LOCAL/NATIONAL
Denton Record-Chronicle
DENTON POLICE MOST WANTED Warrants have been issued for the following people, according to Denton police officials. If you see any of these people, call 911. You can also leave anonymous tips on the Denton Police Department Facebook page or by using Tip411. Denton County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for any tips leading to the arrest of Denton’s Most Wanted.
Name: Brett Cassady Charge: failure to stop and leave information Age: 39 Height: 5 feet, 11 inches Weight: 140 pounds Hair: blond Eyes: green
Name: James Lee Charge: theft more than $50, less than $500 Age: 29 Height: 6 feet Weight: 200 pounds Hair: black Eyes: brown
Name: Phillip Minton Charge: theft more than $1,500, under $20,000 Age: 22 Height: 5 feet, 10 inches Weight: 145 pounds Hair: brown Eyes: brown
Name: Marc Mosley Charge: failure to stop and leave information Age: 46 Height: 5 feet, 11 inches Weight: 190 pounds Hair: brown Eyes: brown
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Salvation Army kicks off Denton campaign By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe Staff Writer pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com
As the University of North Texas’ athletic director put a $100 bill in the red kettle, he teased the crowd outside Sam’s Club on Wednesday morning that the football team would be in Denton to help out with the Salvation Army’s annual campaign. Rick Villarreal’s implication, of course, was that the Mean Green, with its winning season, could receive a bowl invitation that would extend the football
season into the holidays. Both he and representatives from Texas Woman’s University athletics said student athletes and coaches would be helping with the local campaign this year. “There’s not a better cause to raise money because it goes straight to the people who need it,” Villarreal said. The local Salvation Army kicked off its Denton campaign Wednesday, which will put 28 kettles outside stores and at Golden Triangle Mall during the holiday season to raise money for its programs. The Denton
Salvation Army offers a men’s and women’s shelter, a food pantry, emergency financial assistance, Christmas assistance, a summer day camp for children and worship programs. Both the mayor and mayor pro tem of Denton were on hand to read a city proclamation in support of the campaign, which Mayor Mark Burroughs said fills an important need in helping those who can be left behind in fast-growing Denton. Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp, who serves on the Salvation Army’s advisory board, encouraged
AP National Security Writer
Courtesy photo Ginger, a 1- to 2-year-old shepherd mix, loves people — especially children — and gets jealous of other dogs when they compete with her for attention. She would be great for a one-dog home. She has tested positive for heartworms and is on medication. Her treatment is covered through the shelter’s medical fund. Ginger is fully vetted, microchipped and ready to go home now for $30. If you are interested in Ginger or any animal at the Denton Animal Shelter, e-mail dentonanimalservices@yahoo.com or call 940-349-7594. To see animals currently at the shelter, click “Animal Services” in the “Departments and Services” menu at www.cityofdenton.com.
people to sign up to help with the campaign. The organization mans the kettles with as many volunteers as possible. When there aren’t enough volunteers, they have to pay people to help out. “Please come ring the bell,” Kamp said. “It’s a fun thing to do.” For more information about the campaign, or to volunteer, contact the Salvation Army at 940-566-3800. PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-5666881 and via Twitter at @phwolfeDRC.
Study cites ‘burnout’ in ICBM force By Robert Burns
PET OF THE WEEK
3A
WASHINGTON — Trouble inside the Air Force’s nuclear missile force runs deeper and wider than officials have let on. An unpublished study for the Air Force, obtained by The Associated Press, cites “burnout” among launch officers with their fingers on the triggers of 450 weapons of mass destruction. Also, evidence of broader behavioral issues across the intercontinental ballistic missile force, including sexual assaults and domestic violence. The study, provided to the AP in draft form, says that courtmartial rates in the nuclear missile force in 2011 and 2012 were more than twice as high as in the overall Air Force. Administrative punishments, such as written reprimands for rules violations and other misbehavior, also were higher in those years. These indicators add a new dimension to an emerging picture of malaise and worse inside the ICBM force, an arm of the Air Force with a proud heritage but an uncertain future. Concerned about heightened levels of misconduct, the Air Force directed RAND Corp., the federally funded research house, to conduct a three-month study of work conditions and attitudes among the men and women inside the ICBM force. It found a toxic mix of frustration and aggravation, heightened by a sense
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh talks to a reporter in his office at the Pentagon on Wednesday. of being unappreciated, overworked, micromanaged and at constant risk of failure. Remote and rarely seen, the ICBM force gets little public attention. The AP, however, this year has documented a string of missteps that call into question the management of a force that demands strict obedience to procedures. The AP was advised in May of the confidential study, shortly after it was completed, by a person who said it should be made public to improve understanding of discontent within the ICBM force. After repeated inquiries, and shortly after AP filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a PowerPoint outline, the Air Force provided it last Friday and arranged for RAND officials and two senior Air Force generals to explain it.
Based on confidential smallgroup discussions last winter with about 100 launch officers, security forces, missile maintenance workers and others who work in the missile fields — plus responses to confidential questionnaires — RAND found low job satisfaction and workers distressed by staff shortages, equipment flaws and what they felt were stifling management tactics. It also found what it termed “burnout.” Burnout in this context means feeling exhausted, cynical and ineffective on the job, according to Chaitra Hardison, RAND’s senior behavioral scientist and lead author of the study. She used a system of measure that asks people to rate on a scale of 1 to 7 — from “never” to “always” — how often in their work they experience certain feelings,
including tiredness, hopelessness and a sense of being trapped. An average score of 4 or above is judged to put the person in the “burnout” range. One service member said, “We don’t care if things go properly. We just don’t want to get in trouble.” That person and all others who participated in the study were granted confidentiality by RAND in order to speak freely. The 13 launch officers who volunteered for the study scored an average of 4.4 on the burnout scale, tied for highest in the group. A group of 20 junior enlisted airmen assigned to missile security forces also scored 4.4. This has always been considered hard duty, in part due to the enormous responsibility of safely operating nuclear missiles, the most destructive weapons ever invented. In its Cold War heyday, an ICBM force twice as big as today’s was designed to deter the nuclear Armageddon that at times seemed all-too-possible amid a standoff with the former Soviet Union and a relentless race to build more bombs. Today the nuclear threat is no longer prominent among America’s security challenges. The arsenal has shrunk — in size and stature. The Air Force struggles to demonstrate the relevance of its aging ICBMs in a world worried more about terrorism and cyberwar and accustomed to 21st century weapons such as drones.
KH