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Chapter 1163

Hungry? Why not volunteer?

Veteran’sDay 2013

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"To advocate improved qual i ty of l i fe and economic fai rness that wi l l support the we l l be ing of Ai r Force enl i sted personne l and the i r fami l ies. "

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Veteran's Day 2013For Veteran's Day 2013 I volunteered to place flags on the graves of our veterans interred at Camp Williams Cemetery in Bluffdale Utah. It was a beautiful, crisp, fall morning and tons of other people from the base where there. There were so many flags to be placed, over 5,000 I think. It was bittersweet to think of all those men and women who had served their country and whose graves we now lovingly take care of. I was so proud to be a part of that event. It reminded me of all those who had served before me. I have a strong love for my country and for those that have served it. I was happy to do something for them, even though it was a small gesture compared to the things they did for me in service to their country. I stopped and read several of the headstones, wondering who these people were and what they were like. It was nice to see that so many other people had volunteered to place flags that day. It was a pretty chilly morning but we were all out there, paying our respects to our Veterans. Written by SSgt Emily Milliner

The Air Force Sergeant Association, also known as AFSA; welcomed the public to have dinner at the Wen-dy's restaurant located at Roy to raise funds for their Annual Division Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. My family and I were greeted cheerfully by AFSA members asking us how we were doing that evening. I almost thought I had walked into a restaurant, not a fast food chain! My husband and daughter who is a Wendy's fan, ordered everything on the menu 2 times and still had room for a frosty. As AFSA members continued to greet and attend customers that entered the dining facility, they continued to casually talk to us asking if we needed any drink re�lls and taking our empty trays. Now that's service with a smile! Written by SSgt Ruby Anne Alforque

Hungry? Why Not Volunteer?

Former CSAF Makes BRAC Pitch. Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz has urged Congress to support the Adminstration’s call for another round of base realignments and closures (BRAC). A March 11th editorial in Politico by Gen. Schwartz and William F. Murdy, both leaders of Business Executives for National Security read, in part, “There is no political upside to closing bases. But it is an act of political courage that at least three previous Congresses have been willing to sustain. The economy and the country survived; most affected communities prospered. And the U.S. armed forces continued to be the most formidable military in the history of the planet. The Pentagon is downsizing many thousands of personnel and hundreds of units of major equipment. But it needs Congress to let it scale back bases too.

Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative. According to an article in DefenseNews, in presenting its FY 2015 budget request, the Administration proposed additional spending of $56 billion as part of what it calls the “Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative” (OGSI). $26 billion of the amount would go toward Defense spending to help remedy “military readiness problems.” However, the White House has not provided specific details on how it plans to pay for this other than through “savings from commonsense spending reforms and savings from reducing tax benefits for multimillion dollar retirement accounts.”

Senator Introduces Two Bills to Help Veterans. An article in the Navy Times tells us, “New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has introduced two bills to help veterans look for jobs and start small businesses.

USAF Says Readiness Problems will Last Through 2023, Longer if Sequestration Continues. According to an article by Federal News Radio, in support of the Administration’s goal of eliminating sequestration cuts to free up federal spending, “Air Force officials say their current projections show it will be 2023 before the service fully recovers from serious degradations in combat readiness. Officials said those problems were not caused entirely by sequestration, but the automatic budget cuts dramatically increased their severity.

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