The White Falcon - 30.04.1999, Blaðsíða 1

White Falcon
Vol. 58 No. 17
Now online at www.nctskef.navy.mil/IDF
April 30, 1999
Red Cross seeks donations
to fund relief for refugees
By J02 Christopher E. Tticker
The American Red Cross is seeking mon-
etary donations to help fund its humanitarian
aid for refugees of the Kosovo Crisis. As of
April 16, the Red Cross had raised
$9,529,667. However, the organization
needs at least $ 1 million a week for the next
few months in order to meet the emergency
needs of refugees.
Since the crisis began, Red Cross dele-
gates have been working in the Balkans to
provide assistance. Currently, there are 10
delegates or staff workers in the field.
The American Red Cross has already pur-
chased 32,000 bars of soap, 26,000 contain-
ers of shampoo, 50,000 blankets, 10,000
mattresses, 400 sleeping bags, 100,000
MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), and, for logis-
tic support, forklifts, trucks, vehicles, ware-
house space and computers.
Red Cross first aid teams are working at
borders to provide assistance, and the organi-
zation is supplying families with pediatric
kits, diapers, baby shampoo, cups, spoons
and baby wipes.
Diana Monroe, a Red Cross field office
assistant at NAS Keflavfk, said they are only
taking monetary donations because it is the
fastest way to get help to the refugees. “The
amount of time and money that it would take
to ship it there could have gone to buy more
food or supplies.”
Contributions can be made to help the
refugees of the Kosovo crisis by calling 1-
800-HELP-NOW. This number is only for
the collection of cash donations by credit
card. Internet users can make a secure online
credit card contribution by visiting
www.redcross.org Cash contributions can
also be made to:
American Red Cross
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
For more information, please call the
American Red Cross office at ext. 6255.
Interviews available
during hospital’s
accreditation survey
Submitted by
Naval Hospital Keflavik
The Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations will conduct
an accreditation survey of Naval Hospital
Keflavik May 10-11.
The purpose of the survey will be to
evaluate the hospital’s compliance with
nationally established Joint Commission
standards. The survey results will be used
to determine whether, and the conditions
under which, accreditation should be
awarded.
Joint Commission standards deal with
quality of care issues and the safety of the
environment in which care is provided.
Anyone believing that he or she has
pertinent and valid information about such
matters may request a public information
interview with the Joint Commission’s
field representatives during the survey.
See Hospital on page 10
Air Force News Commander visits NAS Keflavik
Editor’s note: The following is an interview
conducted by the White Falcon with Col. Harold
J. Smarkola, Commander, Air Force News, dur-
ing his recent visit to NAS Keflavik.
Q: Could you describe the purpose of your
visit?
A: As the Commander of Air Force News,
it’s my job to provide manning, resources, train-
ing and equipment for the various detachments
that we have around the world. This is just a
visit to see how well we’re doing providing
those elements. This gives me a chance to see,
first-hand, the folks out on the front line and the
leading edge doing the jobs they’re trained to
do.
Q: How unique is this detachment, in that it
houses both Navy and Air Force broadcasters?
A: It’s definitely unique, but we also provide
the same thing with the Army. We have several
Air Force News detachments located within the
European theater on bases run by the Army.
Two of our detachments in the Pacific are run by
Navy and Marine Corps personnel, but are still
Air Force News.
Q: Do you foresee a time when all the mili-
tary broadcasting detachments will operate
under one command?
A: I think what we’ll see is the classic exam-
ple of how well the Air Force and Navy work
together here. When you get down to it, there’s
a job to do, and whether you’re Air Force, Army,
Marines or Navy, we all band together and go
out and do the job. It’s real gratifying to see that
the job’s getting done.
Q: How important are these detachments,
especially in the areas around Kosovo?
A: Very important. A lot of the information
you see on television, at least a good portion of
it’s coming from the broadcasting detachments
there. Just ask the commanders in these regions
Col. Harold J. Smarkola,
Commander, Air Force News,
recently emphasized the impor-
tance of Armed Forces radio and
television detachments located
around the world, wherever troops
are Stationed. (Photo by J03 Mike C.
Jones)
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