Through a collaborative effort, the men and women of the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron improved aircraft safety by building a de-icing station from spare materials, drastically increasing the speed and reliability of refilling the de-icer trucks at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

A de-icer truck uses a half-and-half mixture of a red fluid and water, sprayed at high pressure, to remove ice from the surface of aircraft during the winter seasons. The removal of ice from the aircraft is instrumental in maintaining flight safety standards and ensuring the aircraft is ready to fly when needed for duty.

During times when aircraft are covered in ice and snow, the de-icer trucks are in continual use. However, to refill the 2,450-gallon trucks, the crew had to manually drain multiple 55-gallon barrels of pure de-icer fluid. For each barrel, they needed to re-prime the hose for suction. Once the truck was half filled, they would have to wait while they coordinated with another agency on base to fill the other half of the truck with water. Finally, to mix the solution, the driver would proceed back to the aircraft while occasionally pumping the brakes.

The process was slow and labor intensive.

The de-icer truck operators voiced their concerns and Capt. Corey Thobe, 455th ECES project engineer, decided to support a change.

Thobe took input from the de-icer truck operators and other ECES personnel and created a baseline schematic of a construct that would serve as a de-icing station until a permanent one could be built on the site.

He then forwarded it to Master Sgt. John Motley, 455th ECES water and fuels supervisor. Motley worked with his technicians to find out what spare materials they had on hand to construct the final product.

The temporary de-icing station featured three 3,850-gallon tanks of pre-mixed de-icer fluid, an extended-length PVC-pipe "hose" for filling the trucks, and transparent hoses marked to indicate how much fluid is left in each 10-foot tank. The station can be refilled while it is still in use.

Todd Mighell, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Group transient alert site lead, said the temporary station greatly improved the speed of a de-icer refill.

"It could take up to three hours to fill a truck," he said. "Now, a 2,450 gallon truck can get filled in about 20 minutes.

"Last year, there were missions that had to be scrubbed because the de-icer trucks were not able to keep up with the demand. The trucks kept running out of de-icer fluid and it took too long to refill. We are able to keep up now."

Thobe said in addition to speed, the station is designed to improve the mission's overall safety.

He said the hose used to fill the trucks were designed so Airmen do not have to climb all the way on top of the truck to pour in the fluid. Also, the stop-and-go driving that was used to mix the de-icer solution was no longer necessary due to a pump that cycled, and therefore mixed, the tank's contents. This removed the extra wear and tear on the truck's brakes and frame which was needed during the old mixing process.

Mighell added that the transparent hoses also allowed them to guarantee their service was giving pilots a thoroughly mixed product for de-icing.

"The de-icer fluid is red," he said. "Water is white. If the mix is pink, then we have a good 50/50 mix. We can see if the mix is too red or if it starts going clear. Then we can adjust the solution."

Tech. Sgt. Robert Varney, 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, said the temporary station worked great. He appreciated the innovation of the 455th ECES to construct the station to improve the de-icer mission while they wait for the permanent station to be built.

Mighell said, "Even if the permanent station never shows up, this one will definitely do the job!"

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The Air Force chief of staff announced his latest professional reading list Jan. 6.

In a letter to all Air Force personnel, Gen. Norton Schwartz said today's Airmen are among the military's best educated and most inquisitive.

"We Airmen are innovators because we embrace the word 'why' and mine it for better, smarter ways to operate," Schwartz said.

The Air Force's history is full of examples of Airmen who have embodied this attitude, facing daunting challenges with little more than their minds and fortitude, the general said.

"Their experiences are one of the cornerstones of the 2012 Reading List," Schwartz said.

This year's list contains 13 books and, for the first time, supplementary films, treatises and Internet-based resources. Schwartz will highlight these books throughout the year, and for the first quarter recommends these three:

"Airpower for Strategic Effect," by Colin Gray, provides a critical, strategic history of airpower as well as a new general theory.

"Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption," by Laura Hillenbrand, is the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of almost too incredible catastrophes.

Finally, "Start with Why," by Simon Sinek, looks at the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world and describes how they all think, act and communicate in the exact same way, something the author calls "The Golden Circle."

The other books in this year's reading list are:

"The Forever War," by Dexter Filkins

"Paradise Beneath Her Feet," by Isobel Coleman

"The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution," by Linda Monk

"The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers," by Richard McGregor

"Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure," by Tim Harford

"Catch-22," by Joseph Heller

"Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II," by J. Todd Moye

"Physics of the Future," by Michio Kaku

"A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent," by Robert Merry

"The Hunters," by James Salter

More information on the 2012 reading list can be found at http://www.af.mil/information/csafreading/index.asp

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When Maj. Tony Edwards took his last look around the supply warehouse, which was once a bustling place of activity and full of supplies, he marveled at its emptiness.
 
"It was completely vacated, as it should be," said Edwards, who was the 321st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron commander at Kirkuk Regional Air Base, Iraq, from April to November 2011. "That was a sign of us leaving."

By December 2011, only echoes and memories were left from more than one million service members who have deployed to Iraq since 2003.

"We knew the draw down was going to happen since the end of combat in 2008," he said as he put his deployment into perspective. "But a withdrawal like this hasn't taken place since Vietnam. There was no guidebook to attempt something like this. We pretty much wrote the manual."

Edwards, a Reservist who owns a State Farm insurance agency in Everett, Wash., was in charge of a 60-member squadron with two missions: training and advising Iraqis and keeping the Air Force operations running.

"It was a big task for a Reservist because I was in charge of the most difficult mission at the time--we had to move all the people and equipment and train the Iraqis, all while achieving the daily mission," he said. "All eyes were on me and my Airmen."

"I thought it was going to be daunting when I first arrived," the 446th Logistics Readiness Flight commander at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. said. The reality he said was that no one convoy or plane would get all the vehicles, people and supplies out of Kirkuk in one load or in one day. The challenge then was how to move everything piece by piece efficiently, while still maintaining the ability to run the base and complete the daily mission.

Being a Reservist gave him an advantage he said because his civilian job helped him hone deliberate planning techniques.

"I have to find ways to market my business and figure out ways to encourage people to invest in our products," the Citizen Airman said. "My approach to planning helped me find ways to coordinate which assets we could let go while still conducting daily operations."

After prioritizing the assets he then had to make it all fit on a combination of flights, using space wisely so everything would be out of the country by the target date.

"It was also really tough to come up with a plan to move all the equipment out when the finish line kept moving," Edwards said. Each time their return date changed, his carefully laid out plan had to change as well, ensuring no assets were lost in the process.

"We had to account for everything, which had to be shipped somewhere or change ownership whether it went to the Iraqis or to another agency within the Defense Department." Edwards said and explained he worked closely with the Army to ensure success. "Very few items came up missing."

"We had to get it right and we had to get it done on time and still carry on the mission--that was the biggest challenge."

As the base supply dwindled to a mere fraction of its former self and service members slowly departed, the remaining few continued to train Iraqis and prepared to hand the base over to them.

They took a crawl, walk, run approach to training them until eventually they did it on their own completely. "After all," he said, "they ran their own military bases before we got there."

"To see their progress was really rewarding. Many of them were fighting for the Iraqi army or air force when the war began," Edwards said. "Now they see us as the example of who they want to be like."

It was a big accomplishment he said to turn over fuel operations, which is the largest in Iraq with more than 500,000 gallons of JP8, and teaching them how to sustain that mission themselves. While a small footprint of DOD members remain, Kirkuk is now an Iraqi air force base for training pilots.

As the people and supplies left in a safe and logical manner and his deployment came to an end, Edwards said he felt relieved and particularly proud of the mission they accomplished.

"We did it smoothly and it worked," said Edwards, who attributed his success to his Airmen and his ability to lead them to the confidence he's gained from his military and civilian careers.

As the last Army convoy left, Edwards sat on the plane hauling the final 12 people from his deployment out of Kirkuk and reflected on what they had just done.

"It was me, a couple of aerial porters and air traffic controllers and the guy marshalling the plane," he recanted. "It was an historical time--it was the start of us closing down the bases in Iraq. It was a great effort from everyone involved. We did things the correct way."

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Captains and majors twice deferred for promotion to the next higher rank who have less than 18 years of service may face a selective continuation board.

Selective continuation boards allow the Air Force to retain twice-deferred officers for a length of time determined by the Secretary of the Air Force. The board typically reviews individual records, immediately following a promotion board, to determine eligibility for continuation.

Continuing service in the Air Force is not a guarantee or a right, said Col. Michael Pitts, Air Force Personnel Center's Personnel Services Directorate Operations Division chief.

"Selective continuation is necessary to balance our force to meet current and future mission capabilities," Pitts said. "It's no longer business as 'normal.' The authority to continue twice-deferred officers is at the discretion of the Air Force Secretary when the needs of the service require."

Officers not selected for continuation are eligible for involuntary separation pay and will be projected for separation no later than six months after the President or his delegate approves the board results, said Lt. Col. Shelley Strong, AFPC's Officer Promotion Branch chief. Those who choose to apply for transfer into the Air Force Reserves or Air National Guard will require a waiver.

With a very talented, all-volunteer force it is a difficult task to select Airmen for early transition from the active-duty force, however the process is necessary to ensure we maintain critical skills and stay within our congressionally mandated end strength, Pitts explained.

"Officers have a role to play in the process," he said. "All officers must make sure their records accurately reflect their accomplishments and experience developed in their years of service."

For more information about officer promotions, selective continuation or any other personnel related issues, visit the Air Force Personnel Services website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.

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TRANSIT CENTER MANAS, Kyrgyzstan - During the two week period of Dec. 10 to 25, approximately 17,108 servicemembers travelling via the Transit Center at Manas made it home in time to see their families for the holiday season.

"On average, Detachment 1 processes 800 passengers a day," said Capt. Jonathan Bowe, 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (Detachment 1) assistant director of operations. "On Christmas day, we flew a total of 984 passengers."

Bowe is deployed to TCM from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and also works as an instructor aircraft commander in the C-17 Globemaster III.

On Christmas Eve a C-17 Globemaster III arrived with 158 Marines from Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan. The average lay-over time for transients is two to three days; the Marines left the TCM by 11 a.m. the next day.

Airman Brooke Breeden also works for 817th EAS and is a loadmaster also deployed from JBLM. On Christmas day, he flew 158 Marines into the area of responsibility and brought the 158 Marines back to the TCM.

"It was really touching to bring 158 Marines out of the AOR after their yearlong deployment," Breeden said. "They were so happy and that makes up for flying on Christmas."

For Bowe, working on Christmas was like working on any other day, but he knew the impact he had on the military members and their families transiting through the TCM.

"It's always nice to know you are helping people get home to see their families no matter what day it is," Bowe said.

Breeden agreed, adding, "On Christmas night, one of the passengers from my flight told me he and his whole unit were going to make it home for New Year's. He thanked me for giving up my holiday and making it feel like Christmas. It's the little things like that, that make you feel like you are making a difference."

As a first time deployer, Breeden has made some great memories.

"This is my first holiday season away from home, but I've met so many interesting people and have a new appreciation for other branches of service and what they go through," Breeden said. "TCM brings everybody together, it doesn't matter your branch of service (or nationality), out here, we are all moving the same mission. This has been a great experience that I will never forget."

Bowe has also made some great memories during his deployment.

"Hearing our passengers cheer when we told them we were crossing the border out of Afghanistan on Christmas was the best moment," Bowe said. "One of the most satisfying things about this job is starting our troops on their way home to see their loved ones."

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Air Force officials announced Jan. 10, the fiscal 2012 career job reservation program with 16 Air Force Specialty Codes placed on the constrained list.

Career job reservations allows the Air Force to control the number of first-term Airmen re-enlisting in career fields where projected manning levels exceed the needs of the Air Force. This is the first time since 2007 the Air Force is using a constrained listing.

The AFSCs and career fields on the constrained list are the following:

-- 2A6X1, Aerospace Propulsion
-- 2A6X4, Aircraft Fuel Systems
-- 2A7X3, Aircraft Structural Maintenance
-- 2T0X1, Traffic Management
-- 2T1X1, Vehicle Operations
-- 3D1X1, Client Systems Technician
-- 3D1X3, Radio Frequency Transmission Systems
-- 3E7X1, Fire Protection
-- 3E9X1, Emergency Management
-- 3M0X1, Services
-- 3N0X4, Still Photography
-- 3P0X1, Security Forces
-- 4A1X1, Medical Materiel
-- 4A2X1, Biomedical Equipment
-- 4Y0X1, Dental
-- 8M0O0, Postal

First-term Airmen in these AFSCs who entered their CJR window as of Jan. 1 are affected, said Chief Master Sgt. Shannon Parker, the Air Force Personnel Center chief of Air Force skills management branch.

"All first-term Airmen must have an approved CJR to re-enlist," she said.

The Selective Reenlistment Program automatically requests a CJR for first-term Airmen when they enter their first month of eligibility. Airmen serving in a constrained AFSC will be added to a waiting list and compete for monthly quotas based on a rank-order process.

Airmen and their supervisors will receive CJR notification reflecting their status monthly starting in February. The virtual Military Personnel Flight will also be updated to reflect the Airman's CJR status.

First-term Airmen in constrained AFSCs are prohibited from extending for any reason while pending a CJR or while on the CJR wait-list. The exception is for Airmen overseas who are required to obtain additional retainability to become eligible for their continental United States return assignment.

All first-term Airmen, including those on the CJR waiting list may apply for retraining or a special duty.

Airmen not approved for a CJR and not selected for retraining may reapply for retraining or special duty, provided they are not within 120 days of their date of separation.

Quotas for constrained AFSCs will be posted on the Air Force Personnel Services website when available.

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JANUARY SPECIALS AT THE COMMISSARY

MCCHORD SPOUSES SELLS TEAS

LESSONS FROM THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

First of all, Happy New Year to all of you wonderful, professional and hard-working Airmen who call McChord Field and the Pacific Northwest home. What you have accomplished over the past year has been nothing short of remarkable. In this short commentary, I want to briefly talk about something that I am fairly passionate about: Servant Leadership.

The phrase "Servant Leader" was brought into the mainstream back in 1970 in an essay published by Mr. Robert Greenleaf. In this writing, he defines a servant-leader as someone who "is a servant first." Servant leadership isn't about positions and titles. Instead, it is an attitude that says people and relationships are important, valuable and essential to mission success.

What does it mean to me? It's very simple. Putting the needs of your fellow Airmen first. Is this convenient? No. Is it rewarding? Absolutely! There is nothing more satisfying than to see someone you've worked with succeed. That is what personally drives me in the capacity I serve.

We often talk about getting to know one another and being good Wingmen to each other. For those in supervisory positions, we emphasize getting eyeball-to-eyeball with your Airmen, daily if possible, to identify when something might not be quite right with them.

For the servant-leader this isn't a chore, it is an imperative embedded in their DNA; they genuinely care about others and know that mission success absolutely depends on individual successes of those around them.

In my opinion, some great examples of servant-leaders throughout history are Jesus, Ghandi, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King. These leaders absolutely put the needs of others before their own and, because of it, are considered some of the greatest, most beloved leaders to have ever lived.

An unknown author once said, "A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves."

John C. Maxwell, famous leadership mentor and pastor said this, "True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader."

These two quotes are at the heart of servant-leadership and define your leaders here on McChord Field.

In closing, I'll say that leadership to me isn't about the number of stripes on your sleeve or the shape or color of the rank on your shoulders; it is about serving others. No matter what capacity you serve in. I believe that success isn't defined by how much you personally achieve but on how much those you influence achieve. Does this define you as a leader?

 The following information is a summary of non-judicial punishments given by commanders under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice during December 2011. The punishments are determined based on the individual facts and circumstances of each case.

- An airman from the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron committed failure to go by signing a false official statement. The airman received reduction to airman basic, two forfeitures of $200, 15 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

- A senior airman from the 62nd Maintenance Squadron committed failure to go by making and signing a false official statement. The airman received reduction to airman 1st class, two forfeitures of $450, 14 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

- An airman 1st class from the 62nd Maintenance Squadron committed willful dereliction of duty. The airman 1st class received reduction to airman, 45 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

- An airman from the 627th Civil Engineering Squadron failed to obey a lawful order by driving on the installation with revoked privileges while intoxicated. The airman received reduction to airman basic and a reprimand.

- A senior airman from the 627th Civil Engineering Squadron committed willful dereliction of duty by misusing a government travel card and making a false official statement. The senior airman received reduction to airman 1st class, two forfeitures of $250, 30 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

- An airman 1st class from the 627th Force Support Squadron committed failure to go and willful dereliction of duty by drinking underage. The airman 1st class received reduction to airman, 14 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

- A staff sergeant from the 373rd Training Squadron obstructed justice by violating a government computer in the form of pornography. The staff sergeant received reduction to senior airman, 45 days of extra duty and a reprimand.

The following information is a summary of involuntary discharges during December 2011.

- An airman basic from the 62nd Maintenance Squadron received a general discharge for minor disciplinary infractions.

- An airman 1st class from the 627th Communications Squadron received an honorable discharge for unsatisfactory performance during a fitness assessment.

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Just like most other Southwest Asia locations, C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-5 Galaxies bring a continuous flow of U.S. service members and supplies in and out of the area of responsibility every day. In order to keep this process going, these aircraft must be maintained and mission capable.

"That's where we come in," said Master Sgt. Brian Mason, 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 superintendent.

According to its fact sheet, the 8th EAMS provides expeditionary mobility to the warfighter in four locations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

"Locally, our primary role is maintenance and launching and recovering the aircraft," said Mason.

The 8th EAMS is part of the 521st Air Mobility Operations Group, which provides en route support for air mobility command missions at multiple locations throughout southern Europe and the CENTCOM area of responsibility. The group is part of the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing which is currently responsible for 50 percent of the cargo moved by air mobility command.

The detachment includes fewer than 20 airmen, primarily C-5 and C-17 maintainers from Dover Air Force Base, Del., and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., respectively. But despite their manpower, they sustain a large role here, said Mason.

In December, the unit recovered nearly 260 aircraft that transported more than 11,000 passengers and nearly 8,300 tons of cargo.

The unit's workload varies depending on the day.

"We average about 13 flights per day," said Mason. "But sometimes we can have as few as 7 and have as many as 20."

Detachment leaders track inbound flights with a command and control system called Global Decision Support System 2. GDSS2 provides unit-level and force-level mission planning, scheduling and tracking of all mobility airlift and air refueling missions.

"Tracking the flights is the easy part," said Mason. "The challenging part is fixing the aircraft if it's broken."

As Mason describes, the unit has thousands of aircraft parts on hand, but if the unit doesn't have a part needed to fix the aircraft, they have to borrow parts from other units around KAF.

"We do what we have to to make sure these aircraft can take off," said Mason.

Another daily challenge the unit has to overcome is the geographically separated ramps that their aircraft have to park at.

"It's a 25-minute drive to the ramp where some of our C-17s and C-5s park," said Mason. This makes for a logistical hardship if maintainers need items or tools from their buildings.

In spite of the unit's challenges, Detachment 1 leadership applauds their Airmen for their production.

"Many times, our transiting aircraft are only on the ground for a couple of hours," said Capt. Russell Whitlock, 8th EAMS officer in charge. "These guys manage to get the job done no matter the circumstances."

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - In March 2003, the United States military crossed the border of Kuwait into Iraq. For nearly nine years, the men and women of the U.S. military have deployed to Iraq under two banners - Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

On Dec. 18, 2011, the U.S. left Iraq in the hands of its own military and the last of American troops redeployed home. One of the last units out of Iraq was the 265th Movement Control Team, a unit responsible for coordinating the movement of personnel, vehicles, and containers out of Iraq and closing the military gateway to Kuwait and Iraq, known as the Khabari Crossing.

Staff Sgt. Eliezer Casas, 265th detachment noncommissioned officer in charge, said as the last of U.S. vehicles came through the gate, he and other soldiers, along with Kuwaiti government officials, closed the Khabari Crossing gate for the last time. According to Casas, they started receiving convoys that morning, and once the last one went through, soldiers and media there started cheering. "I have deployed to Iraq several times and to be one of the last out of Iraq and to close that gate was a great experience."

As soldiers came through the gate the unit would help them acclimate to the environment they were in, such as the rules of the road. "They needed to know they don't need to have the force protection measures like they did in Iraq," according to Capt. Michael Fullmer, detachment commander.

The unit accomplished a lot during their nine-month deployment. The unit redeployed 105 military convoys, 12,148 military personnel and 3,147 pieces of equipment.

They also processed over 4,916 convoys that included 120,232 vehicles, 198,292 personnel, and 22,024 containers. The unit provided oversight of 95 vehicle recovery missions in and out of Iraq and coordinated over 200 private security link-ups for both U.S. Army and U.S. Department of State convoys within a three-month period.

To maintain a positive working relationship during this time, the unit facilitated several key leader engagements with the Kuwait Ministry of Interior, Kuwaiti customs, Kuwait immigration, Kuwait Border Security Police and the U.S. Army.

"My troops did an outstanding job," Fullmer said, "They worked through every situation we encountered, and found solutions to any problem that arose. I am proud to say that I worked with every single one of them."

According to Fullmer, being part of the responsible drawdown of forces in Iraq was an extremely proud moment for him. "I never thought that this would be one of the historical moments I would see in my lifetime." Fullmer said helping out the people of Iraq stand on their own and pulling out of country was a proud moment for him.

The unit arrived back to Seattle-Tacoma airport around 1 a.m., Jan. 14. The terminal was bare except for a man asleep behind a counter. There was no one there to greet them as the got off their commercial flight. Media crews were not present asking for interviews. The soldiers of the 265th were not expecting a lot of commotion. They were not expecting a hero's welcome. Instead, they preferred to have a more subtle approach, to come home as quietly as they left.