Federal employees pitch in to help with the Olympics

Federal employees will be doing their part when the 2002 Winter Olympics open Friday in Salt Lake City, from competing as athletes to providing security and filling the stands. At least 15 federal employees will compete in this year's games, including 11 members of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, which helps promote the Army by training soldier-athletes for international athletic competitions. Another 4,500 military personnel will help federal, state and local authorities with security and emergency response during the games. The Secret Service is coordinating security for the games, but other agencies will also be present. The FBI will focus on preventing terrorist attacks and employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be on hand to respond to emergencies, if needed. The General Services Administration has been working to support the federal employees who are working at the games by procuring everything from office space, transportation and furniture to security barriers. "There are so many different agencies involved in this and we are supporting them in the ways that they need," said GSA spokeswoman M.J. Jameson. "For example, because the [Immigration and Naturalization Service] is processing all of the athletes and other international visitors, we supported them in getting a location to work from, furniture, phones and computers." GSA has secured nearly 125,000 square feet of office space for federal agencies helping with the Olympics. GSA has also purchased portable showers, portable toilets and information technology items including computers, computer services and telephones. Police officers from GSA's Federal Protective Service will be on hand to help with security.

While most feds at the Olympics will be working, Department of Housing and Urban Development employee Tom Dulebohn will be there as a fan.

Dulebohn's son, Phillip, is competing in the games as a pairs figure skater. Phillip and his skating partner have won three silver medals at the U.S. National championships and competed in two world championships. The two are scheduled to compete on Feb. 9 and Feb. 11. Teri Dudley, an Agriculture Department district director in Montana, did her part early on. Dudley was chosen to be an Olympic Torch carrier and completed her duties at a ceremony in Bozeman, Mont., on Jan. 28.

A number of federal employees who work in Utah will serve as Olympic volunteers. According to Office of Personnel Management statistics, more than 27,800 federal employees worked in Utah as of September 2001.

Many of those employees work at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. Base commander Maj. Gen. Scott Bergen told supervisors in an April 2000 memo to be sensitive to employees' wishes to help with the Olympic and Paralympic games. The Paralympics are held in conjunction with the Olympics for athletes with disabilities.

"Many of our employees will see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When supervisors can accommodate their employees' desires to participate, I encourage them to do so," he wrote. "Having one of the uniforms the volunteers wear has become quite the status symbol in Salt Lake City and Hill Air Force Base," one federal employee told Government Executive. For all the feds who don't work in Utah, but who want to go to the Olympics at the government's expense, the White House has issued a memo warning them to be aware of federal ethics guidelines. According to a report in the Washington Post, the memo encourages officials to speak with their general counsels before booking a trip to Salt Lake City.