European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1973, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday november 22, 1973 top tries to conserve great asset people by capt. Robert w. Nicholson Torrejon Spain air Force Tor Rejon air base has instituted a new pro Gram to conserve the air Force s most valuable asset people. Called the Torrejon turnaround pro Gram Topits purpose is to rehabilitate through education and training those airmen with problems. It is in tended to identify and assist people with difficulties before those problems reach crisis to capt. Philip m. Porter top project officer base officials came up with top this fall because they realized there was no organized Effort to As Sist those with trouble adjusting to air Force life. He cited As examples cases of airmen recommended for discharge under the provisions of afm 39-12. Often such discharges were suspended for six months or a year and airmen were advised that they were under rehab Ilita the trouble was says Porter that there was no Active Effort to rehabilitate them. So More often than not they ended their rehabilitation period unimproved and were Early identification of airmen headed for trouble is the Keystone of top. Porter Points out that All base unfavourable in formation files if have been re viewed and certain cases singled out for attention. Additionally records of in coming men Are screened to identify those with Low performance reports air Force qualifying tests and airman s qualifying exam scores. After an airman has been identified As needing help he is scheduled for an appointment with the top working group. This body consists of personnel Chapel and social actions representatives and is chaired by it. Col. Tim Sheehan 401st combat support group Deputy com Mander. Other representatives such As unit commanders May be designated As appropriate for particular cases. The working group discusses the individual s problems with him advises that he is headed for serious trouble and offers a rehabilitative program. Each program is tailored to the individual s need in for example race relations education or military dress and Courtesy the group appoints a counterpart someone from the Man s organization to assist. It also assigns a Counselor from the base counselling service to oversee the Man s Progress. After a month in the program the Man again meets with the top working group. If satisfactory Progress has been made in correcting the Man s problem he will be released from the program. If not he will continue in education and training for another month. If after 60 Days of attention there is still no improvement the working group will recommend appropriate action. The training program is designed to disrupt the Man s Normal routine As Little As possible. His co workers will probably not even know he is in the program. Should an airman not Progress and face discharge through afm 39-12 proceedings and be placed on rehabilitation the top will redouble its efforts to save the Man. But the whole Point of the turnaround program says Porter is to prevent that Man from Ever facing 39-12 6th Fleet ends Alert Back to Normal state Washington is the 30,000 men of the . 6th Fleet have returned to what the defense department Calls a Normal state of training and readiness after being on the Alert in the Mediterranean outbreak of the Middle East War oct. 6, the Pentagon reported Here. The Fleet returned to Normal readiness on saturday the Pentagon spokesman said adding that units will shortly begin making port Calls As they did before War broke out Between the arabs and the israelis. American sailors of the Carrier Roose velt and its escorts Are now in Piraeus the seaport for Athens. Some men Are ashore on what the Pentagon said was restricted Liberty because of the political troubles in the country. The other major units of the Fleet the carriers Kennedy and Independence with their escorts and the helicopter carriers Guadalcanal and iwo Jima with some 4, 000 marines aboard Are still at sea the Navy 6th Fleet normally made up of about 40 ships including two aircraft carriers was augmented during the Middle East War to its present strength of around 60 ships while the soviet Mediterranean Fleet at the Peak of the War stood at More than 90 ships. The russian Fleet now num Bers about 70 ships. Pentagon officials say about half of the russian Fleet in the Mediterranean is made up of Supply ships while most of the american ships Are combatants. Besides maintaining a naval balance in the Eastern Mediterranean and standing ready to protect and evacuate americans should the need arise the 6th Fleet also provided communications and navigation Al support for the . Airlift to Israel. . Commissaries Short on Brown grocery bags Mildenhall England is serv ice wives used to wrapping garbage in the Brown grocery bags they get at . Commissaries May have to make other a army will Cut staff in Washington is the army will make a Cut of about 10 per cent in its Mili tary and civilian staff in the nation s Capi Tal according to an announcement by army Secretary Howard h. Callaway and Gen. Creighton w. Abrams chief of staff. This reduction is being made on top of one earlier this year of 545 military and 831civilians. The latest action will result in the elimination of 165 military and 297 civilian positions by the end of june the army said. The reductions will be achieved by streamlining internal organizations an improving the efficiency of administration and support activities. Servicemen affected by the reduction will be reassigned to fill requirements elsewhere. Civilian cuts will be achieved by attrition and reduced hiring. When the cuts Are completed the army Headquarters staff will consist of 1,602 servicemen and 2,468 civilians. The Esti mated annual saving for the cuts comes to $5.3 million a year. Range ments in the near future. The grocery bags taken for granted by commissary customers have joined theist of items in Short Supply Here. It. Col. Thurston Thompson 3rd air Force director of Supply said the Brown grocery bags Are becoming scarce be cause of a worldwide paper shortage. Some of our commissaries have supplies to last less than 30 Days he said. We have redistributed supplies of bags wherever it s been economically feasible but we re still facing an acute Thompson continued solutions to the shortages Are going to have to be left up to the individual commissary managers. Some Are already stretching their Supply of bags by using empty paper boxes. But even this is a problem because the boxes can be a fire Hazard unless adequate Stor age is meanwhile commissaries throughout the . Were urging customers to find alternatives to using the bags As garbage wrappers and to save them. Foreign badges curbed Washington is foreign badges including aviation badges May no longer be worn on the air Force uniform unless the wearer is in the country that conferred the decoration or is attending an official or social function sponsored by the country the air Force reported. The new policy is contained in a change to air Force manual 35-10. Getting ready for a Comet this Lockheed c141 Star lifter fitted with a 36-Inch infrared Telescope goes through a training Man Euver Over Moun Tain View calif., to get ready for the Kohoutek Comet that is to appear in de Cember. The airborne Observatory which is Able to cruise above 40,000 feet for four hours will be used to study the infrared spectrum of the 100-million-mile-Long Comet. Up photo Safe nest nearly ready upper Heyford England is installation of a sophisticated Security system called Safe nest is nearing completion at the sprawling air Force base Here Home of the 20th tactical fighter Wing. The system spotted at several locations on the base is designed to detect intruders alarms. Safe nest includes observation towers special purpose cables and Ultra sensitive electronics detection equipment. A 29-Man team from the 1836th Engi Neering and installation so from Wiesbaden air base is installing the system. . Sgt. John Jenkins superintendent of the 2pth Security police so Here said installation of the detection and alarm system will allow his men to revert to their Basic Security role. It will allow us to respond to intrusion alarms he said rather than
