Briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
NAVY
Recon plane being rebuilt
Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the Navy EP-3 surveillance plane at the center of a flap with China last year is being rebuilt, and will resume flying.
"I saw a picture of it the other day. It's going to be better than new," Blair said. "We're going to fly it again in international air space — just the way we are flying reconnaissance aircraft in the western Pacific as we need to do to maintain our vigilance."
Blair made the comments last week at a Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce luncheon with military and government leaders at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.
The EP-3 was on an intelligence-gathering flight in international air space along the Chinese coast on April 1 when one of two intercepting Chinese F-8 fighter jets collided with the propeller-driven aircraft.
Badly damaged, the EP-3 made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island.
Twenty-four crew members were released 11 days later after the Bush administration said it was "very sorry" for the death of one of the Chinese fighter pilots.
The EP-3 was later disassembled and transported by a chartered Russian-made Antonov-124 cargo plane from Hainan Island, through the Philippines and Hawai'i, to the Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Marietta, Ga., plant to be reassembled.
ARMY
200 civilians may lose jobs
Army officials have announced to about 200 members of its civilian work force that a private contractor, BAE Systems Inc., won a second cost-comparison decision to perform maintenance, transportation and other support jobs currently being overseen by the Directorate of Logistics, an element of U.S. Army Garrison, Hawai'i, based at Schofield Barracks.
The decision, announced Friday, is tentative and subject to appeal within 30 days. Army officials said no decision has been made whether to mount an appeal.
If the decision stands, it means the employees will have to re-apply for their jobs with the contractor.
The cost comparison is the result of a Commercial Activities Study mandated by the Department of Defense to improve efficiency in government operations.
The study, which has been going on for four years, was conducted to determine whether operations should be contracted out to private industry or remain as government-operated functions using an in-house work force.
Army officials say the decision could not have come at a worse time given the state of the economy.
"For over four years, our outstanding employees have worked with the threat of losing their jobs, but they have continually demonstrated both commitment and loyalty to the Army personnel and installations they serve," said Col. William Puttmann, commander of U.S. Army Garrison, Hawai'i.
FAMILIES
Gold Star group seeks members
The American Gold Star Mothers organization is seeking members to form a chapter in Hawai'i.
Some 1,200 members of the organization across the country share a common bond: each has lost a son or daughter in the military.
The vow to never forget a child lost in war led to the founding of the group in 1928. Whenever a member of the military is killed in action, the individual's mother is given a gold star lapel pin.
Group members serve as volunteers at veterans hospitals and work to promote patriotism and allegiance to the United States.
For more information, call (202) 265-0991 or visit the group's Web site. The Vietnam Veterans of America-O'ahu Chapter, (808) 566-0236, can also provide information.
