FederalDaily - January 3, 2007
Federal Government to Close Tuesday in Honor of President Ford
President Bush issued an executive order Dec. 28 directing all agencies and departments of the U.S.
Government to close Tuesday, Jan. 2, in respect for the death of the 38th President of the United States,
Gerald R. Ford. Ford died of pneumonia Tuesday (Dec. 27) at the age of 93, making him the longest-lived
former president in history. The president’s order applies to most federal offices, but makes
exceptions for certain parts of the Departments of Defense, State and other federal workplaces that
must remain open for reasons of national security, defense or other critical function. To read the
order, go to http://www.opm.gov/news/president-george-w-bush-to-close-federal-offices-in-tribute-to-former-president-gerald-r-ford,1130.aspx.
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Union Criticizes FAA Ban on Cell Phones, Radios in Control
Towers
Last week, on Christmas Day, a tornado touched down dangerously close to the Daytona Beach International
Airport, destroying some educational facilities and about 40 aircraft at the adjacent Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University. No one was killed or injured, but the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
(NATCA) complained in the aftermath that work rules recently issued by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) made the twister’s arrival a dangerous surprise to air traffic controllers. Last September,
the FAA imposed a ban on cell phones and commercial radios in tower facilities. Lacking a radio tuned
to the National Weather Service, controllers were caught off guard when the tornado arrived. They endangered
themselves by remaining in the tower, union officials said, and potentially imperiled passengers aboard
a Comair jet they had directed to land—only luck prevented disaster, with the tornado’s
dissipation about two minutes prior to the aircraft’s touchdown. “Before this ban went
into effect, we used to hear frequent tests of the Emergency Broadcast System on the radio in the tower
that we kept on,” said Kelly Raulerson, NATCA’s Daytona Beach facility representative.
Raulerson said the FAA policy showed “blatant disregard” for employees and the public.
For more, see: http://www.natca.org.
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Oldest Defense Employee to Retire
Louis Dellamonica is by no means a household name, but his retirement is occasioning a rare moment
under the limelight. Dellamonica has worked for the Department of Defense longer than anyone else—65
years straight. He separates on Jan. 2, leaving government employment after a last day at the facility
that has been his workplace for more than half a century, the Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne, Nev.
From his career’s start to its finish, the durable fed put his training in electrical engineering
at the University of Nevada to use in developing safer, and more environmentally sound, ways to decommission
ordnance at the facility. He also led the installation and upgrade of electricity at the base and in
town. “Pride means do-it-yourself to the best of your ability, disregarding whether you are a
big wheel, little log, keystone or cobblestone,” Dellamonica said of his personal motto and approach
to things. President Bush, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high officials have sent
the unassuming retiree personal congratulations. For a more complete biography, go to: www.aschq.army.mil/hi/documents/Dellamonica.pdf
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