United We Roll at Stardust Radio

Passing on some information that requires immediate reaction from some military members.

Officers eligible for promotion should review records before MilPDS upgrade

Release No: 030
Feb. 8, 2013

By Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs

(Editor’s note: This story is a part of a series of articles to inform and educate total force Airmen about personnel programs impacted by the Military Personnel Data System upgrade occurring in March.)

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO – RANDOLPH, Texas – The data feed from the Military Personnel Data System to the Air Force promotions data systems will not be available during the March MilPDS upgrade, so some officers eligible for promotion consideration may be affected, including those eligible for the Calendar Year 2013A Colonel Line of the Air Force-Judge Advocate and CY13A Lieutenant Colonel LAF/LAF-J boards that convene March 18, the Air Reserve Component first lieutenant and captain promotion selection process (first half) that convenes April 1 and the Air National Guard line and non-line major and lieutenant colonel boards that convene April 8.

“Officers need to verify their record is up-to-date and accurate. They should review both their selection record in the Personnel Records Data Application and their officer pre-selection brief to make necessary changes prior to the MilPDS upgrade,” said Lt. Col. Shelley Strong, AFPC operations division chief. “Updating an officer’s record prior to the MilPDS upgrade will help avoid delays.”

If officers wait to make changes during the March 4-27 MilPDS upgrade, they will need to request personnel records corrections through their local military personnel sections. After receiving the corrections, the MPS will notify the Air Force Personnel Center or the Air Reserve Personnel Center of the corrections.

The March MilPDS upgrade and transfer to the Defense Information Systems Agency Defense Enterprise Computing Center is expected to take 23 days, during which time MilPDS will not be available.

MilPDS is the primary records database for personnel data and actions that occur during every total force Airman’s career. MilPDS is also used to initiate Airman pay actions, maintain Air Force accountability and strength data and support a host of interactions with other Air Force processes and systems that rely on personnel data.

Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve officers will receive further instructions from their servicing Military Personnel Section, as provided by the Air Reserve Personnel Center, concerning the MilPDS upgrade impact on applicable promotion boards. Individual Mobilization Augmentees may check with their respective program managers. For additional information on Air Reserve Component officer promotions, go to the ARPC public website at http://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil.

Officials will continue to release information and guidance to educate total force Airmen on how critical personnel and pay tasks will be accomplished during the MilPDS upgrade.

For more information about the MilPDS upgrade and how personnel-related programs will be affected, visit the myPers website at http://mypers.af.mil under your respective component tab.

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For more news and information, visit Air Force Personnel Center.

MIDWEST MILITARY OUTREACH INC.
Office: 1-319-621-7878
http://www.midwestmilitaryoutreach.org/

INVITES YOU TO ...

MURPHY'S BAR & GRILL
71 E 1ST ST RIVERSIDE, IA 52327

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH

Murphy's Bar and Grill starts at 4 pm with sales of his famous All American
Cheeseburger. Every meal sold will have a % coming back to MMO.

COME EARLY - SEE OUR RAFFLE ITEMS

STARDUST RADIO NETWORK INC
WILL PROVIDE MUSIC FOR DANCING & LISTENING
STARTING AT 8PM TO 12PM

LIVE SHOUTOUTS TO DEPLOYED TROOPS

SPECIAL GUEST BARTENDERS

VETERANS WILL BARTEND BEHIND THE BAR & WILL DONATE ALL TIPS
TO HELP OUR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH THE MMO.

MARDI GRAS THEME

We are doing a Mardi Gras theme, giving away beads and masks.
We will have King Cake (cupcakes) and the one lucky winner
(whomever finds the baby inside the cupcake) wins a big prize.

Profits will go to the Midwest Military Outreach, Inc. to allow them to continue
with the assistance they provide for members and families of the military and
veteran communities.

United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 02/05/13 1:00pm- 4:00pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 02/06/13 6:00pm- 9:00pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners -
We thank you for joining us on Tuesday, February 5th of 2013.

This Tuesday, we bring you three more new, outstanding and informative visits with US Army soldiers of the CTF 4-2 who are serving in harm's way in Afghanistan as they train the Afghani soldiers and police to protect their own and also as they lead many projects to bring drinking water, schools and much more to communities.

Our first guest is with the JAG office of the CTF 4-2 and will share information about many of the duties they perform from lending legal opinions to performing legal activities on behalf of the commander and soldiers.

Two of our guests today are also part of the 1st Sustainment Brigade, where their mission is to deliver all the supplies that are used by our men and women at bases all around the country. From beans to bullets, these soldiers make sure their brothers and sisters in uniform do not run out of anything they need.

Be sure to tune back in at 10am Central on Saturday morning (2/9), when we will
bring you more new interviews with deployed members from the 1st Sustainment Brigade where soldiers work in areas from finance to airdrops, convoys and more.

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United We Roll at Stardust Radio Network, Inc
www.stardustradio.com - click Listen Live button

SHOW SCHEDULE
Tuesday 2/05/13

1:00pm - Introduction / Announcements

Interview #1 (appr 1:10pm) - MAJ John F Harwood
CTF 4-2 / JAG
Afghanistan

Interview #2 (appr 1:52pm) - 1 CPL Deanna N Jones
1st SMC (Support Maintenance Company)
Afghanistan

Interview #3 (appr 2:27pm) - SPC James W Jacobs III
1st SMC (Support Maintenance Company)
Afghanistan

Show ends at appr 3:00pm Central

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If you are not able to stay through the show this afternoon,
it will repeat on Wednesday 02/06 evening at 6:00pm Central.
After the repeat show has been broadcast, an MP3 copy will be posted on the
Stardust Radio Network Inc Archive site at www.stardustradio.info.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

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OUR UNITS

376 Air Expeditionary Wing
Transit Center at Manas
Republic of Kyrgystan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Transit-Center-at-Manas

Combined Task Force 4-2
4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division "RAIDERS!"
4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment - "Manchu"
2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment - "Tomahawk"
1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment - "Rock of the Marne"
2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment - "Blackhawk"
2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment - "Viking"
702nd Brigade Support Battalion - "Forge"
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4SBCT2ID

1st SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE
"DURABLE"

Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Sustainment Brigade
147th Financial Management Support Detachment
396th Military Police Company
444th Human Resource Company
32nd Transportation Company
396th Transportation Company
HHC, 157th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
593rd Transportation Company
1st Support Maintenance Company
359th Inland Cargo Transfer Company Headquarters
Headquarters Company, 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion

Facebook: www.facebook.com/1stSustBde

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Murphy’s Bar and Grill Fundraiser
for
Midwest Military Outreach Org

Murphy's
Bar & Grill
Riverside, Iowa

FEBRUARY 9TH 2013

Murphy’s Bar and Grill starts at 4 pm with sales of his famous All American Cheeseburger with every meal sold a % coming back to MMO also we have raffle items.

Music will be provided by Stardust Radio starting at 8pm til 12pm and Vets behind the bar all tips will also come back to help our Veterans and their families.

SEND SHOUTOUTS TO DEPLOYED TROOPS!

We are doing all Mardi Gras theme giving away beads and masks, we will be doing the King Cake (cupcakes) and the one lucky winner whomever finds the baby inside wins a big prize.

Profits will go to the Midwest Military Outreach, Inc. to allow them to continue with the assistance they provide for members and families of the military and veteran communities.

Our Mission

Empowering our transitioning military and their families through innovative streamlined and self-sustaining support in the critical life areas of; family resources, financial management, educational resources and employment resources. Our mission is to provide support and to reintegrate and retain the local talent of our military who have served our country. Standing together to build a supportive community and a strong future for America.

Midwest Military Outreach Inc.
2010 Keokuk St. # 102
Iowa City, Ia. 52240
Office: 1-319-621-7878
http://www.midwestmilitaryoutreach.org/
E-mail: midwestmilitaryoutreach@gmail.com

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To Our Military Members & First Responders
And To All The Families Who Also Serve...
Thank You!

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Stardust Radio Network Inc
Supporting Our Military For 11+ Years

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As we all know, gas stations do not exist in the sky - or do they? Ask anyone stationed at the Transit Center at Manas in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan or with any of the air refueling squadrons in our US Air Force, and they will tell you that flying gas stations not only exist, they are at work every day. If it were not for these KC-135's and their big brother counterparts (military version of DC-10), the jets who provide air support to our troops on the ground in Afghanistan could not stay in the air long enough to provide that protection.

In short, the crews on board these flying tankers are saving lives each time they take off and refuel those fighter jets.

We have had the great honor to interview the pilots of two flights of the KC-135's that have set records. On April 10th of 2010, we spoke with Capt. Christine Stanaback as her flight had just recorded the 16,000th sortie. On May 4th of 2012, we spoke with Capt Tanya Dubiel when her flight recorded the 25,000th refueling sortie.

Now, the following article brings us more news about the 22nd EARS and how 2012 "... was the second most impacting and with the second highest number of combat missions ever for the 22nd EARS". Also,
"... the 22nd EARS Crew 13 flew the ROBE's 30,000th combat hour on a mission during the first week of January."

I do not know if there is any way to have an actual number of lives saved, but if you stay close to the news coming out of Afghanistan, you see numerous reports about calls for help from the jets overhead. They could not be there without these flying gas stations and their crews.

We also salute the maintainers of the 22nd EARS. It is this group of men and women who keep the KC-135's in top order and ready to take off.

The words "Thank You" are not big enough to express our appreciation for all you do!

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22 EARS completes busy year, starts new year with milestones

Posted 1/23/2013 Updated 1/23/2013

by Tech. Sgt. Rachel Martinez
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

1/23/2013 - TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- For the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, 2012 was a banner year.

With nearly 4,000 sorties and 24,000 flight hours, the air refueling squadron completed its second busiest year of combat operations with an operations sortie effectiveness rate of 99.85 percent, hitting many milestones along the way.

"This year was the second most impacting and with the second highest number of combat missions ever for the 22nd EARS" said Lt. Col. Russell Davis, 22nd EARS commander. Throughout the course of the year, aircrews offloaded 227.2 million pounds of fuel to more than 16,000 coalition aircraft supporting more than 2,000 troops in contact events, nearly 1,500 shows of force and more than 850 strikes.

"What I am most proud of are the 2,054 times members of the 22nd EARS supported troops in contact with the enemy," said Davis. "That's significant because it equates to lives saved."

For the first time, the Air National Guard deployed in mass to support summer operations in 2012. This included multiple deployments of eight Air National Guard jets and crews.

"They performed superbly and brought a lot to the total force fight," said Davis. "In fact, one total force crew was credited with saving a coalition fighter aircraft in Afghanistan."

According to Davis, the Guard crew was performing their first combat mission in Afghanistan, with active duty crewmembers performing orientation training, when everything but the engine stopped working on one of their scheduled fighter jet receivers. The crew was able to communicate with the fighter pilot on the boom interphone and help him navigate while he reset his systems.

"These types of events are what tanker crews do every day," said Davis. "We are always prepared to act when receiver aircraft find themselves in a tight spot. Our communication, navigation and radar systems become as important as the lifesaving jet fuel we pass to buy space and time for distressed aircraft and Airmen."

One of the most significant milestones of the year involved the unit's employment of the Roll-On Beyond Line of Sight Enhancement, or ROBE, data link system. ROBE is a mobile command and control node flown on the KC-135 Stratotanker that enables air-to-ground and air-to-air units to communicate when their own C2 systems are not able connect through line-of-sight. In early May, the 22nd EARS surpassed the ROBE system's 25,000th combat flight hour. The 22nd EARS is the only operational KC-135 unit in the Air Force that employs the data linking system.

"We've broken new ground with ROBE - re-writing the tanker community's fundamental understanding of how to employ this cutting-edge capability," said Davis. "In fact, the unit was tasked with a ROBE-only mission earlier in 2012. The ROBE enhancement makes the tanker a multi-platform airframe - now the tanker can conduct air refueling, airlift and be a link for command and control."

The year did not come without its challenges. The 22nd EARS managed to complete one of its busiest years, despite losing more than 4,000 feet of runway for repairs during a significant portion of the year. In addition, the runway was closed for several hours three times a week during those repairs.

"With the outstanding support of the other units within the 376th AEW [Air Expeditionary Wing], the EARS developed a concept of operations that enabled us to continue providing the level of support the warfighter needed," said Davis.

Other challenges the unit was able to overcome included high turnover rates. During the summer months, the unit experienced a 55 percent turnover of personnel every 30 days and nearly 100 percent turnover of personnel every two months throughout the winter. Additionally, winter brought some of the lowest temperatures on record for the Transit Center.

"We didn't lose a single mission to weather despite the coldest and snowiest December on record," Davis said. "That's a testament to our Kyrgyz partners, airfield ops, maintainers, de-ice/anti-ice team/maintainers, POL [petroleum, oil and lubricants] flight, civil engineers and all the others here at the TCM that make the mission go."

The 22nd EARS impact in 2012 went beyond fueling the fight in Afghanistan. The squadron partnered with three local schools to build community relationships. Squadron members visited the schools every few weeks to provide much-needed school supplies, assist with minor labor and interact with the children. They also were there when the Transit Center at Manas Theater Security Cooperation division secured renovation projects for each school, providing approximately $310,000 in improvements.

"Our positive relationships with the schools in Stepnoe and Prigorodnoe village have been the highlight of many 22 EARS members' experiences," Davis said. "It's been our privilege to demonstrate American culture and values to the Kyrgyz people through regular interactions."

With 2012 behind them, members of the 22nd EARS are showing no sign of slowing down. Just halfway into the first month of 2013, the squadron has already hit new milestones.

So far this year, boom operators - the aircrew members tasked to operate the ROBE data link system - have had a 100 percent success rate operating the system. Furthermore, the 22nd EARS Crew 13 flew the ROBE's 30,000th combat hour on a mission during the first week of January. It was a normal mission, said Maj. Christina Thompson, Crew 13 aircraft commander - The crew refueled a B-1B Lancer over southwestern Afghanistan, all the while running the ROBE data link and enhancing C2 capability for ground and air forces.

"Thirty thousand is an important milestone," said 1st Lt. Greg Jemo, Crew 13 co-pilot. "The ROBE mission of the tanker represents a dedication toward supporting ground forces more so than our traditional capability. The tanker is no longer a single capability platform. We now provide multiple means to support the warfighter in the air and on the ground."

The 22nd EARS has every intention of continuing to fly to the "sound of the guns" by providing outstanding support to air and ground forces in Afghanistan throughout 2013, said Davis.

Ref: http://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123333220#.UQDFZaX7O-w.facebook