Hilltop Times – Hill Air Force Base Weekly Newspaper Since 1948

The 388th Fighter Wing Maintenance Professional of the Year awards for 2009 were held Nov. 20 to honor individuals and groups within the fighter wing that performed above and beyond their calls of duty throughout the year.

The event's guest speaker, Maj. Gen. Andrew Busch, Ogden Air Logistics Center commander, noted an important Air Force leader who raised the standards for maintenance professionals and made efforts to recognize those who reached his standards -- the late Gen. Wilbur L.

Two Bronze Star Medals were awarded Nov. 30 to members of Team Hill for their meritorious actions while engaged in missions supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Tech. Sgt. Nicole D. Davis, of the 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron here, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for her exceptional service as the convoy commander and squad leader within the 70th Movement Transportation Detachment of the 593rd Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command, with the U.S. Army. Davis served in this manner from April 7 until Oct. 15 of this year.

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A construction project will begin within the first two weeks of December to prepare an area for the relocation of the Roy Gate. An area within the new Falcon Hill development project will have contaminated soil and construction debris removed from a former disposal area so that site conditions allow for gate construction and a safe working environment for those building the new gate.

The area, known as Operable Unit 12 Source Area or Aspen Avenue Disposal Area, is located between Aspen Avenue and Wardleigh Road and south of the current location of Roy Gate.

The Team Hill Combined Federal Campaign for 2009 ended Nov. 16 after six weeks of aggressive campaigning and pledging to meet its goal of raising $1.3 million. The Team Hill CFC committee is meeting this week to tally results and, as of the time of print of this article, the committee has tallied up nearly $1.2 million in pledges.

"This number represents the spirit of the Air Force to rally together during trying economic times," said the committee's Vice Chairwoman, Melinda Schmidt.

When Jennifer Palmer arrived at Brigham Young University to watch her husband, Maj. James Palmer, 775th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, speak to Detachment 855 of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps about engineer opportunities with the Air Force at its career exposition Nov.

Seven teenagers from Hill Air Force Base's Youth Center Keystone club traveled to San Francisco, Calif., to claim their prize for organizing "the Ultimate Teen Program" within the Pacific region at a regional conference hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of America and the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens on Nov. 15.

The Keystone program is a BGCA-chartered leadership and service club for youth ages 14 to 18.

Hill Thrift Shop Inc. is organizing a holiday stocking giveaway to benefit veterans at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City before the Christmas holiday. The thrift store has purchased 120 stockings and holiday cards, and is counting on its customers to take the stockings home, fill them with items from a suggestion list included with the stockings, write a note of gratitude to a veteran on the included holiday card for each stocking and return the filled stockings to the thrift store before Dec.

In the company of family and friends, World War II veteran, Tony Stepanek, received an American flag on Veterans Day from his grandson, 388th Fighter Wing F-16 pilot, Capt. Chris Stepanek, which he carried in his jet as he flew combat missions over Iraq during his last deployment there.

"Grandpa, you are an inspiration to me with your service to our country during World War II," the captain told his elder during a ceremony to honor all veterans on Veterans Day, hosted by the Brighton Gardens Rest Home in Salt Lake City.

Before Hill Air Force Base was built, wildlife were the only inhabitants of the expanse of land the base occupies. Now, employees and housing residents coexist with the remaining wildlife, and it is the duty of the 75th Civil Engineer Group Natural Resources division to balance that coexistence while maintaining the base's overall mission.

"The habitat here is more conducive to urban-type of wildlife, but we do have open spaces, like the golf course and the air field, that attract other wildlife," said 75th CEG Wildlife/Habitat Biologist Russ Lawrence.

The 75th Air Base Wing Base Chapel will be holding a special ecumenical service Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday to occur later that week.

Chaplains (Capts.) Daniel Horgan and William Brown will co-host the 30-minute, Christian-based service and will sponsor a pie social afterward.

"The focus will be on what unites us, rather than separates us," said Horgan, a Catholic priest. "That is what we give thanks to God for."

During his deployment at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, last year, Horgan met Brown, a Protestant minister, and the two became friends.