Top Five Air Force Stories for Jan. 3, 2012

Today's stories include:

Air Force offering second round of VERA/VSIP 
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123284940

National Guard's senior officer elevated to Joint Chiefs of Staff 
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123284929

F-15 sale to Saudi Arabia part of broader effort 
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123284931

Defense bill affects pay, separation bonuses, more 
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123284927

Commentary - Put tires at top of car winterizing list 
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123284935



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Air Force offering second round of VERA/VSIP

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force is offering a second round of voluntary early retirement authority and voluntary separation incentive pay beginning Jan. 9.

The move is part of the Air Force's continuing effort to meet the Department of Defense requirement to maintain civilian funding at fiscal 2010 levels

"The Air Force recognizes the invaluable contributions of our civilian workforce, but also recognizes the fiscal constraints under which the Department of Defense and the government as a whole are operating," said Maj. Gen. Sharon Dunbar, the director of force management policy. "We are working to balance mission needs while taking care to minimize the effect on our current permanent civilian workforce and their families."

The first round of VERA/VSIP was used as a voluntary means to reduce civilian workforce levels, enabling strategic rebalancing efforts. As the Air Force continues its fiscal 2012 civilian workforce restructure, round two of VERA/VSIP will be used to further realign and rebalance the civilian force.

Civilian employees will receive VERA/VSIP eligibility surveys from their personnel managers in January and applications are due Feb. 3 or an earlier date established by local authorities. Applicants approved for this round of VERA/VSIP will need to separate on or before April 30.

"We are pursuing all available force management measures, to include civilian hiring controls, where required, with the goal of avoiding involuntary measures for our current permanent workforce," Dunbar said.

In August, the Air Force instituted a 90-day hiring freeze that was lifted as an Air Force-wide control Dec. 16. Hiring controls remain in effect in some areas and vary by major command, depending on current MAJCOM strength relative to approved funding levels. Of the positions already identified for elimination, many were vacant, and the freeze created additional vacancies. By lifting the Air Force-wide freeze, MAJCOM managers and hiring officials will be able to hire personnel into vacant positions that remain to support the future Air Force mission.

For any information about civilian employment, voluntary separation programs and other personnel issues, visit the secure Air Force Personnel Service website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.

National Guard's senior officer elevated to Joint Chiefs of Staff

by Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The chief of the National Guard Bureau is a statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

With the stroke of a pen, the same month the nation's oldest military institution celebrated its 375th birthday, President Barack Obama signed legislation that includes a provision adding the CNGB to the Joint Chiefs on Dec. 31, 2011.

The provision -- part of the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act -- ushers in a change some National Guard historians have called the most significant development since the Militia Act of 1903 codified the modern day dual-status structure of the Guard.

"We are grateful for the efforts the executive and legislative bodies have gone to in placing the chief of the National Guard Bureau on the Joint Chiefs of Staff," said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

"We look forward to working alongside the other Joint Chiefs to provide our nation's senior leaders with a fuller picture of the non-federalized National Guard as it serves in support of homeland defense and civil support missions," McKinley said.

The provision is part of an annual federal law that has for the last half-century specified the Defense Department budget.

The 2012 NDAA authorizes $670 billion in spending for Defense Department programs and Energy Department nuclear weapons programs.

Other provisions of the bill that affect the National Guard include re-establishing the position of vice-chief of the National Guard Bureau at the three-star level while rescinding the two-star position of director of the NGB's joint staff.

The bill also requires that National Guard general officers be considered for command of Army North and Air Force North and authorizes funding for the National Guard State Partnership Program.

F-15 sale to Saudi Arabia part of broader effort

by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The recently announced $29.4 billion sale of F-15SA fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia is just one part of a broader U.S.-Saudi military sales and defense cooperation effort that's central to regional security, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

U.S. officials announced an agreement Dec. 29 to sell 84 new F-15 fighter jets and upgrades for 70 existing aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Little said the same represents less than half of the $60.5 billion in U.S. sales of aviation capabilities agreed to by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In addition to the Royal Saudi Air Force, this broader program includes aviation capabilities for the Saudi Arabian National Guard, Royal Saudi Land Forces and Saudi Royal Guard, he said.

"More broadly, the U.S.-Saudi military-to-military alliance is a central feature of regional security," he said.

Little noted the U.S. Military Training Mission in Saudi Arabia, which was established in 1953 and remains a cornerstone of the U.S.-Saudi military-to-military relationship. U.S. and Saudi defense departments cooperate regularly at the highest levels through established bilateral planning forums like the Strategic Joint Planning Commission and the Military Joint Planning Commission, he said.

In addition, the Royal Saudi Air Force trains with the U.S. Air Force in rigorous exercises that improve military cooperation and interoperability, and that facilitate the exchange of ideas, Little said. Among them is Red Flag, the U.S. Air Force's premier air-to-air combat training exercise, conducted in Nevada. Red Flag gives pilots the experience of multiple, intensive air combat sorties from within the safety of a training environment.

In announcing the F-15 sales agreement Dec. 29, James N. Miller, the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, and Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, emphasized the close military-to-military ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

"The United States is firmly committed to the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as we have been for nearly seven decades, and ... more broadly, the United States and Saudi Arabia have a strong mutual interest in the security and stability of the Gulf," Miller said.

The F-15s Saudi Arabia will receive under the agreement "will have the latest generation of computing power, radar technology, infrared sensors and electronic warfare systems," he added.

"This agreement reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia," Shapiro said. "It demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a strong Saudi defense capability as a key component to regional security."

State and DOD officials have worked to conclude the agreement since June 2010, Shapiro added.

The White House released a statement Dec. 29 detailing the full Foreign Military Sales program agreement, which also will provide munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics support for the F-15s to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

(Karen Parrish contributed to this story.)

Defense bill affects pay, separation bonuses, more

by Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- President Barack Obama signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 31, 2011, which increases active-duty and reserve pay by 1.6 percent and governs Defense Department activities, from procurement to military personnel policy.

Several provisions in this year's act will potentially affect active-duty and retired service members and their families.

Section 347 requires DOD to finance an independent assessment of overseas troop basing, advising retention, closure, realignment or establishment of U.S. military facilities outside the U.S. "in light of potential fiscal constraints on (DOD) and emerging national security requirements in coming years."

Section 402 reduces authorized Army minimum end strength from 562,000 to 547,000. The other services' authorized minimum strengths are unchanged, with 325,700 for the Navy, 202,100 for the Marine Corps and 332,800 for the Air Force.

Section 512 of the act creates a new member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which currently includes the Army and Air Force chiefs of staff, the chief of naval operations and the Marine Corps commandant. The new member will be the chief of the National Guard Bureau, who will have responsibility for "addressing matters involving non-federalized National Guard forces in support of homeland defense and civil support missions."

Section 526 extends voluntary separation pay and benefits authority, formerly set to expire Dec. 31, to the end of 2018. Section 530 converts the high-deployment allowance from mandatory to authorized. The allowance currently pays $100 a day, in addition to all other pay and allowances, to a deployed service member who has been deployed 401 days or more out of the preceding 730 days.

Section 701 limits annual TRICARE enrollment fee increases for retirees and their family members to an amount equal to the percentage by which retired pay increases that year.

Section 702 sets mental health assessment requirements for service members deployed for contingency operations. The act calls for a series of assessments: one within 120 days before deployment; another during the period between 90 days after a deployment begins and 180 days after it ends; a third within a year after the deployment ends; and a fourth between 18 months and 30 months of redeployment.

The act states assessments are intended to "identify post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendencies, and other behavioral health conditions ... in order to determine which such members are in need of additional care and treatment for such health conditions."

Assessments are not required for service members "not subjected or exposed to operational risk factors during deployment in the contingency operation concerned," the act states.

Section 954 affirms that DOD "has the capability, and upon direction by the president may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our nation, allies and interests," subject to the law of armed conflict and the War Powers Resolution.

Signing the bill into law, President Barack Obama acknowledged "serious reservations" about parts of the act, particularly provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

"I have signed the act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families, and vital national security programs that must be renewed," Obama said in a statement released today.

The act also contains critical initiatives to control spiraling health-care costs within the Defense Department, develop counterterrorism initiatives abroad, build the security capacity of key partners, modernize the force, and boost the efficiency and effectiveness of military operations worldwide, he noted.

Commentary - Put tires at top of car winterizing list

by Col. Michael Panarisi
Air Armament Center Safety Office

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- With winter fully upon us, it's already a little late to get our vehicles ready for the rough weather and conditions ahead. Getting this accomplished before you need it is the way to go.

Some people call this winterizing and tend to get crazy about anti-freeze, wiper fluid, water-grabbing gas additives and wiper blades.

While some climates aren't as severe during the winter, these are all good things to take care of no matter where you call home, and at the top of the list is tires. Some people may ask "what do I know about tires?" Well, I ran my own garage before I entered the Air Force, and I raced cars for years. In my prep for a degree in mechanical engineering, I took a couple extra courses in automotive applications. One of them spent an entire block on tires. It was fascinating, and I've been a student of tire technology ever since.

Tires
Most of us use all-season tires, so all we need to do is check the condition, age and pressure. The condition is the hard part ... tread depth, road damage and sidewall cracks are some of the easy things to miss. Damage can be hard to find, so spend some time looking closely.

Don't tolerate sidewall cracks. Sometimes called "dry rot," and these deterioration patterns suggest the rubber is nearing the end of its lifespan. Trying to stretch this can leave you stranded or much worse, so you should have a professional inspect them. They know from experience there's just no way to predict failure when these cracks start appearing.

If your tires are more than 5 years old, it's time to think about replacing them. Every tire has a "birthday" stamped on the side, and the Department of Transportation requires tire manufacturers to follow a standard marking scheme. Of course, the tire's birthday is in code. The "magic decoder ring," which displays a tire's birthday, is available on the DOT website.

The "US DOT Tire Identification Number" is stamped on the sidewall near the rim. On some tires, it's hidden on the axle side, more commonly on raised white lettered tires. You might have to scoot around under the car a bit to find it. Once you find the code, it contains the tire's birthday. The last four-digits of the DOT number reveal the week and year the tire came out of the factory, so 2809 would be the 28th week of 2009.

Pressure
The only tire pressure you need to know is the one printed on the vehicle data plate. Most of these are on the driver's side door jam. It displays the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure, as their judgment of the best compromise between traction, handling, noise, wear, etc. They tune the suspension components around this number and have carefully determined how the tread contacts the road, called the contact patch, at that pressure. Any deviation makes you the test pilot.

The factory recommended pressure is a "cold" pressure. The engineers know the pressure will rise with heat, and if you are using the same size and brand the car was born with, no worries. But if you change the tires, you need to make sure the maximum allowable pressure for that tire (also printed on the tire sidewall) gives you some headroom as the tire heats up.

The only way to know how much margin you have is to stop and take a reading on a hot day after some time at highway speeds.

Temperature
That temperature sensitivity (about one psi for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit) means you have to adjust the tire pressure as the seasons change, typically in fall and spring. Now that summer is behind us, many people are probably seeing some tire-pressure warning lights if their vehicle has a tire pressure monitoring system.

If you filled your tires when it was 95 degrees outside last July, when the temps dip into the 30s, you could be almost 10 psi low. It's best to check first thing in the morning, and in the shade. That will give you a true "cold" reading.

Extra pressure
With gas prices still on the rise, there's a temptation to "add a little extra" with thoughts of decreasing rolling resistance and increasing gas mileage. The extra air consumes your margin, and causes the contact patch to change shape. It mucks with the handling, wet traction and braking effectiveness, plus it makes the center of the tires wear out faster than the edges.

Nitrogen
There are tons of misinformation on the claimed benefits of using nitrogen in vehicle tires. It would take pages to dispute all the rhetoric out there on this subject, so look at the big ones. First, remember that air is around 80 percent nitrogen to begin with, so we aren't talking huge differences to start out with.

There are claims that nitrogen is a good deal because it leaks out more slowly (backed up by pointing out nitrogen's slightly larger molecular size). A consumer magazine took on this myth and found out it's actually true, but on the order of one or two psi a year. Since you have to adjust your tire pressure at least twice a year anyway, that difference isn't going to save you a trip to the air pump.

The bottom line is keeping up with the tire pressure is probably the single most important user-safety and gas-savings task you can accomplish, and it does take some intervention as the seasons change. However, this is not the place to get creative. Follow the factory numbers, check it often and stay safe.