The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Travis Budlong. Budlong was born in Gainesville, Texas on 9 September 1922. After high school he entered Gainesville Junior College and earned an associate’s degree in one and a half years. Since his dad would not let him join the Royal Canadian Air Force Budlong took advantage of the CPT (civilian pilot training) program during his time at college and entered the Army Air Corps on 9 May 1942. After 1000 hours of instructing and 120 hours flying a B-24, Budlong was assigned to the 330th Bomb Group training in Cuba in B-29s. Budlong eventually made his way to Guam, via Hawaii and Kwajalein. Budlong flew 23 missions out of North Field with more than one harrowing landing on Iwo Jima with less than four engines. Budlong’s was among the last B-29s to drop bombs on Japan.

Transcript of an oral interview with Vincent Moreno. Moreno was drafted and, after training as a longshoreman, was stationed in Calcutta, India with the 289th Port Battalion. He sailed there aboard the USS Hermitage (AP-54) arriving in December, 1944. He volunteered for a combat assignment and was sent to Burma and trained as a scout. He was assigned to the 124th Cavalry Regiment in the 5332nd Brigade. Moreno describes fighting the Japanese in the jungles attempting to open the Burma Road. Also, Moreno mentions serving as an MP guarding warehouses in Kunming, China before shipping home.

Transcript of an oral interview with Joseph McGuire. In November, 1940, McGuire joined the Army Air Corps and trained at Randolph Field and at Barksdale for twin-engine training. Upon completion of training, McGuire was assigned to the US Army Air Corps Ferrying Commnad. His job was to get airplanes from factories to air bases. While doing this, he met his future wife, an airline stewardess. In 1943, he received an overseas assignment and reported to Jorhat Air Base in Assam, India. There, he continued ferrying airplanes, this time to air fields in China. He also flew cargo over the Himalaya Mountains to bases in China. McGuire went home in August, 1944 and became a test pilot for jet fighters. He was finally discharged in 1946.

Transcript of an oral interview with Loyd Jensen. After moving to Los Angeles from Kansas, Jensen was drafted into the Army in October, 1940. While serving in California, Jenses went to glider pilot school, but the program got cut. He ended up in flight school in Marfa, Texas, earned his wings and was commissioned an officer in January, 1944. He elected to fly B-25s and began training in them. With training complete, Jensen and his crew shipped to India. He flew 67 combat missions supporting the British 14th Army in Burma. Jensen also describes his living conditions and the various Indian servants he and his fellow servicemen employed. He also describes a typical mission briefing; the time he went on R&R; the food avaialble at his base; what the crews did for entertainment. When the war ended, Jensen rotated home and trined pilots before heading for occupation duty in Japan. He was there when the Korean War started. He also mentions being part of hte Military Advisory Group in Vietnam. His job was to advise the small South Vietnamese Air Forces and he flew guys to Hong Kong for R&R on occasion.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Bell. Bell finished college at Texas Tech before joining the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was commissioned and sent to India where he joined the 341st Bomb Group as an engineer officer. He shares several anecdotes about his experiences.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wayne Landes. Landes was drafted into the Army in June, 1944. He was hurried overseas during the Battle of the Bulge and joined the 333rd Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division in Belgium. Then, they proceeded to attack into Germany. Landes returned home after the war with several German souvenirs.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cleatis Roach. Roach joined the Army Air Forces in April, 1943 and had basic training at Sheppard Field, near Wichita Falls, Texas. After basic, he went to Texas Tech in Lubbock for preflight training. When he learned it would take a lot of time to learn to fly and then be assigned to a combat unit, Roach quit flight school and went to aerial gunnery school. After training, he was assigned to a B-17 crew and went overseas in December 1944. Once he reached England, his crew was assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, 729th Bomb Squadron at Deopham Green, near Attleborough. He flew 17 or 18 combat missions over Germany before the war ended. He returned from Europe to train in B-29s when the Japanese surrendered. Roach was discharged in November, 1945.

News release about DART's reduced service schedule during the winter holidays.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. An issue meriting concern and close scrutiny that emerged during our fiscal year 2004 CFS audit was the growing number of Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies that restated certain of their financial statements for fiscal year 2003 to correct errors. Errors in financial statements can result from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of accounting principles, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial statements were prepared. Frequent restatements to correct errors can undermine public trust and confidence in both the entity and all responsible parties. Further, when restatements do occur, it is important that financial statements clearly communicate, and readers of the restated financial statements understand, that the financial statements originally issued by management in the previous year and the opinion thereon should no longer be …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is currently undergoing a transition from analog to digital broadcast television. This transition offers the promise of more television programming options, interactive television, and high-definition television. An additional goal of the digital television (DTV) transition is for the federal government to reclaim radiofrequencies--or spectrum--that broadcasters currently use to transmit analog television signals. Because of the virtual explosion of wireless applications in recent years, there is considerable concern that future spectrum needs--both for commercial as well as government purposes--will not be met. The spectrum that will be cleared at the end of the DTV transition is considered to be highly valuable spectrum because of its particular technical properties. In all, the DTV transition will clear 108 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum, which is a fairly significant amount. In the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, the Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reallocate 24 MHz of the reclaimed spectrum to public safety uses. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been a greater sense of urgency to free spectrum for public safety purposes. The remaining returned spectrum will be auctioned for use in advanced …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (NDAA 2001) directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and implement a plan to make a chiropractic benefit available to all active duty personnel in the U.S. armed forces. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily, the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. In August 2001, DOD submitted to Congress an implementation plan that described how it planned to develop a chiropractic benefit within the military health system. The plan addressed patient eligibility, access to care, the location of chiropractic clinics, projected costs, staffing, and the marketing and monitoring of the benefit. The NDAA 2001 directed DOD to develop the implementation plan in consultation with the Oversight Advisory Committee (OAC), which was established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (NDAA 1995). The OAC was directed by the NDAA 1995 to oversee a 3-year DOD chiropractic demonstration project at no fewer than 10 military treatment facilities (MTF). The NDAA 1995 directed that the OAC …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides a list of the various options available to reform the Social Security program. It includes a table that lists a wide range of provisions that various proposals have used in some form. In addition, there is a list of such proposals, all of which have been scored by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary (SSA/OCACT). Our list of provisions is intended to be generic and conceptual in nature. The list attempts to reflect, in general terms, all provisions that have appeared in SSA-scored proposals in the past few years. For each generic provision, a variety of approaches and parameters could be applied and have been proposed. For example, provisions to raise the retirement age take a variety of forms, including simply speeding up the currently scheduled increase from age 65 to 67, increasing the full retirement age to 68 or 70, indexing the retirement age to improvements in longevity, and even combinations of these. All of these variations have been consolidated into one general provision for increasing the retirement age. The table also briefly discusses each reform option in general terms according …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since fiscal year 1995, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) has received nearly $203 million in federal funds to complete capital projects and intends to request an additional $43 million in appropriations through fiscal year 2008. The Kennedy Center's Comprehensive Building Plan identifies these capital projects as necessary to renovate the Center and to meet or exceed relevant life safety and disabled access regulations. GAO was asked to examine (1) the progress the Center has made in completing key capital projects within estimated costs and the information it has communicated about this progress to key stakeholders; and (2) the status of the Center's plans to address fire life safety and disabled access requirements."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990 the Department of Defense's (DOD) supply chain management processes have been on GAO's list of high-risk areas needing urgent attention and fundamental transformation to ensure that they function in the most economical, efficient, and effective manner possible. Recently in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), DOD developed a plan to address some of the systemic weaknesses as a first step toward removing supply chain management from the list. DOD's plan focuses on three areas for improvement: accuracy of supply requirements forecasts, distribution of material, and asset visibility. GAO was asked to provide its views on (1) the importance of supply chain management in DOD, (2) why GAO listed it as a high-risk area, (3) GAO's assessment of DOD's plan to improve supply chain processes, and (4) GAO's plans to follow up on DOD's efforts. This testimony contains GAO's views on what remains to be done to improve DOD's supply chain management and bring about lasting solutions. Continued efforts to complete and implement DOD's plan as well as continued oversight by Congress are essential."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 1988 Exon-Florio amendment to the Defense Production Act authorizes the President to suspend or prohibit foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies that may harm national security, an action the President has taken only once. Implementing Exon-Florio can pose a significant challenge because of the need to weigh security concerns against U.S. open investment policy--which requires equal treatment of foreign and domestic investors. Exon-Florio's investigative authority was delegated to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Committee)--an interagency committee established in 1975 to monitor and coordinate U.S. policy on foreign investments. In September 2002, GAO reported on weaknesses in the Committee's implementation of Exon-Florio. This review further examined the Committee's implementation of Exon-Florio."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's economy and its citizens' quality of life depend on our transportation system. While all government levels have made significant investments in transportation, projections of future passenger and freight travel indicate that considerable investment will be needed to maintain the system. However, this comes amid growing concern about the size of the federal budget deficit and increasing demands on state and local government revenue. As a result, careful decisions will need to be made to ensure that transportation investments maximize the benefits of each dollar invested. The House Appropriations Committee report accompanying the fiscal year 2004 Departments of Transportation and Treasury and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, required GAO to review the benefits and costs of various transportation modes. (See GAO-05-172.) As part of this study, GAO convened an expert panel that included some of the leading transportation economists and practitioners from throughout the nation. The panel discussed the benefits and costs of highway and transit investments."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The F/A-22 Raptor and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)--two of the Department of Defense's (DOD) major tactical aircraft fighter programs--are intended to replace aging tactical fighter aircraft with highly advanced, stealthy aircraft. The two programs combined have a potential future investment of more than $240 billion. This testimony highlights key concerns in the F/A-22 and JSF programs and discusses the implications on DOD's overall investment strategy for modernizing its tactical fixed-wing aircraft. Last month, GAO issued comprehensive reports on the numerous setbacks these programs have experienced since they were initiated and their effect on the F/A- 22 and JSF business cases."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2003, GAO designated federal real property a high-risk area and issued an update on this area in January 2005. GAO identified the government's reliance on costly leased space as one of the major reasons for the high-risk designation. Other reasons included excess and deteriorated property, unreliable real property data, and the challenges associated with protecting these assets from terrorism. This testimony discusses GAO's designation of federal real property as a high-risk area and focuses specifically on the government's reliance on costly leased space."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a commissioners court or another elected official may continue to pay compensation to a suspended employee (RQ-0286-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Lottery Commission may sell promotional items to the general public, Commission employees, or vendors with whom the Commission contracts (RQ-0287-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county commissioners court must determine whether a publication is a newspaper of general circulation (RQ-0356-GA)

Contains notes and research (117 ARW, Alabama) by Bradley McRee of the Joint Issues Team.

Contains notes and research (Fort Smith, AR) by Bradley McRee of the Joint Issues Team.

Contains notes and research (103 FW, Bradley ANBG, CT) by Bradley McRee of the Joint Issues Team.