Vol. 33, Issue 3 Fleet Readiness Center East, MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina May/June 2012Department of Defense Vertical Lift Center of Excellence

readinessreader

H-1 REMAN Programpage 3

Commanding OfficerCol. Mitchell A. Bauman , USMCExecutive Officer Col. Blayne H. Spratlin, USMCEditor Dave Marriott

Readiness Reader is printed on recycled paper.

“Unsurpassed Service to the Fleet and Relentless Focus on Quality, Environment,

and Occupational Health and Safety”

Readiness Reader is a publication of the Fleet Readiness Center East, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, N.C. The editorial content of this newsletter is prepared, edited and provided by the FRC East Corporate Communication Department. This newsletter is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Readiness Reader are not necessarily the official views, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions to conform to editorial policy and Associated Press style guide. The editorial office is located in building 137. For more information, call 464-7028. Submissions are due the 10th of each month prior to publication.

FRONT COVER: H-1 REMAN team members load the last refurbished AH-1W Super Cobra onto a truck bound for Bell Helicopter, Amarillo, Texas. In about 22 months, the remanufactured airframe will be a four-bladed AH-1Z Viper. The story is on page 3. (Photo by Dave Marriott)

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From the

Commanding Officer

Col. Mitchell A. Bauman

I f you are watching the media these days, the Department of Defense has revealed a 2013 budget cut of

$487 billion over the next 10 years, which intends to cut troop strength by 100,000.

The Marine Corps is slated to reduce manning by some 20,000 personnel in the next few years. The Commandant of the Marine Corps has assured the force that it will not be a hollow force. The Corps will be fully manned, trained, and equipped with aircraft, fuel, and ammunition.

These drawdowns are in response to the Operation Iraqi Freedom and Opera-tion Enduring Freedom drawdowns. It is also in response to the restructuring of the DoD forces to be a smaller, agile force able to meet the strategic focus of the National Military Strategy.

As we adapt to a changing DoD land-scape, it becomes an urgent imperative for us to be the world-class preferred provider as the Vertical Lift Center of Excellence. The ability to provide high quality, on time, at or below cost products is critical to Ma-rine aviation during the next few years. The new aircraft programs have not fully fielded aircraft and the dependency on our ability to repair legacy remains a priority.

We have made gains in the overall per-formance of our personnel and their ability to get results. Over the past year, our back-log of components has come down and is decreasing. Our aircraft delivery schedule delays are slowly trending to meeting cus-tomer promised delivery dates.

Drawdowns, peace dividends, and the threat of the sequestration impact to DoD

services are looming on the near-term horizon. While these impacts are being played out, our vision to defend the tax-payer and the warfighter remain extremely important.

As we manage through these times of belt tightening and cutbacks, the 3Rs (reor-ganize, reschedule, rate reduction) imple-mentation are making us look hard at the people, the parts, and the processes that caused our facility to be noncompetitive. We are 18 months into this effort and we are progressing. Don’t let up!

Another effort that must be practiced at all times is the seeking out of all the waste in your areas of our operation. I cannot stress enough, that your personal commit-ment and relentless pursuit of our goals of Safety, Quality, Schedule, and Cost for ev-ery product line will posture us to be more competitive in this fiscally constrained environment.

Our fight is right here! We work to win!

May/June 2012

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Commanding Officer

The H-1 REMAN team inducted and refurbished 37 Super Cobra and eight Huey airframes as part of the Marine Corps H-1 Upgrade Program. (Photo by Dave Marriott)

Last REMAN H-1 shippedF leet Readiness Center

East loaded the last Re-manufacture AH-1 kit

for transport to Bell Helicopter in Amarillo, Texas, May 1.

The event marked the end of the Marine Corps' efforts to re-furbish AH-1W Super Cobra and UH-1N Huey airframes and com-ponents for use in the H-1 Upgrade Program, which produces the advanced, more powerful, four-bladed AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom models. Since the reman-ufacturing began in April 2004, FRC East H-1 artisans have in-ducted and remanufactured 37 Su-per Cobras and eight Hueys. The depot stopped refurbishing UH-1N frames in 2007 when PMA-276 determined it was more feasible to build the new Hueys from the ground up. Future Vipers will now also be constructed as new airframes.

According to Depot REMAN Program Manager Wayne Bach, the "REMAN" team repaired, refurbished, or replaced 639 parts on each aircraft at a cost of about $1.1 mil-lion per aircraft. Parts reworked included the ammunition deck, compartment, and bay doors; all the sheet metal on the belly and side skins; all fiberglass panels; the in-side of the cockpit; and the aircraft frame. The artisans also replaced all the cockpit glass before building the parts into three kits. In 2004 the reman process took five to six months, the last few aircraft were completed in less than 90 days.

Bach said the program evolved over its lifetime. "Initially we built five kits per aircraft, but as we went along we consoli-dated the five into three," he said. "Early on we spooled up to manufacture many of the lower belly sheet metal parts, later those parts were contracted out to Bell He-licopter once they re-established the ability to manufacture them."

H-1 Work Leader Brian Hartley said the program wasn't without challenges. "We were disassembling parts that hadn't been

apart since the aircraft was brand new," he said. "We were repairing or replacing parts deep inside the frames which had been in one piece for decades. We also had to re-pair cracks and breaks in the structure that holds the entire aircraft together. But by the time we kitted the aircraft, the kits were all capable of becoming part of a new air-craft, without any stress on the airframe or components."

Another challenge for the artisans was the reality of dealing with different aircraft configurations. This meant each aircraft required a different set of repairs and modi-fications to make it conform to the configu-ration required to be delivered to the Bell Helicopter assembly line.

"There were a lot of changes, some of which had to be completed on the fly," Hart-ley said. "Luckily, we had Paul Scott (Bell Helicopter's Liaison Engineer) on site, who could approve last minute changes." Hart-ley said many of the processes and lessons learned in manufacturing parts for the up-grade program have been adopted and are applied in repairing the H-1s the Marines still fly. He said probably the biggest ad-

vantage to working the program was every artisan on the team was "leveled up."

"Bell's quality standards on this project were extremely high," Hartley explained. "Because our product was going to an as-sembly line, and was going to be looked at with a microscope, it had to be flawless – for example, every rivet had to be the same size and perfectly aligned. It was hard to grasp initially, but now the guys can do the work without any problems."

Bach said all the current "Zulus" are FRC East remans.

"We (PMA-276, FRC East, and Bell) teamed well on this project. It would have been hard, if not impossible, to get new aircraft out the door without such coopera-tion," Bach said. "But the people who re-ally deserve the credit for this effort are the artisans and the supporting team. I am talk-ing about our H-1 examination and evalu-ators, production controllers, equipment specialists, quality inspectors, planners, and engineers. They all really care about the product – with that kind of attitude and cooperation, you can do anything."

Registration for the 2nd Annual FRC East TAM Cornhole Tour-nament will be held on Shackleford Banks Island, Sunday, June 10, at 11 a.m. Tournament starts at noon.

Cost per team is $30. Trophies and prizes will be awarded to the first and second place finishers.

Hamburgers, hotdogs and condiments will be provided. Each team needs to bring a side dish and a cooler with their favorite beverages.

For more information or to get a ride, contact GySgt. Joe Pola-kowski at 464-8969.

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Fleet Readiness Center East's celebration of NAVAIR Team-mate Appreciation Month throughout June will feature

many new events, as well as several old favorites.New events include a basketball tournament, a road bike ride,

and a Morehead City Marlins baseball game. Oldies but goodies on the schedule include shirt days: Favorite Sports Team (June 1), Armed Forces Day (June 8), Red, White and Blue (June 15), Crazy Hat Day (June 22), and Hawaiian Shirt, Open House and Family Day (June 29.) Bowling, softball, golf, corn hole, and a motor-cycle fun ride round out the calendar.

Plan on spending an enjoyable night out with family and friends watching the Morehead City Marlins battle the Florence Generals at Big Rock Stadium in Morehead City, Saturday, June 23. First ball pitched at 7:05 p.m., gates open at 6:05 p.m.

Admission for FRC East employees is $4, or $7 with hotdog, chips, and drink. Children under four are free. The park has a full-service concession stand, no outside food or beverage is allowed.

Tickets can be purchased until June 20 from Kimberly Walk-er in the Corporate Communication Department in building 137 (next to Graphic Arts) and from Jan Schuerger on the second floor of building 4225.

On game day, employees must provide proof of purchase to pick up their tickets.

For more information, contact Jan Schuerger at 464-8325 or Kimberly Walker at 464-7231.

Baseball

This year's TAM Basketball Tournament will be played Satur-day, June 9, beginning at 8 a.m. The tournament is double elimi-nation, five-on-five, full-court, with four six minute quarters and a 10-minute halftime. For more information contact Joe Moody at 464-7292 or Stephanie Williams at 464-8373/5198.

Basketball

Bike Ride

FRC East's first TAM Bike Ride will push off from Fort Macon State Park Pavilion, Saturday, June 23 at 8 a.m. Helmets are re-quired, and all participants must sign a waiver prior to riding. No advance registration is necessary.

For more information, call Kevin Curtis at 464-7974/9714.

BowlingKeglers will want to be at Cherry Point's "Stars-N-Strikes"

Bowling Center Thursday, June 7 at 4:30 p.m. for the start of this year's TAM Bowling Tournament. Check in begins at 4 p.m. For-mat is four-person teams, no handicap, nine pins counts as strike. Prizes go to the top five teams and to individuals for high/low games and series.

Entry fee is $15 per person which includes use of shoes and bowling ball. Entry deadline is close of business June 4, or until the first 20 teams enter. Pre-pay to save time at check-in. Make checks payable to Pauline Shipman, cash only on tournament day.

For more information, contact Shipman at 464-7502 or JC Cun-ningham at 464-7501.

Cornhole

2012 TAM calender full

The 2012 Teammate Appreciation Day Softball Tournament will be held at the Cherry Point Softball Fields, Saturday, June 2, beginning at 8 a.m. For more information, contact Deidre Moore at 464-9456.

FRC East will host its annual Family Day and Open House, Friday, June 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is open to the command's military members, civilian employees, contractors, and family members. Events and activities include live music, door prizes, putt-putt golf, a Frisbee toss, a car show, aircraft static displays, face painting, children's games, free ice cream for em-ployees, a dunking booth, and shop potluck lunches. The Marines will also have a barbecue area set up on the tarmac.

Time allowed will be granted for group functions. Attendance isn't mandatory. Employees choosing not to participate must take leave or be in an active work status performing tasks assigned by their supervisors. Contract employees may participate in the event, but must abide by the terms of their contracts regarding leave use.

Employees must provide the names of family members plan-ning to attend to their work sections by noon, June 22. Parking will be provided inside the FRC East fence line.

Watch for additional Family Day instructions and details in the Plan of the Week on CPWeb, or ask your supervisor for more in-formation. Questions can be addressed to Arnetta White at 464-8274 or arnetta.white @navy.mil.

In the spirit of Teammate Appreciation Month, FRC East will host a canned food drive throughout the month of June. Marked collection boxes will be located in buildings 133, 137, 143, 200, 4224, and 4470. On Family Day, boxes will also be located next to the stage area, dunking booth, and in the visitor parking lot. Dona-tions are voluntary and will be distributed to a randomly selected local food bank.

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May/June 2012

An 18-hole captain's choice scramble golf tournament will be held June 15 at MCAS Cherry Point's Sounds of Freedom Golf Course. Check-in begins at 10:30 a.m., shotgun start goes at noon. The deadline for entry is June 8, or until the tournament maximum of 30 teams register.

Team prizes will be presented for first through fourth team gross and first through fourth team net scores. Individual prizes will be awarded for closest to the pin, straightest drive, longest holed putt, and longest drive men and longest drive women.

Green fees are $35 for DoD civilians, $32 for retired military members and $25 for course members. All players must submit a valid 18-hole handicap for team handicap computation.

For more information, contact Sue Brown at 464-9582 or sue.brown@navy.mil.

Family Day

GolfBikers grab your helmets and be at New Bern Harley Davidson

by 10 a.m., Saturday, June 16. Kick stands up at 10:30 a.m. for an exciting day touring the back roads of Eastern Carolina and a buf-fet lunch at King's Barbeque in Kinston. Sign up sheets are posted throughout the depot. Rain date is Sunday, June 24.

For more information call Barry Valicek at 464-9147, Jeff Lee at 464-7951, or Melissa Drummond at 464-7200.

Motorcycle Fun Run

Softball

Family Day Events

Canned Food Drive Vickie Jolley 464-7600Car Show Savannah McBride 464-7886Children’s Games Terry Butch 464-8713Door Prizes Gail Greene 464-7016Dunking Booth Sue Brown 464-9582Face Painting Julye Alvarez 464-7612Frisbee Toss/ Putt-Putt Golf Randy Turner 464-8110Ice Cream Truck Jennifer Shaffer 464-7589Marine BBQ Master Sgt. Rodney Bogan 464-7081Stage Events Liz Wagley 464-5289

The Fleet Readiness Center East pro-vides a transportation benefit to its em-

ployees via the Transporta-tion Incentive Program. This program is governed by the Department of the Navy’s Outside the National Capital Region Transportation In-centive Program Guidelines. The TIP ONCR is a Depart-ment of Defense program whereby DoD provides tran-

sit passes and/or vouchers, or administers a cash reimbursement procedure for its members/employees to help reduce their daily contribution to traffic congestion and air pollution as well as expand their com-muting alternatives.

The primary means of transportation for employees using the TIP benefits at FRC East is van pools. All DON military mem-bers and federal DON civilian employees, including non-appropriated fund employ-ees, are eligible for this benefit. Part-time federal employees and interns also qualify for this benefit. Contractors, retirees, and/or military dependents are not eligible for this benefit.

The March 2012 issue of the Transporta-tion Incentive Program Newsletter includes an article about North Carolina employees who were removed from federal service for misusing the TIP benefits. For information on TIP policies, changes, and other news go to http://www.fmo.navy.mil/Divisions/FMO3/transportation_incentive_program.html.

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SHOP TALK

7.3CODE

tives to encourage local FMA member in-volvement such as after hours socializing and networking events, and providing op-portunities for chapter members to serve in FMA positions at the local, state, and na-tional levels.

JOHNSON from page 9This year’s Earth Day poster contact winners display their winning en-tries. Left to right are Raelyn Lewis (second place), Jonothon Clark (first place), and Samantha Hoff (third place). The Environmental Divi-sion sponsors a “What Earth Day Means to Me” poster contest at one of the local schools in recognition of Earth Day each year. This year’s participants were from Pamlico County High School and the art classes of Karen Spruill and Holly Bradley. Winning entries were chosen based on artistic merit, originality, and theme statement. FRC East Executive Of-ficer Col. Blayne H. Spratlin presented a plaque to Clark, and certificates to Hoff and Lewis. (Photo by David Hooks)

6.5CODE

FRC East Commanding Officer Col. Mitchell A. Bauman and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1859 President John C. Pierce, sign the recently negotiated local collective bargaining agreement. The three-year contract represents more than 200 workers, and spells out working conditions, rules, and poli-cies. Pierce explained there wasn’t a single most important change, each and every article negotiated shares an equal part in benefitting the members of IAM&AW LL 1859. (Photo by David Hooks)

Collective bargaining agreement signed

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May/June 2012

By Sue Siever

This year’s New Leader Program and Executive Leadership Program participants were recognized by the FRC East Execu-tive Leadership Committee, April 9.

This year’s NLP selectees are Henry “Johnny” Alvarez (Code 6.2), George “Blake” Harrell (Code 6.2), Bryan A. Tim-brook (Code 6.4), and David W. Thorpe, Jr. (Code 6.2), The ELP selectees are Delia C. Bonner (Code 7.8), Daniel B. Brosnan (AIR-4.8), James “Jay” Carter (AIR-4.4), Bret Lee Castecka (AIR-6.7), Savannah L. McBride (Code 10.1), Charles G. Noble (Code 4.5 ), and William A. Vann (AIR-4.3).

The new selectees were congratulated by the ELC for their selection into a leadership program, and encouraged to gain the most benefit for themselves and the command by taking advantage of every opportunity af-forded them. Each selectee discussed what they hope to achieve through their partici-pation in these programs.

NLP and ELP provide participants with the opportunity to enhance knowledge and skill sets, and gain some of the experience necessary to be among FRC East’s future leaders.

NLP is a six-month U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School develop-mental program designed to develop future public service leaders by providing assess-ment, experiential learning, and individual development opportunities. The program is designed for full-time permanent federal employees at the GS-07 through GS-11 and Wage Grade equivalent levels who have high potential for leadership.

ELP is a USDA Graduate School nine-month nationwide program for indi-viduals at the GS-11 through GS-13 and Wage Grade equivalent grade levels. It provides residential training, developmen-tal work experiences, needs assessment and career planning tailored to the federal environment.

(Siever is a training and development specialist in Code 7.3.3.)

2012 New Leader Program participants include (left to right) Henry “Johnny” Alvarez (Code 6.1), David W. Thorpe Jr. (Code 6.2.), George “Blake” Harrell (Code 6.2), and Bryan A. Timbrook (Code 4.2.) (Photo by David Hoooks)

2012 Executive Leadership Program participants include (left to right) Daniel B. Brosnan (AIR-4.8), James “Jay” Carter III (AIR-4.4), Savannah L. McBride (Code 10.1), Delia C. Bonner (Code 7.8), Charles G. Noble (AIR-4.5), and William A. Vann (AIR-4.3.) (Photo by David Hooks)

Program participants selected

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FRC EAST HOTLINE

To report allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, or ethical viola-tions within Fleet Readiness Center East, use your chain of com-mand first. If not satisfied call the FRC East Hotline at 464-7208. If still not satisfied, you can call the NAVAIR Ho-tline at DSN 757-1168 COMM (301) 757-1168, the Department of Navy Hotline at (800) 522-3451, or the Department of De-fense Hotline at (800) 424-9098.

▪ NoneFor Your Information ...

Disciplinary Action

The following actions were effected/issued from March 1 to March 30, 2012.

Adverse Actions

▪ 14-Day Suspension: Poor Judgment and Failure to Follow Instructions (AIR-4.4.2) ▪ Five-Day Suspension: Careless Workmanship (Code 6.2.1)▪ Two-Day Suspension: Failure to Follow Tool Control Policy (Code 6.2.1)▪ Letter of Reprimand: Careless Workmanship (Code 6.2.1)▪ Letter of Reprimand: Use of Insulting or Obscene Language Toward Other Personnel (Code 6.2.1)▪ Letter of Reprimand: Careless Workmanship (Code 6.2.1)

SINS Issued: 3

▪ Termination of Employment during Probationary Period: Sleeping on Duty; AWOL (Code 6.2.1)▪ Reduction in Step (Loss of Pay): Lack of Candor (Code 6.2.1)

Accountability Board Actions

▪ None

By Kathleen Flanagan

NDMS is the NAVAIR Depot Mainte-nance System. It provides integrated busi-ness information solutions (software pro-grams) for depot maintenance, repair and overhaul aimed at optimizing the through-put of aircraft, engines and components to the warfighter.

The objective of NDMS is to standard-

ize the business processes and data archi-tecture across the industrial Fleet Readi-ness Centers and support and integrate the Navy/Defense Logistics Agency supply and FRC business processes. Currently there are three sites using many of the same systems. Each site has a unique set of busi-ness processes, applications, installation settings, data formats, databases and its own infrastructure to support its version of the NDMS applications.

The OneNDMS vision is to take NDMS to the next level. It encompasses one busi-ness process, one information technology configuration, one data architecture and one datacenter hosting the single IT con-figuration. The near-term goal is to move all three sites’ application hosting to one datacenter at the Defense Information Sys-tems Agency in Mechanicsburg, Penn. The long-term goal is to move all three sites into one database at DISA.

There are many reasons for these changes: quicker modifications and en-hancements; common processes and data; common reporting; enhanced security, including disaster back-up and recovery; compliance with Navy IT strategy and poli-cies, including the reduction of the number of software applications; and a reduction of cost, especially the use of Capital Improve-ment Program authority for IT.

FRC East is supported in its OneND-

MS deployment by a functional guidance team made up of employees from Indus-trial Logistics Department (Code 6.3) and the Information Technology/Information Management Department (Code 7.2). The FGT has analyzed the business processes for commonality, mapped data for migra-tion, worked with depot customers on re-port requirements, and tested applications at DISA. FRC SE and FRC SW have suc-cessfully moved their current production data to DISA. FRC East is scheduled to go live at DISA in late August or early Sep-tember of this year.

Watch for additional news about the road

to DISA. For more information on OneND-MS and the deployment plan, contact An-gela Reed (Code 6.3.3) at 464-7615.

(Flanagan is an information technol-ogy specialist in Code 7.2.)

OneNDMS is on road to DISA

Trying to get the latest word a real headache?

Check out thePLAN OF THE WEEK at

https://cpws4.navair.navy.mil/Public/potw.pdf

If you don’t have computer access,ask your supervisor to print it and post

it on the shop bulletin board.

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May/June 2012

KUDOS

Code 6.3 Division Director John Whitehurst presents Employee of the Month Awards to (top to bottom) Jack Bradford, Luis Flores, Eric Lewis, and Julien Miles. (Photos by Da-vid Hooks)

Application Area BRAVO Teammate Teddy Guthrie is recognized for doing the right thing for safety by BRAVO Champion Melissa Drummond. Guthrie challenged a manager who was entering a work area without the proper personal protective equipment. (Photo by David Hooks)

Safety is no accident

National Federal Managers Asso-ciation President Pat Niehaus presented Renee M. Johnson the 2012 Gilbert N. Guidry Memorial Award at the Federal Managers Association National Conven-tion in Arlington, Va., March 13.

Johnson is the president of the FMA Chapter 21 and an industrial specialist in Code 6.1.1.2.

The Guidry Award is an annual award presented to an outstanding chapter pres-ident who increases the efficiency of the managerial force; promotes the welfare of FMA members; establishes working relationships with local, regional and federal governments; supports legisla-tion benefitting FMA members and the nation; and who promotes justice, integ-rity, and equality for all.

Recipients of the award are nominated and chosen by peers.

Since taking office as Chapter 21 pres-

ident, Johnson has demonstrated all the attributes the FMA leadership looks for. She contacted local media and told the FMA story, and distributed Chapter 21 T-shirts to raise awareness of the asso-ciation. She is involved in local govern-ment community organizations serving as an ex-officio member and treasurer of the Havelock Chamber of Commerce, an executive board member of the Havelock Military Affairs Committee, and as a ad-visory board member of the local Boys and Girls Clubs. She has also met with North Carolina congressional members and their staffs to address issues that impact the FMA membership, the local community, and the nation as a whole.

Johnson is an ex-officio member of the local Labor Management Partnership Team, and has developed several initia-

Johnson receives national FMA award

See JOHNSON page 6

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The 2012 hurricane season will be less active than usual, if one of the nation’s top tropical cyclone

research team’s predictions hold true.Dr. Phil Klotzbach and Dr. William Gray

of the Tropical Meteorology Project at Col-orado State University, are calling for 10 named storms to form in the Atlantic Region between June 1 and Nov. 30. Two of the four storms forecasted to reach hurricane strength are expected to be in-tense storms packing sus-tained winds of 111 mph or more.

In an April news release, the two Colo-rado State f o r e c a s t e r s also said there is a 42 percent chance of at least one of these major storms hitting the U.S. coastline this year, as compared to the long-term average of 52 percent.

The team said the East Coast, includ-ing the Florida Peninsula, has a 24 percent (long-term average 31 percent) chance of seeing a major hurricane make landfall; the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville, Texas also has a 24 percent (long-term average 30 percent) chance. Lo-cal percentages vary by county and may be viewed at www.e-transit.org/hurricane.

North Carolina has a long and storied history of hurricane devastation. At least one account attributes a 1586 storm with forcing the abandonment of the Roanoke Hundred Colony, and another suggests a tropical cyclone may have been partially responsible for the fate of the Lost Colony.

Whether these accounts are true or not, the facts are of the 951 tropical cyclones

recorded in the Atlantic from 1896 to 1996, 166 have passed within 300 miles of North Carolina, 82 have made landfall elsewhere before passing through the state, and 28 have made direct hits on its coast. On av-erage the state takes a direct strike every four years and a storm passes through ev-ery 1.3.

The most active years for North Caro-lina were 1955 with hurricanes Connie,

Diane and Ione making landfall, and 1996 which saw hurri-canes Ber-tha, Fran, and Tropical Storm Ar-thur make direct hits on the coast. Fran was the most costly storm on record for

the state, with an estimated $1.27 billion in damages.

Whether it's a direct hit, a pass through, a Category 5 or a Category 1, everyone living on the Crystal Coast needs to be prepared as tropical cyclones have caused almost 1,000 North Carolina fatalities. A good plan will address the five most com-mon hazards which could affect you and your family.

Determine your home's vulnerability to flooding, rain and wind. Stock a disaster supply kit with enough batteries, matches, food, water and medications for seven days. Secure your home by reinforcing ar-eas where wind and rain can enter. Have a planned evacuation destination and a des-ignated meeting point in case family mem-bers become separated.

Lastly, pet owner plans must provide for the health and welfare of their animals for the duration of the storm.

Forecasters call for 10 named storms in 2012

Develop a family disaster plan:* Review evacuation routes and the lo-

cation of shelters* Prepare a disaster supply kit (at a min-

imum, two waterproof flashlights, weather and AM/FM battery-operated radios, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, extra batteries, emergency food, water, rubber container for important family documents)

* Develop an emergency communication plan in case family members are separated

* Review plans to care for pets * Prepare your home (trim branch-

es, cover windows and glass doors, rein-force garage doors, check mobile home tie-downs)

* Regularly monitor NOAA Weather Radio

* Evacuate if ordered to do so

Watch versus warning :* A hurricane watch indicates the local

area could experience hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. A watch should trigger your family disaster plan and protec-tive measures (fuel cars; bring in or anchor outdoor objects; store drinking water; col-lect essential medicines; get extra cash).

* A hurricane warning indicates your area will receive sustained winds of 74 mph within the next 24 hours. By the time a warning is issued, your family should be completing all protective measures and deciding the safest location to weather the storm. (For more information on hurricane preparedness and additional measures which need to be accomplished if you decide to re-main at or evacuate your home, go to www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/prepare).

When to report to work:Fleet Readiness Center East employees have several channels for determining details on work closures and delays during hazardous weather:

* Confirm work plans with supervisor.* FRC East severe weather hotline at

252-464-8333 (updated only during hazard-ous weather).

* FRC East Web site www.navair.navy.mil/frce/EmployeeWorkSchedule.cfm (updated only during hazardous weather).

* Local radio and television stations (lis-ten for FRC East specifically, as informa-tion pertaining to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and its Marine units may not apply).

Hurricane Safety Tips