You Could Be a Winner Too
October 10th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Markeshia Ricks
Have you been sitting on an idea that you think will save the Air Force energy and money, but been too nervous to speak up? Well, Air Mobility Command is hoping some cold, hard cash might get you to loosen your lips.
AMC is offering financial incentives for energy-saving ideas during its second annual Fuels, Energy, and Environment (FEE) Idea campaign. The month of October is energy awareness month and the command is pretty hot to find savings anywhere it can.
October also is the first month of a new fiscal year where the Defense Department’s money is looking funny and nobody is laughing. But you could be laughing all the way to the bank.
AMC military members and civilians who submit eligible fuel, energy or environmental conservation ideas to the Air Force Innovative Development through the Employee Awareness (IDEA) Program that actually save the Air Force money could receive up to $10,000, according to AMC Public Affairs.
The command is looking for ideas and initiatives that include, but are not limited to aviation and ground fuel efficiencies, facility energy conservation, renewable energy sources, water conservation measures and cultural change. But you better make your submission good. It’s limited to one incentive item per person.
To submit an idea, contact the base manpower office at the force support squadron or visit https://ipds.randolph.af.mil. For those submitting ideas directly on the IDEA website to qualify for the incentive gift, submissions must clearly identify “AMC2011FEECAMPAIGN” in the tracking/control number and pertain to fuels, energy or environmental conservation measures. For more information about AMC’s energy initiatives, visit the website www.amc.af.mil/energy.
Tags: air mobility command, energy, IDEA
Who’s the best in AMC? Look to Oklahoma
August 2nd, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Heading back south with a reason to swagger. (Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kenneth W. Norman)
The guys from Altus Air Force Base returned to Oklahoma last week with some major bragging rights.
The 97th Air Mobility Wing took back the top prize at the 2011 Rodeo, Air Mobility Command’s bienniel skills competition. The 97th took home another nine trophies, too, which must have made the trip to Joint Base Lewis-McChord especially sweet.
The Rodeo, for those who might not know, is AMC’s biggest to-do. It draws teams from across the world to compete in everything from airdrops to financial management. Here’s a list of winners from this year’s competition:
Best Air Mobility Wing: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base, Okla.
The Knucklebuster Award: 439th Airlift Wing, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.
Best Aerial Port Team: 62nd Airlift Wing/627th Air Base Group, Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Best Security Forces Team: Team McGuire, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
Best Contingency Response Operations Team: 621st Contingency Response Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
Best Financial Management: 375th Air Mobility Wing, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Best Aeromedical Evacuation Team: 446th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Best Aerial Refueling Team: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base (Receiver) and 92nd Air Refueling, Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
Best International Team: Belgium
Best C-5 Wing: Team Dover, Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Best C-130 Wing: 314th Airlift Wing, Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
Best C-17 Wing: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base
Best KC-10 Wing: Team Travis, Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
Best KC-135 Wing: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base
Best Airland Wing: Team Dover, Dover Air Force Base
Best Tanker Wing: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base
Best Airdrop Wing: 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base
Tags: air mobility command, altus afb, amc, columbus afb, dover afb, dyess afb, fairchild afb, hickam, jb andrews, jb charleston, jb pearl harbor-hickam, joint base lewis-mcchord, joint base mdl, laughlin afb, little rock afb, macdill afb, mcconnell afb, petersen, pope afb, ramstein ab, randolph afb, rickenbacker angb, rodeo, scott afb, travis afb, westover arb
A hoedown with Saudis, Botswanans, Kiwis and more
July 26th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Air Mobility Command is hosting their biennial Rodeo competition at Joint Base Lewis-McChord this week. (In case you didn’t know, check out this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. And there’s even more here.) The event brings in folks from across the world, allows them to wear cowboy hats and compete for bragging rights.
Your humble correspondent covered the past two Rodeos at his last gig, and I can attest they’re a mighty good time. Units will put up tents in a central area, grill out and sip a few chilly ones during downtime. There’s usually music thumping throughout the day. But one of the best parts (in my opinion) is rubbing elbows with the international participants. Seven countries sent teams to compete and another 20 are in Washington state as observers, according to an Air Force release. Two years ago, participants could relax on cushions and eat ultra-sweet dates alongside pilots in $600 sunglasses in the Saudi tent, buy a good German beer from the Luftwaffe officers there and grab a burger from the grill outside the Aussie tent.
The Air Force loves its rhetoric about building partnership capacity. And the Rodeo is any example, you can have a damn good time in the process.
Tags: air force, air mobility command, lewis-mcchord, rodeo
Delaware to Bagram, via the North Pole
June 13th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Think of it as the scenic route to Afghanistan – and one that can save you a few days at home.
A C-5M flying from the Delaware to Bagram Air Base flew nonstop in a route that took the Super Galaxy over the U.S., Canada, the Arctic, Russia and Kyrgystan – the first time in Air Force history such a route has been used, according to the service.
(This is the part where usually someone would make a joke about a C-5A breaking down halfway through the mission, stranding its crew somewhere near the North Pole.)
The mission was a proof-of-concept flight that helps Air Force brass examine new ways to deliver crucial supplies to Afghanistan. The flight left Dover Air Force Base on June 5 and landed in Bagram more than 15 hours later. A KC-135R from the New Hampshire Air National Guard refueled the Super Galaxy over northern Canada.
The flight represents “just the beginning of understanding new ways to strengthen the northern corridor,” according to an Air Force release. Future flights could take off from the western U.S. and might not require an aerial refueling.
And the route could mean quicker flights for deploying troops, meaning fewer stops – and more days at home with your loved ones.
The mission took months of diplomatic and operational planning. It required coordination between the Air Force, State Department, U.S. Transportation Command, regional combatant commands, Air Mobility Command, the Tanker Airlift Control Center and other units.
“This partnership was especially important in coordinating transit agreements with Russia and Kazakhstan,” said Maj. John Major Rozsnyai, a planner at U.S. Transportation Command, “While civilian airlines have been using the airspace, this was the first time an AMC plane took this direct delivery route.”
Tags: afghanistan, air force, air mobility command, arctic, bagram, c-5, c-5m, delaware, dover, russia