The White Falcon - 01.06.1963, Side 6

6
WHITE FALCON
Saturday, June 1, 1963
* News Of The Week -K
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK—Although the entire nation was keyed-up during his flight, astronaut L. Gor-
don Cooper kept a sedate approach to his day’s affairs. He began (upper left) as he walked to the capsule
together with astronaut Walter Schirra. Once inside the capsule (upper right) he made a final check-out
of his instruments before blasting off. Later, three Navy frogmen (lower left) aided in the recovery of the
Faith 7 capsule. He culminated his busy day lower right) aboard the carrier USS Kearsarge when he
spoke to his wife and to President Kennedy.
Terrific Tumult Greets Triumphant
Cooper Tour After 22-Orbit Mission
Maj. L. Gordon Cooper Jr. has been presented the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Distinguish-
ed Service Medal by President John F. Kennedy.
The colorful ceremonies were held amidst full military
honors at the White House. Later, the 36-year-old astronaut
related the details of his flight to an attentive President in
the Presidential private office.
the flight; he had “struggled and
struggled” to get water out of his
drinking container; and he had
seen a strao from the retro-rocket
package turn red and then white-
hot before it broke away from the
capsule during re-entry.
Possibly the most significant
accomplishment made in the 22-
After addressing a packed joint meeting of Congress,
Cooper left the Nation’s Capital for New York City where
he was acclaimed with plaudits comparable to those re-
ceived by aviator Charles Lindbergh, whose triumphant
return was marked in this city 36 years ago to the day.
The astronaut spoke of the great accomplishments of
his fellow Mercury space team members saying that he
certainly believed that they could lengthen their time in
space to as much as six days.
But Dr. Robert C. Sea- ^
mans Jr., associate admin-
istrator of NASA, said
Major Cooper’s flight had
been so successful that he thought
it “quite unlikely” there would
be another Mercury flight. Fi-
nal decision, he said, would be
made in a week or so.
Major Cooper hitherto had
been regarded as the “quiet one,”
the Gary Cooper of astronauts. In
his news conference, however, he
was full of his experience, going
over each aspect of the flight in
clear detail and throwing in hu-
morous references easily and fre-
quently.
Among the disclosures made
public by the astronaut were: he
had napped on several unsched-
uled occasions, both on the launch
pad before take-off and early in
orbit flight, he stated, was a
successful experiment performed
in the third orbit.
During that orbit he released
from the capsule another capsule
equipped with two flashing lights.
This marked the first time that a
satellite had been launched from
another U. S. satellite. The un-
usual experiment was designed to
determine the feasability of using
flashing lights as a reference
point for sighting and rendez-
vousing with another object in
space.
In later orbits Cooper was able
to see the flashing beacon up to
an estimated 18 miles.
NASA officials acclaimed the
“textbook” flight as being highly
successful and eminently produc-
tive, marred only by electrical and
condensation system difficulties
that will be corrected for later
space projects.
UCO WtteA Club
By Margarita Robinson
The NCO Wives Social, May
21, got underway with a bang as
the firing of a rocket kicked off
the gala evening.
The rocket took 16 hours to
build and really got the show on
the road.
The Social was held in the read-
ing room of the NCO Club and
had an “All-American” theme
which spread universally through-
out the entire gathering.
Hostesses for the festive event
were Sherry Trapp and Doreen
Hall, who did an excellent job
providing all with a great time.
The tables took on an air of
outer space. Rockets and satel-
lites adorned the table-tops. Sand-
wiches were representative of
heavenly figures, and the whole
affair was ‘just out of this world.’
For entertainment, games were
played and prizes awarded.
A gallery of guests marked the
festivities. They were: Jane Ro-
mano, Barbara Parenteau, Bea-
trice Bennet, Carolyn Shank,
Donna Hicks, Sally Pontsen, Edie
Hutchinson, Peggy Hendrickson,
Mabel Barks, Joan Flack and
Peile Cupp.
We sincerely enjoyed your com-
pany girls, and hope we can do
it again soon.
Men of the Month
Ralph L. Conner III, AT3; A1C
Lee Van Ocker; and LCpl Jack
Zorn were named Iceland Defense
Force’s Sailor, Airman, and Mar-
ine for the month of April. Rear
Adm. Paul D. Buie, Commander
Iceland Defense Force, presented
them with certificates of achieve-
ment and $25 checks.
Aviation Electrician’s Mate
Conner, assigned to Patrol Squad-
ron Eleven, has been in the Navy
since 1961. He calls Wilmington,
Delaware home.
Aii-man Van Ocker, assigned to
the 57th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron comes from Rochester,
New York. He joined the Air
Force in 1961 and is an Airborne
Radar Navigational Equipment
Repairman.
Lance Corporal Zorn, assigned
to the Marine Barracks, has been
in the Marine Corps since 1960.
He comes from Angelica, New
York.
MEN OF THE MONTH—Left to right are: Ralph L. Conner III, AE3,
Sailor of the Month; Rear Adm. Paul D. Buie, Commander Iceland De-
fense Force; A1C Lee H. Van Ocker, Airman of the Month; and LCpl.
Jack Zorn, Marine of the Month. Rear Adm. Paul D. Buie presented
Certificates of Achievement and $25 checks to these men selected as
the outstanding Sailor, Airman, and Marine of the Iceland Defense
Force during April.
Naval Station
In Fiscal 1962
It is difficult to describe the U. S. Naval Station at
Keflavik. It is even more difficult to attempt to explain
all the facets of the organization, but, an attempt can be
made through looking over the vital statistics of NavSta.
The Naval Station covers 24,000 acres and has a plant
value of $180 million. In the'®'
course of an average year.
its!
gross disbursements are on the
order of $22 million.
The figures for fiscal year 1962
are impressive. Over $10.5 million
was spent for supplies, equipment,
and services. Of this amount,
local dealers and contractors re-
ceived $8.8 million.
Payrolls reflect a bright ‘green’
color. $4.4 million went to mili-
tary personnel, of which there are
more than 3,000.
More than 650 civilians are em-
ployed at the station. Most of the
civil employees are Icelandic. The
civilian payroll was $2.6 million.
The NavSta Supply Department
has its collective hands full. Some
30,000 measured tons of surface
cargo were handled in fiscal ’62.
This gave Supply an inventory of
almost 50,000 items, with a cost
of some $663 thousand. Local sup-
pliers earned the major portion,
about $500 of the $663 thousand.
Two of the larger departments
of NavSta are Operations and
Airci-aft Maintenance. “OPS” is
truly a “moving” outfit, logging
more than 2,000 take-offs and
landings a month. This air traf-
fic includes logistic support flights
to the various remote sites, as well
as Sea-Air Rescue adventures.
Maintenance is responsible for
the up-keep of the Station’s ten
assigned aircraft. On request, it
provides maintenance support for
civil aircraft. An average of 100
transient military aircraft, U. S.
and others, receive Maintenance
support monthly, plus the aircraft
of the VW and VP squadrons as-
signed to COMBARFORLANT.
The FACT$ and FIGURE$ of
fiscal ’63 are not yet available,
but it would seem that NavSta
Kef’ is a thriving youngster, and
an expensive one, even on its sec-
ond birthday.