From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: AF News Svc 08/17/92
Date: 18 Aug 92 14:38:34 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC

658.  B-1B cracks
659.  Redefining airlift
660.  ARS reorganization
661.  Low home loans
662.  Internship credit
663.  School lunch prices
664.  Kansas guard
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658.  B-1B cracks
     LANGLEY AFB, Va. (AFNS) -- The Air Force has temporarily restricted
flights for 24 B-1Bs after cracks were found in the nose gear strut, Air
Combat Command officials said Aug. 13.
     All B-1 bombers are being inspected following the discovery of two small
cracks on a plane undergoing maintenance Aug. 10.  Ninety aircraft have been
checked so far.
     For safety reasons, all B-1Bs with cracks longer than three quarters of
an inch will not fly training missions until the cracks are repaired.  The
aircraft affected are still available for operational wartime taskings and all
other B-1Bs will keep flying normal missions.
     The cracks were discovered during towing at the maintenance depot and are
thought to be caused by towing operations, officials said.


659.  Redefining airlift
by TSgt. David P. Masko
Air Force News Service
     WASHINGTON -- The general who supervises the acquisition of the C-17
program at the Pentagon believes Desert Storm confirmed the need for the new
airlifter that will generate greater global effectiveness.
     Maj. Gen. Patrick P. Caruana, director of strategic, special operations
forces and airlift programs, said the C-17 could have reduced the time it took
to get U.S. forces to the Persian Gulf, and could have delivered more cargo in
the time it took the C-141, C-5 and C-130 fleet to deliver almost 100,000
tons.
     "In the first 45 days, if we had replaced the 117 C-141s with 80 C-17s,
we would have been able to deliver 28,000 tons more cargo in the same 45-day
period," Caruana said in an Aug. 13 interview with Air Force News Service.
     "Or we could have done the tonnage that we did in 45 days in 35 days, 10
days fewer.
     "In addition, the capability to fly into smaller airfields gives it an
intra-theater capability.  We would have been able to lift 11,000 more tons of
cargo within the theater, which was the equivalent of one 16-airplane squadron
of C-130s."  In short, the C-17 can deliver the same cargo as four C-130s.
     During the Gulf war, Caruana served as director of strategic forces, U.S.
Central Air Forces.  And as a planner of the Desert Storm air campaign, he
said he saw the region's airlift needs firsthand.
     A recently completed mobility requirements study, referenced in a report
by the secretary of the Air Force, recommends the Air Force reach an airlift
capacity of 57 million tons miles per day by the end of this decade.
     This level reflects the demands of a defense strategy built around the
threat of major regional contingencies and the need for the C-17 force, the
report said.
     The C-17 will save manpower because of a modernized cockpit and on-board
systems that only require a three-person crew -- pilot, co-pilot and
loadmaster.  By comparison, a C-5 requires a six-person crew.
     Furthermore, the C-17 can land and maneuver on shorter runways that are
too short for airlifters such as the C-141 and C-5.  Because of this
capability, the C-17 will give the Air Force access to thousands of additional
airfields around the world.
     This agility, remarkable for an aircraft its size, is due in large part
to advanced propulsion lift technology.  The additional lift gives the C-17
greater maneuverability at low speeds and steeper ascents and descents, making
short-field operations relatively safe and routine.
     It is also the first strategic airlifter that can routinely taxi backward
without help from tow vehicles.  The C-17 is able to back up on a runway when
fully loaded.
     "The airlifter of the future will need to be more flexible, able to
operate in the austere environment of short, semi-improved fields, delivering
cargo directly to the battle in an increasingly complex threat environment,"
said Gen. Hansford T. Johnson, commander, Air Mobility Command and U.S.
Transportation Command.
     "The C-17 is that airlifter."
     The Air Force expects a much reduced operating cost for the C-17 over any
of the large airlifters in the inventory, Caruana said.
     The cost for the overall C-17 program is $35 billion.
     Since 1965, the backbone of the Air Force's long-range airlift fleet has
been the C-141.  For a quarter of a century it enabled the United States to
support a policy of forward presence and to provide global response to crises
and disasters.
     However, the C-141 is reaching the end of its operational life.  For
instance, the C-141 fleet has flown more than twice the number of hours of any
other military aircraft -- averaging 33,000 hours per airframe.
     "We've been using them (C-141s) much more aggressively than we had
anticipated," Caruana said.  "We burned up a lot of hours and time on the
C-141s during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
     "In terms of cargo capacity, the C-17 is a wide body.  What we can get in
a C-17 vs. a C-141 is out-sized cargo.  You can certainly get much larger
items in a C-17 than a C-141."
     Even with the record-breaking work done by the C-141 and C-5 during the
Gulf War, Caruana said, the Air Force will need to begin passing the
responsibility for responsive airlift to the C-17 over the next six to eight
years.
     As each C-17 comes on line, the Air Force will be able to retire a C-141
and immediately gain an increased ability to deliver out-sized cargo to small,
austere air fields, he said.
     "We'll start next year retiring C-141s out of the Air Force inventory.
And that's why this airplane (C-17) is so important to us, because for every
C-141 that we retire, that's less airlift capability available to our nation."
     In slightly more than 10 months of flying, the three C-17 test aircraft
-- dubbed T-1, P-1 and P-2 -- had recorded a total of 382 flying hours as of
Aug. 10.
     T-1 had flown 90 missions for 294.5 hours.  P-1, and P-2, the first two
production aircraft, had flown 14 missions for 52.3 hours, and 11 missions for
35.7 hours, respectively.
     T-1 flew for the first time Sept. 15, 1991, after six years of full-scale
development.
     A fourth C-17, P-3, is more than 96 percent complete and is scheduled to
join the test fleet soon.
     All totaled, six C-17s will enter the flight test program with the
seventh flying aircraft, P-6, scheduled for direct delivery to Air Mobility
Command's first C-17 base, Charleston AFB, S.C.  The first C-17 will arrive at
Charleston early next year.
     The Air Force plans to buy 120 C-17s before the end of the decade.
     Although Caruana said the Air Force is very pleased with the test program
thus far, he concedes that the C-17 has had more than its share of controversy
because some critics have only focused on the plane's troubles rather than
looking at its good points.
     "For example, the fixes that we have in the early production airplanes to
correct fuel leak problems have proven that we have a handle on leaks, and the
follow-on airplanes will be taken care of through the normal production
schedule," Caruana said.
     "What I'd like to put to bed is that first of all the airplane is
structurally sound," he said.  "Furthermore, the C-17 is an easy airplane to
fly.  Any pilot would be able to do a great job with it."


660.  ARS reorganization
     SCOTT AFB, Ill. (AFNS) -- The Air Force is reorganizing Air Rescue
Service forces in an effort to more closely align combat missions and simplify
command lines, Air Mobility Command officials said.
     All continental U.S. rescue forces will transfer to Air Combat Command,
effective Jan. 1.  The exception is the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron,
McClellan AFB, Calif., which will stay with AMC.
     ACC will also become responsible for fleet management, and development of
multi-command guidance for rescue helicopter and tanker assets.
     Air Force theater major commands will control the overseas rescue forces.
     Gaining commands for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard Air Rescue
Service units will also change Jan. 1, to match the active-duty units,
officials said.
     ACC will get the stateside forces while Kulis ANGB, Alaska, will fall
under Pacific Air Forces.  The 815th Airlift Squadron and 403rd Medical
Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss., will stay with Air Mobility Command.
     The Air Rescue Service is responsible for search and rescue activities
and has helped save more than 24,000 lives since its establishment in 1946.
     The AMC commander, through the rescue service commander, acts as the
executive agent for the Air Force chief of staff on search and rescue matters
within the 48 contiguous states.  The matters are handled through the Air
Force Rescue Coordination Center at Scott.
     ARS is also administratively responsible for the PACAF and European
rescue coordination centers, and the U.S. Southern Command rescue
coordinators.  (Courtesy, AMC News Service)


661.  Low home loans
     WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs lowered its
maximum home loan interest rate from 8 percent to 7.5 percent, VA officials
said.
     The lower interest took effect Aug. 12 and marks the lowest the VA rate
has been in 19 years, and the second time in less than two months that the
rate has been lowered.
     "The drop in the rate will mean more veterans will qualify for home
loans, which will have the practical effect of stimulating the economy and
boosting the housing industry," VA Secretary Edward J. Derwinski said.
     It also means many veterans can take advantage of the lower rate and
refinance their existing loans at a great savings, Derwinski said.
     The interest rate on VA-guaranteed home loans was 9.5 percent a year ago.
 Reducing the rate means that the monthly payment on a typical VA loan of
$86,000 would drop from $723.26 to $602.
     Also effective Aug. 12, VA will decrease by one-half a percentage point
the maximum rates for graduated payment mortgages to 7.75 percent, home
improvement loans to 9 percent, manufactured home loans to 10 percent,
manufactured home lot-only loans to 9.5 percent, and manufactured home and lot
loans to 9.5 percent.
     The lower rate also is good news for veterans interested in refinancing
their existing mortgage loans, officials said.
     More than 33,000 veterans have recently refinanced their loans to take
advantage of lower interest rates.  There are still more than 1.5 million
veterans with VA-guaranteed loans with interest rates of 9.5 percent or
higher.
     Veterans can contact private lending agencies for more information on VA
refinancing loans.


662.  Internship credit
     MAXWELL AFB, Ala. (AFNS) -- Individuals working as recruiting specialists
may qualify for internship credit toward a Community College of the Air Force
degree, CCAF officials said.
     People holding the special duty identifier 99500, recruiting specialist,
are eligible to have SDI internship applied to their personnel administration
or resource management degree program.
     Each level of the special duty identifier internship is worth four
semester hours of technical credit.  Credit can be applied if the following
criteria are met:
     -- SDINT 3000, students must be an E-2 or higher, served at least four
months in the special duty and earn the credit before completion of the
entry-level recruiter course.
     -- 5000, E-2 or higher and served in the duty for at least eight months.
     -- 7000, E-5 or higher, at least 12 months.
     -- 9000, E-7 or higher, at least 16 months, completion of the senior NCO
academy in residence or by correspondence.
     More information is available from local education services offices.


663.  School lunch prices
     DALLAS AFB, Texas (AFNS) -- For the first time in five years, student
lunch prices in overseas cafeterias won't increase when school starts Aug. 20,
Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials said.
     AAFES operates the school lunch program in Defense Department Dependent
Schools on a break-even basis.  Making it possible for the exchange service to
successfully operate that way in 1992 are DODDS financial support, slight
increases in food and labor costs, USDA commodities support and cash
reimbursement, AAFES Commander Army Maj. Gen. Albin Wheeler said.
     Prices will be $1.35 for students and $2.35 for teachers and
non-students.  The goal of the program is to provide nutritious meals at a
reasonable cost.  The free or reduced cost lunch program was established to
ensure meals for everyone.
     Eligibility is based on family size and income.  The dollar-value of
government-provided family housing is not counted as income, following a
change to Defense Department regulations.


664.  Kansas Guard
     TOPEKA, Kan. (AFNS) -- The Kansas Air National Guard has part-time
vacancies in both the Topeka and Wichita units.
     Topeka openings include Air Force specialty codes 242X0, 454X0X, 458XX,
492X0, 623X0, 645X0, 651X0, 753X0 and 702X0.
     Wichita openings include 242X0, 451XX, 452XX, 454XX, 472XX, 542XX, 545XX,
55XXX, 566X1, 623X0, 631X0, 645X0, 702X0, 732X0 and 751X0.
     More information is available by calling Topeka ANG at DSN 720-4295/6/7
or collect (913) 862-0465, and Wichita ANG at DSN 743-7771/2/3/4 or
1-800-892-5264.

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