june beacon 2011a

8/6/2019 June Beacon 2011a

1/8

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June 2011 Idaho Air Guard Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho First Class or Not at All www.idaho.ang.af.mil

124th Communicat ions Fl ight g ig -

upgrade brings speedy new network

04/30/2011 - GOWEN FIELD, Boise,Idaho For the last several monthsyou may have seen contractors pullingnetwork cable in various Air Guard

buildings on Gowen Field. he basealso experienced a planned networkoutage that aected many April 30.Both are visible evidence o the grow-ing pains involved in a major tele-communications network upgradeto bring a aster and more robustone-gigabit connection to the wing.

he upgrade, a result o a newstandard passed down rom theGuard Bureau, allows the base torun a gigabit o network traic--aten-old increase in network speedor aster connections and greatervolume, said ech. Sgt. Dale Hagero the 124th Communications Flight.

he overall system enhancement,known as thegig upgradeto GowenFields Air Guard network, is madeup o several projects that the 124thCOMM Flight will complete in variousphases. It began in August 2010 withthe inside plant project to upgrade

the network cabling rom telecomindustry Cat ive cable to Cat sixinside the buildings. he inside plantproject was recently completed andollowed by the gig upgrade project,that caused the May UA outage.

he gig upgrade is complete, rom acustomer standpoint, but the COMMlight continued their work on the projectthrough May. COMM Flight will ollowwith an outside project that will upgrade

the iber optic cable that runs rom

building to building across Gowen ield.

We all use the network, and at timeswe know how slow it can be. hisupgrade will allow ten times the tra-ic on a day to day basis, said Hager.

he gig upgrade is made up o sev-eral projects with the ultimate goal toincrease connection speeds, make thenetwork more robust, and ensure reli-ability, said Master Sgt. Brad Shaul,124th Communications Flight Qual-

ity Assurance, hese are all pieceso the puzzle that need to get done.

As part o the gig upgrade, ourINs (Inormation ranser Node)placed strategically around base,were upgraded April 30, causing theplanned outage. Even ater the net-

work was back up, COMM personnel worked late into the evening towrap up the internal plant project

he INs are the backbone othe network inrastructure andare a cr i t ica l hardware compo-

nent o the upgrade, said HagerOver the next ew weeks COMM

will start on the Network ControCenter Reconstructed (NCCR) projecto replace aging servers and implemensome virtual servers or the cross-over to the new gigabit connection

he NCCR project will increase our

By Tech. Sgt. Sarah Pokorney

Public Affairs

Tech Sgt. Jason Swensen, Sta Sgt. JoeAllen and Sta Sgt. Harvey Williamsconigure an Inormation ranser Node(IN) during a network upgrade by memberso the 124th Communications Flight (Photoby ech. Sgt. Heather Walsh)

I n o r m a t i o n r a n s e r N o d e ( I N

conguration challenges Tech. Sgt. JasonSwenson during the gig upgrade to networktelecom equipment at Gowen Field. (Photo by

ech. Sgt. Heather Walsh)

Continued on Page 4


2/8

THE BEACONis the ofcial news-letter of the 124th Fighter Wing, Idaho Air

National Guard. It is published monthly

by the wing public affairs office. Views

expressed may not be those of the U.S. Air

Force, Air National Guard, Department of

Defense or U.S. government.

WING COMMANDERCol. James R. Compton

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER / EDIOR

Lt. Col. Gary A. Daniel

Capt. ony Vincelli (Deployed)

PUBLIC AFFAIRS NCOIC

Master Sgt. om Gloeckle

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SAFF

ech. Sgt. Sarah Pokorney

ech. Sgt. Becky Vanshur

ech. Sgt. Heather Walsh

Sta Sgt. Robert BarneySta Sgt. Joshua Breckon

We welcome articles and cap-tioned photos relevant to mem-bers of the 124th F ighter Wing.Submissions must be accurate in fact, andwill be edited for clarity and length. Arti-cles will be published as space permits.They are due on Sunday of the UTA priorto the month the article will be published.Submit articles as e-mail attachmentson Microsoft Word. Photographs mustbe non-copyrighted prints of 300 dpi orhigher TIF or JPG images. Articles andimages can be sent to:

124TH FIGHTER WING PUBLIC

AFFAIRS

4474 S. DeHavilland St.Boise, ID 83705-8103

Voice (208) 422-5398/5358Fax (208) 422-6161

E-MAIL US

[email protected]

2

T H E B E A C O N S T A F F

I N T H I S I S S U E

COMMANDERS CALL

DO YOU HAVE NEWS TO SHARE?

MORE NEWS ONLINE AT:

http://idaho.ang.af.mil;

www.thebeaconlive.com

MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION ON THE WEB: WWW.IDAHO.ANG.AF.MIL

Guest Editorial

124th Fighter Wing

ORI Preparation

During the June 2011 UTA we will conduct the 124th Fighter Wings

fourth Phase I Operational Readiness Exercise (ORE), in preparation for

our October, 2011 Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI). HQ/ACC/

IG will inspect the 124th FW capability to transition from peacetime

readiness to a wartime posture, and will evaluate all areas of our

Initial Response to include Command and Control, Deployment

Processing, Employment Readiness, Information Operations, and ForceProtection. In laymen terms they will inspect and grade us on how

we prepare our people and equipment to deploy to a combat area of

operation.

Weve accomplished much training and gained experience in our three

previous OREs, held in Nov 2010, Jan 2011 and Mar 2011; but we

still have work to do in order to obtain an OUTSTANDING! From the

Prepare to Deploy Order (PTDO) received on Saturday, 30 April for our

June ORE, to the arrival of the IG team and subsequent Deployment

Order on Saturday, 15 October, the men and women of the 124th FW

will be working diligently on ne-tuning all processes and procedures.The Countdown Clock, which appears on your computer screen each

time you log-on, is the time remaining until Reference Start Time (RST)

on 15 October, 2011. As of today, Sunday, 1 May, the time remaining is:

165 days, 19 hours, and 29 minutes

Weekly meetings are held with representatives from each group and the

wing staff to iron out all issues and come up with a plan for success.

That success plan includes dedication and hard work by all members of

the 124th FW; having a positiveAttitude and paying great attention to

Detail;Buy-in from everyone and showing asense of Urgency at all

times;Standardization and beingKnowledgeable in all processes; and

having clearCommunication at all levels. As long as everyone believes

in and follows these tenetswe will succeed!

Many of us have heard people say, Why do we need to be inspected on

how to deploy? Weve done this a million times! Correct. We do know

how to deploy. We just need to show the IG how good we really are!

Remember, the tenets above will pay dividends when we really pack up

and head east for our AEF deployment next year!

COMM FLT pages 1 & 4

Saety & HRA 3

Promotions 5Family Support 6

Hats of 7

By Lt. Col. David rim rimble124th Fighter Wing Warlord


3/8

The Beacon June 2011 3

Perspectives

a solid uture or our new generationo Airmen. Airmen, who work inan environment where diversity isembraced, learn to maximize theirindividual strengths and to combineabilities and perspectives or the goodo the mission.

We leave you with these questionsHow are you going to Raise the Barin your commitment to championDiversity in your unit? How are yougoing to ensure you include, engage

and empower all Airmen? How willyou maximize individual strengthsabilities and perspectives to reachmission goals?

We are interested in hearing aboutthe eorts you are currently makingin these areas and the impact is hason your area o inuence. Email usat [email protected] or [email protected].

I you would like more inormation onDiversity initiatives visit the MilitaryLeadership Diversity Commissionswebsite at http://mldc.whs.milWhile you are there take a momentto read the United States Air ForceDiversity Strategic Plan: A Journey toExcellence which is ound under theResources tab in the Reading section.

Te National Guard Bureau recently

released its Policy on Diversity. It

identiies Diversity as dierences

in characte ris tic s, bac kg round,

at tributes and experiences. It

urthe r exp ands the se trait s as

respect, inclusion, engagement and

management o talents, confdence

in equal opportunities, diversity

o thought, and an interdependentminds et where collaborat ion is

the standard. Retired Air Force

General Lester Lyles, Chairman o

the Military Leadership Diversity

Commission said, Diversity is

more than simplyrepresenting the

American population it is about

gaining a more eective military

cap ab ility through inc lusion

recognizing and ully utilizing the

wide range o ta lents , skills andabilities o our Servicemembers.

So what does all o this mean to

the members o the Idaho Ai r

National Guard? It is everyones

responsibilityto build a culture ree

rom barriers and one that osters

inclusion and mentorship ensuring

Diversity is Everyones Business

New 124th Saety Chie: the

rules are written in blood

By Chief Master Sgt. Susan Gramkow

Idaho Air National Guard

State Human Resource Advisor

New chie o 124th Fighter WingSaety, Lt. Col. ony Sumo Brown

is enjoying the change that his new job has orced him into. Im stillamazed at all the people and placesthat saety touches on this base, hesaid, and I wouldnt be learning thisi I remained in my position at the(190th) squadron.

In his new position, the 10-yearIdaho Guardsman and his sta mustcoordinate with Army National

Guard saety agencies, Idaho StateHeadquarters, and the Boise Airportas they monitor, train, and advise the124th Wing Commander as well asinvestigate incidents as required.

Tough he comes to his new posi-tion with over 1250 instructor hoursand 3250 overall hours in the A-10(not to mention a logbook o over4500 total hours) he has an intense

training schedule over the nextseveral months which includes theUS Air Force Saety School and theAir National Guard Chie o SaetySchool. Somehow hell have justenough time to maintain ying cur-rency in the 190th Fighter Squadronto continue serving as an instructorpilot there.

He is quick to point out that his

oce is deep in talent and that theirexperience level is a plus to the wing,especially as we approach anotherOperational Readiness Inspection.I we all ollow AFI job guides andchecklistswhich imply that wedont take shortcutsand do whatwere each trained to do, he said,the IG (Inspector General) will

recognize that.

Our rules are written in blood, andI take them very seriously, he said.

Lt. Col. Brown lives in Meridian withhis wie Jenier, daughter Regan, andson yler. Lt. Col. Tony Brown


4/8

news & notes

4 MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION ON THE WEB: WWW.IDAHO.ANG.AF.MIL

So by now Im sure you have heard orread (some acts and rumors) about anew Government ravel Card (GC)Rest assured that this new blue card iscompletely legitimate. Te new GCcard is called the Controlled SpendAccount (CSA) and will be the utureo the ravel Card program. Tis newCSA card will streamline many pro-cesses and make traveling on orders amuch less dicult experience.

What has changed from the old GTC???

Most notably: Whenever a travelorder is generated, the computedper diem and travel expenses will bepre-loaded onto the CSA card, readyto be spent (or oicial uses mind you). I the amount loaded is nosuicient you may call the numberon the back o your card to request aspending increase. You are allowedtwo increases, and then the third hasto be authorized by the 124th Comp-troller Flight Representative.

Like the GC, CSA card holders stillmust le accrual vouchers and makepayments to the sponsoring bankevery 30 days. All expenditures madeon the card still have to be accountedor by both the DoD and Citibank..Once your card is paid o you shouldhave a Residual Amount lef over(rom Per Diem, reimbursable,etc). he Air Force considers this

amount as your personal unds andyou may use them at your discretion(to include personal expenses). Youmay obtain this by AM withdrawalusing the amount on the card like agif card or contacting Citibank oran electronic transer. Te new cardallows military members to directlycontact Citibank or all their travelcard questions or issues.

backup capabilities and make mainte-nance seamless; the customers wonteven know were doing it, said Shaul.

In conjunction with the NCCR,COMM Flight will also start the outside

plant project that provides new conduitand iber rom building-to-building.You will likely see the backhoes diggingaround base or the next ew weeks.

he upgrades are really a win-winor the end users and the specialists whowork on the network in COMM. heusers will see a perormance increasein network traic and it will makethe equipment more user-riendlyand easier to manage or the COMMFlight, said Hagar. It also gives

COMM more options to streamlinethe maintenance o the network.

Shaul explained that COMM Flightgains many trouble shooting toolsbuilt into the new equipment. hiswill assist them in identiying issuesquickly and preventing down time.

From this point orward we willexperience no downtime due toperormance upgrades and main-tenance. We no longer have to

bring the customers (service) downwhich is painul or us, said Shaul.he increased reliability can minimize

downtime to as little as a ew seconds ayear. he techies reer to this as ivenines availability which means thenetwork is up 99.999% o the time.

When asked about the challenges o

the upgrade Shaul said, he schedulingo the inside plan project was very chal-lenging and telling customers we areturning them o, that is always painul.

While in the midst o the gig upgradeproject COMM Flight recently com-pleted a wireless project that providedten wireless access points around baseaccording to Master Sgt. James Lind-holm o the 124th CommunicationsFlight Plans and Implementation.

One o the next big projects COMM

Flight will tackle is a new phoneswitch in preparation or a voice-over-IP (VOIP) system. With the VOIPupgrade, the phones will run on thebase iber connection instead o theold copper telephone line inrastruc-ture. he phone upgrade is planned tostart mid-August. Customers will getnew handsets with new capabilities.

echnology is moving towardVOIP systems all around the world.

It s aster, clearer and providessome major savings in long distancecharges, said Master Sgt. Lindholm.

GIG UPGRADE (Continued from Page 1)

By SSgt Joshua Williams

124th Comptroller Flight/Financial

Management

Government Travel

Card Update

Lef to right, ech. Sgt. John Steele, ech. Sgt. Dale Hager, Senior Airman William OBrien,Sta Sgt. Robert Kolenic and ech. Sgt. Steve Fortune o the 124th COMM Flight train witha communications y away kit. Tis deployable asset enables secure and unsecure voice,data and video rom any location. (Photo by ech. Sgt. Heather Walsh).


5/8

faces & places


By John Spurny,Idaho ANG Family ProgramTe Air National Guard FamilySupport Program has the potentialto span many o lies bridges orour members and their loved ones.Te programs eectiveness variesby each unit and with the emphasisplaced on the various acets o theprogram by unit leadership. TeIdaho ANG amily program goalis: Inormed, sel sucient amiliesassisting, supporting and contribut-ing to their National Guard unitsreadiness, sustainment, and mis-sion accomplishment. No smallgoal or the many contributorsimpacting this units mission suc-cess.

Recently a policy letter rom theNational Guard Bureau revisedsome core competencies or theANG amily program. Tesesinclude but are not limited to: Deployment cycle preparation

and support Family readiness education Inormation / resources and

reerral Collaborative eorts with

like agencies and communitypartnerships

Family Program management

Te ANG amily program has beenguided by two additional actors toprovide service. Tey are: olksdont know what they dont knowand nothing is important untilits important to me. Tese twoquotes relate directly to deploymentand extended temporary duties.Tese are applicable not only orour uniormed members but alsoor their amily unitincludingrelatives. We in the servicedelivery role have made some

antastic community partners.Te Vet Center, Department oCommerce and Labor, the VeteransAdministration, VFW, AmericanLegion and many others are eitherdirectly or indirectly supportingthe Idaho ANG, our people andthe mission. Tey are there to assistand provide vital services or ourmembers and to monopolize oncollaborative opportunities that

YOUR First Sergeant/Commander:

Chaplain: Oce: 208-422-6406

Cell: 208-841-9723

ANG Family Support Program:

Oce: 208-422-5374

Cell: 208-599-4758

ANG Yellow Ribbon Support Specialist

Oce: 208-422-6788

Cell: 208-360-1487

ANG Director o Psychological Health

Oce: 208-422-5377

Cell: 208-863-3015

ANG Finance Oce 208-422-6121

Human Resource Oce (HRO)

208-272-4206

ANG LEGAL (drill periods)

208-272-5474

ARMY LEGAL ( Fulltime)

208-272-5474

American Red Cross/Service to theArmed Forces CR:

1-877-272-7337

RICARE (RIWES is the programadministrator)

1-888-RIWES

(1-888-874-9378)

ofen times mutually benet allparties.Our ANG Yellow Ribbon Programcontractor, Mr. Joe Hall and SgtApril Normand who is serving onADOS days, do a tremendous joburther enhancing programmaticservice delivery outreach andoptions with our communitypartners throughout the deploymentcontinuum.In the past 10 years the Air Guard,its members and amilies haveaccomplished much and given ourstate and nation a lot to be proudo. Te journey or amily supportis ar rom over. Te terminologiesand levels o support may vary romservice to service, but the culture

o a viable, exible amily programis necessary in every uniormedmilitary organization.

While the amily support programbelongs to each respectiveCommander, the responsibility orestablishing a solid amily supportnetwork ultimately belongs tothe uniormed service member.Family readiness issues shouldbe a priority or your planningand execution while supportingthe great state o Idaho and ournation.Please: Develop a amily plandiscuss your amily planandreview your amily plan at leastannually. Te next time you mayneed your amily plan could bejust around the corner. Are youreally ready? Questions, ideas andplan inormation can be obtained

by contacting John Spurny at 208-422-5374 or at [email protected].

ANG IG:

208-272-5917

Employer Support o the Guard &Reserve (ESGR):

208-272-3743

State Youth Coordinator

Oce: 208-272-8397Cell: 208-890-5268

Oce o the Secretary Deense

Military One Source

1-800-342-9647

www.militaryonesource.com

ransition Assistant Advisor:

208-272-4408 / Cell: 208-794-5870

Director o Psychological Health

Oce: 208-272-3182

oll Free: 800-543-0887Military Family Lie Consultant

Oce: 208-272-8398

Cell: 208-577-1025

Personal Finance Counselor

W: 208-272-8332

Cell: 208-577-1180

CLIP AND SAVE HIS INFO!

RESOURCE CONNECTIONS: KEY PHONE NUMBERS

Why Family Support?


6/8

6 MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION ON THE WEB: WWW.IDAHO.ANG.AF.MIL

around Gowen Field

By Lt. Col. Gary A. Daniel

124th Wing Public Afairs

Pyrotechnics, which sound

like gunfre, may be used

during this time to harass

wildlife. (From a recent base-

wide operations message). And it isor their own good. Te Joint ForceHeadquarters at Gowen Field hasapproved the occasional use o noiseand visual means to encourage birdsto y, nest, and live away rom theight paths and aircraf trac pat-terns around Gowen Field and theBoise Air erminal.

he 124th Airield Management

Oce ensures the saety o air crewsoperating rom Gowen Field bymonitoring all airield conditions.hey are now authorized to usesome additional measures that theircounterparts across the runway at theBoise Airport have ound successul.

Tis is a prime time o the year topursue this as many species are look-ing or places to nest, said SSgt ChaseNewman. It is much better or thebirds to nd a home o base wherethey can successully raise young,he said.

Gowen Field and its immediatesurrounding base properties areespecially appealing to birds in thespringtime. he base oers waterponds, manicured lawns, and a

Hands-on

Wildlie Management

at Airfeld Ops virtual lack o predators. Te birdsneed a bit o help rom Aireld Man-agement to steer clear o the aireldenvironment which means certaindeath or them and potential injuryto air crew and damage to aircraf.

he threat is real, said MSgtMichael Deasy, who manages thisenhanced seasonal activity o theBird/Wildlie Aircraf Strike Hazard(BASH) program. Just the otherday, a single pilot experienced twobird strikes in the same day. He ewa dierent aircrat on each o twoseparate sorties, and he suered abird strike on each.

Curren t l y ,M Sg t D eas y , SSg t

Newman, and others managingGowen aireld operations employbangers (that sound like a shot-gun), and screamers (that soundlike a large eagle or hawk swoopingin or a kill), to startle birds who aremaking poor habitat choices thatare detrimental to both the wildlieand to air operations. Teir smallpistol-like devise res both types o

extremely loud rounds that motivatebirds to leave the area o Gowenlying operations. Birds love therunning track and the ponds onbase, said MSgt Deasy, and theyare ond o some areas near our thirdrunway.

We have to assess the aireld con-ditions daily and report this to the

supervisor o ying. Tis time o yearwe nd an increased need to imple-ment the harassment o birds thatpose a bird strike threat said SSgtNewman.

Te Aireld Operations sta has beenkeeping its eyes on waterowl such asducks, geese and cranes, on smallerbirds that present danger when inlarge ocks, and even on birds o preysuch as eagles and hawks. Tey havespecial permission to harass, but notkill the eagles.

Preparing to deploy their banger(yellow round) and screamer (redround) to encourage some wildlieto relocate away rom Gowen Field

are MSgt Michael Deasy and SSgt ChaseNewman o the 124th Aireld Operationsoce. The rounds scare, but do no harmto the birds who endanger themselves andIdaho Air and Army aviation assets whenthey live and y too close to the aireld.


7/8


hats off!

Anchor manSenior Master Sgt. Mark Nelson anchors a MobileAircrat Arresting System as part o advanced training by 124th CivilEngineering Squadron personnel at the Regional Training Site, MarchARB, last month. During the 4-day intensive training TDY, thirty-seven124th Civil Engineers trained rom sunrise to sunset. This is greathands-on training rom a knowledgeable cadre at March who teachthis ull time, said Lt. Col. James Herring, 124th Civil EngineeringCommander.

Guardsmen o the Quarter, Q2 FY 2011

Senior Airman Amber Osborne

124th Maintenance Squadron

ech. Sgt. Jacob Daddabbo

124th Intelligence Formalraining Unit

Master Sgt. Paul Cotner

124th Security ForcesSquadron

PromotionsSSgt Daniel Brennan

124 FSS

SSgt Christopher Wirshing

124 AMXS

TSgt Michael Clement124 AMXS

TSgt Randall Lewis

124 LRS

TSgt Andrew Reneau

124 AMXS

TSgt Karl King

124 CES

MSgt Ronnie Pruit

266 RANS

MSgt Steven Lewis

124 MXS

SMSgt Craig Newman

124 AMXS

SMSgt William Abela

124 LRS


8/8

Presorted Std.

U.S. Postage

Paid

Boise, Idaho

Permit 764

124th Fighter Wing

IDAHO AIR NATIONAL GUARD

4474 S. DeHavilland Street

Boise, Idaho 83705-8103

Museum Gains AircrafPhotos by Staf Sgt. Joshua Brecken

Gowen Military Museum directors pulled up their sleeves to assist the

nal taxi o a Fairchild P-23 trainer. Te board members careully movedthe 1940s vintage aircraf rom the Gowen ight line, along the streetso Gowen Field and to its new home at the Idaho Military HistoricalMuseum. A truck driven by retired Col. William Miller and guided romthe planes cockpit by Mr. Gary Donnelly, the Museums treasurer, towedthe vintage aircraf. Mr. Ken Swansen, Director o the museum, and Mr.Russell rebby, President o the Board o Directors or the museum, bothwalked along with hands on to insure that the plane cleared any obstacles.Members o the 124th Civil Engineer Squadron assisted the museumin the inal hurdle through the gate to the museum. They includedSenior Master Sgt. Isaac Reese, Master Sgt. Karl King, Senior AirmanChristopher Dayton and Senior Airman Danny Hammock. The aircraftwas most recently part of the collection of the Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame.

Memorial Park Ceremonies

To view Master Sgt. Gloeckles video about

the memorial park or or more complete

inormation about anything your read

here, point your internet browser to www.

thebeaconlive.com . Youll also fnd moreinormation and multimedia resources about

every item in this months BEACON.

SCAN HISAND LEARNMORE NOW!

PT-23 taxis into Gowen Field Military Museum with help

rom 124th FW volunteers

Staf Report

by Master Sgt.

Thomas Gloeckle

Photos by Staf Sgt. Cody Earl

june beacon 2011a

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