bergman@afnews.af.mil (CMSgt Mike Bergman) (06/15/91)
From: CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.af.mil>
364. Stop loss stops
365. F-16 crash
366. Victory parades
367. Small businesses
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364. Stop loss stops
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Almost 2,100 active-duty airmen serving past their
original separation or retirement dates should have top priority for
separation as the stop loss program draws down, Air Force personnel officials
said.
Stop loss will end July 15 as the 29 active-duty skills still on the
program are deleted. Altogether, 175 rated officers in 10 Air Force specialty
codes, and 4,000 enlisted men and women in 19 AFSCs, mostly maintenance,
security police and aerial port, are affected, officials said.
Stop loss began Sept. 17 to assure commanders that personnel resources
needed to support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm would be
available. July 15 is the adjusted date for already expired separation and
retirement dates.
Deployed people with original retirement or separation dates that occur
before returning home can be released as soon as they return, but no later
than 30 days after their return. This requires commander approval.
These people can also extend up to 90 days after they return.
Former stop-lossed people with original retirement or separation dates
past July 15 will have those dates reinstated and can also extend up to Sept.
29. Those still deployed after June 1 are exempt from the Sept. 29 limit.
They will be entitled to a full 90-day continuation after they return to their
home station.
With commander approval, non-deployed people can be released immediately
or they can volunteer to stay on active duty up to Sept. 29 for adjustment and
terminal leave, officials said.
More information is available from personnel offices.
365. F-16 crash
HOUSTON (AFNS) -- An F-16 fighter crashed June 8 on a training mission
near Ellington Air National Guard Base, but its pilot ejected before the plane
hit the ground, a Texas National Guard official said.
Capt. Jay Gurry, 27, of Houston, sustained minor injuries and was not
hospitalized, the official said. There was no other damage or casualties when
the mishap occurred, officials said.
The plane was on a training mission from Holloman AFB, N.M.
Both aircraft and pilot were assigned to the 147th Fighter Interceptor
Group, Ellington.
The accident is under investigation.
366. Victory parades
NEW YORK (AFNS) -- An estimated 4.7 million people lined Broadway and
hung out windows of Manhattan's skyscrapers June 10 to welcome servicemen and
women home from their victorious performance in Operation Desert Storm.
The New York parade came two days after another thunderous welcome in the
nation's capital where more than 800,000 grateful Americans turned out to show
their support to the Gulf war veterans.
Leading the New York parade in open convertibles were Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell and
Desert Storm Commander Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, accompanied by their wives.
Thousands of troops marched in the units with precision accuracy through
New York's financial district. Ticker tape fell on the parade route from
hundreds of feet above the street in one of the largest parades the city has
seen since the end of World War II.
In Washington, June 8, flag- and banner-waving spectators lined
Constitution Avenue to get a glimpse of the troops, their leaders and some of
the arsenal used to secure their Gulf victory.
Under clear skies with temperatures in the mid-80s, nearly 9,000
soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines marched the estimated four-mile parade
route that ended at the Pentagon.
Roars and applause went up from the crowd as each unit marched past, but
much of the awe appeared reserved for the crews manning the military hardware,
the M-1 tanks and a vehicle carrying a Patriot missile launcher.
Making passes over the monuments of the city was the vast array of
aircraft which saw Mideast duty -- everything from the F-117 stealth fighter,
to the giant C-5 Galaxy and B-52 bomber.
General Schwarzkopf led the parade from its beginning near the National
Archives to the presidential reviewing stand where he greeted President Bush,
and then joined him and the rest of the president's party for the remainder of
the parade.
The Washington festivities ended later that night with a fireworks
display unseen in the city's history -- a reported 15,000 missiles fired from
two locations in the city and from a barge in the Potomac River.
367. Small businesses
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking small,
veteran-owned businesses to include them in VA's procurement process.
VA manages one of the largest buying programs in the federal government,
with annual expenditures of approximately $4 billion for supplies and
services.
The department is not allowed to set aside contracts for veteran-owned
businesses, but it does actively seek out and assist these firms to submit
bids on contracts involving medical supplies and equipment; data processing
hardware, software and maintenance; architect and engineering services;
construction and building maintenance; equipment repair; and other services
related to the operation of medical facilities, offices, data processing
centers and cemeteries.
In fiscal 1990, VA awarded contracts to veteran-owned small businesses
totaling more than $41 million. This amount is up 13 percent from the
previous year.
Veterans or disabled veterans who own small businesses and who believe VA
or other government agencies could use their products and services should
contact the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Small and Disadvantaged
Business Utilization (005SB), 810 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20420, or
call commercial (202) 376- 6996 for more information.
--
bergman@afnews.af.mil
Air Force News Center
Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA