From: CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>
Subject: AF News Svc 09/25/92
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 16:56:48 GMT


From CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>

775.  Evacuee entitlements
776.  Agent Orange study
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775.  Evacuee entitlements
by TSgt. Sarah L. Hood
Air Force News Service
     WASHINGTON -- Traffic management offices at Patrick AFB and MacDill AFB,
Fla., are packing up and shipping out household goods so Homestead AFB people
displaced by Hurricane Andrew last month can get on with their lives.
     Andrew devastated southern Florida Aug. 24, virtually destroying
Homestead, leaving roughly 250,000 people homeless and causing an estimated
$20 to $30 billion in damages in its wake.
     The Patrick office is taking care of outbound shipments or storage
requirements, while MacDill is handling inbound shipments for individuals who
were headed to Homestead before the hurricane hit and had not yet accepted
delivery, Air Force personnel officials said.
     A number of people are still at Homestead acting as agents for the
packing and pickup of possessions.  Evacuees can make shipment or storage
arrangements through the nearest traffic management office but need to provide
a letter authorizing a person designated by the commander to be the agent for
packing and pickup.
     Anyone wanting to personally handle their household goods processing can
return to the area, based on the current conditions there.  Claims should be
handled at reassignment locations.
     Servicemen and women can make up to two round trips from their evacuation
site to Homestead to take care of household goods, insurance adjusters or car
repairs.
     Other round trips or temporary duty stops for unusual or exceptional
circumstances can be approved by the personnel office chief at the
individual's new station.
     Because Homestead is still considered the permanent duty station until
people report to their new assignments, per diem is not normally authorized
while at Homestead.
     Actual expenses may be paid if individuals have to stay overnight
somewhere other than their home and they do not work at their office or
residence.
     Service members are authorized a seven-day delay en route to the new
assignment at a stateside location of their choice to verify assignments.
     With assignment orders in hand, evacuees can also take a reasonable
amount of time in a temporary duty status to take care of things such as
insurance matters before completing outprocessing.
     Family members went into safe haven status Aug. 28 and will continue to
get safe haven allowances until their sponsors leave the delay locations for
new duty stations.
     These allowances entitle 12-year-olds and over full per diem on a
lodging-plus basis for up to 30 days, using the rates for the safe haven
location.  For children younger than 12, the per diem rate is 50 percent.
     After 30 days, the rates for family members 12 and over are reduced to 60
percent of the lodging and per diem rates for that area.  The rate drops to 30
percent for children under 12.
     Since safe haven entitlements are not authorized at Homestead, per diem
payments stop when family members are there.
     Individuals with families can move personal property to safe havens or
directly to the new duty station once they have orders.  Shipment of a private
vehicle must be approved by the Homestead commander.
     Evacuees are still entitled to up to eight days of permissive temporary
duty for house hunting purposes in addition to the seven-day delay, as long as
they are not moving into government housing within 30 days of arrival.
     Homestead-based people separating or retiring are still entitled to
permissive temporary duty time for job and residence searches, as long as they
are eligible.
     Individuals separating or retiring were allowed to extend or accelerate
their separation dates.  Those with a lot of time left before starting
terminal leave or permissive temporary duty, or before their retirement or
separation date, were given new assignments.


776.  Agent Orange study
     WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- A health report on Agent Orange and former airmen
exposed to it and its dioxin contaminant, said the few positive associations
found between dioxin and reproductive outcomes were generally weak,
inconsistent and biologically "implausible."
     The report, the fifth such study on Agent Orange and Operation Ranch Hand
released by the Air Force, analyzed miscarriages, total conception, infant and
neonatal deaths, birth weights and birth defects.  The study also looked at
sperm counts and the percentage of abnormal sperm of study participants.
     The Air Force health report on Agent Orange is part of a 20-year effort
to evaluate the health of those people who took part in Ranch Hand, the aerial
spraying of herbicides and defoliant agents in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971.
     The study included 791 Ranch Hand participants and 942 comparison
subjects who have measurable levels of dioxin in their blood.  Previous
reports focused on health differences between men who sprayed Agent Orange and
a group of men who did not work with the herbicide.
     The Air Force portion of the effort is now in its 10th year and will
continue to follow up with questionnaires, medical record reviews and physical
examinations during 1992, 1997 and 2002, to further assess health effects.
     Results from this years examinations are expected to be released in early
1993.
     More information about this most recent report is available by writing to
the Office of the Surgeon General, Bolling AFB, DC 20332-6188, or calling DSN
297-5046 or commercial (202) 767-5046.


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