by Airman 1st Class Katherine B. Holt6th Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

It started with a familiar tune; and the intense anticipation could be felt in the air as the children of all ages waited patiently and wide-eyed. Then, a light hit main stage and from behind the curtains ran out Rosi-ta, one of the characters from Sesame Street Live that stopped at the Base Theater here on Saturday.

The production, sponsored by the USO, runs from July through November and will stop at 43 military installations during that time.

“We are happy to be here for the service men and women,” said a USO representative. “I believe in what we do here; we go where you [military] go.”

The tour is part of Sesame Workshop’s “Talk, Listen, Connect” initiative, a military outreach program launched in 2006. Story lines are designed to help families under-stand and talk about the difficulties of multi-ple deployments, homecomings and changes in parents, whether physical or psychologi-cal.

“The show is geared towards children,” remarked Josh Bourque, performance direc-tor. “But it also gives parents ideas on what to talk about and how to help their children cope with a deployment.”

In the production, Elmo’s father is gone, though the audience doesn’t find out where he is. Elmo talks about how he feels when his dad leaves and all the ways he keeps from being sad.

“The show was a great success,” said Gail

Cook, director of the MacDill Airmen & Fam-ily Readiness Center. “It was great oppor-tunity for the children to see their favorite

Sesame Street characters and learn ways to deal when their mother or father is away on a deployment.”

C M Y K

INSIDE TODAY

CFC rollingPage 3

NOAA time Page 4

Bod PodPage 17

Honk for patriotsPage 12

Vol. 35, No. 38 Friday, September 19, 2008

Open Sesame!Sesame Street character Grover greets the MacDill crowd during a live performance Sept. 13 at the Base Theater. Children and parents alike were entertained, and got to mingle with the furry creatures of television and film fame. - More photos page 3

Photo by Senior Airman Rachel Cunningham

Elmo and Sesame Street friends drop by MacDill

by Master Sgt. Donovan Tauriello6th Medical Operations Squadron first sergeant

I have to be honest; I fought with what to write about. Looking through the archives of past Thunderbolt articles, I searched for a topic that I could share with you. For what-ever the purpose of the subject, I noticed a trend that everyone was sharing something to help us be a little wiser. I looked for that niche to draw you in and have concluded that in my years of service I have been given the blessing of traveling almost around the world.

Coming from a home town of a large Army base, I grew up around a military communi-ty. I had friends at the base and they shared their experiences of traveling the world. So, when I came into the military, I was very nervous about traveling by myself.

After my first three years stationed in the U.S., I asked myself an important ques-tion; where will I retire and grow old after the military? Why should only the rich and famous travel the world and spend their time on beautiful beaches or skiing the Alps? It’s not fair. So, I got an assignment to Okinawa, Japan. I spent a great deal of time in the water, camping and site seeing. I experienced new foods (some of which nobody would tell me what it was until after I ate it), cliff div-ing, motorcycle excursions and watching some of the pioneers of Drift racing in the early 90’s. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay longer. Traveling to anywhere in Asia is highly recommended.

I moved to Germany after leaving Pacific Air Command. I wasn’t ready to come back to

Red Lobster, shopping malls, fast food and TV commercials. Yes, Armed Forces Network would show info-mercials during intermis-sions that would normally play commercials. I learned a great deal from them too! While there, I caught a fever for traveling. I toured

a total of 14 countries and hundreds of fa-mous cities from the beaches of Normandy to the Blue Danube River in Budapest Hungry.

It’s about the experience that we can learn about other cultures and see how other countries appreciate the bigger picture we’re doing. I’ll never forget how many American flags I saw hanging on the houses on my drive through Normandy. There were a lot more there than what I see in my neighbor-hood. Traveling through so many countries has made me learn to be thankful for our country and people. Some are happy with never crossing their state line or never even leaving their city. There is more in the world to experience and our services are giving us the opportunity to be ambassadors and travel. With budget constraints, our days are numbered to which countries we can get stationed. Bases are getting turned back to the host nation and we’re trimming the fat because of a leaner DoD that is needed. I completed a short tour, with my family, to end my adventure overseas and received my assignment back to the states. After 15 con-secutive years overseas I finally landed on the sunny beaches of Florida.

After joining the AF, I wanted to live close to my hometown but was stationed on the op-posite end of the U.S. This was my first sign that I was suppose to get out and travel. Get-ting stationed close to your home of record is easier today. Saving DoD funds for moving an Airman close to home and completing the mission is a win/win case. Once someone is stationed overseas, if you volunteer, it’s also easier to be chosen for another tour overseas. The PCS system can be a win/win as long as the AF needs are met first. Living close to home is not bad, but you could be missing out on a chance of a lifetime. I was given an opportunity to travel the world during my earlier years of service and opened my eyes to the adventures of the military.

I urge everyone, if given the chance, to experience an overseas tour. It’s given me the chance to complete an important mis-sion and gave memories to last a life time. To those with family, Mark Twain once said “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” Traveling with family can be stressful but when you reach your designation, your worries melt away. My overseas tours with family made everything complete. I encourage you to get your family involved with a career adventure too. After your four to 30 years of service and living somewhere in the U.S., look back and reflect on what you’ve seen in the world. I wish you all the same chances to experi-ence what I did and I thank the Air Force for them.

Master Sgt. Donovan Tauriello

MacDill ThunderboltPublisher: Denise Palmer

Editor: Nick Stubbs

The MacDill Thunderbolt is published by Sunbelt Newspa-pers, Inc., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force. This commercial enterprise newspaper is an authorized publication for distribution to members of the U.S. military services on MacDill. Contents of the MacDill Thunderbolt are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by the U.S. government, the Department of Defense, the Department of

the Air Force or the 6th Air Mobility Wing.The appearance of advertising in this publication, includ-

ing inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, 6th Air Mobility Wing or Sunbelt Newspapers, Inc., of the products or service advertised.

Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.

Advertising information may be obtained by calling 259-8104. For classified advertising call 657-4500.

News items for the MacDill Thunderbolt can be submitted to the 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs office, Bldg. 299, at 8208 Hangar Loop Drive, Suite 14, MacDill AFB, FL 33621, or call the MacDill Thunderbolt staff at 828-4586. Email: thunder-bolt@MacDill.af.mil.

Deadline for article submissions is noon, Thursdays to appear in the next week’s publication. Articles received after deadline may be considered for future use. All submissions are considered for publication based on news value and time-liness.

Every article and photograph is edited for accuracy, clarity, brevity, conformance with the “Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual” and Air Force Instruction 35-101.

COMMENTARYSee the world; Don’t let travel opportunities pass you by

NEWS/FEATURES

by Airman 1st Class Katherine B. Holt6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

For more than 40 years, the Combined Federal Campaign has been raising funds to give back to local and national charities. But what is the CFC? Servicemem-bers with years of experience are familiar with CFC, but some new enlistees may not know what it is or why they are donating.

According to the Suncoast CFC 2008 Campaign booklet, the mis-sion of the CFC is to support and promote philanthropy through a voluntary program that is em-ployee-focused, cost-efficient and effective in providing all Federal employees the opportunity to im-prove the quality of life for all.

The CFC is the only authorized, annual fund-raising drive con-ducted by federal employees.

It began in the early 1960’s to coordinate fundraising efforts of various charitable organizations so that the Federal donor would only be solicited once in the work-place and have the opportunity

to make charitable contributions through payroll deduction.

The campaign booklet added, that federal employees continue to make the CFC the largest and most successful workplace phil-anthropic fundraiser in the world. The goal for all CFC campaigns is to contact and ask 100 percent of federal employees to contribute to a CFC charity.

Team MacDill is part of the CFC Suncoast chapter.

The 2008 MacDill CFC kicked off Monday and runs until Oct. 26. The theme for this year’s cam-paign is “Make a world of differ-ence.”

This year, Capt. Michael Lau-bach, CFC point of contact for the wing, hopes to spread the message of CFC through unit representa-tives to impact more people.

“Communication is the key,” said Captain Laubach. “By keep-ing an open communication chan-nel between unit reps and their potential donators can increase the interest.”

This year, team MacDill is

working as one unit; whereas in the past, tenant units’ numbers were not counted with the wing’s numbers.

“MacDill has the best start of a solid ‘big three’ team since 2002,” said retired Air Force Col. Tony McKenna, director of CFC Sun-coast.

With all the pressures to con-tribute, Captain Laubach stressed that knowing where the donation is going and the reason to donate is imperative.

“Servicemembers should know

why they are donating,” explained Captain Laubach. “Think about the local community when mak-ing contributions.

Know why you are giving and the importance of your donation. Don’t just give to give.”

As unit representatives come by to collect CFC donations through-out the next six weeks, research, and learn about charities, local and national.

“Through CFC you have the ability to help thousands of peo-ple,” ended Captain Laubach.

CFC: know what it is, the reason for giving

Photos by Senior Airman Rachel Cunningham

(Left) Sesame Street stars put on a live performance for MacDill Air Force Base Sept. 12. (Right) Zoe exchanges high-fives with the audience during the performance. Sesame Street Live is sponsored by the USO and Sesame Workshop to create a dialog between chil-dren and parents about the challenges of deployment, homecomings and changes in parents.

by Don Aiken

Tucked in hangar 5 at the end of Hangar Loop Drive here is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aircraft Opera-tions Center. Part of the Department of Com-merce, NOAA’s AOC, a tenant command here since 1993, is largely unnoticed during most of the year. However, during the June through November hurricane season the AOC is often in the national spotlight.

The AOC started as the Research Flight Fa-cility part of the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1961. Two Douglas DC-6 aircrafts, a B-57A and a DC-4 were funded to support atmospheric re-search programs including early attempts to modify hurricanes. This project, StormFury, was a joint effort with the Department of De-fense.

The AOC is principally known for their hurricane surveillance, reconnaissance and research missions flown by the agencies two WP-3D Orions and G-IV Gulfstream aircraft affectionately named “Kermit”, “Miss Piggy,” and “Gonzo.” Penetrating the heart of hurri-canes, the aircrafts sensors and onboard sci-entists measure and collect a wide variety of ocean and atmospheric data. Sensors include Doppler Radar and Stepped- Frequency Micro-wave Radiometer as well as expendables drop-windsondes and bathythermograph buoys.

In addition to the AOC’s scientist and me-teorologists, researchers from other NOAA

agencies and universities provide mission sup-port. Their data and research is used to de-velop hurricane tracking and intensity predic-tions. These predictions provide the advanced warning necessary for hurricane preparedness and evacuation measures such as those taken here for Hurricane Ike.

Just finishing operations into hurricane

Gustav, the AOC immediately began flights into Hanna and deployed to St. Croix, Virgin Islands for flights into hurricane Ike.

While hurricane operations are a principal AOC undertaking, the AOC operates 13 air-craft in support of a wide variety of missions. In addition to the WP-3D and G-IV, the AOC

NOAA at its zenith; a busy hurricane season

NEWS/FEATURES

Photo courtesy of NOAA

NOAA aircraft stay busy this time of year, the tropical storm and hurricane season. Here a WP-3D Orion (rear) and G-IV Gulfstream share the sky. The two types of planes are used to penetrate the heart of hurricanes and use onboard sensors to measure atmospheric data to help analyze the strength and other critcal data about storm.

Longtime coming!Colonel Matthew Arens, 6th Air Mobility Wing vice commander, pins the Pur-ple Heart medal on Senior Master Sergeant (Ret.) Wil-liam Colon during a cere-mony at the Davis Confer-ence Center Sept. 12. Sgt. Colon received his Purple Heart after waiting 57 years. Sgt. Colon earned his medal when his Jeep was hit by an SS officer, who did not realize WWII was over, in 1951.

Photo by Staff Sergeant Ronnie Hill

See NOAA, Page 17

by Staff Sgt. Robert Maki6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — A Mobile Aero-medical Staging Facility team from the 6th Air Mobil-ity Wing stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida arrived here yesterday in support of Hurricane Ike evacuation efforts.

Along with the MASF team, more than 200 state and federal assets and volunteers converged on Corpus Christi ahead of Ike in order to coordinate, manage and safely transport patients from the surrounding area to points of definitive care. The staging facility is outfit-ted with more than $750,000 in medical supplies and equipment to handle up to 600 patients with minimal to intensive care needs.

Director of operations for the MASF team, 1st Lt. Jason Estes stated the MASF team had come a long way since arrival and felt confident about the team’s capabilities in handling the situation. Once on site, the aeromedical staging facility was fully operational and ready to receive patients within 2-hours. The mission of the MASF team is to receive patients from any type of situation and prepare them for flight.

“We are feeling pretty confident, said Lieutenant Estes. “We have a good squad and good support here with the guard and reserve, a lot of good people on the ground.”

He went on to say that all the teams embedded in the staging facility worked well together to organize and prepare to process patients.

“I think that we have had enough time together to know the strengths and weaknesses of each member to back each other up,” said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Corbin, MASF team administrative clerk. “I have faith in us. We have a great team out here.”

Maj. Scott Russell, operations officer for the 142nd Aeromedical squadron Delaware National Guard stat-ed, “We’re taking every opportunity to ensure patient safety and comfort.”

The staging facility is on high alert to evacuate at a moment’s notice but it is unclear whether the teams will fall back or wait out the hurricane at their current location.

A 13-member MASF team deployed to Beaumont, Texas earlier this month in support of hurricane Gus-tav. This marked a landmark moment for AMC when the first real world operation for the MASF was acti-vated in support of Hurricane Gustav after the mission was transitioned to active duty Airmen from Reserve in 2007.

MacDill deploys MASF in support of Hurricane Ike

Job Title: Unit Training Man-ager

Home town: Virginia Beach, VA

Short-term goals: To complete my BS Degree in Business Ad-ministration this fall while main-taining over a 3.9 GPA.

Long-term goals: To make MSgt my first time.

Advice to others: You never know what you can do…until you do more than you can. Use your time and en-ergy into accomplishing you goals instead of thinking of excuses.

Role model(s): My Mom, she raised two kids by herself, worked two full-time jobs and got a Mas-ters degree.

Tech Sgt. Eric S. Johnson 6th Medical Operations Squadron

Diamond Sharp

Photo by Senior Airman Nancy Hooks

Baytriotic!Members of the Bayshore Patriots, a Tampa com-munity group, along with liaison officers from 64 dif-ferent nations attached to U.S. Central Command, greeted Bayshore Boulevard drivers Sept. 12, the day after Patriots Day to show support and solidarity.Sept. 12 is the anniversary of the invoking of Article 5 by NATO, which states that an attack on one member country is an attack on all.

Photos by Staff Sgt. Ronnie Hill

by Eric VichichMacDill recycling coordinator

In an effort to better serve MacDill’s personnel, the curbside recycling pro-gram is being expanded to include additional materi-als. The weekly curbside service (Thursdays) for the office and industrial areas of the base will now accept all paper, plastics (#s 1 and 2), aluminum and glass. These changes do not affect service in Military Family Housing, CENTCOM, SOCOM, or other facilities that do not utilize the weekly curbside recycling service. These changes are meant to sim-plify the recycling process and eliminate the need to keep various materials separated. The recycling drop-offs will still be open and should be used when you have large amounts of mixed paper, aluminum or plastic. Cardboard should still be taken separately to designated dumpsters. MacDill AFB is committed to environmental steward-ship and the reduction and recycling of solid waste. Complying with base recy-cling procedures is manda-tory and instances of non-compliance will be reported to superiors. For additional information, contact Eric Vichich at 828-0460. For MFH information, contact Harbor Bay at 840-2600.

NEWS/FEATURESMacDill expands curbside recycling service

White office paper, shredded paper, colored paper, newspaper, magazines, mail, paper-board (cereal and soda boxes)

All #1 and #2 plastic

Beverage cans, foil

Beverage containers, jars

Cans (soup, fruit, etc.)

Boxes, any corrugated container

No bindings, plastic report covers, carbon paper or food wrappers. Shred should be in clear plastic bags.

Rinse (must be empty) and remove lids.No plastic bags or film, no Styrofoam.

Rinse (must be empty) and crush. Industrial alumi-num/scrap metal should still be taken to transfer station

Rinse (must be empty) and remove lids. No win-dow or auto glass.

Rinse (must be empty). Industrial scrap metal should be taken to transfer station.

Take to “Cardboard Only” dumpsters. No pizza boxes. Flatten boxes, remove Styrofoam and all non-cardboard material.

Paper

Plastic

Aluminum

Glass

Metal

Cardboard

Materials and handling rules

by Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) — Secu-rity forces members from Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base, along with local civilian officials, gathered at the weapons range learn bear aversion tactics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission here recently.

The training participants learned various techniques to discourage unacceptable bear behavior, such as getting into garbage recep-tacles, by using bean bag and paint ball guns and pyrotechnics.

“The reason this is important is because every year we have more and more nuisance bear calls, not just here on base but the state does too,” said Philip Pruitt, 1st Special Oper-ations Civil Engineer Squadron base natural resource manager. “There are going to be more and more bears around people.”

Mr. Pruitt said a bear that is simply roam-ing the base doesn’t constitute a nuisance bear

-- a bear that gets into trash cans or ambles along the flightline does.

1st SOCES works diligently to educate base residents about the bear population and good housekeeping measures to deter bears from visiting their homes, through brochures, brief-ings and news articles.

“In the last five years we’ve seen an eight percent increase in the number of complaints we’ve had,” said Stephanie Semick, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission bear program coordinator. “Twenty-five per-cent of all our calls are related to garbage.

“Through the articles and the education we’re giving on base, the residents have really begun to step up [bear deterring measures],” Mr. Pruitt said. “There was a woman I spoke with and she said a bear was coming to her garbage can every night. She began cleaning out her garbage can and the bear has gone away for now.”

Though the bears may be a bit of a pest for base residents at times, their presence speaks volumes to the positive environmental stew-

ardship at Hurlburt Field. “Many people have made the claim that the

Florida Black Bear is a symbol of wilderness,” said Mike Orlando, FFWCC assistant bear program coordinator. “If you have an area that can support bears, you have many other spe-cies that can be supported. All kinds of endan-gered and common species can be supported there.”

According to the FFWCC Web site, www.my-fwc.com, Florida Black Bears, the largest land mammal in Florida, are typically elusive and they normally shy away from human contact.

There have been no documented black bear at-tacks in the state of Florida,” Mr. Orlando said.

Adult male bears normally weigh between 250-450 pounds and females 125-250 pounds.

Hurlburt Field is just one example of an en-vironment where humans and bears can both live while respecting each other’s space.

“We want to make sure people know how to co-exist with bears, they know how to live in bear country,” she said. “We want to reassure them, it’s a cool thing.”

Airmen, Florida Black Bears coexist on Hurlburt Field AIR FORCE NEWS

From taking out top al-Qaida operatives to safely firing within 50 meters of dismounted infantrymen, the Picatinny Excalibur projec-tile is already paying dividends a year after its initial fielding to Soldiers.

When Excalibur first debuted in Iraq in May 2007, it became the Army’s first all-weather, precision-guided artillery round.

While the Excalibur Program Office at Picatinny estimates approximately 70 of the ground-breaking Excalibur rounds have been fired in Iraq, Capt. Victor Scharstein of Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, commanded one of the original units to field the round.

Scharstein used Excalibur multiple times in the Diyala province of Iraq. Operation Ar-rowhead Ripper, the deliberate clearance of Baquba, was one mission he recalls using the precision round.

“It was an urban setting, it was extremely bad weather and there were no aircraft able to fly that day,” he said.

Because of Excalibur, his unit was able to fire an artillery round at a target within 50 meters of infantryman on the ground, who were clearing the area.

“Had we not had Excalibur, we wouldn’t have been able to do that,” he said. “We wouldn’t have been able to engage that tar-get.”

While the unit could have engaged the tar-get with conventional artillery, that would

have risked significant collateral damage and put civilians and U.S. Soldiers at risk, Scharstein said.

Overall, Scharstein said the round was “amazingly accurate” with his fires producing a 92 percent success rate, meaning that the fired round hit or had an effect on the intend-ed target 92 percent of the time.

The rest of the Army also began seeing the powerful effects of Excalibur almost immedi-ately after its debut.

In July 2007 it was used to take down a top target for al-Qaida south of Baghdad, Iraq, according to a July 16, 2007 news release by Multi-National Division-Central Public Af-fairs.

This al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader was re-sponsible for improvised explosive devices, ve-hicle-borne IEDs and indirect fire attacks on coalition forces in Arab Jabour.

The operative was in a meeting house when the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment fired two Excalibur rounds and destroyed the house, the release said.

Such precision can be attributed to Excali-bur’s global-positioning system technology.

When the projectile leaves the gun, it does a self-test, acquires its signal and uses the sig-nal to find its target, Scharstein said.

This precision accuracy has “brought artil-lery back into the close urban fight,” Scharstein said. “Excalibur gives you the confidence that you can support Soldiers in the close fight.”

“With conventional rounds, the first few rounds may not be on target so there has to be some adjusting,” he added. “With Excalibur, as long as I have an accurate target location, I know I’m going to get an accurate hit every time.”

“The accuracy of the system is unbeliev-able,” he said. “It’s incredibly accurate.”

SISTER SERVICESGPS-guided Excalibur artillery round deemed ‘amazingly accurate’ by troops

Photo by Sgt. Henry Selzer

Pvt. Corey Rodriguez pulls the lanyard on the M-777A2 during the first firing of the Army’s new GPS-guided Excalibur Round Feb. 25 at Camp Blessing, Afghanistan.

See GPS ROUND, Page 25

by Sgt. Trent LowryRegimental Combat Team 5

CAMP RIPPER, IRAQ — Marines with Headquarters Com-pany, Regimental Combat Team 5 are accustomed to performing their non-infantry jobs well, but sometimes the needs of the Ma-rine Corps require them to get back to the basic rifleman mind-set.

More than 30 Marines from Headquarters Co. received train-ing Aug. 28 – Sept. 6 here to pre-pare for a potential future mis-sion as part of Provincial Rifle Platoon 3.

“We’re taking Marines from ev-ery job and putting them in posi-tion to be combat Marines,” said 2nd Lt. Randall S. Blowers, 25, in-formation management officer for RCT-5 and platoon commander of PRP-3 from Vernon, Conn. “We’re giving them the tools and the mindset for success on the PRP mission.”

Staff Sgt. Matthew B. Keith, a watch chief for RCT-5, was in charge of the lesson plan for the Marines’ training. Keith has served nine years with 5th Ma-rine Regiment in small-unit lead-ership billets – first with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, and later

with the regimental headquarters – and has plenty of experience to pass on to the Marines.

“I could teach a little bit of ev-erything, but then they would be-come good at nothing” said Keith, who served as platoon sergeant for Provincial Rifle Platoon 2, which provided security at Camp Gannon II earlier in RCT-5’s de-ployment. “We worked in more squad leader time into this train-ing package so the squads could work on their own (standard op-erating procedures).”

In addition to the tutelage from Keith and his instructors, the non-infantry Marines had the benefit of the experience of 14 in-fantry Marines from 3rd Bn., 5th Marines, who volunteered to come back to Iraq after their battalion

redeployed April following a sev-en-month deployment in western al-Anbar province. The infantry Marines will also serve in PRP-3, many filling fire-team leadership roles, to provide much of the in-fantry know-how in the platoon.

“I think we’re going to be well-prepared, because the training package we’re doing is an all-en-compassing package,” said Lance Cpl. Logan Stone, 23, a rifleman currently assigned to Grizzly Mobile, the Mobile Assault Pla-toon for RCT-5, and a member of PRP-3 from Kirkland, Wash. “So no matter what happens, we’ll be able to be proficient at it and get the job done.”

The training first encompassed classroom reinforcement of sub-

See TRAINING, Page 20

Headquarters Marines train for security mission

by Nick StubbsThunderbolt editor

A person sitting inside the egg-shaped cap-sule may look like an astronaut getting ready to blast off into space, but the curious looking Pod is no spacecraft — it’s a machine that measures body fat, and one of the high-tech devices is scheduled to land at MacDill in a couple of months.

After several years coveting the body-fat analysis machine, Joan Craft, director of the Health and Wellness Center, said it is just a matter of final paperwork to secure one of the unique devices for MacDill.

“It is going to be a great tool to monitoring and managing fitness,” said Ms. Craft. “It re-ally is the gold standard for this kind of tech-nology.”

The machine uses a combination of a highly accurate digital scale and measures air dis-placement created by the person sitting inside it, to calculate body fat. The test takes about five minutes and requires the person being tested to wear a Speedo and cap to create the proper profile for taking measurements.

“I’ve had my eye on the Bod Pod for a long time, but when it was new, I wasn’t convinced of how good it worked,” said Ms. Craft. “Some time has passed and it’s been put through test-ing and it’s proven to be highly effective.”

Currently, body fat measurements are done with calipers, and only two personnel at the HAWC are certified to perform the task. Both are female and rules only allow them to mea-

sure females, said Ms. Craft. In addition, mea-suring with calipers requires judgment and variations between techniques can produce inconsistent results.

“A lot depends on the person doing the mea-suring and their skill level,” said Ms. Craft. “Results can vary between people and test done on different days.”

With the Bod Pod, there is no variation, she

said.“It’s accurate and most importantly, consis-

tent,” said Ms. Craft. “It takes the variance out of the picture and delivers consistent results time after time.”

That, she said, will allow Airman to moni-tor their weight-loss programs better, making adjustments to diet and exercise for optimum results.

Bod Pod will offer ultimate body fat analysis at HAWCSPORTS/FITNESS

Courtesy photo

The Bod Pod looks like a giant egg, but actually is a high-tech machine that measures body fat accurately and consistently. MacDill members will soon have access to one of the devices, which is coming to the Health and Wellness Center.

NEW FITNESS FACILITY AGE REQUIREMENTS

Children under 6Not permitted in fitness center facili-

ties except in parent (legal guardian)/child areas for supervised play. Children 6 - 12

Not permitted in cardiovascular, weight equipment, or group exercise rooms. Per-mitted in other activity areas (basketball court, racquetball courts, running track, locker room, saunas, etc.) only under qualified adult interactive supervision. Children 13 – 15 Permitted in cardiovascular, weight equipment, group exercise rooms, locker rooms, saunas, basketball court, racquet-ball courts, etc. only under qualified adult interactive supervision. Interactive su-

pervision requires qualified adult and child to participate in/perform activity together at all times. Children 16 and upPermitted in all areas of the fitness cen-ter without an adult.

*Qualifying adult is a parent, legal guardian, or coach

SOCCER GAME SCHEDULENote: All games start at Noon

Sept. 22: MDG vs. JAGSept. 23: LRS vs. JAG Sept. 24: CS vs. SOCOM Sept. 25: Coalition vs. LRS Sept. 26: MDG vs. SOCOM

All standings and schedules can be viewed at http://www.eteamz.com/mac-dillafb/index.cfm?

Sports Briefsoperates a Cessna Citation II, Gulfstream Jet Prop Commander, 4 DeHavilland Twin Otter, 2 Rockwell Aero Commander, and a Lake Seawolf. Next year the AOC adds another WP-3D and a Beechcraft King Air.

These aircraft operate throughout the United States and around the world over open ocean, mountains, coastal wetlands and Arctic pack ice. NOAA’s mission is to describe and predict changes in the Earth’s environ-ment and to conserve and manage wisely the nation’s coastal and marine resources.

The AOC is staffed by NOAA Corps Officers, Federal Civil Service, and contract personnel. The NOAA Corps is the smallest of the nation’s uniformed services and provides the pilots, navigators and meteorologists for NOAA’s aircraft. Civil Service personnel include a wide array of specialties such as aircraft maintenance, engi-neers, scientist, meteorologists, logisticians and finan-cial support. Many of these personnel are also flight crew members.

NOAAFrom Page 4

by Senior Airman Clinton Atkins379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- As smoke bellows from a nearby structure, emer-gency responders rush to the scene and systemati-cally begin to assess the situation. Within minutes, the firefighters are inside

the facility and the threat is neutralized.

“Endex,” says a voice over the radio.

The 379th Expedition-ary Civil Engineering Squadron firefighters handle structural fires, crash fires and medical first-response capabilities for more than 100 Coali-tion aircraft and 8,000 servicemembers here so

there is always a need for training.

“Training is number one, it’s in everything we do,” said Master Sgt. Charles A. Morris, 379 ECES assistant chief of operations. “When we’re not training, then we’re doing.”

The 57-member fire-fighter flight conducts ap-proximately 40 training

sessions per month total-ing more than 60 hours.

“We have to train be-cause that’s what saves people’s lives,” said Ser-geant Morris, deployed from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. “When you do things through repetition it becomes standardized; your brain just automati-cally reacts and does what it’s supposed to do.”

Due to the nature of de-ployments in the Air Force, the 379 ECES firefighters are pieced together from bases around the globe. Airmen charged with sav-ing lives and Department of Defense assets must meld together quickly.

“The reason that train-ing for firefighters in the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing is so important is because you have fire-fighters from all around the world with differ-ent levels of experience and ages and we have to mold them into a cohesive team,” said Senior Master Sgt. Shawn Ricchuito, 379 ECES fire chief. “We have limited time to do that with limited resources. It also builds great team ca-maraderie and these folks really work [well] togeth-er.”

At home station, fire-fighters often specialize in a particular aspect of their job.

“We don’t have that lux-ury here, but we try to aim everybody at what they like to do and put them into that specialty,” said Sergeant Morris, a Staten Island, N.Y., native. “Some guys like crash firefight-ing, some guys like struc-tural firefighting and some like to ride the res-cue squad.

“Everybody knows everybody’s job, but oth-ers know a certain job a little better than everyone else,” he said. “Everybody is trained equally and no-body is left behind.”

Placing everyone ac-cording to their strength has paid dividends to the flight’s success.

Since May 2008 the 379 ECES Fire Dawgs

379 ECES ‘Fire Dawgs’ hone skills in midst of high ops AIR FORCE NEWS

See FIRE DOGS, Page 21

Wing Promotion and Recognition CeremonyThe Wing Promotion and Recognition Ceremony will

be Sept. 26 at 3 p.m. at the Enlisted Club ballroom. All promotees and recognition ceremony participants must be in place in service dress at 1 p.m.. For more informa-tion please contact any first sergeant.

Tops in Blue World Talent SearchMISSION AUDITION: Apply now through Dec. 2. Log on to: http://www.topsinblue.com/downloads.ht-

ml for application information.

6th LRS new location6 LRS Customer Service is now located on the second

floor of Hangar 2.

Child safety checkThere will be a Child Safety Seat Installation check in

the parking lot between Building 381 (CDC 1) and Build-ing 382 (Youth Center) from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 24, host-ed by the Wing Safety Office. No appointment necessary. Call the Wing Safety Office at 828-3385.

MacDill C.A.R.E.s signup still goingThe purpose of CARE is to provide children with the op-

portunity to experience some of the aspects of a deploying parent. It’s intended to help ease the anxiety and stress associated with a deployment by providing a hands-on learning experience. Children of all ages and schools are welcome! Tinker Elementary 4th & 5th graders are auto-matically signed up! However, any child may sign up for CARE by calling Airman and Family Readiness Center at 8-2721, by Sept. 26.

For off-base public schools in the Hillsborough County School District, the event has been coordinated to be an excused absence. Parents of children in off-base schools will need to accompany their children.

IN BRIEF

jects like five-paragraph orders, rules of engagement and escala-tion of force. The classes were supplemented with practical ap-plication time in full gear to let the Marines practice the patrol-ling, detainee handling and ca-sualty evacuation skills they had learned in the classroom.

“To [develop] an infantry lead-er, you have to give them time to make mistakes,” Keith said. “Now is the time to learn from your er-rors, as opposed when you’re out there, outside the wire.”

The Marines made mistakes during the practice time, but the experienced members of the pla-toon gave them pointers and tweaked the non-infantry Marines’ movements, so after a few tries ev-eryone was on the same page.

The Marines of PRP-3 were also given the opportunity to live-fire a variety of weapons, during both day and night firing condi-tions.

“During the training, I gained more confidence in being able to use my gear,” said Cpl. Alex R. Raymundo, 23, a data techni-cian with Headquarters Co., and a member of PRP-3 from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. “I’ve always treated marksmanship seriously, but with the training we got, I think I’m ready.”

While the infantry training was highly useful for the purposes of their upcoming mission, perhaps the most important asset devel-oped during the training was unit cohesion, said Keith.

“Considering all these Marines are from different shops, camara-derie is one of the most important things they’ll learn,” said Sgt. An-thony J. Liptok, 22, training non-commissioned officer for RCT-5 from Pottsville, Penn. “We’ve seen in the past two weeks of training that they’ve really come together in their squads within the platoon.”

The headquarters Marines

from PRP-3 have been able to take away benefits from the training that will pay long-term dividends far beyond the time they are as-signed to their mission.

“These Marines will be better leaders when they go back to their shops,” said Keith. “They’ll be ahead of their peers, and they’ll try that much harder to support the (infantry Marines) because they’ll have experienced it.”

Though the Marines of PRP-3 may not know what their mis-sion is yet, they are a team ready to stand watch in maintaining the security in western al-Anbar province.

“The maturity and attitude of the Marines is outstanding,” said Staff Sgt. Jaime Benavides, 32, PRP-3 platoon sergeant and pro-tocol chief with Headquarters Co. from San Antonio, Texas. “Their motivation level is high, because they are ready to do whatever they are tasked to do.”

Photo by Sgt. M. Trent Lowry

Lance Cpl. Steve Smith, supply clerk with Regimental Combat Team 5 and a member of Provin-cial Rifle Platoon 3, learns how to disassemble and reassemble a M240G machine gun Sept. 3 at Camp Ripper, Iraq. The majority

TRAININGFrom Page 16

FIRE DOGSFrom Page 18

Staff Sgt. Benjamin King (left) and Airman 1st Class Neal Krysin-ski, 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squad-ron firefighters at an air base in Southwest Asia, carry a dummy “vic-tim” out of a smoke-filled structure during an exercise Aug. 29. The firefighters swept the facility for person-nel, provided aid, ex-tinguished the fire and cleared the building. Airman Krysinski is from MacDill

have provided support for 111 in-flight emergencies, 24 ground emergencies, 56 medical emergencies and 24 reported fires. In that time frame, the Fire Dawgs also responded to 10 hazardous material incidents and five motor vehicle accidents.

During its current rotation, the 379 ECES fire de-partment quickly neutralized fires saving more than $200 million in damages to aircraft and facilities.

“It’s a diverse mission, but we’re squared away be-cause we are constantly training and because we know it saves lives,” Sergeant Morris said. “[Saving lives is] the main reason we do it. If we train and we know what we’re doing when we get on the scene then we’re not guessing. Guessing can lead to disastrous outcomes.”

Sidebar: Only you can prevent...The 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squad-

ron Fire Department is spreading the word about prop-er fire prevention.

With the help of the fire prevention division, the fire department creates ways to avoid future mishaps.

“We do investigations to determine the cause of the fire,” said Master Sgt. Charles Morris, 379 ECES assis-tant chief of operations. “Once we determine the cause we tell our fire prevention division and they generate appropriate countermeasures.”

One such incident involved the $15 million Blatch-ford-Preston Complex Base Exchange where improp-erly extinguished cigarette butts caused a walk-in re-frigerator to catch fire.

Base personnel must remain vigilant of any fire safety violations. By being a force enabler, millions of dollars will potentially be saved in the future.

“The one thing [base personnel] can do to help is to put their cigarettes out the right way and avoid using restricted items (such as candles and heating surfac-es),” Sergeant Morris said. “Air conditioners should al-so be shut off or set to the lowest possible setting while you are out. If you don’t need to have it on, turn it off.”

So far, the most prevalent mishaps are electrical fires and smoking in unauthorized areas.

“Please think of what would happen to your unit if you were to lose just one Airman to something that you could have prevented,” Sergeant Morris said. “Fires can be prevented with your help.”

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Boquette

NEWS/FEATURESSplash down!Special Operations Cen-tral Command members completed their quarter-ly training by parachut-ing into Tampa Bay Sept. 3. The training prepares jumpers for the more dangerous circumstanc-es of a water landing.

Photos by AmnKate Benoy

Excalibur RangeAnother positive of Excalibur is its consis-

tent ability to engage targets at a variety of ranges, Scharstein said.

Generally, the further away from a target you are, the less accurate the fires become, Scharstein said. However, with Excalibur, “you can shoot it at its minimum or maximum range and you’ll get that same level of accu-racy.”

Excalibur, which debuted in Afghanistan in February 2008, currently has an accuracy of less than 10 meters at ranges out to 14 miles, said Lt. Col. Joseph Minus, Excalibur program manager at Picatinny Arsenal.

However, the next phase of Excalibur, called Ib, will have an accuracy requirement of less than 10 meters out to 24 miles, he said.

Not only do more accurate rounds reduce collateral damage and risk to dismounted Soldiers on the ground, but using less rounds limits the strain on the logistics train that provides the ammunition, Scharstein said.

Furthermore, he said Excalibur also gives

brigade commanders an organic precision guided munition.

Previously, maneuver commanders would “use a direct-fire weapon system like a tank or a Bradley instead of bringing artillery in that close to infantry guys,” Scharstein said.

Additionally, the Air Force and Navy could drop GPS munitions, but they’re not organ-ic to the Army - maneuver commanders still have to go through layers outside the Army to call for precision support, he said.

With Excalibur, all a battalion commander needs to do is turn around and tell the fire support officer ‘I want precision-munitions on this target,’ and it’s available to them, Scharstein said.

This is more efficient since the command-ers don’t need find resources from outside the Army, he said.

Firing ExcaliburExcalibur can be fired from M109A6 Pala-

dins and M777A2 Howitzers. The Excalibur program is also a cooperative program with the Kingdom of Sweden, which is developing

the Archer Cannon System that will also be capable of providing precision fires with Ex-calibur, according to Minus.

Scharstein fired his Excalibur rounds from a Paladin and said firing Excalibur was simi-lar if not easier than firing conventional artil-lery.

Because Excalibur is accurate, he said, op-erators do not need to frequently adjust fire to hit a target.

Excalibur also has a multi-functional fuze, which allows the round to be programmed to explode in the air, once it hits a hard surface or after it penetrates inside a target.

Conventional weapons have this same ca-pability, but a fuze needs to be changed de-pending on which option is required, said Scharstein. With Excalibur’s multi-functional fuze, instead of changing fuzes, you program the setting you want.

“It’s very upfront...I didn’t find it very dif-ficult and I never heard any complaints from my Soldiers ...they loved the round and they loved firing it,” Scharstein said.

GPS ROUNDFrom Page 16

At the Movies

Chapel ScheduleProtestant servicesSunday - 9 a.m., Traditional Service10:30 a.m., Religious Education, Noon, Gospel ServiceTuesday -Noon, Promise KeepersWednesday - 10:30 a.m., Women of the ChapelThursday - 11:30 a.m., Officers’ Christian Fel-lowship

Catholic servicesSaturday - Mass, 5:30 p.m.Sunday - Mass, 10:30 a.m.Monday to Thursday: Mass, 12:10 p.m.Saturday - Sacrament of Reconciliation, 4:30 p.m., (or by appointment) Jewish and Islamic servicesCall 828-3621 for information.

Saturday 7 p.m.

Step Brothers Bremman Huff, a sporadi-

cally employed 39-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy and Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed 40-year-old who lives with his father, are forced to live with each other as step bothers. R

Coming Soon

Pineapple Express Lazy stoner Dale Denton

has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver: to purchase weed, specifically, a rare new strain called Pineap-ple Express. R

Friday 7 p.m.

The X Files: I want to believe

“I Want to Believe” is a stand-alone story in the tra-dition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes. PG-13

Saturday 3 p.m.

Swing VoteBud Johnson, an apathetic,

beer-slinging, lovable loser, who is coasting through a life that has passed him by. The one bright spot is his preco-cious, over-achieving twelve year-old daughter, Molly. PG-13

Shows and times are subject to change. Call the MacDill Theater at 828-2780 for complete list-ings. Doors normally open 20 minutes prior to show-time, but call the theater for verification because they may open earlier. Tickets are $4. Children under 4 are free, unless it’s a G-rated movie.

The X Files

MACDILL COMMUNITYThree-star visitLt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve Command commander, speaks to re-serve members from the 927th Air Refueling Wing, U.S. Special Operations Command, Central Com-mand and the other tenant units located here, Sept. 12 during a town hall meeting addressing Air Force Re-serve issues.

Photo by Airman First Class Nancy Hooks

Got News?If you have a news item of interest

and would like to see it published in the Thunderbolt, please e-mail it to thun-derbolt@macdill.af.mil. Be sure to in-clude all important information regard-ing time and place. Photos should be at least 150 dpi.

Pineapple Express

Step Brothers

Swing Vote