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DATELINE TRAVIS

                                                23 Sep 94

Editor's Note: The following information is provided by the 60th Airlift
Wing public affairs office at Travis AFB, Calif.  For more information,
contact TSgt. Patrick McKenna at (707) 424-2011 or DSN 837-2011. 

This issue of Dateline Travis includes:
11.  Travis Golfers Sweep Air Force Tournament
12.  Retired Air Force chief remembers Bataan Death March
13.  Quality: Do you rent or own?
14.  News Briefs for the week of Sept. 25

11. Travis Golfers Sweep Air Force Tournament

     Two members of the Travis Team, Vera Ann Tu and Al Bello, made a
clean sweep by winning both the women's division and men's division of the
Air Force Golf Championship from Sept. 6-9 at Vandenburg AFB. 
         Tu, a 22nd Airlift Squadron C-5 pilot, outdistanced the rest of
the field over the grueling 72-hole event to beat her nearest competitor
by 10 shots and become the Air Force Women's Golf Champion.  Bello, a
602nd Aircraft Generation Squadron aircraft maintenance officer, fired a
fourth round 1-under-par 71 on the challenging championship course to win
the Men's Championship by three shots and complete the Travis sweep. 
      The Travis Team duo continued their winning streak the following
week at the Armed Forces Golf Championships held at Camp Pendleton.  Tu
was the Armed Forces Golf Championship Silver Medalist -- missing the gold
medal by only one shot.  Bello finished seventh, only four shots behind
the men's champion.  Bello posted the best four-day total for the entire
Air Force team.  The steady play of Bello and Tu lead the Air Force Team
to a come-from-behind two shot victory over the host Marine Corps team
with the Navy and Army following close behind. 
     In conjunction with this year's Armed Forces Golf Championship, the
Council International de Sports Militar (C.I.S.M) Championship was held at
the same time.  Because of their top performance at the Air Force level,
Bello and Tu were selected as members of the U.S. Armed Forces Team that
defeated Canada to win the C.I.S.M. Gold Medal. 
     Bello and Tu are seasoned veterans of military golf.  Bello, a
five-time Air Force Golf Team member, won the Armed Forces Golf
Championship in 1991 and has won Air Force Golf Championships in 1988,
1991 and now 1994.  Tu, a three-time Air Force Golf Team member, won the
Armed Forces Golf Championship in 1987, is a three-time USAFE Champion,
and was inducted into the USAFE Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.  Look for
them at next year's Armed Forces Championships which will be sponsored by
the Navy at Pensacola NAS, Fla. 
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12.  Retired Air Force chief remembers Bataan Death March

TSgt. Patrick McKenna
60th AW Public Affairs

     Retired CMSgt. Spencer Dukes isn't the type of man to hold a grudge.
Despite having spent 36 months in solitary confinement and being
brutalized by his Japanese captors, this World War II ex-POW and survivor
of the Bataan Death March holds no animosity toward his former enemy. 
     "I have nothing against the Japanese people," Dukes said. "Hell, most
of them weren't even around back then." 
     Dukes as well as other former prisoners of war and the families of
those still missing in action were honored during a National POW/MIA
Recognition Day retreat ceremony held here Sept. 16. 
     The chief, who has worn a military uniform for more than 55 years,
was the ceremony's guest speaker. He told the audience "We (former POWs)
don't want sympathy or pity. We just want to be recognized for what we
did, which was get caught." 
     Another serviceman who got caught was the late Lt. Ludovico Beltran,
a member of the Philippine Scouts and later the U.S. Army. 
     He too survived the Bataan Death March, which killed more than 1,100
Americans and 3,000 Filipinos. 
     During last Friday's ceremony, Beltran's widow Felisa accepted the
posthumous award of the POW Medal from Brig. Gen. Howard J. Ingersoll,
60th Airlift Wing commander. 
     Ingersoll said he commended the sacrifices and determination of all
Americans imprisoned during its wars and saluted the families of MIAs and
former POWs. 
     Dukes, who is a regular speaker at the March AFB NCO Academy and
president of the March Chiefs' Group, has been participating in these
tributes since 1980. He estimates he travels 9,000 to 11,000 miles
annually to talk about his experiences; this is his seventh trip so far
this year. "I want people to remember," he said. 
     Chief Dukes will never forget. He said about the Bataan Death March,
"I went from a 23-year-old master sergeant to a 40-year-old in 30 days.
You learn or you get killed. 
     "The Japanese Army were killing and beheading men just for falling
behind or out of the march. They'd kill you just to be doing something.
There wasn't any rhyme or reason to it." 
     Because Dukes' father was an Army colonel, he was treated as a
political prisoner and bounced from one camp to the next, including the
Philippines, China and Korea, where he spent 36 months in solitary
confinement. 
     His last camp was located 27 miles northeast of Hiroshima, and Dukes
and 40 other POWs were inside the compound when the Enola Gay dropped the
big one -- the atomic bomb. 
     "We had no idea what it was or what was going on," he said. "When we
got back to the United States, we were isolated from the rest of the POWs
and treated by doctors who had never seen a case of radiation sickness." 
     The chief said he now has cancer in his arm as a result of his
exposure. Once back in the states, Dukes was hospitalized for 8 months to
build weight on his emaciated 89-pound frame. 
     "I ate Gerber's baby food, Jello and ice cream for several months.
The first hamburger I had after being released made me sick as a dog. I
shouldn't have gotten the works on it. I also noticed the world had
changed during the time I was imprisoned -- cars had fins and girls had
shorter skirts. 
     "I had a lot of time to think while I was a prisoner. Time is the
only thing you do have. I wondered if there was a God and wondered why I
hadn't gone out with certain girls. I vowed that once I got out, I'd make
the most of every day. And that's what I'm doing right now."
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13.  Quality: Do you rent or own?

Lt. Col. Mark J.D. Gehri
60th OPG deputy commander


     Interest rates are still very low.  That means a lot of people are
talking about becoming owners.  That's good--becoming an owner is the
great American dream. 
     In fact, ownership is the very foundation of capitalism's success. 
The Soviet Union, on the other hand, wasn't built on the solid foundation
of ownership so the storm of competition washed the dreams of communism
down history's sewer of failure.  The Russian worker's old adage says it
all "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work." 
     The adage deserves a closer look.  First, is the obvious adversarial
relationship--they/we.  That's the basic owner/renter division.  Who
invests in property improvements, the owner or the renter?  All of us
capitalists know the answer to that.  A renter is concerned about not
doing damage so he can get his security deposit back, not about improving
the property.  In the adage, "they" are the owners and "we" are the
renters. 
     Second, both the owners and renters are pretending.  Real progress is
measurable, not imaginary.  No progress means the competition gets ahead. 
Us capitalistic owners aren't pretending to work and we're enjoying the
real dividends of our investment in the America we own.  The measure of
that progress is obvious ... we won the Cold War and I've got a full
refrigerator to prove it. 
     The decision to own isn't limited to real estate in 20 years of
service, I've seen the same basic decision process apply to how people
think about the Air Force.  Some are owners, some are renters.  This
ownership decision is not the same as staying in until retirement.  Some
people "put in" their 20 as renters while others are full partners right
up to the moment they turn in their I.D. cards when their service
commitment is up. 
     How do you sort Air Force owners from renters?  The renters say
things like "that's not part of my job description" or more recently,
"quality improvement is a leadership sham."  The Russian version would be
something like, "they pretend to care about our ideas and we pretend to
find improvement." 
     When I rented a house, I didn't put in a swimming pool and a cement
driveway.  For exactly the same reason, people who are renting themselves
to the Air Force don't invest in finding ways to improve how they do
business.  Real quality improvement starts with ownership.  By the way,
some leaders do just pretend to believe in the quality process but we all
know the result.  Their people pretend to work on improving customer
satisfaction. 
     Let me take the analogy one step further.  People who own their Air
Force know exactly where their property lines are.  They know the
traditions and heritage that define the boundaries of who they are. 
Discipline and military bearing to the Air Force owner is parallel to
watering and trimming the grass to the home owner.  Some renters do it
only when they think the landlord might be inspecting.  Owners do it
constantly to keep the property looking sharp and no one has to convince
them of its importa nce. 
     There are a few other indicators that correlate highly with claiming
ownership.  The homeowner joins the neighborhood associations to help
build a sense of community that preserve land value--most Air Force owners
are influenced to join the club for the same reason.  I've never heard any
homeowners' association push membership solely because the meetings were
great entertainment and the refreshments were tops.  How owners also band
together to influence local government to improve the quality of life
--most Air Force owners band together to influence local government to
improve the quality of life--most Air Force owners band together in groups
like the Air Force Associations and the Tanker/Airlift Associations (and
many others) to do the same. 
     If you don't make the ownership decision, you'll always be a renter. 
I don't own a house and I'm troubled that all I'll have to show for my
money is some rent receipts--no property that I claim as my own.  That's a
whole lot more bearable then worrying that all I'll have to show for my
Air Force career is some leave and earnings statements.  I'd much rather
be a full partner in owning a piece of MY Air Force's heritage.  Like
buying a house, it's a decision we all make. 
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14.  News Briefs for the week of Sept. 25

Travis Blvd. work
     Trench-work crossing Travis Boulevard near the Main Gate will reduce
the traffic to only two lanes.  Civil engineer officials expect the
trench-work to clear from the traffic area by the end of today. 

Road work 
     With the continuous efforts to upgrade facilities at Travis, civil
engineer officials are encouraging people to be more aware of their
surroundings when walking or driving. 
     The following areas are under construction this week: road
construction -- Waldron Street between First Street and Burgan Boulevard;
Bldg. 241 parking lot; 1300 area dormitory parking; Mather Street between
Travis Boulevard and Hickam Street; Ragsdale Street between Travis
Boulevard and Hickam Street; Ellsworth, Esterbrook and Nevada Streets;
Hickam Street and Ragsdale Street; Fairchild Street between Cannon Drive
and Hackett Street; Hickam Street between Broadway Street and Ragsdale
Street; and Cannon Drive between Travis Boulevard and the Chapel Center;
road pits -- Hickam Street and Cannon Drive. 

60th AMW standup
     The 60th Air Mobility Wing stand-up ceremony is slated for Sept. 30
at 10 a.m. on the flightline side of base operations. 

Reduced legal services
     The base legal office will reduce the hours of their services on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sept. 30 from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. due to
installation of new carpeting throughout the building. Only emergency
legal assistance and notary services will be available during those times.
Claims services will be limited to the turn-in of the DD Form 1840R and
claims near the two year statue of limitations. 

Support officer briefing
     On Tuesday at 9 a.m. a two-member officer team from the Air Force
Military Personnel Center will give a support officer
spread-the-word-briefing at the officers club. Topics will include the
current assignment system, officers' responsibilities under OVAS and OPD.
Additionally, the team will meet with officers that would like an
individual career management session during the afternoon. If you would
like to be scheduled for an afternoon meeting call 424-4064. 

OWC jewelry sale
     The Officers Wives Club is sponsoring a jewelry show at the officers
club Thursday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. This is a 20th anniversary sale and an
extra 10 percent off will be offered. 

Health clinic news
     David Grant Medical Center's mental health clinic is offering an
8-week Beyond Codependency group. The group will meet in the mental health
clinic beginning Oct. 11 from 3-4:30 p.m. For details call 423-5174. 

Cancer support group
     If you or a family member have cancer or another chronic illness, it
is likely you have a lot of questions, concerns and emotions. A cancer
support group has been established for any patient or family member who
would like a chance to talk openly about the illness, their feelings and
exchange coping skills. 
     The support group meets every Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. at David Grant
Medical Center on the fourth floor, room 14. No reservations are required.
For more information call 423-3331. 

Softball tourney:
     On Oct. 1 and 2, a Round Robin softball tournament to benefit Travis'
Fisher House will be at Vacaville's Nelson Fields. Sponsors are looking
for the best teams in the area to make this an exciting tournament. Men
and women's teams will compete for prizes and trophies. The entry fee is
$155 per team. To register call 448-1419. 
     
USDA food issue
     This program allows eligible families (both military and civilian) to
receive food subsidies from the federal government on a monthly basis. 
Eligibility is based on income level and other criteria.  If a family is
currently receiving food stamps, they are eligible.  Individuals seeking
enrollment in the program should contact their first sergeant, or the
family support center in the case of a civilian.  This month's food
subsidies are being issued from the family support center today from 7:30
a.m. to 4 p.m.  (FSC: 424-2486)

Transition VA briefing
     Representatives from the Veterans' Administration will be providing
information to separating and retiring members about their VA benefits at
this briefing to be held at the family support center Sept. 26 from 10
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Job search workshop
     A two-day workshop on the ins and outs of the job hunting process and
all that itentails will be held Oct. 5-6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the
family support center.  Don't be left out of the loop.  Learn how the job
search game is played.  Identify your skills, abilities, and
accomplishments.  Learn how to access the "hidden" job market, write an
effective resume and give a winning job interview.  (FSC: 424-2486)

Teen rap session
     Teenagers of military families have the chance to discuss pertinent
issues at workshops developed to enhance their awareness and quality of
life.  Frank Michelich of the Fairfield Police Department will be talking
about drugs on Sept. 30 at the Crosswinds Community Center from 7 to 9
p.m.  Military teens 12 to 17 are invited to attend..  For details call
Leonisa Gutierrez, 425-7963. 

Take charge of change
     At this two-session course you will learn how to survive changes and
transitions, understand how change affects your life, and learn what you
need to do to work through it.  The first session is Oct. 4 from 9 to 11
a.m. at the family support center. The second session will be held the
following Thursday.  Call 424-2486 to register.  (FSC: 424-2486)

Job fair at Mare Island
     A job fair will be held at Mare Island Oct. 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the
Roundhouse.  The fair is sponsored by the transition and career focus
programs of the greater Sacramento, San Francisco, and central California
areas.  For details, call the Mare Island Family Service Center at
707-646-9517. 
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-- 
______________________________________________________________________________
Patrick M. McKenna     Air Force Technical Sergeant       Travis AFB, Calif. 
              Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Media Relations
Work Phone: (707) 424-0135/2011             E-Mail: paddy@solano.community.net