Page 3 - Desert Lightning News 12-4-15

Desert Lightning News December 4, 2015 3

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Federal Voting Assistance Program helps

Airmen understand their right to vote

Airman 1st Class Jake Carter tools and resources to success- officer. “Your voting assistance offi- NEWS
fully do so from anywhere in the “As a country based on de- cers are a start in knowing what
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs world.” you need to do get registered to
mocracy, it is important to be vote and to gain the voting mate-
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, The goal of the program is to able to exercise this sacred right rials, such as the voting absentee
Nev. -- With election season assists voters through partner- we fight to defend,” said 2nd Lt. ballot,” said Francis. “Addition-
coming around the corner in ships with the Military Services, David Riffle, 99th Civil Engineer ally, the FVAP website is a huge
2016, Airmen here may not Department of State, Depart- Squadron project manager, and source of information that any-
know how to cast their vote. ment of Justice and election offi- Nellis AFB installation voting one can check at www.fvap.gov.
cials from 50 states, U.S. territo- assistance officer. “The Federal The site provides information re-
Airmen from around the ries and the District of Columbia. Voting Assistance Program ex- garding important state and fed-
world have a program to assist ists to ensure people know how eral elections, to providing the
them in their right to vote: the “For Nellis AFB, voting assis- to exercise that right to vote and necessary paperwork needed to
Federal Voting Assistance Pro- tance reaches to Creech AFB, have every available resource register to vote.”
gram. both local and geographically they may need in order to do so.”
separated units, and military re- For more information con-
“The voting assistance pro- cruiters in and around the Las For Airmen, voting assistance cerning voting assistance, please
gram is a mandated-by-law pro- Vegas area,” said Francis. “It is officers are a good start to gath- contact your unit voting assis-
gram under the Uniformed and important because both uni- er information on their right to tance officer.
Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot- formed service members and vote.
ing Act,” said Capt. James Fran- civilians need to know that their
cis, 99th Logistics Readiness vote can still count whether they
Squadron deployment and dis- are living in the United States or
tribution flight commander, and overseas.”
Nellis AFB installation voting
assistance officer. “It is designed Every U.S. Air Force base is
to ensure service members, their required to appoint in writing an
eligible family members and installation voting assistance of-
overseas citizens are aware of ficer and unit voting assistance
their right to vote and have the

AETC battles National ‘epidemic’

Air Edcucation and Training Command Safety Less than a year out of basic training, a 20-year-old Airman lost
control of his vehicle while texting and driving. It flipped three
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- What’s times and ejected a passenger. The Airman survived, but his pas-
worse than drinking and driving? According to statistics from the senger died. He is still haunted by her death.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, texting and driv-
ing. As a matter of fact, texting while driving is about six times In another instance, a 19-year-old AETC Airman drove while
more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated. trying to use the GPS on his cell phone, which sat on his lap. With
his eyes off the road, he drifted into the lane of on-coming traf-
That’s why Air Education and Training Com-
mand is running a Distracted Driving Campaign fic, striking an ambulance head-on. Both vehicles
Nov. 15 through Jan. 15. flipped, and the Airman and two of his passengers
died.
“Distracted driving -- and texting and driving in
particular -- has become an epidemic,” said Blane Distracted driving causes more than 350,000
Taylor, AETC occupational safety manager. “I think vehicle mishaps per year, and texting and driv-
people are shocked to hear texting and driving is more ing tops the list of distractions, NHTSA statistics
dangerous than drinking and driving. But most peo- show.
ple don’t drink every day. Many people do, however,
text every day. The sheer volume of texters makes this According to studies, five seconds is the average
one of the leading mishap factors for motorists.” time texting steals a person’s attention from the
road. If you are going 55 mph, that’s like traveling
Taylor said in addition to safety awareness, the the length of a football field blindfolded.
campaign will focus on letting people know the federal and state “Each one of us can do our part to reduce this epidemic by being
laws on distracted driving in the area in which they live. informed of the state and federal laws in effect,” Taylor said. “Make
a pledge to not use your phone or text while driving. Driving is dan-
The president himself has directed federal employees to not text gerous enough – even without distractions. Our goal is simple: We
message while driving government vehicles. And handheld cell want people to stay focused while driving so they can reach their
phone use while driving on Department of Defense installations is destinations safely.”
strictly forbidden. Despite those efforts, however, the Air Force has Taylor encourages everyone to check out the Department of Trans-
not been immune to the catastrophic effects of distracted driving. portation’s Web site www.distraction.gov for more information.