan, the 62nd Operations Group deputy commander and ODF commander. "Otherwise the light from the aircraft would not hit the reflectors and we would not be able to see the runway."

Another factor that makes WinFly missions difficult is the extremely low temperatures that occur in Antarctica during the month of August, which is wintertime in the southern hemisphere.

"Temperatures get so low in flight that the pilots have to make sure that the fuel in the wings doesn't get so cold that it turns into a gel," said Armstrong.

The Air Force is uniquely equipped and trained to operate in such an austere environment and has provided support to U.S. Antarctic research since 1955.

"This is a small subset of missions we do no matter what conflicts are going on elsewhere in the world," said Keenan. "It's a unique mission and it's all about furthering science."

Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica, led by Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is scheduled to begin the Operation Deep Freeze main season at the end of September.

The Reserve aircrews in the 446th Airlift Wing won't be using their fingertips to flip through thick technical orders to increase their knowledge anymore. Instead, they will be drawing them across touch screens on light and handy electronic tablets.

Air Mobility Command purchased about 300 Apple iPad 3 tablets for 446th AW aircrews, which were assigned to pilots and loadmasters Aug. 3, and will eventually serve as the primary tool for aircrews once full Electronic Flight Bag (media storage used by aircrews to accomplish their duties) implantation occurs.

"This is a true progression in embracing technology," Chief Master Sgt. Jim Masura, 446th Operations Group Standard Evaluation loadmaster said. "Our crews will be able to access information quicker."

Masura, of Graham, said this is the ideal technology that aircrews can use for information access.

"Trying to use a laptop is slower," he said. "Having a small useful device will be a great step toward arming our crews with information to accomplish their jobs safely and efficiently."

The chief said he anticipates a good return on investment with the crew using the iPads.

"The benefit will be increased efficiency and future expansion," Masura said. "It's a good proven platform."

Lt. Col. Pete Buehn, 446th OG Standard Evaluation pilot said private airlines are using the same technology.

"Some of the commercial airlines our pilots fly for are using the same platform, so the feedback should be constructive," Buehn said.

According to Masura, the iPad received the best feedback when it came to AMC deciding on the ideal platform.

"Several other bases did the testing for the brand of tablet that was selected," Masura said. "I am sure it was based off of ease of use."

Buehn said that even his limited use of the iPad supports the convenience and money savings afforded by tablet devices.

"I use an iPad already for regulation reference and have found it beneficial," Buehn said. "Just think of all the reduction in paper and the distribution there of."

Masura said the new tablets will consolidate the group's current method for information access.

"Currently, we provide a means for the crewmember to receive all of their publications electronically with a thumb drive for self study," said the 26-year Reservist. "They then have to provide their own computer for viewing these publications. The iPads allow us to not only give them the publications, but also a convenient means of reading those items."

The iPads won't immediately phase out the current process, Masura said. They will implement them in steps.

"We are beginning phase one of the project which is just for self study," Masura said. "We will give every body six months to get used to using the iPads and their information before we have them use them during their missions."

In the first phase they are a simple e-reader, which makes accessing electronic publications easier than from a laptop in most situations, Buehn said, who lives in Puyallup.

"As part of phase two, we will eliminate several of our required carry-paper publications and view these exclusively on the iPad or flight planning computer in our trip kits," Masura said.

In future phases, the iPads will be part of each crewmember's required carried equipment, Masura said. This will be done as a cost and weight savings measure.

As beneficial as the tablets will be once implemented, the command will be able to overcome roadblocks as they come up, according to Buehn and Masura.

"I think the biggest drawback is going to be keeping them safe from damage," the chief said.

Reading the tablet at night and being at the battery's mercy could pose potential problems, according to Buehn, who's been with the 446th AW since 1987.

However, Masura said everything is going as planned, so far.

"I started using one of the first iPads a week ago and I am learning new things every day," Masura said. That is the idea behind this phased process."

Masura said they began instructing pilots and loadmasters on the iPads Aug 3, and plan to start the aircrews on computer-based training.