The White Falcon - 27.02.1960, Blaðsíða 3

Saturday, February 27, 1960
THE WHITE FALCON
3
... Jrankhf Speaking...
By A/1C Larry Smith
Well here we go .... guesting for a guest .... and
brother that “ain’t” easy. But, the “frantic one” took off
on pass with visions of rest and “relaxation???” so much
on his mind that he forgot to leave his weekly madcap
scribblings with us so here we are not from choice ....
from necessity.
-----------------------------®
Self Briefing
By AF Pilots
At Hanscom
A “do-it-yourself” weather brie-
fing system for pilots, first of its
kind in the Air Force, is now
operating at Laurence G. Hans-
com Field, Mass.
The self-briefing display was de-
signed by members of Detach-
ment 6, 4th Weather Group, Air
Weather Service (MATS), who
operate the weather station at
Hanscom Field, home of the Air
Force Cambridge Research Center.
Three walls of the weather
station are covered by the six-
unit display, which gives up-to
the-minute reports of present
and forecast weather over half
of the United States. A special
six-month waiver of certain pre-
flight regulations was granted by
the Air Force to permit a
thorough trial of this “self-brief-
ing” system.
The idea behind the display, ac-
cording to Capt. Abraham L. Ruiz,
Detachment Commander, was to
present weather data in such a
simple and readily accessible
manner that pilots would not re-
quire service by weather station
personnel. A forecaster is still
available, he pointed out, to ex-
plain the weather situation if
needed.
This system is a possible fore-
runner of the Air Force’s future
briefing procedures, as it was de-
signed to operate in connection
with high-speed, mainly automatic
weather support networks such as
are now under development for
joint military-civilian use.
The self-briefing display con-
sists of six separate sections, cov-
ering an area between the east
coast and a north-south line
through Scott Air Force Base,
Illinois, headquarters of the Air
Weather Service.
Anyhow we’ll try to carry on
for the Portland “Paradox” and
next week he’ll be back with a ven-
geance.
We’ll start off with the main-
tenance section .... the guys
who keep the turntables turning
and your picture tube from jump-
ing out into the room with you.
First off, there’s TSgt. Walt
Applegate, the boss of all this
maintenance “mess.” He calls
Rahway, N. J. home but his wife
hails from Cochranton, Pa., so
Walt, who incidentally carries
rocks in his pockets to keep
from being blown into the North
Atlantic Ocean, also moved to
Cochranton .... Wouldn’t you
know it?
Heading the radio sections
‘screw driver” crew is that cham-
pion swimmer of the Rio Grande,
SSgt. Joe Pineda. Joe names San
Diego, Calif, home and is also a
veteran commuter across that
famous international border near
there. Aiding him is young A/2C
Bob Allen, a Bell, Calif, native
who is currently marking off 60
days TDY at Tent City.
Moving over into the “look’ll
Listen” section, SSgt. Dick Heck-
art is the chief dial twister there
ably assisted by newcomer A/2C
Don Luchsinger. Dick is a native
of La Farge in the “Badger” state
and Don, who only has 3 days
marked off his DEROS Calender,
comes from St. Louis, Mo.
So, there you have it. We’ve
done it and we’re glad! We’ve
“guested” for TSgt. “Frantic”
Frank Leary. Now all we have to
do is wait for the man “without
a plan” to return from his 3-day
“excursion???”. Our only hope is
that the piquant platter party
patron will be so exhausted from
his three day rest that he will
not have the strength to unfurl
his wrath upon our trembling
shoulders.
“Anyhow”, the man will be back
with you next week and we’ll move
back into our own chair. Whoever
heard of a “guest columnist for
a guest columnist” anyhow?
Editorial
2nd BCT Leaves Void Here
This will probably be the last you will hear about the 2nd Bat-
talion Combat Team, at least from this corner. The O.D. clad soldiers
are slated to set sail for home March 3 and we’re all going to miss
them.
We’ll miss the hustle and bustle of departing G.I.s during a
quiet Sunday afternoon in the movies when an alert has been
called .... We’ll miss the rumble of tanks past our door in the
gray dawn of a frosty winter morning .... and the pushing and
shoving at the Base Exchange on pay day. But most of all, we’ll
miss our many friends among them.
Our special thanks go to PFC Jim Fay, Battalion Information
NCO, whose consistant reporting and hard work has kept us up to
date on the Army’s activities on this important NATO Base. To
Jim, and to all of the officers and men of the 2nd BCT, we can only
say “so long” and thanks for helping us to spread the word of freedom.
So, with a wish for smooth sailing, we leave the 2nd BCT with
this parting poetic fact:
We hate to see the Army go,
With their tanks and stuff.
Cuz now who’ll tug us from the snow
When the roads and weather get rough.
Help Live!
Don’t just live and let live
.... give and HELP live. Help
conquer disease and affliction
which needlessy threatens the
health and happiness of our
loved ones. Give a gift to the
agency or agenices of your
choice .... Give what you can
afford .... but give to Kefla-
vik’s Federal Service Campaign
for National Health Agencies.
Contest Offers
Cash Prizes
To Army EM
Cash prizes totaling $275 are
being offered to all First Army
enlisted men who enter the Opera-
tion Searchlight Army-wide sug-
gestion contest.
Operation Searchlight is a new
campaign in the Army’s contin-
uing suggestion program, with a
concentration on special Army
problem areas. Since these prob-
lems are often understood best by
enlisted men, who come across
them daily in their regular Army
jobs, First Army is offering
special prizes to encourage en-
listed man participation.
A first prize of $100, a second
prize of $75, a third prize of $50
and two prizes of $25 each will
be awarded to winning suggest-
ions from enlisted men in First
Army Class I Installations.
A list of problem areas recogn-
ized by First Army Headquarters
is being prepared and is scheduled
for distribution later this month.
The list already distributed by
Headquarters, Continental Army
Command, indicates that the First
Army list will also include many
problems familiar to the enlisted
man. The CONARC list, which
serves as a guide for problem
area lists at all levels, includes,
for example, the problem of a
soldier’s reduced effectiveness
caused by administrative delays.
The entries from First Army
enlisted men will be judged by
the First U. S. Army Incentive
Awards Review Committee. Easi-
ly prepared forms for submitting
suggestions are available in most
offices ond orderly rooms. Any
suggestion locally adopted be-
tween 1 January and 30 April,
1960, will receive consideration.
U.S. ‘Catches Up,’
Says Schriever
Washington (AFPS) — Al-
though the United States start-
ed well behind in the intercon-
tinental ballistic missile race,
the Air Force has reason to
believe that this country has
caught up with Russia, accord-
ing to its Chief of Research
and Development.
In a recent speech, Lt. Gen.
Bernard A. Schriever said that
“telescoping of time” in the de-
velopment of complex missile
systems is vital to the nation’s
and the Free World’s survival.
He cited the Rockefeller Report
of 1958 which stressed the im-
portance of reducing “lead
time” from the first stages of
a weapon’s development of the
operational stage.
The fact that the United
States started so far behind in
major missile developments and
still caught up is “liviny proof
that democracy can compete,
even in peacetime,” Gen. Schri-
ever said.
The blustery March winds may blow but Maggie Pierce doesn’t care.
If Maggie doesn’t care .... we don’t care .... so there! Maggie’s our
Calendar Gal for March .... She’s also Frank Sinatra’s gal in “Never
So Few.” At any rate, we’re looking for Maggie to tame the March
lion .... at least she has a few “points” in her favor. Right?
WHAT IS A SUGGESTION?
According to AFM 40-1, Section
14, it is “a constructive idea pro-
posed individually by one em-
ployee or jointly by a group of
employees, designed to accomp-
lish an Air Force or Federal
Government job better, faster,
or cheaper.” In other words,
a gripe or complaint is not a
valid suggestion unless it in-
cludes a proposed solution to a
problem, the solution consist-
ing of a management improve-
ment other than “getting some-
body back on the ball.”
Civilian Careers
A graduate school program of
interest to retiring military of-
ficers has been announced by
Brown University, Providence, R.I.
The special program can help
them find civilian careers in teach-
ing at college and secondary-
school levels. Dr. Barnahy C. Kee-
ney, Brown University president,
says many military officers with
a college education who retire may
qualify for teaching careers.
Information on the courses of
study available and application
forms can be had by writing to
Graduate Program for Military
Officers, Box 1850, Brown Uni-
versity, Providence 12, R. I. The
university also has a committee
comprised of military officers to
give special counseling service.
$300 Scholarship
A $300 scholarship grant has
been awarded to Terry Trahan,
son of Air Force SSgt Gus Ehr-
man, Hill AFB, Utah, by the
Armed Forces Enlisted Personnel
Benefit Assn. The boy is attend-
ing Sioux Falls College.
This is the first of what will
be an annual grant given to select-
ed children of service members be-
longing to the Association.
The Armed Forces Enlisted
Personnel Benefit Association
provides its members with a
$10,000 life insurance plan, emer-
gency loans and other services.
Its headquarters is located at 422
Washington Building, Washington
5, D. C.
Army Lowers
EM Promotion
List for March
Washington (AFPS) — The
Army’s March enlisted promotion
quota dropped from February’s
14,603 to 8,145, but quotas to the
three upper grades were boosted
considerably.
For promotion to supergrade
E-9, the quota was upped from
178 to 199 and 535 up-gradings
to E-8 will be authorized com-
pared to 508 on the previous al-
location.
Promotions to E-7 will more
than double February’s alloca-
tion, from 100 to 235, and the
E-6 quota went from 100 to 274.
On the other hand, the quotas
to E-5 and E-4 were reduced un-
der February’s totals. While 2,074
were authorized promotions to E-6
in February, the March quota is
set at 1,846 and hikes to E-4 drop-
ped from 11,631 to 5,056.
Promotion quotas are allocated
according to vacancies developing
in grade and MOS, Army person-
nel authorities explained, and the
lowered allocation simply means
there were fewer losses in E-5s
and E-4s than during previous
quota periods.
They also said a constant anal-
ysis of manpower strength in each
grade and military occupational
specialty is being made to keep
promotions flowing as freely as
possible. At the same time, they
warned, great care must be taken
to prevent promotions in MOS
areas glutted with senior NCOs
until natural “drop outs” and
changing conditions justify up-
gradings in these skill fields.
It’s Legal!
The Federal Service Cam-
paign for National Health Ag-
encies is authorized and endor-
sed by the President of the
United States, executive heads
of the Federal departments and
agencies and commanding of-
ficers of the various services.