Base excels during EOHCAMP Published Aug. 31, 2006 By By Ed Drohan 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Team Pope took a thorough look at its environmental and occupational health programs last week, and found they were looking pretty good. A team of 43 people from around the base undertook an internal Environment and Occupational Health Assessment and Management Program evaluation from Aug. 21 through 25. When all was said and done, Pope's write-ups were cut in half compared to last year's Air Mobility Command assessment. Inspectors reported 65 findings in the environmental programs, compared to 142 during last year's assessment. The remainder of the 93 total findings were under the occupational health protocols, which were only added to the assessment this year, said Lt. Col. Mary Ann Behne, 43rd Maintenance Group deputy commander and EOHCAMP team chief. "The average person out there on the base is complying with these programs very well," Colonel Behne said. "They are doing a wonderful job." Under the EOHCAMP program, bases alternate between assessing themselves and having outside experts come to the base to complete the assessment in successive years. While the people doing the looking may change each year, what they look at does not, Colonel Behne said. Some of the inspectors for this year's EOHCAMP included members of the 43rd Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight, but a majority were program experts from individual shops, squadrons and groups, the colonel said. Every unit, to include tenants and contractors, had their environmental and occupational health programs assessed for compliance with local, state, federal, Air Force and Department of Defense standards, instructions and regulations. Many of the discrepancies found during the assessment were relatively minor in scope, the colonel said, with as many as 10 to 12 being corrected on-the-spot. Others will take some time to correct, while at least two will actually need funding and construction projects to remove them from the findings list. One fairly common problem the team found, Colonel Behne said, was containers filled with pressurized gases that were not properly secured. Something as innocuous as a gas grill propane bottle can become a missile if it is punctured and not properly secured. Recycling, or awareness of the program requirements, was another problem noted in several areas. Most people were recycling office paper, but several shops didn't know they are also supposed to be recycling cans, plastics and other items. While there were negative findings, EOHCAMP Team members also looked for positive aspects of individual programs - things that individuals and shops were doing that went above and beyond simple compliance. Seven individuals and one shop were recognized as top performers during the EOHCAMP out brief Tuesday at the 2nd Airlift Squadron. The 43rd Maintenance Squadron aero repair shop as well as Staff Sgt. Cyththia Garner, 43rd Medical Group, Audrey Oxendine, 43rd CES, Staff Sgt. John Fender, 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Tech. Sgt. David Strum, 43rd CES, Michael Jellico, 43rd Services Squadron, Bruce Langston, contractor and Jeff Sloop, contractor were recognized as top performers. All of the findings will be entered into a Web-based database that can be accessed by the base and by AMC, said Wendell Williams, Pope environmental flight chief. Each will have a deadline established for corrective actions to be completed, although some deadlines will be longer than others. "That is based on guidance we get from AMC," Mr. Williams said. "Depending on its category, each finding will have X number of days to be closed out." For instance, Mr. Williams said, a large project that needs some sort of construction project to complete might have a deadline of 18 months. Others that need only administrative changes to correct them might be measured in days. Col. John McDonald said he appreciated the thoroughness of the assessment and the hard work all the team members put in during the course of the week, and of the work everybody does during the year to make sure the environmental and occupational health programs are run correctly. "The reduction in findings from last year is a great pat on the back for everybody who has worked to make this happen," Colonel McDonald said. "We need to keep going down that road." He also emphasized the importance of assessments such as these. "We don't accomplish an internal assessment simply to ensure compliance, we do it because it's the right thing to do."