CHIEF OF STAFF COMMENTS became a treasured memory. Col. John Daniel (ret.) Ralph Parr, a Double Ace and Wing Commander combat veteran of three wars, passed away peacefully on December 7th, at Col. Terence Winkler Vice Wing Commander age 88. During the , in one remarkable 11 day/30 mission Lt. Col. Shaunte Cooper stretch, he scored ten confirmed kills Executive Officer and received the Distinguished Ser- vice Cross for actions during a par- 2nd Lt. Alicia Lacy ticularly harrowing dogfight with 10 Public Affairs Officer enemy MiGs. In Vietnam, he earned Master Sgt. Sean Cowher the Air Force Cross for extraordi- Public Affairs NCOIC nary valor during the . In all, he flew 641 combat mis- Staff Sgt. David Porcelle Gen. Mark A. Welsh III sions and is the only American avia- Photojounalist Chief of Staff tor to receive both the Distinguished Staff Sgt. Mindy Bloem Happy New Year Airmen! Service Cross and the Air Force Broadcast Journalist Cross. He also wore the , To those of you who spent the 10 Distinguished Flying Crosses, holidays deployed, thank you…and the Bronze Star and 41 Air Medals. Contributing Writers I’m sorry you weren’t home with We should all stand a little prouder your families. I know you under- because we follow in his footsteps. I think we all share the responsibil- Master Sgt. Malvin Baerga-Rivera stand that what you’re doing is im- 147 RW/MSG portant, but I also know that doesn’t ity to protect the legacy that Colonel make the separation any easier. In Parr and so many others built. But these days where self-serving agen- the demographics of our Air Force das seem to be on display every- have changed. Images, songs, stories, where we turn, your willingness or “traditions” that are obscene, vul- to sacrifice for the good of our Na- gar, or that denigrate some percent- tion and its citizens still inspires me. age of Airmen are not the things we Despite the budgetary uncertainty, value in that proud heritage. I’m a bit the fiscal cliff, or whatever else time surprised by comments I’ve heard and circumstances throw at us, I about the recent health and welfare believe 2013 will be a great year for inspection, suggesting it was an at- our Air Force! We’ll still be doing tack on fighter pilot culture, a ‘witch great work for the Nation, we’ll still hunt’ to target specific organizations www.147rw.ang.af.mil be coming to work with the greatest or individuals, or a response to a spe- [email protected] men and women on Earth, and we’ll cific event. None of those comments This funded Air Force publication is pro- duced for members of the 147th Recon- still be taking care of each other. And are true. My intent was two-fold. naissance Wing at Ellington Field. Contents I know each of you will continue First, if we’re going to get serious of The Texan are not necessarily the official to look for new, innovative ways to about preventing sexual assault, we views of the U.S. Government, The Depart- ment of Defense or the Department of the make us an even better fighting force. need to get serious about eliminating Air Force. The editorial content is edited, It’s a great time to be an Airman! environments conducive to sexual prepared and provided by the Public Af- One of the greatest things about our harassment or unprofessional rela- fairs Office and members of the 147th Reconnaissance Wing, Ellington Field JRB, Air Force is the remarkable heritage tionships. Both are leading indicators 14657 Sneider St., Houston, TX 77034-5586 of sexual assault and other behavior we share. As 2012 closed, one of our Cover: greatest living heroes “flew west” and CSAF continued on page 2 National Guard Graphic by: Master Sgt. Sean Cowher / Released 2 January 2013 2012 Outstanding Airmen of the Year

Master Sgt. Courtney Hinson Staff Sgt. Matthew Renteria Senior Airman Michael Genaille 147th Operations Group 147th Operations Group 147th Operations Group

Congratulations to the 2012 Outstanding Airmen of the Year. The four individuals were nominated and selected as the OAY for the 147th Reconnaissance Wing. Airmen at the wing could be selected for one of four categories: airman for airman basic through senior airman, non-commissioned officer for staff and technical sergeants, senior non-commissioned officers for master, senior master, and chief master sergeants, and first sergeant for first- ser geants at the wing. These exemplary individuals will compete at the state level in Austin during January UTA.

Not Pictured: Master Sgt. Malvin Baerga-Rivera, first sergeant. Baerga-Rivera was named the oustanding first sergeant of the year.

In This Issue A Treasury mandate will soon require the DoD to pay all our mil- itary, civilian and retired customers by electronic funds trans- CSAF COMMENTS 2 fer (EFT). This will also include all travel payments. Beginning FINANCIAL SENSE 3 March 1, 2013, all ANG members (regardless of status) must CHAPLAIN’S THOUGHTS 4 have an EFT account established in their DTS and RTS profiles. All DTS accounts accepted through the self-registration VFW LIFE SAVING AWARD 4 module on or after 01 Mar 2013 must include EFT informa- FIRST SEREANT’S MESSAGE 5 tion. Those that do not contain EFT Info should be rejected AIRMAN AND FAMILY READINESS 6 back to the member. A list of members who do not current- SAFETY SHORTS 7 ly have EFT info in their DTS profile will be posted to the DFAC MENU 7 ANG Travel Pay CoP in the DTS folder. The name of the list DTS 8 is “ANG members with No EFT info in DTS”. Please contact each member and have them add their EFT info by 28 Feb 13.

3 January 2013 By Maj. Thomas Judd Chaplain

Life is stressful. Military life is even the Air Force’s Predator community- trained to keep such a “stiff upper lip” more stressful. -a community, of course, which each that someone you encounter today Last year service member suicides of us directly or indirectly supports. or tomorrow could be wrestling with outnumbered combat deaths...again. More importantly, it delves with bru- exactly these sorts of issues and you’d There were 482 military suicides in tal honesty into several aspects of the never know it. Perhaps even you are 2012. The brass inside the beltway RPA world we tend to not discuss: struggling in secret right now. always tends to focus on deploy- long shifts, poor manning, inaccu- So what? My point in sharing these ments and blame “the war,” but the rate intelligence, innocent casualties, sobering stories is not to suggest numbers tell a different story. More friendly fire, relationship problems, that we all join hands, sing “Kum- than half of those who committed PTSD, and so on. For everyone in- ba-yah,” and give ourselves warm suicide had never deployed, and volved, the stress of the job was very fuzzies. We have more than enough more than 85% had never seen com- real. For more than one crew mem- pamphlets, programs, and Power- bat. In other words, suicidal-level ber interviewed, the stresses were Point presentations to remind us of stresses come from much more than nearly incapacitating. the resources available to everyone. deployments. Speaking more broadly, high stress We don’t need another CBT, wallet Closer to Ellington, last month an levels, moral questions, work frustra- card, or cute cliché for commander’s article ran in the German magazine tions, school stress, family problems call. Enough. Seriously. What we Spiegel which received zero expo- and the like are NOT limited to air- need is much more basic. sure in the American media. You crews or those who have deployed. We need a reminder that our uni- might not think this is a terribly No one’s life is perfect. Everyone form makes us family...and as many noteworthy observation except that faces stress every day. Wearing the problems and imperfections as we the article was titled, “The Woes of uniform only adds to that stress. have, families care for one another. an American Drone Operator.” Its Thankfully, not everyone’s responses Let this be our reminder. Take care 4000 words give us a glimpse into to stress are the same. With that in of each other. You really can make a some of the day-to-day realities of mind, however, most of us have been life and death difference.

From left: 147 Reconnaissance Wing member Staff Sgt. Mitchell Corbin, Katie James, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5619 commander Rene Guerrero. During a ceremony Dec. 19, Corbin was presented the VFW Life Saving Award for his actions in June 2012, when he rescued a woman trapped in a burning vehicle. Guerrero presented Corbin with the award, in ad- dition to a lifetime membership with the VFW. Last fall, Corbin also received the Lone Star and a procla- mation from Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker proclaiming Oct. 14, 2012 Staff Sgt. Mitchell Corbin Day. (National Guard Photo by Master Sgt. Sean Cowher / Released)

4 January 2013 First Sergeant Message: New Year Brings Opportunities for Growth and Development

By Master Sgt. Malvin Baerga-Rivera 147th Mission Support Group First Sergeant just those who they believe can ment to work together to suggest move into leadership roles. An improvements in how the work is Today’s article focuses on un- organization needs employees – done. I have found that some su- derstanding that there is a time good, well trained and engaged pervisors never bother to ask Air- and place for mentoring and – at all levels of the organization men how they might do the job embracing the challenges of pro- for the organization to be a suc- better and you’ll be surprised how fessional and personal growth. cess. Focusing only on your high many Airmen have thought of Whether it’s mission accom- potentials will mean that you may ways to increase efficiencies and plishment, a new project, tasks have increased turnover at the effectiveness in getting the work or your chain of command is lower levels. That’s a problem. done. What a great way to give preparing for new challenges, it How do you do this? Cer- these individuals visibility with is essential we train and mentor tainly you can offer the op- the leadership team in your orga- all members in our organization portunity to attend seminars, nization by having them work on to reach their fullest potential. e-courses and conferences. ways to improve how work is done. I was meeting with several en- But let’s look at other options. And one more idea…why not listed Airmen the other day who Providing all Airmen stretch as- offer Airmen the opportunity to mentioned that their organiza- signments is a great way to help learn about other organizations. tion was only providing oppor- them build new skills and increase Some Airmen never really un- tunities to grow professionally their knowledge. Let’s assume derstand what goes on outside of to high potentials. When I asked that your organization does an their own unit and never have the them why that was happening, annual appreciation event. Why opportunity to learn how others they replied that budgets were not have members from various work and what they contribute to still tight and the organization groups join the team working on the organization. Have your Air- was primarily concerned about such a project? This gives individ- men spend a few hours or a few ensuring those high potential em- uals an opportunity to work on a weeks working in another depart- ployees were retained. Big mis- key project in your organization ment to learn about the opera- take – and as Airman we know it. and teaches them a variety of new tions from a different perspective, So let’s discuss why you want skills. It also gives them the chance which provides another great every Airman in your organi- to have some visibility with indi- way to expand skills and build zation to have opportunities to viduals they may not have the knowledge of the organization. grow professionally and person- chance to interact with otherwise. It is essential we train and men- ally. The best organizations want You might also offer the opportu- tor everyone in our organization to retain all their employees, not nity for Airmen within a depart- to achieve our fullest potential.

5 January 2013 The 147th Reconnaissance Wing Airman and Family Readiness Program Office provides a direct link between the commander Ms. Monalisa Norton and families. Family members can get information and help Family Readiness Program Manager for a variety of issues, for more information contact the Family Readiness Program Manager. Important Numbers and Services Provided by: Monalisa Norton, Aiman & Family Readiness Program Manager

American Red Cross NGB Family Program Online Employer Support of Guard Armed Forces Emergency Number Community and Reserves (ESGR) 877-272-7337 www.jointservicessupport.org 800-336-4590 www.redcross.org www.esgr.mil Tricare Service Center Tricare Regional Office South Humana-Military 800-444-5445 www.tricare.mil/TROSouth www.humana-military.com

Military One-Source Texas National Guard Family National Association of Child Care 800-342-9647 Support Foundation Resource & Referral Agencies www.militaryonesource.com www.txngfoundation.org www.naccrra.org

Veteran Affairs Military Spouse Center Hope for Heroes www.va.gov www.military.com/spouse www.samaritan-counseling.org

Air Force Crossroads United Concordia Hero Bracelets www.afcrossroads.com 800-866-8499 www.herobracelets.org www.ucci.com Kid’s Area Kids Health (Toddler to Teens) Kids.gov Kid’s Space FEMA for Kids www.kidshealth.org www.kids.gov www.kids-space.org www.fema.gov/kids White House Kids Site Texas Senate Kids Energy Kids Page Texas Parks & Wildlife www.whitehouse.gov/kids www.senate.state.tx.us/kids www.eia.doe.gov/kids www.tpwd.state.tx.us

6 January 2013 CSAF continued from page 2 and performance issues. Second, the Air Force succeeds because of the professionalism and discipline of our Airmen. We have a Saturday significant number of Airmen who feel they have to “go along 12 January 2013 to get along” by ignoring pornographic images, workplace com- ments, or other material that makes them uncomfortable. That’s BBQ Chicken simply not the Air Force we want to be. EVERY Airman is criti- cally important…and every one of you deserves to be treated Fried Catfish with respect. Anything less reflects a lack of discipline and a Fried Okra failure to honor our values. It also marginalizes great Airmen, Macaroni and Cheese degrades mission effectiveness and hurts unit morale. We sim- Black-eyed Peas ply can’t, and won’t, tolerate it. Of course, that’s easy for me to Steamed Rice say…only you can make it reality. As always, I need your help. Mustard Greens In a couple of weeks, I’ll send you a CSAF Vector for 2013. In it, I’ll let you know where I think we’re headed in some key Peas and Carrots areas and also lay out a few things I think I owe you over the Cornbread next year. Things like what the AF values for promotion Assorted Salad & Desserts (hint--the list starts with Job Performance!); my thoughts Assorted Drinks on performance reports and any required adjustments; etc. Thank you again for all you do, and for choosing to serve in our great Air Force. Don’t let the talk of sequestra- Sunday tion distract you from the importance of what you do ev- 13 January 2013 ery day. We’ll still need to come to work in 2013 and we’ll continue to provide America with one of its great- Baked Ham est asymmetric advantages. It’s an honor to serve beside you. Roast Beef GOT AIRPOWER…?! Rice Pilaf Oven Brown Potatoes Green Beans Lima Beans Mixed Vegetables Assorted Salad & Desserts Assorted Drinks

Shortline

Cheeseburger/Hamburger ESOHCAMP PREP Hot Wings • Housekeeping Grilled Chicken Sandwich • Review Documentation - Spot Inspections/AF Form 55, etc. French Fries • Know Safety Publications Vegetable of the Day a. AFI 91-202, USAF Mishap Prevention Program b. AFI 91-203, AF Consolidated Occupational Safety c. AFMAN 91-201, Explosive Safety Standards Meal Price: $4.55 • KNOW YOUR RESPOSIBILITIES! • DO YOUR PART!

7 January 2013 Defense Travel System 1. The JFTR (Joint Federal Travel Regu- lation) states a traveler must use the fol- lowing guidelines when on official travel: A. Uses an available contracted CTO (DTMO-contracted for DoD Services), or a GSA contracted TMC (when a con- tracted CTO is not available) for all offi- cial transportation requirements, or B. Must contact the responsible Agency/ Ace in the Hole Service designated official if there is not Retirees Association an available contracted CTO for the offi- President: James (Jim) Buchta cial travel. DoD travelers contact DTMO. Vice President: James Hamm 2.TRAVEL/TRANSPORTATION POL- Sect./Treas: Mildred Koehn ICY A. General. The least expensive, unre- www.aceintheholeretirees.com stricted economy/coach accommodation [email protected] is the standard for all passenger trans- portation modes. B. Travel Prudence/Stewardship of GOV’T Funds. A traveler must exercise the same care in incurring expenses as would a prudent person traveling on per- Alcoholism is Treatable! sonal business at personal expense. C. GSA City Pair Program/Airfares. See Need Help? APP P. Contract city-pair program regu- Call 1-800-410-2560 lations are found in DTR 4500.9-R, Part I, Chapter 103, pars. A2 and B2. Sexual Assault S.A.F.E. Helpline D. Official Travel. Transportation pro- 1-877-995-5247 cured and/or paid for by the GOV’T OPSEC may be used only for the portion of a trip Still and Motion Imagery properly chargeable to the GOV’T. Any additional expense is the traveler’s finan- In accordance with Air Force cial responsibility. and 147th Reconnaissance E. Usual Routing. Transportation profes- Wing Instructions, any visu- sionals are typically aware of the ‘usual routing’ by which travelers are routed al information (VI) material between locations. generated or acquired by Air 1. The AO must justify travel other Force members, employees, or than by a usually traveled route. contractors in conducting of- 2. More costly unjustified circuitous travel (e.g., personal travel detours ficial duties are the property from the usually traveled route) is the of the . traveler’s financial responsibility. As such, these materials must 3. Travel documents must clearly show be approved by the Public Af- the official travel points and whether fairs Office prior to release to circuitous travel is for official or per- sonal reasons. the public. 4. Official travel locations must be identified and, if personal locations are For more information contact the shown, they must be clearly iden - 147 RW Public Affairs Office. tified as personal/leave travel locations 281-929-2662 and state that any excess cost is paid by [email protected] the traveler.

8 January 2013