The White Falcon - 08.01.1955, Blaðsíða 1

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Military Will Be Cut 403,000 Men
By Mid-1956; USAF Not Affected
Washington (AFPS) — Defense Secretary Charles E.
Wilson has announced that the Armed Forces will be cut
by a total of 403.000 in the next 18 months.
He said President Eisenhower had ordered the cuts in
the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force is to be
increased by 14,000 men over its present strength.
Mr. Wilson asserted that the®"
reduction to a force of 2,815,000
men by June 30, 1956, in no way
reflects any overall change in
U.S. policy or its fundamental
concepts of warfare.
He added that the cuts were
not dependent on what action
Congress takes on his proposed
new reserve plan.
Most of the decrease will be
borne by the Army which, as of
Nov. 30, had a strength of
1,343,000. By June 30 it will be
cut to 1,000,000, a decline of
73,000 more men than originally
had been planned. By June 30,
1956, the Army will stand at an
even 1,000,000 men.
When the cuts are finally ac-
complished, the Army will have
been reduced by 668,000 men from
its post-WWII peak strength of
1,668,579 on Mar. 31, 1952.
The Navy, which now numbers
692,000, will be cut to 665,000 by
next June and to 650,000 in the
following year. The Marine Corps
will be decreased from the present
222,000 to 205,000 next June and
190,000 by mid-1956.
The Air Force currently num-
bers 961,000. The new schedule
announced by Mr. Wilson calls
for an AF of 970,000 by next
June and 975,000 by June 1956.
The Army cuts will be effected
by a decrease in draft calls over
the next six months. The Febru-
ary call, previously announced for
20,000, has been reduced to 11,000.
Sec. Wilson said Selective Ser-
vice would be asked to provide
10,000 or 11,000 men each month
until next June at least. These
would be the lowest calls since
June 1952 when 10,000 men were
drafted.
Vol. V.—No. 1
HQ. IDF, KEFLAVIK AIRPORT, ICELAND
Saturday, Jan. 8, 1955
iRES

as
Band Plays Concerts
In Cities and Towns
Throughout Iceland
The Iceland Defense Force Band
will play a series of concerts in
several cities throughout Iceland
during the next few months for
the benefit of the National Life
Saving Association.
The invitation for the Band to
play the engagements was ex-
tended to Brig Gen Donald R.
Hutchinson, Commander of the
Iceland Defense Force, by the
Secretary General of NLSA, Mr
Henry A. Halfdansson.
NSLA will sponsor the Band’s
concerts and all of the proceeds
will go to the well-known Iceland
life saving organization, which
aids shipwreck victims and sets up
rescue for other types of distress
victims.
The first NLSA-sponsored con-
cert was played by the Band last
month before a large crowd in
the cinema house at Akranes, a
fishing town located on the
western coast of Iceland.
NSLA plans to sponsor concerts
at the rate of two cities and towns
per month. A few of the tentative
sites include Keflavik, Selfoss and
Hafnarfjordur. During each per-
formance the Band will play a
combination of concert and jazz
type music.
Air-Sea Rescue’s Helping Hand
The Iceland Defense Force’s 53rd Air-Sea Rescue Squadron based at
Keflavik Airport plays an integral role in “High Flight,” code name for
the ferrying of jet fighter planes across the Atlantic from America to
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s nations in Western Europe.
Pictured above a “High Flight” F-84 pilot waves a “thank you” to Lt
Gordon Hess, helicopter pilot with the 53rd, after the latter had shep-
herded a large group of NATO’s fighters into Keflavik recently.
Icelandic-American Society
Seeks New Keflavik Membership
The Icelandic-American Society®"
in Reykjavik has extended a
cordial invitation to Americans,
especially families, residing on and
off Keflavik Airport to join the
organization.
Founded in 1941 to further
friendly and cultural relations
between the people of Iceland and
the United States, the Society
periodically sponsors dances, din-
ners and other social activities
for its members.
The organization also maintains
a scholarship for an Icelander in
an American College or Uni-
versity.
Annual dues of the Society
are small, only 20 kronur or
$1.23, with only a minor ad-
(Continued Col 3, Page 3).
Americans Contribute Gifts
To Iceland’s Aged, Orphans
All Americans, military and civilian, of the Iceland De-
fense Force at Keflavik Airport combined their efforts the
week before Christmas to collect funds to be used to pur-
chase gifts for the occupants of Iceland’s Homes for old
Persons and Orphans.
® The gifts to the old persons
were in the form of packages of
Base Launches
’55 Polio Drive
The March of Dimes for 1955
at Keflavik Airport opened in an
all out effort to go over the top
and exceed last year’s record con-
tributions to the National Found-
ation of Infantile Paralysis by the
Iceland Defense Force.
Last year a total of $6,005.04 was
contributed by Army, Navy and
Air Force personnel and American
civilians of the Iceland Defense
Force . . . some $400.00 more than
was contributed in 1953.
AFRS Station TFK got behind
the drive with appeals for the
cause . . . and hit the air waves
for the contributions. Each unit
on the base set up a project officer
for the contributions and day-by-
day counting of the collected coins.
All four clubs, including the
civilian Open Mess, have been
stocked with collection containers.
The bank, theater, terminal, Post
Office, Snack Bar and Commissary
are also prepared to accept the
contributions.
(See Polio Citation, Page 2).
Know Your Weapons
M iniature Model Leads to Big Things
Toying with Mortars
Hobbies sometime pay off
in profits, but a persistent
Corporal from the 99th Bat-
talion’s Heavy Mortar Detach-
ment made his narticular hob-
by pay off in unit esprit de
corps.
The corporal is Anthony De-
gaetano, who spent many pain-
staking hours hand-carving an
almost perfect replica of the 4.2
inch mortar, the basic weapon of
his unit. Degaetano carved each
piece seperately to a 2% inch
scale of the real thing. The model
is complete, even to the tiny M-
79 sight, which was carved from
one piece of balsa wood. Each
exterior part of the scale model
performs and functions just like
its big brother.
Degaetano, a building con-
tractor in civilian life, carved the
model in his off-duty hours. He
scaled down his model of the
mortar, but didn’t lose his high
aim of perfection.
The 4.2 is a muzzle-loading
weapon, with a principal mission
of delivering high-angle, indirect
fire. It weighs six hundred and
fifty pounds. Its little brother,
Degaetano’s model, weighs in the
neighborhood of twelve ounce.
Corporal Anthony Degaetano (left) shows his hand carved scale model
of 4.2 inch Mortar to 1st Lt John P. Casey Jr. (right), the former
commander of Heavy Mortar Detachment. Cpl Degaetano carved the
model in his off-duty time, spending many hours of painstaking labor
in carving the model to exact scale.
traditional Christmas foods, can-
dies, fruit cakes, coffee, tobacco,
checkers, chess sets, playing cards
and hams in sufficient quantities
to assure each individual a gift.
Each package contained a greet-
ing card which read: “Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year
from Defense Force personnel at
Keflavik Airport.”
“The response from the Ameri-
can personnel at Keflavik was
extremely good” according to Lt
Col R. L. Crozier, Jr., Chairman
of the committee for purchase
and distribution of the gifts. “In
fact, I venture to say that the
response was 100%, with a total
of $1270.25 collected.”
The Homes, operated by the
Government of Iceland, are located
at Akureyri, Isafjordur, Nordur-
fjordur, Westman Islands, Akra-
nes, Hafnarfjordur, Reykjavik,
Hveragerdi and Seydisfjordur. De-
liveries of the Yuletide packages
to the first four of the homes
were made by the Icelandic Air-
ways, and the rest by personnel of
the Iceland Defense Force.
The delivery to the home at
Seydisfjordur on Iceland’s East
coast was delayed due to weather
conditions but the 53rd Air
Rescue Squadron using a SA-16
Gruman Albatross came though
with an air lift, regretably late,
but with the Christmas thought.
Members of the committee for
collecting the funds were: Lt Col
T. C. McGuire, CO, 99th BCT;
Lt Col C. L. Harvey, C/S, IADF:
Mai R. A. Schmiedel, Asst. J-4,
IDF and 1st Lt J. E. Honea,
Eastern Ocean District, Corps of
Engineers and on the committee
for purchase and distribution
were: Lt Col R. L. Crozier, Jr.,
J-4, IDF; Major L. F. Schutt,
Asst. J-l, IDF; LT D. P. Lanaghan,
(Continued Col 5, Page 3).
High Winds Lash
Old Glory Here
Ever wonder why the Stars and
Stripes isn’t flying from the top
of the flag pole outside Head-
quarters IDF on dark and windy
mornings? The wind is the answer.
Wind velocities of 65 to 75 knots
per hour can rip a flag to shreds
in a matter of hours. And, flags
aren’t cheap. The garrison flag
which measures 10’ by 19’ costs
$68.85. The General’s flag, which
is a small 3’ by 4’ blue flag with
a white star in the center, costs
$17.02.
Both flags are made of nylon
but even this “miracle” fiber can’t
stand up for long under the beat-
ings it receives from the wind and
hail. The average life of a flag
here at Keflavik Airport during
the winter months is from three
to four weeks.