The White Falcon - 17.10.1958, Side 2

Page 2
THE WHITE FALCON
Friday, October 17, 1958
A fellow by the name of Earl Manning drew up a list of fifty
close friends. Beside each name he wrote the reason he liked that
individual. With regard to a few he had some difficulty, but after
much thought always found something positive that he liked in the
person. He then made it a point to mention that desirable trait to
the person possessing it. It was not flattery, but a sincere attempt
to find and highlight the good qualities of those with whom he
associated.
Within a few days’ time he received a letter from each one of
those fellows giving a reason why the writer liked Manning. I am
sure that both he and his friends profited by this little project in
appreciation.
In it is a strong suggestion for developing genuine charity to-
ward those with whom we live and move and deal. Look at them
positively. Pick out their good qualities, their desirable traits of
character. Think about them, speak about them. That is the positive
approach to charity and love toward fellow man.
For The Record
(iaaen from American Aviation, 28 July 1958)
Is the Air Force careless?
The Civil Aeronautics Hoard, which makes all the rules by which
aircraft fly in tne U.S., says tne Ah' "nas probably the best safety
program in the field.”
in on-professional?
The military is even more stringent, in many cases, than civil
air regulations. For instance, the AF requires five miles visibility
before a pilot can fly under visual flight (see-and-be-seen) control
while civil regulations require only three.
Irresponsible?
Here the list begins to look a little endless but, to name just a
few:
1 — The AF sponsored and placed in effect, over a year ago, a
high altitude positive control plan. As accepted by CAB, this means
all airplane routings, military and civilian, above 24,001) feet fly on
Instrument Flight Rules (fFR).
2 — The AF has transferred $5 million (a conservative estimate)
of its own research and development funds to the Airways Modern-
ization Board (as well as offering it 18 officers on three-year assign-
ments) to help the AMB in its program to improve air traffic.
3 — The AF has an officer "assigned on full-time duty to each
Civil Aeronautics Administration regional office to help on air flight
control problems.
Nor is the Air Force doing all this as a reaction to this Spring’s
collisions. Since 1955 the Air Research and Development Command
has sponsored studies with private industry to develop anti-collis.on
devices. The AF is still assisting, even though the project was trans-
ferred to the AMB in early 1958. For the last year and a half the
Air Defense Command, working with "CAS, has been developing a
system of providing long-range radar information to CAA to help
their traffic control operations.
4 — AF headquarters has ordered all AF pilots not to fly non-
tactical jets on Visual Flight Rules (VFR) below 20,000 feet except
in takeoff and landing. Some field commanders have gone further
and eliminated even the exception.
5 — Itinerant jet aircraft can not use civil airports, unless
assigned there.
6 — AF is making available to AMB considerable AF equipment
such as VOLSCAN (air traffic control scheduling) and to CAA
some B-57 and C-131 aircraft (for high altitude flight checking of
CAA Facilities).
7 — The Air Training Command is painting the nose, tail and
wing areas of some 13,000 non-tactical aircraft a blaze orange to in-
crease daylight discernability — part of the program begun in early
1957.
(You decide. Is the Air Force being careless?)
As a general rule, dependents
will get what care they need from
Service medical facilities when
they are outside continental Un-
ited States, Alaska, Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico. If Armed Forces or
U.S. Public Health Service facili-
ties are lacking or inadequate,
civilian medical care may be ar-
ranged at the expense of the
Government. Dependents residing
in oversea areas where Service
medical care cannot be provided
may obtain full information from
the appropriate oversea command-
er or from nearest Service.
THE WHITE FALCON
Volume 8 Number 20
HEADQUARTERS, ICELAND DEFENSE FORCE
Brig Gen H. G. Thorne, Jr, USAF
Island Commander Iceland (1SCOMICE)
The WHITE FALCON is an official Armed Forces newspaper published bi-monthly at
Keflavik Airport, Iceland, by and for the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel of the Iceland
Defense Force. The WHITE FALCON receives iFPS material. Views and opinions expressed
herein are not necessarily those of the Department of Defense.
Deudllne for copy: noon Friday before the date of publication. Telephone numbers: 4156, 419$.
Staff
Editor ....................... A/3C Donald Francis, USAF
Staff Writer..................SP/4 Buddy Buonocore, USA
Staff Photographer............... SP/4 Wayne Starks, USA
lsafoldarprentsmltija h.f.
A Commander Must Wear Many Hats
It has been said that the life
of a commander is a lonely one.
It can also be said that the life
of a commander in Iceland is a
complicated one because there are
three separate chains of command
for service personnel at Keflavik
Airport, and a commander must
wear many hats.
This is a NATO installation.
Keflavik is also a MATS base.
The facilities here are under the
operational control of SACLANT
with headquarters in Norfolk,
Virginia. Incidentally, the Sup-
reme Allied Commander Atlantic
is also the Commander in Chief
of the United States Atlantic
Fleet.
Brigadier General Henry G.
Thorne, Jr., is Commander of the
Iceland Defense Force. Next above
IDF in the chain of command is
CINCLANT. However, General
Thorne must wear another hat —
his NATO title is Island Com-
mander Iceland, which is abbrev-
iated to ISCOMICE. The chain of
command goes from ISCOMICE
to SACLANT to NATO. From
in Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. And,
you might also remember that the
Commanding General is not the
Base Commander.
Gen. Thorne
Col. Philbrick
Col. Sullivan
Col. Douglas
Why NATO?
After the close of World War
II it became evident that the Sov-
iets did not intend to honor agree-
ments made at Yalta, Potsdam,
and Teheran. One after another
— Lithuania, Albania, Bulgaria,
Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
etc. — were absorbed behind the
Iron Curtain. In 1947 we sent aid
to Turkey, which refused to grant
Russia bases at the Dardanelles,
and to Greece to thwart the Com-
munist threat there. Next follow-
ed the Berlin Blockade, and the
subsequent “Airlift”, which sus-
tained life in that beleagured city.
It was evident, however, after
these threats to peace in Western
Europe that a major collective unit
was necessary for the protection
of the Free World. Hence, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-
tion was born.
CINCLANT the chain runs to the
Chief of Naval Operations to the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Although General Thorne is
Commander IDF he is not the
Base Commander. That job falls
to Colonel Richard W. Philbrick
who is also Commander of the
Iceland Air Defense Force. But,
if General Thorne were to be
absent from the base for a period
in excess of 24 hours, his duties
as Commander IDF would be as-
sumed by Colonel Philbrick. The
question of who would follow Col-
onel Philbrick in command is an-
swered by the seniority rule, which
is based on date of rank.
After Colonel Philbrick the com-
mand would devolve upon Colonel
Joseph L. Sullivan who is Deputy
Chief of Staff for Operations. Col.
Philbrick and Col. Sullivan, in-
cidentally, have the same date of
rank. Following Col. Sullivan in
the command list is Col. Paul P.
Douglas, Jr., Commander of the
1400th Operations Group.
After Col. Douglas the seniority
list leaves the Air Force, and
comand of IDF would pass to Col.
William E. Roberts, USA, Chief
of Staff of IDF. The next man
in line to assume the command
would be Captain Lowell Price,
USN, Commander Naval Forces
Iceland. And if all six of the men
mentioned so far were to be ab-
sent from the base at the same
time, the command of IDF would
pass to Col. Linwood Griffin, Jr.,
USA, Commander Army Forces
Iceland.
Just to keep the issue confused,
all you have to remember is that
Keflavik Airport, the home if the
Iceland Defense Force, is a NATO
installation administered by the
Military Air Transport Service
which reports to the Commander
Col. Roberts
Capt. Price
Col. Griffin
> —--------------------------
Space Aircraft
To Be Unveiled
The initial rollout of the hy-
personic X-15 research aircraft
will be at North American Avia-
tion’s Inglewood, California, plant
October 15.
The X-15 is man’s first step to
the periphery of space. The rocket-
powered experimental aircraft will
perform research in aerodynamic
heating, stability, and control at
speeds in the vicinity of 3,600
miles per hour and at altitudes
exceeding 100 miles.
The X-15 program is being
conducted as a joint endeavor with
the Air Force, the National Aer-
onautics and Space Administra-
tion, the Navy, and the aircraft
industry.