-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! 992312. Guard, Reserve to augment honor guards in veteran funeral services WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- An aging veteran population, dwindling resources and expanded requirements have left many base honor guard teams wondering how they will meet increasing requests for military funeral honors. To address legislation mandating military funeral honors for veterans, the Air Force conducted a symposium in October for honor guard members from the active, Reserve and Air National Guard forces. More than 250 people attended. The legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires a minimum of at least two members of the armed forces to attend the funeral, fold and present the flag, and play Taps. At least one member of the detail must be from the same service as the deceased. "These are the minimum ceremonial functions required under the new legislation," said Jim Halvorson, chief of mortuary and honor guard policy on the Air Staff. "Previously, the only thing required was that a flag be presented at the funeral of veterans, when requested. We typically did that with a single representative." For active-duty members and retirees, funeral honors consist of pallbearers, firing party, folding and presentation of the flag, and the playing of Taps. The Defense Department has tasked the Air Force to be the executive agent in charge of publicizing the military funeral honors program. As part of its publicity campaign the Air Force will establish by Jan. 1: * A website for the public to view their military funeral honors entitlements. * A toll-free request line for funeral home directors to obtain funeral honors information. The toll-free phone system routes calls to the appropriate honor guard unit for their area of the country. * An information kit containing a Military Funeral Honors Directory to be distributed to more than 25,000 funeral homes. The kit will also be available online for funeral home directors to download. As people become aware of their entitlements, the number of funeral requests is expected to rise. This has honor guard members concerned. "I think we'll be able to meet the challenge at first," Halvorson said. "But I think after a year or two, it's going to get bigger than our capability is ..." He said he was disappointed that the wording of the new law states "two members of the armed forces" will perform funeral honors, because that precludes retirees from participating in the honor guard. "The general counsel researched and found we could not use retirees, because they're no longer members of the armed forces," Halvorson explained. He said there are plans to submit a proposal to get the wording changed next year to allow retirees to participate in honor guard details. Last year, the Air Force conducted about 7,000 funerals. Halvorson said the number is expected to climb to at least 45,000 over the next year or so. "We have some concerns right now, as the majority of our bases are stretched thin," Halvorson said. "The honor guard is a volunteer program; however, at over 70 percent of our bases right now, they have to use a quota system to meet the challenge they have today." Currently, Halvorson said, the Air Force supports all funeral requests. But, only 6 percent of the eligible veterans have requested funeral honors. If projections are correct, and requests go up eight-fold, he said he is concerned the active force will not have the manpower to meet the challenge. To help meet the anticipated increase, the Air Force is working on a manpower initiative for fiscal 2002 to place full-time honor guard positions at some Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve locations, and active installations that have large numbers of requests. By funding honor guard requirements, the Air Force hopes to encourage more Guard and Reserve participation. "We're going to be augmenting the active-duty force at the locations where we have Reserve units or bases," said Lynda Mikanowicz, chief of military support branch, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. "We've been pretty aggressive in trying to recruit both individuals and our honor guard units to get in touch with the active-duty teams and volunteer their services, because we know the demand is going to increase significantly," Mikanowicz said. The Air National Guard is also stepping up its honor guard recruitment campaign at ANG units. "From the Guard perspective, we are going to make every attempt to support the total force concept," said Jim Bennett, ANG services career field program manager at the Air National Guard Readiness Center headquarters, Andrews AFB, Md. "The new law will allow us, for the first time, to put our traditional Guard volunteers on orders to perform this important function." "We all know this is going to be hard to accomplish," said Tech Sgt. Vincent Hampton, honor guard superintendent at Randolph AFB, Texas, "but now that we know who our counterparts are in the Guard and Reserve, we can all reach out to one another and find a way to make it work." 992309. AFLINK remains open WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Air Force Link, the service's official web site, will remain open to the public throughout the New Year's weekend. 992310. Five Air Force members vie for GEICO awards RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Five Air Force NCOs will represent the Air Force as they vie for the 1999 Government Employee Insurance Company Military Service Awards. The nominees will compete against other members of the armed forces in their respective categories. The recipients, who are authorized to wear the Air Force Recognition Ribbon, will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. this spring. The winners in their respective categories are: Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention: Tech. Sgt. Steven G. Callon, 821st Medical Squadron, Air Force Space Command, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Colo.; and Tech. Sgt. Reo G. Erickson, Det. 2, Air Force Security Forces Center, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, Calif. Callon built a community-action team from nine independent agencies to promote youth drug-resistant skills, raised $2,500 in funding, and sent the plan to five other bases for benchmarking. He teamed with drug enforcement administration agents to design a multimedia presentation and lectured a local parent-teacher association on drug proofing their community and the school's 650 students. Erickson, a security forces reservist and civilian police officer, established a "We Care" counseling program, targeting female military inmates confined at Miramar on the dangers of drug and alcohol usage during pregnancy. He is an active member of the California Narcotics Officer Association, a network that provides venues for agents to interact and pass on information regarding current trends. Fire Prevention and Fire Safety: Tech. Sgt. James L. Abshire, 93rd Intelligence Squadron, Air Intelligence Agency, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. Abshire serves as a volunteer fire fighter in Boerne, Texas, and as a volunteer member of the emergency medical service in Kendall County, Texas. He has compiled 3,400 hours of volunteer service over the past six years as an EMS volunteer. He has dedicated one week of personal vacation time every year for the last seven years to an elementary school awareness program, providing fire prevention and safety education for youths in the Boerne School District. An average of 2,500 children benefit each year from this program. Traffic Safety and Traffic Accident Prevention: Staff Sgt. Jim Levine Jr., 209th Weather Flight, Air National Guard, Camp Mabry, Texas; and SSgt. Daniel W. Paine, 341st Security Forces Squadron, AFSPC, Malmstrom AFB, Mont. Levine is the safety NCO in both his full-time and traditional guard roles. He has served as the unit safety representative for six years, supporting the monthly unit training assemblies and 15 days of annual training. He has also managed the ground safety program the past four years, while on active duty for the Texas National Guard Counterdrug Program. Realizing the importance of a functional and decisive traffic safety and accident prevention program, he has pursued more modern, expeditious, and effective means of communication through the extensive use of computer networks. Paine was requested, by name, for investigations of all injury and fatality-related vehicular accidents at his previous assignment to the 559th U.S. Forces Police Squadron, Kaiserslautern, Germany. He supervised all traffic accident-related investigations, traffic flow plans, and traffic parking plans within the largest American military community outside the continental United States. Off duty, he volunteered to conduct briefings for numerous military and civilian organizations on the hazards of drinking and driving. He developed and implemented the Kaiserslautern anti-drunken driving sobriety checkpoint operations plan that resulted in DUI rates dropping by 56 percent and related accident and fatality rates dropping by 75 percent. (Courtesy of Air Force Personnel Center News Service) 992311. Burger King recalls Poke' Balls DALLAS (AFPN) -- Burger King Corporation, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, has issued an immediate voluntary recall of the red and white Poke' Ball that comes with all Kids' Club Meals. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service owns and operates more than 165 Burger King restaurants worldwide. According to Burger King officials, the recall came as a result of the suffocation of an infant in California that is alleged to be connected with one half of a plastic Poke' Ball. A similar incident involving another toddler that did not result in injury or death has also been reported. Customers should be aware that the Poke' Ball could become a suffocation hazard to children under three years old if a half of the ball-shaped plastic Poke' Ball container becomes stuck over the nose or mouth. AAFES-affiliated Burger Kings will no longer offer the Poke' Balls as part of the premiums found inside the regular Kids' Club Meals, but will still include the toy and trading card found inside the ball if the respective restaurant has not already depleted its inventory of these items. AAFES will, however, continue to include the plastic Poke' Ball as part of the premium offered in Big Kids' Meals. AAFES Burger King customers are being asked to destroy and discard the Poke' Ball container, or bring both halves of the ball back to the restaurant. In return, customers will receive a free order of small French fries. Customers may keep the Poke'mon toy that comes inside the ball. For more information, customers may call the Burger King Corporation at 305-378-3535, or visit the Burger King Web site at www.burgerking.com. AAFES Burger King customers with questions may contact AAFES at 214-312-6489. Those consumers who wish to contact the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission may do so by calling (800) 638-2772. (Courtesy of AAFES Public Affairs) **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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