The White Falcon


The White Falcon - 23.04.1999, Blaðsíða 1

The White Falcon - 23.04.1999, Blaðsíða 1
White Falcon Vol. 58 No. 16 Now online at www.nctskef.navy.mil/IDF April 23, 1999 NAS recognized for 23 years of accident-free flight operations Story and photo by J02 Christopher E. Thcker On April 19, Capt. Allen Efraimson, Commanding Officer of NAS Keflavik, pre- sented the Air Operations Department with a letter of special recognition from Commander, Naval Air Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for Class “A” mishap-free operations from 1975 to 1998. “This is a significant contribution,” Efraimson said. “The idea that 23 years of accident-free flying, coupled with the fact that NAS Keflavik recently won the Chief of Naval Operations Safety Ashore Award ... says a lot to how we do our job every single day.” Lt. j.g. Ed Twining, NAS Maintenance Officer, said the recognition speaks volumes about everyone who plays a part in flying the base P-3, from the maintenance people to the aircrew. “This is the best group of Sailors I’ve worked with. They are extremely profes- sional,” Twining said. Twining added that it’s amazing to think all the support involved with the base P-3 - the flight line personnel, the people who load Sailors from NAS Air Operations Department and Capt. Allen Efraimson, Commanding Officer of NAS Keflavik, proudly display their letter of recognition in front of the station P-3. the luggage, all the aircrews - over the past 23 years have maintained this high level of safety. Addressing the Sailors of the Air Operations Department, Efraimson said the recognition can be attributed to individual awareness. “You’ve all heard the terminology that everyone’s a safety officer. It is no more embodied than in the everyday, every-minute way that we do business in Iceland.” Running track opens next week By J02 Christopher E. Tucker A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled at 11 a.m., April 29 for the new MWR run- ning track at Building 282. “Our major goal was to have this com- plete for the Physical Readiness Tests (PRT),” said Tracy Warnow, MWR’s Fitness Coordinator. Warnow added that all commands that have reserved time at the base gym for their PRTs will now be able to have them at the running track. The running track, which has been in the works for almost two years, cost more than $300,000, according to Warnow. The track will consist of three lanes, and 19 laps will equal a mile-and-a-half; the distance run for the Navy’s PRT. The new running track has a men’s and women’s locker room with several lockers and shower facilities. The track also has treadmills, cross trainers and a climbing wall. “A lot of people did a lot of hard work to make this happen and we really appre- ciate it,” Warnow said. “I think this is something that will help during the win- ter.” Canada’s Chief of Defense visits NATO Base Editor’s note: The following is an interview conducted by the White Falcon with Canadian Forces Chief of the Defense Staff, Gen. Maurice Baril during his visit to the base April 16. Q: Could you describe the purpose of your visit, and where you’re returning from? A: I’m returning from a meeting in Brussels with Gen. Wesley Clark (NATO Supreme Allied Commander). We discussed in detail the operations going on over Kosovo and Yugoslavia by NATO air operations. I’m also returning from Italy where we have 12 of our F- 18 Canadian fighter aircraft - about 330 Canadians totally integrated into the air operations going on now in the former Yugoslavia. Q: What is the future of the Canadian military, and how has that vision changed since these operations began? A: We already have about 1,400 Canadians currently deployed to Bosnia. We also have forces that were deployed with the French and British forces in the former Republic of Macedonia. In Italy, since last June, we’ve had six of our CF-18 fighter aircraft deployed there. Since the operations began, we have increased our aircraft to 12 and deployed about 230 service members. Canada has decided, rightly so, to participate in these operations of the NATO alliance. We’ve been members for 50 years founding members. Q: What are your impressions of the NATO Base? A: This base is one of the major refueling stops when we pass through. We’re always well received when we arrive. Any service we need, we get here. Q: Is there any message you wish to convey to the service mem- bers serving in Iceland? A: You live in a very interesting piece of our Earth. This is a very interesting country, a country that is part of the NATO alliance. It’s extremely important to serve here - very challenging and sometimes demanding, but it must be done by professionals, and you all do it well. Serving the joinl-service community since 1941

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The White Falcon

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