European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 23, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes August 1985 letters airman gets answers about commissioning my questions primarily concern the educational opportunities that arc constantly being brought to the Scricc members at i am an no with eight years of i hold a baccalaureate degree from Troy state University in there Are probably hundreds of other personnel in the air Force who arc concerned with the same questions i am about to bring out with your the air Force pushes education through All the Media and this is highly but for an individual who plans on staying in the service for 20plus the education does nothing for his or her progression to master sergeant and very Little for e8 and Why Why cant Points be awarded on the weighted airman promotion system tests for those who hold a bachelors degree or higher after All the hard work we have done and in most cases part of the Money came from Uncle there should be some kind of an incentive toward the end result such after you obtain your degree then you can receive so Many Points toward your next i understand that All enlisted personnel who have a desire to obtain a commission and serve As an in All probability cannot do but i would like someone to answer these next few questions within the hundreds of Public education Al institutions there Are probably hundreds of people enrolled in the a froth pro Grams where upon graduation and comple Tion of requirements they can serve on Active duty As an a Large majority of these students have no prior service and their major Field of study is not in what is termed technical areas but they will fill a position on Active Why cant personnel on Active duty be allocated slots in direct proportion to Roth personnel we have the same qualifications in most More experience due to our Why fill vacancies with civilians when you have highly trained and educated cos who believe appreciate the Opportunity to gain the status that we have worked so hard for i realize that there Are programs set up for the enlisted personnel but these Only apply to a few select such As airman education and commissioning pro Gram Aeop and the there is so much emphasis put on air Force officer qualifying test scores for enlisted Why Are the require ments not As High for Roth graduates they Are Only required to obtain the mini mum passing i have no idea How Many slots Are allocated to the civilian Side of the but i can imagine it is rather i really be Lieve that someone needs to take a look at the experience and education that already exists on the inside before committing slots to untrained military Wise How Many of these Well qualified cos have Given up their career due to being disgusted with not being Able to use their skills in a higher and turn their skills Over to the civilian Community where they Are Able to utilize what they have Learned How Many times has an no walked out the door and a civilian has walked into ots to do a Job that the no could have done this letter is not intended to demean the air forces Way of doing but in All fairness to the individuals who can work a regular Job on Active go to school at night for several years with a definite goal in mind and then be turned away because slots Are being filled by Roth personnel or differing views on award winning dining facility i am writing this letter in response to the announcement of the winners of the 17th Philip Connelly awards program for Excel Lence in army food apparently winning is everything to some commanders in the objectives of the Competition Are to provide recognition for excellence in the preparation and serving of As Well As provide added incentive to competitive programs of major army com i was shocked when i was told of the tactics used to win the Competition by the Berlin brigade in the Large it must be Nice to have a bottomless bucket of Money where you can spend Over Marks just to get ready for the things such As Marks for cleaning the completely a landscaping the outside new equipment As Well As new plants for the inside of the this did not include the closing of the facility for 17 Days just to gel the building ready for the inspection or the busing of service members across town to ensure the headcount was adequate in order to qualify for the Large i am even More shocked to think Usa eur food service would allow such tactics to be used in preparing for this compete if this is what the Philip Connelly Competition is All i along with several other food service have no desire to be a part or compete in the name and location withheld editors note Bernard assistant chief of Berlin replies the Philip Connelly award for excellence in army food service is won through the efforts of highly motivated and Well trained food service personnel whose primary goal is to provide the Best meal possible for the soldiers of their i am proud to be Given this Opportunity to congratulate the noncommissioned soldiers and civilian employees whose outstanding performance Over the past year resulted in the recognition of berlins combat support in As the Best Large dining facility in the for the Philip Connelly Competition has been an incentive to continue to improve our Overall food service in combat support in won the 15th annual Connelly this established a Standard of excellence that has been built on by the command and resulted in the recognition of three Berlin dining facilities As the Best in Usa eur during this years the beneficiaries of this hard work have been the soldiers who Are served in our unit dining the Berlin food service program encompasses personnel train equipment readiness and scheduled As part of this program the combat support in dining facility was closed March 829 because the unit had deployed to the Berge Hohne nato training this is a common practice for All Berlin dining facilities and the Down time was utilized by the engineers to perform scheduled maintenance and in addition to these activities Berlin expended an additional Marks Over the past seven months for decor items such As window boxes and the object of this expenditure was to create a More pleasant atmosphere for the dining facility no outside landscaping was accomplished beyond the repair of a broken As the principal food service operation on Andrews combat support in provides dining facility support for an additional six separate companies and the members of these units work at various locations throughout the american in order to provide these personnel with an Opportunity to have lunch in their dining bus service was made available to though the initial response to this voluntary program was participation tapered off and the additional bus service was discontinued after a two week the Philip Connelly award program is designed to recognize the Day today efforts of food service winning is a Reward for the hard Long hours and dedicated performance of the unit dining facility although there can be Only one All the participants in the Competition Benefit from the upholding of weight standards this letter is in response to the person from Rumstein a who complained about weight and fitness 1 assume youre in the air since youre at if what i have to say still you said you saw the need for standards and we Are depending on your discipline to meet air Force look at the big about 230 Mil lion people Are depending on you to do your peacetime and wartime More direct your fellow servicemen Bers Are depend ing on if youre overweight and cant run a How effective Are you going to be in a wartime situation can we depend on you at a time when each person must pull his own weight and or will you be holding someone Back because you dont have the discipline to maintain weight and fitness standards How Long will you last in the protective ensemble probably Long enough to be pronounced if we take the picture you painted of yourself at face the air Force needs disciplined be they appearance or Job All Are if you cant discipline yourself to meet these then the air Force must impose its discipline upon what Choice do we have if we want an effective military Force Reading your letter brought my 5 Mont hold boy to Hes on the fringe of being cant run a mile and cries a there is a he is totally dependent on you and and every other servicemen Are dependent on each Henry Greer Raf England pen pals i would like pen i am 16va and interested in writing letters and collecting practically any i go to the air training corps on wednesdays and fridays As i wish to join the Bosrock 23 Johnson Way Sheppet Kent me122d4 England i would like to have pen pals in different places of the i am 19 years old and enjoy playing biking and Barandon Orient food industries corp a Bulan Negros Philippines my Ameln your pen pal i am old like travelling and listening to Good Verano 1463 Bolocboloc Negros Oriental Philippines to i var5 old Sunole Parent one t would like to have pen my hobbles Are hiking going to county fairs and and swimming and i also like window shopping at Maynard p o Box 24 601520024 come give us a i have no qualms with the civilian Community but As the commercial we see on arts it just Doest make James Posey Turkey editors note Roger accession and reenlist ment policy directorate of personnel department of the air replies this responds to your readers questions about the role of advanced education in enlisted promotions and the distribution of officer accessions Between a froth and was Points Are not awarded for baccalaureate degrees because of equity and College degrees Are not required in order for cos to do their individuals who have heavy try or requirements have less Opportunity to Complete a degree than people who Are in More stable career its unfair to give some one an advantage for having something not directly while Points Are not awarded specifically for the Many individuals profit from their education in the promo Tion the increased study and test taking skills enhance performance on the was lessons Learned in class can enhance Job performance and management in promotion to senior and chief master Possession of a bachelors degree appears to be a Clear selection Board results indicate that Board members probably give this accomplishment special weight in the Board your readers questions on commission ing opportunities for enlisted members indicate a Lack of accurate the air Force allows its enlisted members to compete for any commissioning program for which a similarly qualified civilian can a froth is in fact open to enlisted personnel although ots is the primary producer of officers with prior enlisted nearly 80 percent of our fiscal year 1985 nontechnical commissioners were produced by positions Are not allocated by status military or Mili tary and civilians compete equally for each available selection boards Are composed of Colo Nels from throughout the air these boards consider the applicants College re personal letters of recon service if and afoot by the a froth and ots afoot Are the there is no difference As your Reader in the areas of letters of recommendation and service the i service applicant has an obvious we also permit age waivers for Active enlisted up to but not for while Active duty applicants have experience going for they also represent a risk to our the majority of them serve Only to 20 years plus minimum time to retire As an because of higher pay Scales it costs More to fill a lieutenant or Captain Billet with a prior service offi cer than a civilian or a froth commis Board members weigh these factors on an individual we ensure our enlisted personnel have a Chance to compete for commissions and that their service record can be considered As part of the selection we do not guarantee a Given number of positions to i service applicants Only an Opportunity to selection is based on the Overall potential to serve As an while experience is an it is Only one guaranteeing a Given number of slots to enlisted regardless of the capabilities of the civilians turned would not be in the interest of the air