July - Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass

ART creates furloughsurvival tipsby MSgt. Andrew Biscoe“People say I might be nuts forsaying this, but I’m embracing thefurloughs.”MSgt. Ellen Moore is an air reservetechnician assigned to the 42 ndAerial Port Squadron, and a singlemom with one son.“We had enough notice, so I’veplanned financially,” she said. “I livewithin my means anyway. I hide mymoney, not forgetting where I put it,of course, but so I won’t spend it.”MSgt. Moore has been at Westoverfor 18 years. She’s well-knownthroughout her squadron and recentlytook part in getting APSARTs together to figure out how todeal with the furloughs.“I’ve bulked up on food, paperproducts and cleaning products. Mycellar looks like a grocery store,” shesaid. “Clipping coupons takes time,but it saves so much money.”As does breaking other habits thateat up budgets.“Think about the $12 or so youspend each week getting that coffeeat the drive-through,” she said. “Youcan save so much by cutting down onthat alone. You can make your lunchat home before you come to work.”“Shop wisely,” MSgt. Moore said.“Follow the flyers. Save your ATmoney.”She was referring to annual tourmoney, which MSgt. Moore depositsin a separate bank account.“I came up with a savings in mybudget that amounted to $3,300 duringthe year,” she said. “I could spendthat in a year on scratch tickets.”The Department of Defense isscheduled to begin the furloughsJuly 8. More than 750 civilians andARTs at Westover will take 11 daysof unpaid leave through the end ofSeptember.PATRIOT | PAGE 5New aircraft fuel systemlanding at Westoverby TSgt. George CloutierGassing up planes at Westover is aboutto get a big improvement, thanks to a recentlyawarded $24.5 million fuel hydrantsystem funded by the Defense LogisticsAgency.The military construction contract wasawarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,New England District. The Corpsof Engineers will manage and supervisethe project which will be accomplishedby Structural Associates, Inc. of EastSyracuse, N.Y.“We’ve been working with the samefueling infrastructure that has beenhere since the days of the Strategic AirCommand when B-52s were flying outof Westover” said Col. Steven Vautrain,439 th Airlift Wing commander. “A C-5can hold 323,000 pounds of fuel. Thisnew system is going to greatly increaseour ability to deliver that fuel to aircraftas quickly and safely as possible, which isabsolutely mission essential.”“This project is going to totally replacethe C-5 fuel hydrant system and supportinfrastructure on the ramp,” said Capt.Brett Bailey, 439 th Civil EngineeringSquadron. He also serves as a civilianPOPE’S PUNS |with base civil engineering as chief ofdesign. “The project will construct apressurized hydrant fuel system with 14hydrant outlets and two 210,000-poundabove-ground fuel storage tanks,” hesaid. “Work will include modifying theexisting pumphouse, and constructingnew truck fillstands, a hydrant hose truckcheckout, product recovery system, andmodifying the existing transfer pipeline.Upgrading this system will be a hugebenefit to the 439 th AW in continuing tomeet its mission.”Upgrading the existing fueling infrastructureon the aircraft parking ramp isno small feat and comes with a huge coordinationeffort between many Westoverorganizations.“With the project scheduled to startin September and take about two yearsto complete, that impacts a lot of operationsand requires close coordinationwith many agencies here on base,” Capt.Bailey said. “CE, Corps of Engineers, aircraftmaintenance, airfield management,security forces, and fuels are all tirelesslyworking to ensure the project goessmoothly. We’re going to be conductingan elephant ballet out there for two yearsand we have a world-class team doing it.”by W.C.Pope