Registration for the Air Force Marathon will open Jan. 1, 2012, at midnight with a special one day-only price.

For Jan. 1 only, the full marathon is $75; half marathon is $60; 10K is $35; and the 5K is $20.

"We've offered special pricing on January 1st for the last few years, and it has helped get our registration off the starting blocks quickly," said Molly Louden, the Air Force Marathon director. "I think our incredibly fast sellout last year will only help speed it along. People know they can't wait too late if they want a spot."

Prices for the full and half go up $10 on Jan. 2, while the two shorter distances go up $5. Prices will rise again on April 2 and June 2 -- if spots are still available at all by that time.

Although an additional 1,500 spots were added, bringing the potential 2012 field to 15,000 runners, race officials fully expect to sell out based on the rate of recent growth.

"We are encouraging everyone to beat the rush and register early. It is the only sure way to guarantee a spot," Louden said.

The Air Force Marathon, presented by Northrop Grumman, USAA and Boeing, is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2012, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Participants start and finish at the museum, and spectators are welcome at the museum or in downtown Fairborn, Ohio. 

While the half marathon and 10K are also scheduled for Sept. 15, the Air Force 5K, hosted by Wright State University, is scheduled for Sept. 14 at the Wright State University Nutter Center. The Sports and Fitness Expo will also be held at the Nutter Center on Sept. 13-14.

For more information see http://www.usafmarathon.com.

(Courtesy of the 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs.)

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In September of this year, Headquarters Air Mobility Command awarded a contract to Reliable Government Solutions to provide AtHoc Installation Warning System Alerts (AtHoc IWSAlerts^TM) to eight AMC installations.

This system procurement in part is in response to mitigating events such as the Fort Hood, Texas, incident, but will be key to notifying installation personnel during all types of emergencies.

AtHoc IWSAlerts^TM is a network-centric emergency mass notification system (EMNS) which also provides an aspect of personnel accountability. The personnel accountability is a report consisting of who was notified, when and if they acknowledged.

The system is capable of notifying personnel within minutes of an emergency from a single, centralized, Web-based instance. Types of notifications range from force protection condition changes, anti-terror warnings or natural disaster alerts for approaching tornadoes, hurricanes or other emergency situations.

Command posts at each base will be the lead in operating the system with emergency managers also being key players in the process. The AMC command center will also have the ability to make command-wide notifications. As the primary owners of the systems at the bases, command posts will push alerts upon direction of the wing commander or their representative. A forthcoming HQ AMC EMNS concept of operations will outline operational details and provide guidance on how installations are to use the system. Installation commanders will be the final approval authority for local implementation and use.

The client installation phase should be transparent to the user. Once complete, it is easy for an end user (alert recipient) to know when communication is in place from their desktop, as indicated by the small purple globe in the system tray indicating connectivity. When there is no communication or a connectivity issue occurs, a grey globe with a red "X" appears in the system tray.

End user responsibilities are simple: keep your contact information current and respond to alerts in a timely manner by following the provided instructions. You can update your contact information by using the AtHoc IWSAlerts^TM self service module; just right click on the purple globe and select "Access Self Service" and update accordingly. An alert will have a specific set of instructions to respond to. Ensure you read the entire alert and/or listen to the entire message then respond accordingly. An important note to remember is this system will notify many people in a short period of time and provides robust notification capabilities, but we still need personnel to remember their wingman responsibilities to ensure the 100 percent solution.

The contract provides eight installations with a rapid means to notify the base populace using computer pop-ups, e-mail, telephony (hard line and cellular) and text messaging. The eight bases receiving AtHoc IWSAlerts^TM with this contract include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Dover Air Force Base, Del., Scott AFB, Ill., Fairchild AFB, Wash., Grand Forks AFB, N.D., Little Rock AFB, Ark., McConnell AFB, Kan., and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. This purchase will align these installations with the other AMC bases and improve our notification in a more standard fashion.

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The Air Force is offering a second round of voluntary early retirement authority and voluntary separation incentive pay beginning Jan. 9.

The move is part of the Air Force's continuing effort to meet the Department of Defense requirement to maintain civilian funding at fiscal 2010 levels

"The Air Force recognizes the invaluable contributions of our civilian workforce, but also recognizes the fiscal constraints under which the Department of Defense and the government as a whole are operating," said Maj. Gen. Sharon Dunbar, the director of force management policy. "We are working to balance mission needs while taking care to minimize the effect on our current permanent civilian workforce and their families."

The first round of VERA/VSIP was used as a voluntary means to reduce civilian workforce levels, enabling strategic rebalancing efforts. As the Air Force continues its fiscal 2012 civilian workforce restructure, round two of VERA/VSIP will be used to further realign and rebalance the civilian force.

Civilian employees will receive VERA/VSIP eligibility surveys from their personnel managers in January and applications are due Feb. 3 or an earlier date established by local authorities. Applicants approved for this round of VERA/VSIP will need to separate on or before April 30.

"We are pursuing all available force management measures, to include civilian hiring controls, where required, with the goal of avoiding involuntary measures for our current permanent workforce," Dunbar said.

In August, the Air Force instituted a 90-day hiring freeze that was lifted as an Air Force-wide control Dec. 16. Hiring controls remain in effect in some areas and vary by major command, depending on current MAJCOM strength relative to approved funding levels. Of the positions already identified for elimination, many were vacant, and the freeze created additional vacancies. By lifting the Air Force-wide freeze, MAJCOM managers and hiring officials will be able to hire personnel into vacant positions that remain to support the future Air Force mission.

For any information about civilian employment, voluntary separation programs and other personnel issues, visit the secure Air Force Personnel Service website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.

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More than 120 Airmen from McChord Field's 4th Airlift Squadron were greeted by family and friends Jan. 4 after a 60-day deployment in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, New Dawn and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

The 4th AS Airmen were deployed as the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in two overseas contingency locations in the Middle East.

Lt. Col. Anthony Angello, who also serves as the 313th Airlift Squadron commander under the 446th Airlift Wing, led the mission. This deployment marked the first time a Reservist commanded an active duty squadron.

"It truly has been an honor and privilege to lead the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron," said Lt. Col. Anthony Angello, 817th EAS commander. "I cannot tell you how proud I am of our active duty and Reserve Airmen who stepped up to the plate for this deployment performed exceptionally well and served our great nation with valor and distinction. In the end, this successful deployment codifies the tremendous synergy our Air Force gains from the active-Reserve associate wing concept. The tremendous effort of all Airmen involved has raised the Total Force performance standards to exceedingly high levels. I am extremely humbled to have been a part of this amazing and historic effort."

During their deployment, the C-17 squadron flew 951 sorties, equaling more than 3,056 hours, moving more than 50,328 passengers and delivering more than 29.9 million pounds of combat sustainment cargo for U.S. military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and operations in East Africa.

"Carrying more than 300 fellow servicemembers each day in support of Operation Enduring Freedom was such a unique and rewarding experience," said Capt. Angela Hearn, 4th AS aircraft commander. "I was extremely pleased that the positive attitude of my crew was directly reflected in the men and women from every branch of service that we transported. The opportunity to work with such dedicated people throughout the C-17 community, under often challenging circumstances, has only reinforced the camaraderie I have become accustomed to as a member of the 4th Airlift Squadron. It is deployments like these that show the importance of total force integration."

According to Airmen of the 817th EAS, the mission would not have been a success without the constant support from loved ones back home, especially during the holidays.

"I think this deployment has epitomized the aspect of Team McChord," said Tech. Sgt. Matthew Calhoun, 817th EAS chief loadmaster. "Not to mention we are pretty darn good at what we do. Also, this would not be possible without the support and sacrifices of our families back home. They really deserve the credit for anything that we accomplish. For most of them, this is not their first deployment and I really do think that it is more difficult to stay home with the kids than do what we do. They are heroes, every single one of them. Thank you."

The 62nd AW's four active-duty flying squadrons share responsibility for the deployed squadron and rotate operating the 817th EAS continuously. The deployments allow Air Mobility Command to consistently position assets closer to the areas of responsibility.

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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.  -- My guess is if you were to think about an accident, incident, mishap or misstep, the underlining culprit would be accountability. Accountability lies at the heart of both mission accomplishment and professionalism. It is about holding ourselves to the highest standards, not because of threat of discipline, but because we want to hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence.

Excellence and accountability go hand-in-hand. They form the basis for the profession of arms. Excellence is written into our core values, it is a driving force behind our wing motto, and it is part of who we are. But to attain, and maintain, excellence requires that we hold ourselves to lofty standards... the standard of excellence. To do that requires we hold ourselves and our fellow Airmen to those standards. It's what makes ours an elite profession.

Accountability should be woven into everything you do; accountability to yourself, your fellow Airmen, our mission, your family and, finally accountability to this great nation. As a member of the armed services, our country expects nothing less. And accountability is not limited to life and death situations. Accountability spans the spectrum from airdropping life-saving supplies to troops in Afghanistan and stopping to pick up a piece of trash in the hallway, to taking the keys away from an Airmen who has had too much to drink. It's filing travel vouchers properly and wearing the uniform correctly.

Our conduct, every day, is what defines us as professionals. It's why the American public repeatedly views the U.S. military as the most highly respected institution in the country. However, when we stop holding ourselves accountable, and stop striving for excellence, we start to lose that credibility and trust.

As we ready ourselves for new challenges this year with upcoming inspections, exercises and our ever-present global airlift mission, I am confident given our combined abilities and our unwavering core values we will be successful in our efforts. Every day in the 62nd Airlift Wing, we will hold ourselves accountable and strive for excellence.

As I watch you execute our demanding missions daily, it is with great admiration that I serve as your commander. Thank you for your sacrifices and those of your loved ones. It is only with your exceptional service that Team McChord continues to be successful.

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More than 120 Airmen from McChord Field, led by a Reservist, returned here Jan. 4 after a 60-day deployment in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, New Dawn and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

The active-duty 4th Airlift Squadron Airmen were deployed as the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in two overseas contingency locations in the Middle East.

Lt. Col. Anthony Angello, who also serves as the 313th Airlift Squadron commander under the 446th Airlift Wing, led the mission. This deployment marked the first time a Reservist commanded an active-duty squadron.

"It truly has been an honor and privilege to lead the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron," said Lt. Col. Anthony Angello, 817th EAS commander. "I cannot tell you how proud I am of our active-duty and Reserve Airmen who stepped up to the plate for this deployment, performed exceptionally well, and served our great nation with valor and distinction. In the end, this successful deployment codifies the tremendous synergy our Air Force gains from the active-Reserve associate wing concept. The tremendous effort of all Airmen involved has raised the Total Force performance standards to exceedingly high levels. I am extremely humbled to have been a part of this amazing and historic effort."

During their deployment, the C-17 squadron flew 951 sorties, equaling more than 3,056 hours, moving more than 50,328 passengers and delivering more than 29.9 million pounds of combat sustainment cargo for U.S. military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and operations in East Africa.

"Carrying more than 300 fellow servicemembers each day in support of Operation Enduring Freedom was such a unique and rewarding experience," said Capt. Angela Hearn, 4th AS aircraft commander. "I was extremely pleased that the positive attitude of my crew was directly reflected in the men and women from every branch of service that we transported. The opportunity to work with such dedicated people throughout the C-17 community, under often challenging circumstances, has only reinforced the camaraderie I have become accustomed to as a member of the 4th Airlift Squadron. It is deployments like these that show the importance of total force integration."

According to Airmen of the 817th EAS, the mission would not have been a success without the constant support from loved ones back home, especially during the holidays.

"I think this deployment has epitomized the aspect of Team McChord," said Tech. Sgt. Matthew Calhoun, 817th EAS chief loadmaster. "Not to mention we are pretty darn good at what we do. Also, this would not be possible without the support and sacrifices of our families back home. They really deserve the credit for anything that we accomplish. For most of them, this is not their first deployment and I really do think that it is more difficult to stay home with the kids than do what we do. They are heroes, every single one of them. Thank you."

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Getting a man on the inside is usually the best way to gather intelligence for any operation. In this case, an operational readiness inspection, such as the one the 446th Airlift Wing will have in October.

Lt. Col. Ray Luevanos, 446th Mission Support Group deputy commander, along with a few other Reserve and active duty Airmen from McChord Field, got in on the ground floor for the ORIs conducted for Joint Base Charleston, S.C., as well as Dover AFB, Del.

Luevanos augmented the Air Mobility Command Inspector General team from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7.

Both Charleston and Dover ORI's were conducted in Gulfport, Miss., at the Gulfport Contingency Readiness Training Center. The CRTC is a Mississippi Air National Guard base with the primary mission of supporting Unit Compliance Inspections, Operational Readiness Exercises, and Operational Readiness Inspections.

Although his expertise is with the emergency operations center, Luevanos viewed many aspects of the inspections, and learned a great deal to help prepare McChord for its ORI in October.

"Attitude, sense of urgency, communication, and knowing your job are the essentials for a successful operational readiness inspection," said Luevanos. "That tidbit came from an inspector with long tenure on the AMC inspection team."

Both Charleston and Dover were working within a Korea scenario, according to Luevanos, operating out of Japan. Each was given a variety of missile attacks (chemical versus non-chemical) and each facility was required to bug-out once to demonstrate alternate location and command and control turnover. Other injects included food poisoning, water contamination, fuels contamination, contamination control area demonstration and a lone gunman/distraught airman. The distraught airman fired upon his own troops and this inject occurred after the "hostilities ceased" message was received from Intel.

Luevanos observed that Charleston initially lacked a sense of urgency.

"The first indication of this was their ineffectiveness at building sandbags for base hardening," he said.

Upon landing, the advance team is given full access to materials to harden facilities to include sandbags and a sandbag machine. The IG requires a demonstration of sandbag building and a hardening demonstration for grading purposes.

After the graded unit builds 1,500 sandbags, the IG releases an additional 6,500 pre-positioned sandbags for the unit to use for hardening. The Charleston day shift opted to wait until civil engineer members arrived on chalk 5 prior to beginning the building of sandbags, a delay of about 24 hours.

"Having only one 12-hour shift of CE operations personnel limited the time frame during which CE could build sandbags," said Luevanos. "Finally, they mobilized other units to begin building sandbags, but the night shift bore the brunt of the task."

An IG-recommended practice is to have arriving players from each chalk fill 10 to 20 sandbags each prior to receiving their room keys. Having leadership participate in the process was also recommended to display "leadership by example" and a sense of urgency.

Safety was also an issue during the employment phase. Airmen were observed leaving forklifts running without drivers or chalks, and backing without spotters, according to Luevanos.

Other observations to learn from, according to Luevanos' report concerning his trip, included:

One wing deployed without a water test kit which negated their ability to determine chlorine contamination (simulated) of a water buffalo.

Some Airmen neglected to change out M-8/M-9 paper following attacks. This resulted in confusion after a subsequent non-chemical attack which was interpreted to have chemicals because of prior M-8/M-9 contamination.

A unit misidentified one of its own life-support vans during an attack causing it to divert resources and time as the vehicle was searched for and investigated.

On the first day of Dover's ORI, a fuels tester was relieved of duty for improper duty certifications.

Know the CRTC policies. One wing's standardization and evaluation section was not aware weapons were not allowed in the dorm rooms. Consequently, they had to construct a makeshift armory which necessitated a "player" guard (not real world). This policy had been communicated weeks prior; however, this section was not aware of the restriction.

According to Luevanos, it is imperative that each unit reviews write-ups from the last McChord ORI. The IG's grading tool automatically loads past write-ups so inspectors may assess whether current write-ups are repeated from the last ORI.

And whatever you do, don't let your guard down at the end of active hostilities.

"Many of the graded areas occur after hostilities cease, especially for support agencies. The IG noted to both units that most accidents occur during the Redeployment phase because of a sense of 'get-home-it is,'" explained Luevanos.

To that end, if the IG notes complacency by the unit, they will delay the redeployment order (2-hour delay to Charleston) or add injects, such as an active shooter, to keep the players engaged. So it pays to not let your guard down.

"I highly encourage any ORI participants, especially leadership, to augment the IG team as inspectors if at all possible. Having full access to grading criteria and IG leadership discussions is invaluable to understanding the 'rules' behind the ORI 'game,'" said Luevanos.

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RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Air Force officials have created four video tutorials, or vodcasts, to educate people on some of the capabilities and features available on the Air Force Personnel Services, or AFPERS, website.

A team of Air Force personnelists and contractors collaborated on the vodcasts to teach active duty Air Force, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen about the basic functions of AFPERS, where to access it, how to create an account and what to do if a user identification or password is forgotten.

"We are using video tutorials as a way to provide awareness and information to our members on personnel services," said Mary McAfee, the Air National Guard's personnel services delivery strategy chief. "These products will help ensure our Airmen are aware of the AFPERS website because it is our total force source for personnel information and services."

Future video tutorials being proposed include educating Airmen about the AFPERS civilian homepage, addressing the top five issues received by the Total Force Service Center, and how the website can help answer other frequently asked questions or inquiries about personnel processes.

The video tutorials are available on the Air Force Portal under the Life and Careers tab under Careers and on the AFPC public website at http://www.afpc.af.mil/afpers_vodcasts/index.asp. These products can also be redistributed on other Air Force websites to further help raise awareness and educate Airmen about online personnel services.

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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.  -- First off, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first team in 2012 to get Tebow'd. As I entered my place of work, I symbolically dropped to one knee and asked God once again why the Cowboys have only won one playoff game since 1995 and as I rose to my feet I sadly remembered Tim Tebow and Tony Romo now have the same amount of playoff wins. So what? I can still enjoy this!

As I logged onto Facebook, I noticed a familiar face in my timeline with a tagline that said, "Check out this idiot." There he was: Airman Snuffy McDufflebag and his 1st Lt. Wet B. Hinddaears at an "Occupy Stipclubs" football party in full uniform drinking a beer bong. He was invited by Presidential Candidate Montgomery Brewster and running mate Randy Watson. They offered them both a .999 percent discount for entry if they were in military in uniform.

As I dug further, I found out through Snuffy's status that he meant to send the picture to a friend and accidentally posted it to his Facebook wall, and the rest is now social media history. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I immediately called Master Sgt. Johnny Mentor.

He answered with a long sigh. "I already know... it's on CNN!" he said without asking what I was calling for. I was the 248th caller of the day. What was he thinking, I asked Sergeant Mentor.

Sergeant Mentor went on to explain he had made all the Airmen in his shop read the Air Force pamphlet "Social Media and the Air Force," produced by the Air Force Public Affairs Agency Emerging Technology Division.

He said he focused on the part that states, "Airmen should note that anytime they engage in social media, they are representing the Air Force and therefore should not do anything that will discredit themselves or the Air Force."

He added that it goes on to say, "Airmen must abide by certain restrictions to ensure good order and discipline. All Airmen are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and all actions are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Even if Airmen state they are not representing the Air Force, other audiences may not interpret the information that way."

He also said officials advise Airmen to be careful of the details, text, photos and video posted to profiles on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook and other social networks. Employers and adversaries can search these sites, and there are numerous examples of people losing a job due to their inappropriate photos or comments.

"Airmen, by the nature of the business, are always on the record and must always represent the core values, even on the Web: Integrity first, service before self and excellence in all that is done," the pamphlet stated.

Even armed with all this information, Snuffy still resorted to his habitual line-stepping ways.

While I kind of found the picture funny, I realized it was no laughing matter. I learned we should all be good Wingmen for ourselves and other Airmen around us--if you see something that doesn't look or feel right, it probably isn't.

I also learned it was safer to ask questions about what you can or cannot do, before you find yourself in a situation where you can't easily press delete.

I know I will be careful with what I do both in and out of uniform when it comes to social media. I know I learned my lesson, but as for Snuffy, I am sure he will be at it again.

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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.  -- The 62nd Airlift Wing has been awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for meritorious service from Sep. 11, 2010 to Sep. 12, 2011.

During this period, the 62nd AW provided airlift for Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, delivering more than 128,000 personnel and 308 million pounds of cargo. These figures accounted for 41 percent and 29 percent respectively of all overseas contingency operations airlift.

The wing hosted the 2011 AMC Rodeo, hosting more than 3,000 personnel, 159 teams and 35 international partners. During the AMC Rodeo, the 62nd AW was named Best Aerial Port Team, Best C-17 Globemaster III Pre-Flight Team and Best C-17 Globemaster III Wing.

Additionally, the 62nd AW safely executed 126 Prime Nuclear Airlift Force sorties, totaling 454 pounds of nuclear cargo. The wing also garnered two outstanding and one excellent rating during three Nuclear Surely Inspections.

As AMC's only Antarctic qualified wing, the 62nd AW flew 69 missions, totaling 772 flight hours and five million pounds of cargo delivered to the harshest environment on the planet. The Operation Deep Freeze team also conducted the first mid-winter medical evacuation, saving a life and validating the possibility of year-round Antarctic operations.

Squadrons and Airmen who fall under the 62nd AW won a number of awards, including AMC's number one Maintenance Professional, Air Mobility Flight Team, Civilian Personnel Office, Young Judge Advocate, Finance Management Airman, Language Professional and Weather Operations Flight.

The 62nd AW also made a large humanitarian impact, as the first heavy aircraft to aid in Japan tsunami relief by being airborne within 19 hours of notification. The wing propelled Operation Pacific Passage, repatriating 2.6 thousand passengers and disbursing $19.7 thousand in travel vouchers.

"This award directly reflects the hard work and dedication of our Airmen," said Col. Wyn Elder, 62nd AW commander. "To earn this distinction under the current heavy operational tempo is especially rewarding. I'm extremely honored to serve alongside the men and women of the 62nd."

Airmen stationed at JBLM during the award period are authorized to wear the Outstanding Unit ribbon or add one additional cluster to their ribbon.

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