C M Y K Vol. 35, No. 15 Friday, April 4, 2008 Phoenix Rally celebrates ‘A Legacy of Global Reach and Hope’ Theme centered on 60th Anniversary of Berlin Airlift by Senior Airman Stephenie Wade 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs Air Mobility leaders gathered here March 24-28 for the annual Phoenix Rally. The theme of Phoenix Rally was “A legacy of global reach and hope,”, chosen to recognize Air Mobility Command’s past, present and future. At this year’s conference Rally at- tendees’ acknowledged the historical accom- plishments of “The Berlin Airlift” along with a special guest, “The Candy Bomber,” retired Col. Gail Halvorsen. “This year is special because we are cel- ebrating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift,” said Gen. Arthur Lichte, Air Mobil- ity Command commander. “The Berlin Airlift represents the roots for which our Air Force was built, especially Air Mobility Command.” The airlift began in 1948 in Germany when Photo by Senior Airman David Minor the Soviet Union blockaded Berlin, which left From left to right Col. (ret) Gail Halvorsen, Tim Chopp, and Bill Morrissey prepare to board a two million residents without a way to im- C-54E at MacDill. The three made up the crew of “Spirit of Freedom,” a 1945 C-54E about to port food or supplies needed to survive. The perform a fly-over of Steinbrenner Stadium for a Yankees spring training game. only available supply for the city was by air. The United States, British and French armed “The lead man came toward the cockpit A turning point occurred on Good Friday forces came together to deliver food, medicine unable to speak our language. His expression when Maj. Gen. William Tunner developed a and other supplies in what became known as, said it all. He looked at the bag of flour and plan on how the pilots would enter and exit Operation Vittles. then at us like we were angels from heaven. Berlin to prevent further aircraft crashes. “During Operation Vittles we delivered People were hungry for food and freedom. We The solution was a three-runway system more than 4,500 tons of food a day into Ber- were giving them both and they were most with two runways, entering on the right and lin,” said Colonel Halverson. grateful,” said Colonel Halvorsen. the left of the city. In the middle, there was The colonel’s first cargo delivery into Tem- The Air Force delivered cargo to Berlin at a an exit runway where aircraft merged to ex- pelhof Airport Berlin, the German crew un- rate of one aircraft every three minutes. The it. loaded 20,000 pounds of flour. The German sky was crowded with aircraft making flying On the ground Berliners waited to hear crew that unloaded the aircraft set the tone hazardous. Nine U.S. people died within the for the operation. first two months. See PHOENIX, Page 10 INSIDE TODAY Adm. Fallon goodbye Supplement dangers Workzone Awareness Images of Phoenix Rally Page 4 Page 9 Page 14 Page 17 Commentary Do you make time to mentor? by Master Sgt. Brian Smith As Airmen we need to ensure our Air Force 6th Maintenance Squadron First Sergeant remains the greatest in the world even after we have retired. How do we do this? One good With the drawdown of Airmen with the way is by mentoring. Who should we concen- same amount of work to get accomplished, trate on the most? We should concentrate on there seems little time for mentoring. Even those that we entrust to lead our Air Force into when we do have some time on our hands, do the next generation. A part of this generation we take that opportunity to mentor? I hope is our first line supervisors. Not only are they we do, but personally I don’t think all of us are going to be our future leaders, they are also taking advantage of those situations. In fact, taking care of our inexperienced Airmen who I know I’m guilty of not taking advantage of will soon themselves be first line supervisors. mentoring at times when I was a NCOIC. As leaders in the Air Force, if we don’t take There is a lot of work to get accomplished the time to mentor and ensure the first line su- with little time to mentor during duty hours. pervisors are ready to take appropriate respon- There should be time off-duty to mentor but we sibility we could be placing our young Airmen all have excuses, especially living in the Tampa in detrimental situations. How does it look area. We are so spread out where we live. If when a supervisor is more worried about him you don’t live on base, you could have a 30 to or herself and does not set the proper example 90 minute drive home. for others to follow? This could be harmful not First off, what is mentoring? According to only to his or her Airman, but harmful to the the Webster’s dictionary, mentoring means to Air Force. serve as a trusted counselor or teacher, espe- The Air Force is putting a lot of time and cially in occupational settings. Are we trusted money into each and every Airman. When we counselors? Well, the answer should be yes, have to administratively or judicially separate because we are trained to counsel through Pro- young Airmen because of some wrong decisions fessional Military Education. We also live by they make, it costs the Air Force a great deal the core values, therefore we have integrity, we of time and money to replace those Airmen. Master Sgt. Brian Smith should be trustworthy and we work in an occu- What hurts even more is to know that some of pational setting. these Airmen could have been great leaders in Air Force now and for its future. This is one of Thus, if you have graduated from at least our Air Force if only they had supervisors that our core values, service before self. Let’s assist, one PME course, you should be a qualified cared for and mentored them. This is why I motivate and watch our Airmen become future mentor. Now, I’m not saying that only young believe the first line supervisors are the key. warriors. Let’s ensure the Air Force is in ca- Airmen need mentoring. I’m saying all Airmen We need to ensure they know it too. pable hands after we retire from the service. no matter whether you are a high ranking offi- We are hard working Airmen. We have to Above all, let’s continue to defend America and cer, SNCO, or an Airman Basic need mentoring be, we are at war. However, we need to make freedom along side our warrior brothers and to help guide us throughout our career. the time to mentor. We need to take care of our sisters. the Air Force or the 6th Air Mobility Wing. 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To the point Goal Day Tracker Death Gratuity Exception extended through end of FY08 Congress authorized changes to the Death Gratu- ity paid to the Next-of-Kin of all military members in the event of an active duty member’s death. Previ- ously, the Death Gratuity was paid to a designated beneficiary and only that beneficiary. This change allows for an additional designated beneficiary for the 100,000 dollar death gratuity to be designated for up to 50% of the Death Gratuity. Personnel can change their designation via the Virtual MPF, vRED (Virtual Record of Emergency Data) application. Currently they will utilize the “Remarks” section of the vRED to designate the ad- ditional beneficiary. If you or your members have any questions con- cerning this new policy, please contact the Casualty Assistance Representative, Mr. Steve Mikesell, at 828-2503. Office closure The Military Personnel Element Identification Card office will be closed from April 1 through 4 for a DEERS system upgrade.