The White Falcon - 26.11.1962, Blaðsíða 6

6
WHITE FALCON
Monday, November 26, 1962
I Cortron Sixteen
| Essential Element
1 In Early Warning
5 Command Escort Squadron —
■ has a vital role in the BAR-
2 FORLANT mission. This force
■ of eight ships plugs a gap in
B the early warning fence. Ves-
■ sels included in CORTON SIX-
5 TEEN are the: USS CAMP,
■ USS KRETCHMER, USS
J HISSEM, USS T. J. GARY,
■ USS MILLS, USS CALCA-
" TERRA, USS RHODES, and
■ USS ROY 0. HALE.
B Representative of the squad-
■ ron is the USS CAMP. The
B CAMP is primarily designed
■ to detect aircraft along the
B barrier line and spot submar-
■ ines transisting its primary
B maneuvering area.
S It is assigned to one of the
■ many geographic picket sta-
5 tions of the radar network
■ which guards the Continental
S United States.
■ The CAMP carries all the
5 latest electronic equipment in-
■ eluding radar, sonar, and com-
5 munications equipment. To
■ house the new equipment, she
S has a specially built Combat
■ Information Center (CIC),
S radio shack, and sonar control
■ room,
S Radar, intelligence, electron-
■ ic identification, and visual in-
S formation is collected in CIC,
■ displayed on various status
S boards and polar plots, co-ord-
■ inated, evaluated, and dissem-
5 inated to a defense facility in
■ the United States. This in-
formation, consisting primarily
of aircraft courses, speeds, alt-
itudes, and positions is then
correlated with flight plans of
known aircraft. If a correla-
tion cannot be obtained, the
aircraft is further evaluated as
unknown and jet interceptors
may be scrambled and handed
over to CAMP for control in
identifying it if necessary,
stopping the unknown if it is
found to be hostile.
In addition to air surveil-
lance operations CAMP main-
tains a continuous sonar watch
while underway. She may pick
up and track a submarine on
her own equipment or be di-
verted at any time to investi-
gate or track a sonar contact
made by another ship or air-
craft. Reports of submarines
encountered are then dissemin-
ated to the U.S. along with
the aircraft information.
With the continuous training
of her personnel and great
emphasis placed on teamwork,
CAMP is able to utilize her
equipment to its maximum ex-
tent, thereby making her an
effective and vitally necessary
unit in our defense system.
The selection of radar picket
ships for this big responsibil-
ity originates in the early fif-
ties when defense strategists
realized the need for better
methods of early waring de-
fense. A new type of ship was
needed to man the North At-
lantic Barrier. The ship had to
have great electronic capabili-
ties and the ability to remain
at sea for many weeks without
refueling or replenishing. In
order to utilize ships already
built and to save money on
construction, several DE’s were
converted to DER’s by altering
their structures. The CAMP
and her sister ships answered
the need.
Barrier
(Continued from Page 4.)
according to schedule regardless
of conditions however severe they
may be.
Crew members come and go ac-
cording to the Navy system of
rotating personnel regularly so
that an entire crew of seasoned
barrier veterans is only a theore-
tical entity. For instance, only
six now remain of the 24 memb-
ers who were in Crew ONE just
a year ago.
Lady Luck favors whom she
will among the barrier crews as
she does elsewhere. However she
seems to generally favor the dili-
gent, thorough and tireless. No
matter how carefully a crew in-
spects and maintains the aircraft
and equipment, it is possible that
unpredictable failures will occur.
Whenever a crew fails to take
off within 12 minutes of the sche-
duled time, they lose points in
crew competition.
Performance Factors
For evaluating crew competi-
tion, four performances factors
are derived from the never-to-be-
deferred necessity of constantly
patrolling the barrier: (1) Read-
iness, (2) Radar, (3) ECM (Elec-
tronic Countermeasures), and (4)
Communications.
Readiness of the aircraft, its
equipment, and crew to fly the
barrier on schedule counts 25%
of the total score. Another 40%
is computed from the radar con-
tacts reported, and 10% more
from ECM contacts. The remain-
ing 25% of th score comes from
evaluating the promptness and
accuracy of properly transmitted
radio messages.
Cmdr. Charles C. O’Hearn, Crew
ONE’S Patrol Plane Commander,
emphasizes the importance of each
crew member funneling his indi-
vidual efforts toward accomplish-
ment of the total crew responsi-
bility. Gleaned from years of ex-
perience and more than 5,000 log-
ged pilot hours, his formula for
trophy-winning performance is
simply, “A crew of devoted people
who subordinate personal consid-
erations in order to do the right
thing at the right time.”
Who’s Who in the Crew
The following list of crew mem-
bers reflects additions to the min-
imum number needed on patrol.
Additional personnel are frequent-
ly assigned for training and in-
doctrination. In order to function
well as a crew, it is not enough
for each member to be expert at
his own job. He must also know
about the jobs of all the other
crew members and understand how
his work contributes to what the
others accomplish. Some men are
cross-trained to handle two, three,
qr even more crew positions..
Patrol Plane Commander—Cmdr.
Charles C. O’Hearn
Second Pilot—Francis A. Harding
Third Pilot—Daniel R., Toleno
First Navigator—Ens. Roger A.
Garrett .
Second Navigator—Lt. (jg) Mich-
ael T. Giles
CIC Officer—Lt. George A.
Murphy
Assistant CIC Officer—Ens. James
A. Conaway
Assistant CIC Officer—Leonard
E. Downs, Chief Air Control-
man
Flight Engineer—John R. Warren,
Aviation Machinist’s Mate First
Class
Flight Engineer—Philip R. Wilson,
Aviation Machinist’s Mate Sec-
ond Class
Flight Engineer—Roger D. Bow-
ers, Aviation Machinist’s Mate
Second Class
Electrician—Robert E. Engelman,
Aviation Electrician’s Mate
Third Class
Radioman—Ted. D. West, Avia-
tion Electronics Technician
First Class
Radioman—Stephen W. Ingram,
Aviation Electronics Technician
Third Class
Technician—Harold L. McCaSland,
Aviation Electronics Technician
First Class
Technician—Norman E. Greene,
Aviation Electronics Technician
Second Class.
ECM—Leonard H. Brown, Avia-
tion Electronics Technician
Third Class
ECM—Jimmy H. McCarty, Avia-
tion Electronics Technician Air-
man
CIC—Ronald K. Dilgard, Air Con-
trolman Third Class
CIC—Wallace C. Coflin, Air Con-
trolman Third Class
CIC—Marvin G. Moats, Aviation
Electronics Technician Third
Class
CIC—Joseph D. Buchanan, Avia-
tion Electronics Technician Air-
man
CIC—Coy D. Strod, Aviation Mac-
hinist’s Mate Airman
CIC—James' W. Ravan, Airman
Apprentice.
Flight Begins on the Ground
A flight begins long before the
aircraft actually gets into the air.
Crews are on stand-by status for
six hours before the scheduled
take-off. The flight engineers are
at the hangar three hours before
take-off to inspect and pre-flight
the airplane.
While the co-pilot is at flight
operations to file the flight plan
and pick up the weather report,
the navigators are working on
their charts. The PPC, CIC Of-
ficer and his assistant, and radio-
man are at the BARFORLANT
Operational Control Center where
they are briefed on the foreseeable
conditions and circumstances of
their patrol.
Within 45 to 60 minutes before
take-off all members of the crew
are aboard the aircraft completing
final preparations for the flight.
Airborne
During the flight each crew
position was described to me. The
PPC may be compared to the cap-
tain of a ship at sea. Besides being
the senior pilot, he bears complete
responsibility for the personnel
and aircraft under his command
while in flight.
Patrol Plane Commander
O’Hearn talked to me at lenth to
help me understand the important
aspects of the patrol. He speaks
softly but quite audibly, as arti-
culately as a professor presenting
a familiar lecture to his class.
Perhaps his calm, precise manner
of speaking is an index to Cmdr.
O’Hearn’s method of managing an
airplane and crew.
Now a 45-year-old veteran of
26 years naval service, Cmdr.
O’Hearn enlisted in the Navy in
1936. He advanced step-by-step
from Apprentice Seaman to Chief
Aviation Machinist’s Mate, com-
pleted flight training ,and became
an enlisted pilot.
In 1946 he was appointed Lt.
(jg), and in 1947 the Navy sent
him to study at Ohio State Uni-
versity under the Holloway Bill.
Completing a normal four-year
college education in 21 months, he
graduated cum laude in the spring
of 1949 and returned to duties as
a naval aviator.
After attending Naval Intelli-
gence School and a nine-month
course in the German language,
he was assigned to the staff of
Commander Naval Forces Ger-
many. In October 1955, following
CIC School and two cruises in
the Pacific aboard the aircraft
carrier USS BENNINGTON, he
went to New York City to duties
in the Third Naval District In-
telligence Office. After complet-
ing two years service in AEW-
RON ELEVEN in December 1962,
Cmdr. O’Hearn will return to the
Naval Intelligence School for a
refresher course in the German
language.
Youth. Center
Tournament
The Youth Center held a Round
Robin Table Tennis Tournament
on November 11 and 12. There
were three divisions, Bantum,
Junior, and Senior.
In the Bantum Division, Kit
Freed took first place with Ricky
Canepari, the runner-up. Russell
Pirnat placed first and Bob Cane-
pari was the runner-up in the
Junior Division. For the Senior
Division, it was Bob Grybash in
first while Norman Arons took
the runner-up spot. For the girls,
it was Donna Canepari in first
place and Julia Mahler in second.
The winners will now be seeded
in the Harvard Elimination Table
Tennis. Tournament for the Gold
Medal Awards. This tournament
will be held this week with the
finals ori Saturday, November 24,
at 3 p.m. in the Youth Center.
Ricky and Stephen Vogel, Eric
Miner, Chris, Casey and Shane
Moore, Terrv Long, Bob Brown,
Scott Ellison, Neil Svennigsen,
Fred Johnson, Carol Emory,
Elizabeth Quilty, Deborah More-
land, and Carol Schmitz were just
a few of the 24 entrants in the
tournament. The entrants age
ranged from 8 to 16 years.
In the Cockpit
Co-pilot Harding explained the
function of each instrument and
control in the cockpit. When I
remarked about the ice and sleet
which occasionally splattered
against the windshield, he flipped
a switch and illuminated the right
wing to show me the ice forming
on it. As I watched, a rubber
boot along the leading edge in-
flated, breaking loose a crust of
ice.
Lt. Harding is 31 years old and
the father of three children. He
is also a man who obviously en-
joys flying and rejoices in his
career as a naval aviator. In 1954
as an Ensign, he went from a
destroyer to flight training. After
two and a half years as a Navy
flight instructor he returned to
civilian life for three and a half
years. Then, in December 1961,
he came back to the Navy — “to
stay,” he said emphatically.
He considers aviation experi-
ence gained in flying the barrier
very valuable. With what sounded
like enthusiasm he said, “We al-
most always expect the weather
to be terrible.” Perhaps I looked
disturbed, because he immediately
added that the WV-2 is a “fan-
tastically reliable” airplane and
that the crew is specially ’trained
to cope with the unusual weather
on the barrier.
Flight engineers Warren and
Wilson described what they do at
a panel of instruments and con-
trols just behind the pilot and
co-pilot. Basically, they operate
the four engines of the airplane
by controlling power settings
and fuel mixtures. They also
manage the distribution and
balance of weight in the airplane,
post log entries, note mechanical
discrepancies to be fixed by the
ground crew, ensure that the air-
plane is ready for flight, and take
care of a multitude of details need-
ed to keep the airplane in good fly-
ing condition.
(Continued on Page 8.)
Students Named
For Honor Role
“The Honor Roll” of the Alfred
Thayer Mahan High School was
announced last week for the first
grading period ending October 12,
1962. The Honor Roll is figured
from points earned on this basis:
For classes meeting every day,
an “A” is worth 15 points, a “B”
is worth 10 points, a “C” - 5
points, and a “D” subtracts 5
points. Failure in any subject
automatically prevents one from
being on the Honor Roll. Those
with 70 or more points are award-
ed first honors, those receiving
between 60 and 70 points receive
second honors, and those with 50
to 59 points are given honorable
mention. The Honor Roll for the
first grading period is as follows:
FIRST HONORS
Lee Warner ..... Senior
Helen Kelly..... Junior
Lucile Ross .... Sophomore
Robert Storrs .... Freshmen
Richard Vogel .... Freshmen
SECOND HONORS
Kevin Kearns .... Senior
Ruth Hitchens ... Senior
Lisa Fletcher .... Junior
Laraine Kemp .. . Junior
Karen Olson .... Junior
Mark Svenningsen Junior
Walter Ellsworth Junior
Francis Freed .... Sophomore
Paula Tower .... Freshmen
Stephen Ellison .. Freshmen
HONORABLE MENTION
Pam Moreland ... Junior
Colin Warner .... Junior
Cynthia Fletcher Freshmen