From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: ACC News 09/15/92
Date: 15 Sep 92 14:21:04 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC


ACC 92-055  ACC TO ASSESS COST OF REBUILDING HOMESTEAD AFB
ACC 92-056  LEGAL OFFICIALS ASSESS DAMAGE, EXPEDITE CLAIMS
ACC 92-057  TRY TO LAUGH AT LIFE

ACC TO ASSESS COST OF REBUILDING HOMESTEAD AFB
    LANGLEY AFB, Va. (ACCNS) -- After an announcement by President
Bush to rebuild Homestead AFB, Fla., the commander of Air Combat
Command said the first step will be to assess the damage.
    "Right now, we are making an assessment of what it would take
to rebuild Homestead and bring the mission back," said Gen. John
Michael Loh, ACC commander.  "It will be costly and take a long
period of time."
    A small cadre of people will remain at Homestead permanently
on a voluntary basis to maintain an administrative staff for the
for the 31st FW headquarters.  In addition, people are being sent
to Homestead on temporary duty to assist with the cleanup and
assess the damage.
    In the meantime, the 31st Fighter Wing's three squadrons of
F-16s moved temporarily to other locations capable of supporting
the aircraft.  The 307th and 308th Fighter Squadrons went to Moody
AFB, Ga., while the 309th went to Shaw AFB, S.C.  The 726th Air
Control Squadron also moved to Shaw, where it will provide radar
control for 9th Air Force operations and training for F-16s
assigned to the 363rd FW there.
    The 482nd FW, an F-16 Reserve unit at Homestead, is deployed
to Italy.  The aircraft will remain there until another operating
location is found.  Meanwhile, pilots and ground support crews
have returned to their families.
    Additionally, the Air Force Water Survival Training School
moved to Tyndall AFB, Fla., and the Inter-American Air Force
Academy will go to Lackland AFB, Texas.
    People at Homestead not required to move with their units are
in almost all cases being reassigned to their bases of choice.
    "We will continually provide people on a temporary duty-basis
to Homestead to complete the cleanup, assess the damage, plan the
reconstitution of the base and provide essential services to the
military families in the area," Loh said.  "When our assessment is
done, we'll await final word from the Pentagon and Congress on the
rebuilding of Homestead AFB."

			       -30-
ACC 92-056
LEGAL OFFICIALS ASSESS DAMAGE, EXPEDITE CLAIMS
    LANGLEY AFB, Va. (ACCNS) -- The Air Force has paid more than
$500,000 in partial legal claims to military members stationed at
Homestead AFB, Fla., whose property was destroyed by Hurricane
Andrew.
    The Air Force is working as fast as it can to assess damage
and expedite claims.  Approximately 260 people have received at
least a partial payment of claims, according to Lt. Col. Dennis
Shaw, director of civil law for Air Combat Command and one of 25
people that deployed to Homestead to handle claims.
    "We had people on base three days after the hurricane," Shaw
said.  "Our goal was to make sure people had the information they
needed to make the claims process simpler."
    The claims team, which was comprised of attorneys and
paralegal specialists, also had to assess the damage to every
family housing unit and dormitory room on Homestead.  Almost every
home had some type of damage and Homestead had more than 1,600
base housing units before Andrew struck.
    "When we first arrived we worked on a roving-team concept,"
Shaw said.  "We drove around the housing area, and wherever we saw
a member trying to salvage what was left, we did an on-the-spot
assessment."
    The roving teams helped members decide what they should and
should not take with them.  They shot a roll of film of the
member's home and belongings to be used as documentation when
filing, and the team answered any questions they could.
    "After the first several days, most of the people had already
salvaged what they could and moved on," Shaw said.  Then the team
finished damage assessments on any home or dorms it might have
missed.  The team completed its assignment Sept. 5.
    "It was a dramatic sight to see," Shaw said.  "I was on the
Gulf Coast when Hurricane Camille hit, and the damage at Homestead
was very similar.  The biggest difference is that Hurricane
Andrew's destruction  hit a more compact area."
    Andrew, called the nation's worst natural disaster, is being
credited with causing more than $20 billion in damage.
     "We have never faced a situation like this before," Shaw
said.  "But, I believe we have responded well."
    At  this point only military members and civilian employees
paid from appropriated funds who lived on Homestead or who had
property on the base at the time of the storm are proper
claimants.  According to Shaw, the government will pay up to
$40,000 for personal property damaged by Hurricane Andrew.
    Shaw noted all property claims are subject to depreciation and
people eligible to file a claim, who have insurance, must file a
claim with their insurance companies before filing a claim with
the Air Force.
    "We are doing everything possible to make the process easier.
The best thing people can do is start working their claims now.
It's not easy remembering every piece of property in your house,"
Shaw said.  "Sure, the big things are easy, but what about the
contents of each dresser drawer in the house.
    "It takes time to remember every little thing,"  Shaw said.
"The sooner people start, the better."
    Anyone with a question about filing a claim should contact the
nearest base legal office.
			       -30-


ACC 92-057
TRY TO LAUGH AT LIFE
By SrA. Mary E. Barbor
410th MWRS (Deployed)
    HOMESTEAD AFB, Fla. (ACCNS) -- We all saw the pictures of the
wreckage left in the wake of Hurricane Andrew.  We saw them on
television and in the newspapers.  But I don't think any of us
truly realized the extent of the damage until we arrived on
Homestead.
    Driving wide-eyed through the town, I had to choke back a few
tears of pity as I began to imagine my own home after such a
catastrophe.  Years of mementos, writings, even my favorite pairs
of jeans -- gone.
    I stepped out of our air-conditioned van into the sweltering
heat and could smell the waste and decay of thousands of once
peaceful lives.  I was confused and upset to see people laughing
in front of the conference center -- I couldn't understand why.
    Now, a week later, I finally understand.
    As a society we have become conditioned to the comforts of
home and family with the knowledge that work will probably be the
hardest part of our days.  We come to expect television and cable
service, radio and convenience stores.
    Does this sound as spoiled to you as it does to me?  Well,
good, because Mother Nature came with a hurricane to put
everything into perspective. Do we hang our head and say, "OK,
you've got us.  We give up?"
    No!  We continue on with our lives in the best way we can and
we laugh at Mother Nature.  We say, "Ha!  Do you think you have us
beat?"
    We have come together and found a common goal and bond --
survival.  We have come down here and found the human spirit
inside us.
    We work hard, long hours and we wallow in filth, but we don't
really care.  Our minds tell us we are doing real jobs.  What
we're doing is something our forefathers knew:  Pride in
ourselves, in the job and in the human race.
    I came here a week ago to do the best job I can.  Days later,
I find myself hot, sticky, sore and a mess -- but I've never felt
better.
    I have some definite plans for later -- I'm going to laugh,
giggle and chuckle.  I'm going to do exactly what confused me just
a week ago.  Celebrate the greatest possession of all -- the human
spirit.
			       -30-


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