The White Falcon - 28.11.1958, Page 4

Page 4
lllfri WHITE FALC«.\
Friday, November 28, 1958
Iceland Defense Council members enjoy refreshments with Army
Officials.
Army Forces Play Host
To Icelandic Defense Men
Modern Pony Express Makes
Final J a n May en Drop
By Fred Bartlett
Evaluation Meeting Held
By Miner Committee
Members of the highly public-
ized Cordiner Committee, who sub-
mitted their original proposals for
changes in the military pay
structure in 1957, met again last
November 13 in the Pentagon to
evaluate the results of their work.
The meeting was held at the in-
vitation of Secretary of Defense
Neil McElroy.
The committee was informed
that 10 of the 16 committee re-
commendations had been “fully
implemented.” These include the
new pay system; the new E-8
E-9, 0-9 and 0-10 for enlisted men
and officers; elimination of lon-
gevity pay beyond normal pro-
motion periods; selected promo-
tions to the enlisted super grades;
increased use of retraining pro-
grams to balance strengths in
military skills; extended service
for flying trainees and other offi-
cers receiving specialized training;
wider use of government subsid-
ized education programs; and esta-
blishment of the proficiency pay
program.
Two other commendations were
submitted to the last Congress,
but neither made any headway in
Armed Services Committee hear-
ings. These were the Career Offi-
cers Personnel Management Bill
and the Reserve Officers Term
Retention Bill. Both are scheduled
to be re-introduced in the 86th
Congress.
Cordiner proposals which are
still under study call for adjust-
ing military pay rates to a nat-
ion’s economy index, and more
housing for military families, with
quarters allowances linked to a
rental cost index. The first of
these is bogged down for failure
to develop a suitable index, while
DOD reports for the second that
military housing construction is
progressing at a “commendable
rate”, but revision of quarters
allowances is also stalled for lack
of a suitable index and the fiscal
impact such a move would have.
Another Cordiner proposal, that
for incentive pay for duty in re-
mote areas, has been agreed to by
defense officials, but as yet they
have been unable to set a work-
able plan of financing the venture.
One of the major objectives of
the Cordiner Committee was a
method of improving retention of
personnel and upping the quality
of men attracted to a service
career. Secretary McElroy has
said, “reports indicate that the
trend is quality and retention is
upward.” However, monetary sav-
ings which were expected to come
simultaneously cannot yet be evalu-
ated because of reduced require-
ments and lower calls for man-
power.
End Is Told For
‘Mechanical Cow’
Hq. MATS, Scott AFB, Ill. —
Milk-drinking Americans stationed
in Iceland will soon have the real
thing. They’ll be getting their milk
from a cow instead of a can.
USAF annual purchases from
Icelandic dairies will be increased
some $175,000 as soon as more
dairy herds have been certified
as passing a turberculin testing
program, Col. Richard W. Phil-
brick, Iceland Air Defense Force
Commander, has announced.
It is expected the testing will be
completed by Dec. 31. This addi-
tional expenditure means the end
of the United Dairy “mechanical
cow” which has been providing
powdered and canned milk.
The Army played hos1 last week
to the Icelandic members of the
Iceland-United States Defense
Council. Colonel Linwood Griffin,
Jr., Commander, Army Fo ces,
and Lt Colonel William D. Mc-
Dowell, Commanding Officer of
the 2d BCT, greeted Mr. Tomas
Arnason, Iceland’s Chairman to
the Defense Council, Mr. Pall
Tryggvason, Mr. Hannes Gud-
mundsson and Mr. Hallgrimur
Dalberg at the main gate and
drove them to Meek’s Army Mess,'
where they were served coffee and
Pro Pay ....
(Continued from Page J).
— IADF reviews group boavt
actions, then certifies the peoplt
on PAMs.
— MATS Headquarters notifies
IADF Personnel when proficiency
pay can start for designated
AFSCs.
— Next IADF Personnel ap-
points those certifed to proficiency-
ratings by special order.
— Proficiency pay starts on the
first day of the following mon'li.
The proficiency pay program,
which impliments Top Quality,
calls for men with proficiency rat-
ings to take slots on the manning
document. Therefore, if only one
slot is authorized, the man with
the proficiency rating will fill it.
Those men who meet other quali-
fications, but are still in their
first enlistment, can take a short
discharge under AFR 39-14, then
reenlist to qualify for proficiency
pay.
Airmen who appear before certi-
fication boards can also be down-
graded, if they do not meet the
qualifications for the position they
hold. This part of the proficiency
pay program tends to “eliminate
ineffectives” in line with the Top
Quality program. The program
further implements “Top Quality”
by requiring that individuals who
return to the ConUS for separa-
tion before completing the pres-
cribed overseas tour will be re-
moved from their Pro Pay rating
before leaving their overseas
station.
School ....
(Continued from Page 1).
helping the several Icelandic
children in the school with their
English.
Miss Sigurdsson has definite
plans to go to the United States
next year to complete her college
work and graduate with a teach-
er’s credential. She will make her
home in the U. S. and expects to
teach there. She has not decided
in which part of the country she
nerfers to live.
“I want to see America before
I deck1 where to live and work,”
she said.
cake. The three layer cake baked
by Army cooks was appropriately
decorated with a NATO flag.
The distinguished guests were
guided through a display of the
2d BCT weapons and equipment
by Captain A. J. B. McFarland,
Commanding Officer of Company
A, 2d BCT. In addition to a brief-
ing on the basic Army weapons,
they witnessed crew drill by mem-
bers of Battery C, 19th FA (105-
mm Howitzer) and by men of the
52d Infantry Platoon (4.2-inch
Mortars).
Lt. Emmett Taylor, Commanding
Officer of the 95th Tank Platoon,
briefed the defense members on
the operation of the M-41A1 tanks.
After inspecting the tanks, they
moved by tank to the helicopter
landing pad. Two H-19D Helicopt-
ers, piloted by Captain William E.
Volk and Warrant Officer Law-
rence B. Johnson flew the party
over the training areas utilized by
the BCT.
Afterward, they proceeded to
the Keflavik Officers’ Open Mess
for a luncheon and the weekly
meeting of the Iceland-U.S. De-
fense Council.
As winter brings high winds,
snow, and ice, so comes the need
for greater attention toward
ground safety. Base Ground Safe-
ty Officer, Major John L. Mad-
dray, asks cooperation from all
personnel to keep up the reduced
rate of accidents at Keflavik Air-
port.
T/Sgt. Billie P. Upton, NCOIC,
pointed out the tremendous drop
in Keflavik’s accident rate during
the last eight months. In order to
keep the rate down, unit safety
officers and NCOs must do all
possible to see that every person
follows instructions.
Report Unsafe Acts
Special emphasis is placed on a
recent program calling for immed-
iate report of unsafe practices to
the safety office, extension 7207.
Ground Safety officers and
NCOs of every unit hold monthly
meetings to emphasize safety pro-
grams.
This year’s plan stresses pedes-
trian safety. All are requested to
wear their reflector buttons and
always move outdoors in twos.
High winds and slick walk-ways
increase chances that a lone man
could be blown off his feet and
knocked unconscious. A seriously
injured person alone would have
no way of getting immediate res-
cue. A long period of exposure
when unconscious could be faJal.
These are a few of the instruc-
VP-10 bid farewell to ten very
isolated and equally appreciative
Norwegians last Thursday. The
Navy Patrol Squadron, which de-
parted from Keflavik Airport for
its home base at Brunswick, Maine,
November 23, had been playing
mailman for the weathermen o:i
the island of Jan Mayen, 370 miles
north of Iceland.
The norwegians at this outpost
pull duty that makes Keflavik Air-
port seem like paradise. These
Scandinavian hermits plod by
trawler 700 miles across the wind-
swept north Atlantic to the desol-
ate little island that will be their
home for a long, dreary year, a
year punctuated only infrequently
by trawler visits, more often by
mail drops from U. S. Navy Patrol
planes.
Though technically only a mail
drop, everything from the latest
magazines to Thanksgiving dinn-
ers float down to the station ben-
eath a parachute. The drops are
consistently attended by nine
wildly waving weathermen, the
tenth being inside talking exci-
tedly via radio to the aircraft.
The “bless” trip to Jan Mayen
took off from Keflavik Airport
at 0900 in a driving rainstorm.
P2V 8381 was manned by Crew 7,
consisting of L/Cdr Jack Scho-
field, pilot; Lt/jg Dewayne Tem-
ple, copilot; Lt/jg Bill O’Neill,
navigator; AM/1 Dave Elliot,
plane captain; AD/2 Gene Stan-
field, second mechanic; AT/3
Jerry Ferguson, radioman; AE/3
Andy Carrill, electrician; AO/3
Wayne Teacutter, ordinance man;
and AT/2 John Yates and AT/3
Bob Erdos, radar operators. L/Cdr
Carl Hodge, operations officer
for VP-26, went along for orienta-
tion.
Climbing to 8500 feet, the P2V
pointed its plexiglass nose north-
tions included in the large scale
winter safety program. But safety
should not be disregarded by
vehicle operators, both military or
privately owned. The safety office
suggests that drivers walk or ride
the bus, and leave private vehicles
parked.
Responsibilty
Saftey is everyone’s responsibili-
ty. Everyone plays an important
part in the safety of others, as
well as his own. The base safety
office suggests policies to each
unit. Safety officers and NCOs
add their own ideas and put a
plan into effect in their own unit.
The responsibility finally falls on
the individual, who must be on
guard 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.
ward, cutting through the over-
cast at 165 knots. It broke into
the clear over the snow-mantled
northern coast of Iceland, then let
down to 1500 feet and sliced pole-
ward over the rippling, cold blue
waters of the arctic. The crew
pondered the weather prospects.
Because of the weather, flights
to Jan Mayen are often dogged by
uncertainty. The previous trip, for
instance, for which the squadron
had prepared a Thanksgiving Day
cargo of two turkeys, fresh fruit
and vegetables, plus the usual
complement of magazines, pocket
books and mail, felt its way al-
most 600 miles to the island by
radar only to find it completely
socked in.
It was a long way to go for
nothing. The craft drifted around
the massive cloud patch that
swallowed the island, then pre-
pared to make a blind run into
the overcast.
Flying blind over Jan Mayen
provides its anxious moments,
since the 30-mile-long, seven-mile-
wide island is one of the most
perpendicular for its size in the
world, boasting a volcano that
peaks at more than 8,000 feet. The
Neptune poked into the clouds over
the island and sailed cautiously
through a filmy white world, the
engines muffled as if by blankets,
the wing tips erased from view.
Looming ahead was a volcanic wall
8*350 feet high. No openings ap-
peared in the cloud.
Five Second To Go
Then, a scant five seconds be-
fore turning around, the plane
popped out into a momentary
hole directly over the site. In a
flash the Thanksgiving present
from VP-10 was on its way. Se-
conds later the aircraft was once
more enveloped in cloud, turning
out to sea to return to base.
Last Thursday’s farewell flight
was not as precarious. The tower-
ing volcano was spotted 50 miles
out, its blunt cone thrust through
an overcast with a 1,000 foot ceil-
ing. Radio contact was established,
and a preliminary pass made over
the hidden site. Then the P2V
descended through the cloud layer,
wheeled around, ran back in over
the cluster of a half dozen huts
grouped forlornly on a barren
plateau 500 feet above the shore-
line. VP-10 made its final mail
drop over Jan Mayen.
It was not the final drop as
far as the Norwegians were con-
cerned, however. Next week an-
other Neptune, belonging this time
to VP-lO’s replacement, VP-26,
will continue the rural delivery
service. As they approach the is-
land they will call in by radio,
confident that there will be cheery-
voiced Norwegians at the station
to reply. And the weathermen will
still be there the next week, and
the weeks after that. They have
nowhere else to go.
MAIL THE WHITE FALCON HOME
Postal rates for mailing The White Falcon.
Third Class, 3f; First Class, 4t; Airmail, 71.
From
STAMPS
To
(Fold and fasten with staple only)
Pedestrian Safety Stressed
In Winter Safety Program