P rospector. The. Road repair aboard base. Marine officer restores history. Special Government Employee of the Year. Serving the Corps since 1943

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1 The P rospector Serving the Corps since 1943 Vol. 6, No. 14 Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow July 27, 2017 Road repair aboard base Marine officer restores history Special Government Employee of the Year

2 On the web Links in this publication are interactive in the online version Website: Marine-Corps-Logistics-Base-MCLB- Barstow/ Photo by: Laurie Pearson Sergeant Blake Pemberton, motor transport mechanic with Fleet Support Division, Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Valentin "Doc" Murillo, with Headquarters Company, both of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, assist Sandra Murray with a Blessings food distribution to families who greatly appreciate the reprieve, in Barstow, Calif., July 12. Murray, an Army spouse who lives aboard MCLB Barstow, receives donations for the non-profit, Blessings/Military Blessings, then uses the funds to provide food and other items to those in need. On The Cover: Front Cover: Laurie Pearson Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Silkowski, Fleet Support Division director, cleans the manifold on his 1950 Jeep Willys Station Wagon at his garage aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 25. He found this one abandoned and up to the wheel-wells in sand. He has salvaged and restored it inside and out. Back Cover: Laurie Pearson Contracted road crews work in the blazing heat to resurface the parking lot outside of building 204 aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 19. Temperatures reached 119 degrees and are expected to break records throughout the summer as the crew continues to repair roads and parking areas over the next two months. THE PROSPECTOR Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California Colonel Sekou S. Karega, commanding officer Sgt. Maj. Sergio Martinezruiz, base sergeant major Public Affairs Staff Public Affairs Officer: Rob L. Jackson Public Affairs Specialist: Keith Hayes Public Affairs Specialist: Laurie Pearson Editorial Assistant: Julie Felix Combat Camera Chief: vacant Multimedia Specialist: Cheri Magorno The editorial content of this magazine is prepared, edited and provided by the Public Affairs Office of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California. Mailing address: Commanding Officer, Attn: Public Affairs, Box , Barstow, CA The Public Affairs Office is located in Building 204. Phones: (760) , , , FAX , DSN prefix 282. This magazine is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of THE PROSPECTOR are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Marine Corps. 2

3 The Army's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Carlson Colorado, stand by to load Strykers onto rail-cars aboard the Yermo Annex of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 17. The Soldiers are returning home after their rotational Got news? Call us! (760) Contents Photo by: Laurie Pearson training at Fort Irwin's National Training Center. The vehicles then convoy to MCLB Barstow and are sent via train the rest of the way home in order save money in transportation fees. Adams: SGE of the year 5 Road repair aboard MCLBB 9 Summer reading awards 6-7 Lost & Found 10 Lt. Col. Silkowski restores history 8 Stories continued 11 3

4 Leave Share Program Individuals currently affected by medical emergencies and in need of leave donations: Madero, Marissa Trifos, Louis Costilla, Yvette Wabindato, Joshua Anyone desiring to donate annual leave under the Leave Share Program should contact the Human Resources Office at Screens and Strikes Family Movie Night Desert Lanes Bowling Center Fri. Aug p.m. We'll be watching the family friendly movie "Trolls". For more information contact Desert Lanes Bowling Center at or visit Yoga Classes Semper Fit Gym Tues. & Thurs. 11:30 a.m p.m. Yoga is a system of breathing practices, postures and meditation intended to integrate the body and mind to restore flexibility and promote calmness. Classes are $3 drop-in or you may purchase a monthly pass for $25. For more information call Self-Defense Class Semper Fit Gym Wed. Aug p.m. All ages and skill levels are welcome to attend this free class. Even if you don't want to participate you can watch and learn how to be your own personal safety advocate. 4 For more information call News Briefs Oasis Pool Summer Hours The Oasis Pool and Water Park is now open full-time Tue. - Friday Lap Swim/Unit Trng/ Learn-to- Swim 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and Rec Swim 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Learn-to- Swim Tue. - Friday 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Rec Swim. Closed Monday for maintenance and cleaning. For more information call or visit com/pool/. Auto Skills Center Bldg st & 3rd weekend of each month Fri. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Whether you're looking to repair, restore or customize your auto, the Auto Skills Center offers everything you could possibly need. On-site services include: vehicle on-board diagnostic testing/scanning available, waste antifreeze, oil and batteries accepted for recycling, bay rentals, tire mounting and balancing, and hand tools. Owners assume all risk associated with any work requested. Auto Skills Center personnel are not liable for damage to vehicles or vehicle parts. Children under 13 years of age are not permitted in the work area. Summer Nights Oasis Pool Thur. Aug 3 7-9:30 p.m. Come swim under the stars and float the night away while watching a movie. For more information call Play Morning Community Center Fri. July 28 9 a.m. Come join in the fun! All active duty service members and their dependents are invited to come enjoy singing, stories, crafts and playtime. Make new friends and learn something new each week. For more information contact New Parent Support at Infant Massage Class Desert Housing Community Center Wed. Aug a.m p.m. Massage Therapy tips and techniques for parents of infants and toddlers. Expectant parents are also welcome to attend. For more information contact New Parent Support Back to school Brigade School Age Care Facility Bldg. 64 Thur. July a.m. - 2 p.m. This annual event provides supplies and backpacks to school-aged children (PreK-12) of active duty and activated Reserve or National Guard families. School supplies for active duty service members and their spouses who will be attending school will also be provided. Energy Tip Set thermostats to 78 degrees when at home, health permitting. Central air conditioning is one of the biggest energy users so this will greatly assist conservation efforts, and save you money.

5 Ruby Adams, SGE of the Year nominee Story by: Laurie Pearson Public Affairs Specialist For the third consecutive year, Ruby Adams, safety technician aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. has earned Special Government Employee nominee of the Year for Region IX s Voluntary Protection Programs. I ll be attending the VPP National Symposium in New Orleans late August where all ten region nominees are called up to the stage and introduced, Adams said. Then they ll announce the winner of the National VPP SGE of the Year is while we all wait in anticipation. The symposium is attended by representatives from all over the country to include representatives from the Department of Labor, Safety & Health Director, Headquarters Marine Corps officials from the Pentagon and Quantico. It s a pretty big deal, said Adams. The award recognizes employees who have gone above and beyond their regular work duties to become Special Government Employees and assist with VPP audits, audit report reviews, site mentoring, sharing best practices all in support of the Voluntary Protection Programs nationwide, for government, as well as commercial, facilities with representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Ruby is the most active SGE we have on base and is directly engaged with the Region 9 VPPPA and the OSHA VPP manager for Region 9 (OSHA Region 9 covers Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa, and Nevada), said Ray Aguilar, Safety Division director. "During 2016, Ruby provided support for the Region 9 VPPPA summit and she was a co-instructor for the SGE Training Course at the Region IX VPPPA in Burlingame, CA. Ruby attended the 2016 National VPPPA conference in Kissimmee, Florida, and served as a panel member on the DoD VPP discussion panel. She assisted OSHA Region VIII on two VPP onsite evaluations during the year. The first evaluation was a recertification at Cardinal Insulated Glass, located in Fargo, North Dakota in July The second evaluation was a recertification evaluation at Hunter Douglas Window Fashions located in Broomfield, Colorado in August Becoming an SGE entails that an employee attend two and a half days of training which encompasses how to conduct an audit, when you go out to a commercial site or a Department of Defense site with an OSHA representative. Not all of the SGEs are DOD employees, but during the time that the employees are conducting the audit with OSHA, they are considered federal government employees, Adams said. Audits consist of three or four days, full-scale inspections during which the SGEs and OSHA representatives review all of the site s safety and health documentation and programs that fall under the VPP umbrella. They also engage in walk-around inspections, conduct formal interviews with 10 per cent of supervisors, employees, and contractors that encompass all shifts. "A lot of good information is pulled from these audits, she said. Sometimes we even bring their best practices back with us to share here. We also keep in contact with many of the people we come into contact with and so the networking is very valuable. We can continue to share information and ideas and continue the dialog. The audits also help ensure that sites are focusing on the safety and health of their fellow employees and meeting or exceeding safety standards established by OSHA. Adams is usually able to go out on two audits per year, depending on her availability as well as availability of funding in the Safety Division s budget. The SGE of the Year regional award nomination is earned based on active participation in the VPP program. Adams had to attend and perform audits as well as maintain involvement in anything related to VPP here on base. I m involved with VPP on this installation as well as the region, she said. I m also the ambassador for the VPP Region IX Board of Directors and Planning Committee. I ve been actively involved with VPP since Official Marine Corps Photo 2006 so I ve got a lot of VPP knowledge and experience under my belt and it is appealing on my resume. In fact, Adams has been the committee chair for Hazard Prevention & Control since the onset of the VPP program here at Barstow. She also assisted her department s Collateral Duty Safety Officer (CDSO) at the time with getting VPP rolling and establishing the inspection documents. So when safety specialists for the base come to our division, I am the liaison and I make sure everything is ready for the inspection, Adams said. There is more on her work plate than that, however. Adams has played a critical role in MCLB Barstow s ability to sustain its Star status with VPP, explained Aguilar. She has greatly contributed to the well-being and safety of her fellow workers, Marines and others aboard base, Aguilar said. Her efforts have had a significant impact on her worksite. Adams has worked on base Adams continued on page 11 5

6 Story and photos by: Keith Hayes Public Affairs Specialist Colonel Sekou Karega, commanding officer, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., and Jamie Collins, Marine Corps Community Services, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton; present medals at the base library to some of the 58 children from MCLBB who participated in the Summer Reading Program, July 17. Collins said summer reading helps prevent summer slide where students have to spend six to eight weeks of the new school year relearning what they were taught last year. Summer reading has its re The results are impressive from a program at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow to encourage students and adults to read more during the summer. Fifty adults and children gathered at McTureous Hall aboard MCLBB July 17 for the End of Summer Reading Program Ice Cream Party to recognize all of the readers who had kept their minds sharp and their reading skills honed during summer vacation. We had 2,737 readers from MCLBB and Camp Pendleton combined participate in the Summer Reading Program this year, said Jamie Collins, the child services librarian for Camp Pendleton. She organized the reading program for both bases. MCLB Barstow had 58 participants read a total of 13,939 minutes, Collins said. She explained the program is not just intended to pry people out from behind their TVs and video games and read more, but also to help the children when they go back to school in the fall by lessening the effects of summer slide. Teachers have to spend on average six to eight weeks at the beginning of the school year re-teaching the students about what they learned in the previous grade, Collins said. That s called the summer slide effect. It s caused by kids not reading during the summer so, they forget what they learned during the school year, explained Leanne Voss, the adult services librarian for Camp Pendleton who also helped administer the reading program. The children are outside playing and not thinking about school and the program is a way to keep them sharp by having them exercise their minds during the summer. They don t get as much practice reading as they do during the school year and this Summer Reading Program gives them an incentive to keep those skills up, Collins said. The End of Summer Reading Ice Cream Party brought out families to engage in crafty things, such as decorating cookies. 6 Colonel Sekou Karega, commanding officer, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.; is joined by 1st Sgt. Neil Roselli, Headquarters Company first sergeant, the staff of the base library and Marine Corps Community Services from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, gather

7 wards at MCLB Barstow For every 100 minutes of reading they log they can claim a prize which they can either collect immediately or wait until the end of the program and get all the prizes at once, she said. For adults, they get a prize for every 600 minutes they read. They could read anything they wanted to include audio books and magazines. It s all literacy as far as we re concerned. Students between Kindergarten and third grade who don t enter a summer reading program end up approximately two to three grade levels behind in reading skills compared to those who do participate in reading, she said. I learned things from reading and I think this reading will help me in school, said 9-year-old Blake Stevens, one of the children participating in the program. He was attending the party with his two younger sisters and his mother Amanda Stevens, whose active-duty husband works at the U.S. Army Airfield in Daggett. I like reading because it has pictures and they show you how things work. It s fun, too, agreed 6-year-old Kaisley Stevens. As part of the celebration at the End of the Summer Reading Program Ice Cream Party, Col. Sekou Karega, commanding officer, MCLB Barstow, presented each of the participants from the base with a medal, which he placed around their necks on a red, white, and blue ribbon. She s small but mighty good at reading. Three-year-old Emma Stevens solemnly displays the cookie she just decorated as part of the End of You ll all be getting a lot of these medals if you keep up Summer Reading Program Ice Cream Party celebration at McTureous your reading, Karega said. Hall aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 17. Other Marine Corps reading programs won t end until August, so we don t know what their total minutes read are yet, but with a combined total of 648,479 minutes read between MCLB Barstow and 29 Palms we are anticipating being the top readers this year as well, Collins concluded. for a group photo with the children who participated in the Summer Reading Program aboard the two bases, July 17. The 2,700 children who took part in the Summer Reading Program racked up a total of more than 648,000 minutes of reading. Nine-year-old Blake Stevens runs the obstacle course at McTureous Hall on Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. as part of the End of Summer Reading Program Ice Cream Party staged by Marine Corps Community Services, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, July 17. Jamie Collins with MCCS, said the more than 2,700 readers from both MCLBB and Camp Pendleton signed up for the program read enough minutes to add up to 450 days of reading. 7

8 Marine officer restores history on wheels passion for history A and a serendipitous Story: Keith Hayes Public Affairs Specialist discovery has lead the director of Fleet Support Division aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., to restoring vintage military vehicles. Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Silkowski, director, FSD, can often be seen driving a restored World War II Ford Jeep around base or four-wheeling with it out in the desert. Photo by: Keith Hayes History buff and car enthusiast, Lt. Col. Timothy Silkowski, director of Fleet Support Division, shows off his 40s era Ford Jeep and the 1950 Willys Station Wagon which he has restored over the course of his Marine Corps career. Both vehicles have identical, 134 cubic inch, 60 horsepower, 105 foot pounds of torque, 4 cylinder engines. The Willys-Overland Motor Company and Ford both produced Jeeps. I was looking in the Penny Saver for a vintage Enduro motorcycle one day when I came across the ad for a wartime era jeep for sale from a man in Joshua Tree, Silkowski said. The colonel was stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., at the time. I bought the Ford Jeep for $500, which was a good deal, and started restoring it, he continued. The colonel said it is usually an expensive proposition to restore old cars because you have to do a lot of shopping around to find parts, but such wasn t the case with this Jeep. I don t like the shopping for parts thing, he said. I ve never bought any part online. Every one of my collectible items has been bought through in-person,, at flea markets, by word-of-mouth, and through lots of bartering with friends and other contacts. I used to go four-wheeling with a friend out to Wonder Valley, east of Twentynine Palms, every weekend, he said. That was (General George) Patton s training area for his tanks before he took all of his troops to war. Those trips paid off in a big way for the history buff. Over time we found enough parts abandoned out there in the desert that I was able to put my vehicle back to original military condition, Silkowski said. 8 You d always find parts after a rainstorm because stuff magically floats to the surface of the sand or the sand is washed away from around the part, he said. I (once) found an entire tub of a Jeep, that s the part where the driver and passengers sit. Altogether it only cost me about $1,500 to restore this jeep to original condition. Ford Motor Company and Willys-Overland Motor Company produced the bulk of the iconic Jeeps used by nearly every branch of the military and allied nations in World War II. Henry Ford had a tiff going with the War Department which didn t want him embossing the script Ford logo on the back of their Jeeps, Silkowski said. So he literally stamped every nut and bolt with a script F, so every fender, every piece of sheet metal, basically had a big inspector mark on it with the script F, except for the back of the Jeep. After the war ended the U.S. government had thousands of surplus Willys and Ford Jeeps on hand, and that s when Willys started using the 134 cubic inch, 60 horsepower, 105 foot pounds of torque, 4-cylinder engine common to both manufacturers to make civilian vehicles, such as the 1950 Willys Jeep Station Wagon also restored and owned by Silkowski. The original owner abandoned it in the 1960s out in Wonder Valley, Silkowski said. (We believe he would drive down to Mexico in it and do some shooting. I don t know if he was a bad shot or some people got drunk but the back end of this thing was all shot up with 45 caliber bullets when I got it. Issues like that are the kinds of things a car enthusiast such as Silkowski lives for because they present a challenge to overcome and a good story to tell. Photo by: Laurie Pearson Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Silkowski, FSD director adjusts the manual choke on the carburetor of the 8-cylinder Hemi engine which he installed in his 1956 DeSoto Firedome, at his home aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 25. Restoring history continued on page 11

9 Smoothing the ride aboard MCLBB Story and photo by: Keith Hayes Public Affairs Specialist project to upgrade the roads A and parking lots on Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., and its Yermo Annex is in full swing. Troy Hintz is the engineering technician with the Installation and Logistics Department in charge of the street and parking lot improvement project currently underway aboard base. He said Headquarters Marine Corps commissioned a survey a few years back of all roads and parking lots on all Marine Corps installations. The construction phase for MCLBB began June 8. Ninety percent of our roads are being affected in some way, shape, or form, on both the Nebo and Yermo sides, Hintz explained. Seventy percent of the roads and parking lots are in good shape structurally but have some cracks in them, he said. The cracks are being filled with a rubberized product to keep water from getting underneath the asphalt and washing the roadbed away. That causes potholes which get bigger over time. Crews will then go back and coat the pavement with a slurry of tar, sand, and oil. The slurry revitalizes the asphalt by penetrating it, smoothing out bumps, and protecting it from the effects of sun and rain, Hintz said. About 30 percent of the roads and lots will need to be milled and overlaid. Crews grind off the top one or two inches of the asphalt and coat the milled area with tar, which is then covered with fresh asphalt, he said. The areas that have been milled and overlaid need 24 to 48 hours to cure before they can be used for parking. Unless there are signs posted prohibiting parking, the lots can be used by employees after the asphalt cures, Hintz said. To get the best use of the money the government is putting out, crews are first milling and overlaying or crack sealing and slurrying all of the parking lots at once before going back and striping in the parking places, and Crews work to mill and overlay the parking lot in front of building 204, Public Affairs Office aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 19. The one to two inches of asphalt are removed, tar is put down then fresh asphalt is placed over the top. Some areas will only have cracks in the surface patched with a rubberized material then a slurry of tar, sand and oil is placed over the top. the striping will happen in about a month. Each area will be notified three days in advance of the striping, so employees will know not to park in them on those days, Hintz said. Unless a one-way street has to be repaired, employees will not have any significant detours to deal with. We are not landlocking any buildings and we are not completely closing any roads, he said. Everything will be worked in phases. We may close one lane, but we will leave options for getting vehicles through those areas. We will also have traffic control on scene to help direct motorists. Weekly s will be issued describing the general areas being worked on rather than a specific schedule of events. The schedule is a living, moving thing that changes daily, Hintz said. We work closely with the contractor to get a three-week work-ahead schedule, but the closer we get to specific dates, the higher the possibility is of that date changing. Major Stacey Colón, director, Installation and Logistics Department, MCLBB; said this road improvement project is just one way her department is continuously working to maintain the infrastructure of the base. This is the largest pavement repair project that has ever been conducted at Barstow, Colón continued. We know the closures and detours are an inconvenience, but I think employees and residents will enjoy the results of this basewide improvement project, and we appreciate everyone's patience as we work to improve the installation's roads and parking lots. Hintz added the nearly $3,000,000 project to repair, revitalize or replace asphalt aboard the base is expected to be completed before Nov. 23, Thanksgiving Day. 9

10 Lost & Found on MCLB Barstow Story by: Laurie Pearson Public Affairs Specialist The Marine Corps Police Department is reaching out in July to reunite lost and found items to their rightful owners, as their stash continues to build aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. Lost, found, and abandoned property is defined as deserted, unclaimed property discovered aboard the installation, said Michael Reyes, physical security specialist for the base. Found property is turned over to the MCPD for proper handling in accordance with Department of Defense regulations (DOD and DOD M-1). The Lost and Found custodians on base are Charles Ayers, physical security specialist, along with Reyes. Once a lost or abandoned item is found and turned in to MCPD, it is their responsibility to take custody of it and keep it safe until it can be reunited with its rightful owner. Their first step is to announce or advertise what items have been turned in via the Prospector, or a Base Widest notification twice per month. The announcement will provide a brief description of items along with contact information, and instructions for reclaiming the property, Reyes said. There are not a lot of items turned in, on average, but when they are it is important to Reyes and Ayers to reunite the items to their rightful owners. We do a chain of custody, Ayers said. Items are treated like evidence. That s the level of importance we place on lost and found items. Anyone wishing to claim ownership of items will be required to provide as detailed of a description as possible, along with proof of ownership, such as registration or receipts of purchase, in order to 10 retrieve the article. Copies of those documents are placed in the case notes for future reference. They hold the items for a minimum of 45 days giving military personnel, their families and civilians working on base plenty of time to retrieve lost items. After 45 days, if the owner is not located and the item not returned, then the custodians prepare the items for final disposition. This means that it goes through a disposal process, which may or may not include a disposal board meeting to determine the fair market value of the items and then providing the custodians with disposal instructions, explained Reyes. If the board instructs Reyes and Ayers to dispose of the items, the articles are turned over to Supply of Defense Reutilization Marketing Office for further disposition, along with a copy of the disposal board findings and proper forms. We are providing this information in this format to ensure that people are aware of the Lost and Found Section aboard the base, explained Reyes. We take this very serious, ensuring that each step is followed before property is destroyed or disposed of and want to give people ample opportunities to regain their possessions. Most of the time, Ayers explained, items are successfully reunited with their owners and it is not necessary to go through the disposal process. Such as the case with a wallet with credit cards and some cash that was returned to a retiree who had visited the base. We also returned a set of keys to an active duty Marine, Ayers said. We want people to know that there are honest people out there and they will turn stuff in so contact us! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Ayers at or Mr. Reyes at

11 Adams continued since 1992, at which time she worked with Marine Corps Community Services. She then moved on to civil service in Communications in In 2011 she was reassigned to Supply and this past May she assumed her new position with Base Safety. I plan to stay with Safety, continue education in this field, and strive to become a safety specialist while fulfilling my VPP role, she said. As a VPP lead for the Hazard Prevention & Control Committee, she assists other individuals with engaging in VPP programs and activities, and she helps departments establish and maintain their VPP protocols. The program is expanding and they are always looking for more people to assist with VPP programs, activities, and events. Right now we assist with federal OSHA programs and audits, Adams explained. It appears now that we may also be assisting with Cal-OSHA sites, as well. On 20 July, MCLB Barstow, received official notification that the base was approved for VPP recertification, Aguilar said. Our recertification is a direct result of the efforts of all our base personnel, especially our VPP members. Ruby was involved with the preparations for the recertification audit and directly participated in the assessment. I don t see any sign of her letting up on her involvement anytime soon, and now that she works for me, I can guarantee it. Her previous supervisors (Rich Green and Reah Andrews) in Base Supply did a terrific job of supporting the base s VPP efforts in allowing Ruby to participate as much as I needed, though. The current committee leads for the base are Adams, Danielle Heinze, program analyst for the Business Performance Office, Anna Jones, management assistant for Security and Emergency Services, and Mike Reyes. For more information about VPP, including how to become an active committee member or lead, contact any of these leads, or the safety specialist at the Base Safety Office at Restoring history continued Photo by: Laurie Pearson Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Silkowski, Fleet Support Division, director explains the Wonder Bar search function on the radio of his restored 1956 Desoto Firedome aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., July 25. This was the last year of all vacuum tube radios. Detroit started blending transistors into radio circuitry starting in I had to weld washers over the bullet holes then tack weld the center hole on the washers, then finish and smooth it out, he said. Silkowski s love of his hobby doesn t only include military vehicles; it s just that restoring a military vehicle is much less expensive. I ve always been into the restoration of 50s cars with lots of chrome, but with the California (Environmental Protection Agency) pressuring the chrome industry, it s kind of nice to restore a vehicle without chrome, he explained, Because to restore a 1950s vehicle I could easily spend $10,000 just on chrome. That has not stopped him from restoring a door DeSoto Firedome to near mint condition. The blue and white finned vehicle sits in the garage of his officer s row quarters. I m tweaking the settings on the engine to get it just right, he said. Silkowski has some advice for car hobbyists who want to get into restoration. Don t buy the first thing you see, he said. A lot of these cars are going for exorbitant prices at auctions, but if you keep your nose in sources like Hemmings Motor News and other resources you ll find good deals. It also helps to have a patient spouse, too. Photo by: Laurie Pearson Harley approves of the "new" seat which Lt. Col. Silkowski, FSD director, salvaged from a burned out wreckage and restored for his 1950 Jeep Willys Station Wagon, while conducting maintenance at his garage aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. July

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