Welcome to the e-Contrails Published Feb. 16, 2007 By Senior Airman Amanda Currier 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE Kan. -- The 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office would like to welcome Team McConnell members to the e-Contrails. The e-Contrails is the base's new method for delivering news. Much like its predecessor, the hardcopy Contrails newspaper, the e-Contrails contains stories, art and photographs showcasing McConnell's members and mission. The public affairs office distributes the e-Contrails to its readers each Friday via e-mail. Team McConnell members who are on the 22 ARW ALL e-mail distribution list, which should be all 22nd Air Refueling Wing members, automatically receive the e-Contrails each week. Others have to sign up to receive it. The e-Contrails includes links to the most current news on McConnell's public Web site. It also has briefs on base events, movie listings, a chapel schedule and additional links readers might find helpful. The transition to an electronic newspaper is not unique to McConnell. The public affairs career field currently includes 800 positions but is in the process of reducing its force by 200. The reduction in force is driving public affairs offices Air Force-wide to make the transition from newspapers to Web-based and electronic news products. McConnell is one of the first bases in Air Mobility Command to make the jump. The change goes hand-in-hand with Air Force Smart Operations 21, a program that basically asks Airmen to evaluate and eliminate unnecessary and inefficient processes in their workplaces - while still producing quality products. To sign up to receive the e-Contrails, people should send their names and e-mail addresses to 22.pa@mcconnell.af.mil. Team McConnell members should also send submissions for the e-Contrails to the same e-mail address. People not on the 22 ARW ALL e-mail distribution list can also unsubscribe to e-Contrails by sending a request to this address. Another way people can get McConnell news is by picking up a copy of the Tanker Times, which is an independent publication delivered to newsstands around base each Friday. The Tanker Times is a newspaper produced by TCV Publishing Inc., a local publishing company. Staff members of TCV get stories for the Tanker Times from McConnell's public Web site and other Department of Defense sites. For more information about the Tanker Times, call TCV Publishing Inc. at 681-1155. For more information about the e-Contrails, call the public affairs office at Ext. 3141.