European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes thursday March 29 2007 of readiness Down 17 percent since 2001 Reserve c130 Crews to be asked to Volunteer amid air transport Strain by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes Arlington a air Force readiness is Down 17 per cent since 2001 according to Gen Ronald keys commander of the air combat command personnel and airframes Are both feeling the Strain of High operations tempos provoked by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan keys told reporters monday at boiling air Force base in Washington at a press round table with nine other air Force generals during a combat air ability air forces commanders conference the air Force uses a sliding scale of cd to c4 to measure the readiness with units graded cd and c2 prepared to go and accomplish the Mission he said but when units Are rated c3 or c4 you have to find major workarounds keys said since 2001 the air Force has seen the percentage of units incl and c2 status in a steady de Cline keys said Wear and tear on the Fleet is visible said Gen Duncan Mcnabb commander of the mobility command but personnel Are also a con Cern keys said especially the so called on Toone dwell time on Toone dwell is what the air Force Calls the Simon Tyson Simon Tshoff deployment schedule airmen with High demand skills such As air transport Crews military police or intelligence experts Are experiencing the troop increase for Iraq announced by president Bush in january put an additional Strain Brian e of the us air Force air National guard members make their Way to their c130 Hercules feb 6 at Charlotte no due to strains on the Force the air Force is about to ask c130 Reserve air Crews which Are All maxed out on their service commitments to Volunteer instead said Gen Duncan Mcnabb com Mander of the air mobility command on air transport capabilities Mcnabb said although the air Force is still determining How Many transport Crews it will ultimately have to contribute to the so called surge Effort mobility could be Large num Bers of air Force personnel Mcnabb said were not sure keys said the Force is also analysing How Many fighter planes and pilots it will contrib Ute along with intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance As sets such As unmanned Aerial vehicles avs and their Crews the air Force is preparing to Call for c130 Reserve air Crews to Volunteer for deployments said it Gen John Bradley chief of air Force Reserve the service has to ask for volunteers instead of mobilizing reservists outright because All of the air forces c130 Reserve Crews reached their two year mobilization limit in the fall of 2006 Bradley said the air Force has about 150 c130 Crews i the reserves Bradley said and not having a Cess to those Crews potentially puts a serious Strain on the ser vices ability to provide trans port in combat zones Jim Miller a spokesman for the air Force Reserve com Mand at Robins Force base a told stripes on tuesday that air Force reserves provide 21 percent of int Heater Airlift i the Middle East that percentage could include a combination of c17 and c130 aircraft he said but most of it is probably c130s because that the stated purpose of the c130 to Fly in tra theater As opposed to opposed to Long Range flights he said when the Reserve c130 Crews began to Max out on their remaining service time the air Force filled the gaps with the c17 transport Mcnabb said the next step he said is to have More Active duty and re serve units sharing c130 air Craft As the air Force once did with its strategic bomber Force the first mixed serve c130 unit will be in Chey Enne Wyo Mcnabb said the 153rd Airlift Wing of the National meanwhile however Mcnabb and Bradley said they Are confident that enough c130 Crews will answer the Call to Volunteer i think we can do this c130 business for a Long Long time with volunteers not mobilizations Bradley said email Lisa Burgess at Best storyteller wins happily Ever after Laura of Kinser elementary school Megan Krohmer participates monday in the storytelling Competition at Kinser elementary school on Okinawa Krohmer a sixth grader placed first the contest says Barb Treadway the schools literacy support specialist was aimed at stimulating the students imaginations sparking a genuine interest in stories and Reading improving their expressive language skills developing their Sel Confidence in Public and increasing their appreciation of literature six classes at the school took part with 12 students performing before a panel of judges monday Pat Tillmans family says latest report merely slap on the wrist by Frank Davies and Julia Prodis Sulek san Jose Mercury news san Jose Calif Pat Tillmans family on monday blasted the latest army investigation into his 2004 Friendly fire death in Afghanistan As shamefully unacceptable and vowed to press ahead with their own crusade to make sure that the people who put him in harms concealed the True nature of his death for More than a month Are punished the Pentagon announced Mon Day that one of the army top generals will swiftly determine what punishments await up to nine officers including four Fel Low generals who gave inaccurate or misleading information about the death of Tillman a former nil Star Tillmans family his parents Mary and Pat brother Kevin and widow Marie were briefed in san Jose about the re port at the same time top officers in the Pentagon were releasing its findings later they issued a scathing fou Page written state ment Kevin Tillman who joined the army with his brother and accompanied his body Home from Afghanistan helped draft the Docu ment which a family Friend handed out to a group of reporters at the base of the driveway of Mary Tillmans Home where an Ameri can Flag Hung next to the Row of mailboxes the deception surrounding this Case was an insult to the family but More importantly its Pri Mary purpose was to deceive a whole nation we say these things with disappointment and sadness for our country once again we have been used As props in a Pentagon Public relations exercise the family the statement said was compelled to continue its own Pursuit of the full truth about the circumstances of Pat Tillmans death the so called missteps and deficiencies of pats unit the army the depart ment of defense and this administration the characterization of Crimi Nal negligence professional mis conduct Battlefield incompetence concealment and destruction of evidence deliberate deception and conspiracy to deceive Are not missteps the statement said these actions Are malfeasance this attempt to impose clo sure by slapping the wrists of a few officers and enlisted men is yet another bureaucratic entrenchment the statement said the family called upon con Gress to conduct yet another investigation with Hopes that other cases of fratricide will be properly investigated