The White Falcon - 12.06.1987, Blaðsíða 1

Fisherman saved 400miles out
by JOC John C. Petersen
Staff reporter
fl seven-and-one-half hour helicopter flight
saved the life of a Bulgarian fisherman on May 26.
At 4:15 a.m. that day the Icelandic Coast Guard
notified Capt. Robert Bruder in the Air Force
Operational and Control Center (OPCON) that a
Bulgarian fish factory trawler, the Pinguin, needed
a fisherman with a perforated ulcer evacuated to a
Reykjavik hospital. At that time the ship was about
400 miles southwest of Iceland, nearly twice as far
from land as the Russians who were rescued in
April.
Capt. Bruder notified Detachment 14, 67th
Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS)
and by 6:03 a.m. an HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant"
helicopter and an HC-130 "Hercules" aircraft, which
was deployed to Iceland from Woodbridge, England,
were in the air and off to the rescue.
The helicopter pilot, Capt. Tim Buckner, credited
Det. 14's maintenance department for the success
of the mission. He said the fact that the helicopter
could endure a 400-mile, seven-and-a-half-hour
mission is a tribute to their work.
The Hercules and the helicopter were in the
vicinity of the fishing boat by 10 a.m. Capt.
Buckner explained that the weather there was not
bad but there were six or seven ships and the
rescuers had no way to know which one had the sick
man on board. The problem was solved by having
the ship raise a flag identifying itself. Then the
pick up "only took 10 minutes" according to Sgt. Joe
Ross, one of the two pararescuemen (PJs) who
were lowered onto the Pinguin.
The other PJ, Sgt. Max F. Montgomery, explained
that the sick man was "a little anxious" but did
speak and write some English.
The copilot, 2nd Lt. Phil Curl, said that the ship
began to pitch during the hoisting procedures which
complicated the job of flight engineer, Master Sgt..
Larry Tom, who was operating the winch.
The helicopter refueled again after the pickup
and headed for Reykjavik. Capt. Buckner also
praised the HC-130 crew and the "super job" they did
with refueling and communications support.
please see SAVE on pq.11
Change to first term Airman reenlistment
First termers must now make a reenlistment
choice 120 days before the Date of Separation
(DOS).
First term Airmen must apply to reenlist, retain
or separate by 120 days prior to their DOS if they
intend to stay or leave the Air Force. If airmen
don't apply by the 120th day, they will
automatically be projected to separate on their
original separation date. The Career Job
Reservation (CJR) of those airmen automatically
projected to separate will be cancelled.
The change was enacted to provide better
accuracy when projecting losses, replacements for
those separating and retaining requirements. The
change will be effective immediately.
Once a member has been projected for
separation, they may not, repeat, may not be
processed for reenlistment without prior approval
of the Air Force Military Personnel Center. Request
to withdraw the separation to permit reenlistment
will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Only
unique or unusual circumstances that prevented the
individual from projecting reenlistment will be
considered.
In a separate but related action that also took
affect this month, first termers currently on the
CJR waiting list will be removed from the list 150
days prior to their separation date. This change
will allow airmen more time to process and receive
a response to a retraining application. Before,
airmen were allowed to remain on the waiting list
until their 120th day prior to their DOS. Without the
change airmen would be removed from the waiting
list and be projected for separation at the same
time. The change gives airmen a month to reauest
retraining before a reenlistment or separation
decision is required.
If there are any questions concerning the above
change, contact the Base Career Advisor, Master
Sgt. Moore at 7723.