The White Falcon - 25.01.1964, Síða 5

Saturday, January 25, 1964
WHITE FALCON
E & T Report-
5
Mars
Go Regular,
Ship Over,
Advance
GOING REGULAR — Lt. Mary McIntyre (NC), signed over in the
regular Navy after serving three years as Reserve Officer. Lt. Mc-
Intyre sewed on her Lieutenant’s stripe on Dec. 1, 1963. She enlisted
in the Navy on Oct. 7, 1952.
FIRST TO SHIP IN ‘64 — Cpl. R. P. Bruckler
became the first Marine aboard the Naval Sta-
tion to reenlist in 1964, in ceremonies held in
the office of Lt. Col. A. E. House, Commanding
Officer of the Marine Barracks, January 20. The
reenlistment was for a period of six years. Bruck-
ler is soon to transfer t# the U. S. Naval Station,
Jacksonville, Fla.
ADVANCING — Robert D. Curtis accepts his
certificate of advancement to YN3 from Rear
Adm. Paul D. Buie, ComBarForLant. Curtis works
in OpCon, BarLant.
Army, AF Chutists Set World Record
A 13-man Army-Air Force team
of parachutists has set a world
record by falling 41,000 feet, al-
most eight miles, before opening
chutes.
The team beat the Russian
world record by 4,350 feet. The
old mass-jump record was 36,650
feet, set by a nine-man Russian
team in 1961.
The U.S. parachutists jumped
in pairs from a C-130 turboprop
Air Force transport over El Cen-
tro, Calif.
All of the parachutists, train-
ed at the Army Special Warfare
Center, Ft. Bragg, N.C., fell for
three minutes and 20 seconds
before opening their parachutes.
The chutists are participating in
a series of tests called Operation
Halo (high altitude, low opening).
In the free fall, the temperature
was 67 degrees below zero when
the men left the plane. The jump-
ers carried oxygen bottles good
for eight to 10 minutes in thin
atmosphere.
Each man also carried a seal-
ed barograph which automa-
tically measured variations in
atmospheric pressure.
These devices will be used by
the Federation Internationale
Aeronautique in Paris to estab-
lish the jump altitude and para-
chute opening altitude of each.
The purposes of the jump was
to confirm current procedure and
to develop further military ap-
plication.
Modified MSTS Ships
To Haul Saturn Rockets
The Military Sea Transporta-
tion Service has agreed to modify
two ships to haul NASA’s giant
Saturn V launch vehicle from pro-
duction and test sites in Cali-
fornia to launch sites at Cape
Kennedy, Fla.
Two LSD class ships, the USNS
Point Barrow and possibly the
USNS Paurus, will be modified
with additional equipment and in-
strumentation to carry three-stage
rockets such as the S-IC booster,
which measures 172 feet long and
is 38 feet in diameter.
Under the agreement, first ship-
ment could occur as early as 1965.
Officials said the use of available
government resources should re-
sult in a considerable savings of
money and manpower.
Rapid Deployment
Techniques Slated
In 'Quick Release'
Operation Quick Release will
test new techniques in the rapid
deployment of combat forces and
their equipment in the Pacific
Comand sometime in February.
The operation will involve mov-
ing an Army brigade task force
from Hawaii to Okinawa by
MATS aircraft.
The exercise will also involve
sea movement of heavy equip-
ment and supplies already stored
aboard converted victory ships
in Subic Bay in the Philippines.
Maintained by the Navy’s Mili-
tary Sea Transport Service, the
floating depots will move to the
Ryukyu Islands to join the
troops.
Quick Release is expected to
speed up delivery of troops to
trouble spots and reduce require-
ments for airlift during initial
stages of an operation.
Soldiers on the airlift will carry
only essential personal and light
combat equipment.
Reduced
Provides
Retirement Pay
Survivor Benefits
The Retired Serviceman’s Family Protection Plan pro-
vides that a member of the services may elect to receive
a reduced amount of retired pay in order to provide an
annuity, payable after death in retired status, to his bene-
ficaries.
The fact that unless the retired serviceman has made
a timely election to participate in this plan, his retired
pay will stop on the date of his1
death with no portion of it con-
tinuing to his survivors, is un-
known to many. By selecting parti-
cipation in the plan, the retired
man may replace, at least in part,
survivor benefits normally lost as
a result of retirement.
A member may elect to provide
one or. more of the following an-
nuities in amounts equal to one-
half, one-quarter, or one-eighth
of his retired pay as reduced by
the cost of the annuity:
OPTION 1 — An annuity pay-
able to, or on behalf of, the sur-
viving spouse. It will terminate
upon her death or remarriage.
OPTION 2 — An annuity pay-
able to, or on behalf of, the sui^
viving child or children. It will
terminate when there ceases to
be at least one survivor who is
unmarried and under 18 years
of age. However, an unmarried
child 18 or over who became in-
capable of self-support before
reaching the age of 18 will con-
tinue to receive the annuity un-
til he or she recovers from the
disability, marriage or death.
OPTION 3 — An annuity pay-
able to, or on behalf of, the sur-
viving spouse and surviving child
or children. It will be paid to the
surviving spouse until death or
remarriage, and thereafter pay-
ments will be made in equal shares
to the surviving children remain-
ing eligible.
OPTION 4 — This option pro-
vides no benefits for survivors,
but is the utmost importance to
everyone who participate in the
plan to elect. When combined with
Options 1, 2, or 3, it provides that
no further deductions will be made
from the retired pay of the mem-
ber when there is no remaining
beneficiary eligible to receive an
annuity under the option elected.
The member should always con-
sider combining Option 4 with
other option or options he selects.
If Option 4 is not chosen, the
serviceman will continue to pay
for his selected option (s), even
though there is no one eligible.
A member may choose both op-
tions 1 and 2 (with or without
Option 4) as a combination. How-
ever, he may not combine Option
1 or 2 with Option 3. Should a
member elect both Options 1 and
2, he may not elect a oercentage
of participation greater than one-
fourth of each.
An active member without de-
pendents mav nevertheless make
an election under the ’Family
Protection Plan. If no eligible de-
pendents exist at the time of his
retirement, no deductions will be
made from the retired pay.
Personnel on active duty may
make an election to participate
in this plan prior to completing
18 years of service which is credit-
able for pay purposes. A member
who does not elect to participate
prior to completing 18 years of
service may make an election at
a later date.
However, an election made after
completion of 18 years will have
no effect if the member is gran-
ted retired pay within 3 years of
the date he made his election. In
other words, the member is re-
quired to remain on active duty
for 3 years from the date of the
election in order to be insured.
A member may modify the
terms of his election as often as
he desires prior to retirement but
no modification becomes effective
until 3 years from the date of
execution. If a member is granted
retired pay within the 3-year
waiting period, the modification
will have no effect, and the mem-
ber retains his original election.
Notification of a change of de-
pendent is not considered a modi-
fication and may be made at any
time prior to retirement.
A member may revoke an elec-
tion at any time before retire-
ment and he may also withdraw
his revocation by filing a new
election. However, a revocation or
filing of new election, like a modi-
fication, is subject to a 3-year
waiting period before retirement.
If a member is retired within
3 years from the date he revokes
an election, or files a new election,
the revocation or election will have
no effect, and again, the member
will maintain his original election.
The elections made by the mem-
ber prior to retirement or at the
time of retirement cannot be
modified or revoked after retire-
ment nor can a beneficiary be
changed after retirement.
Dependents acquired after re-
tirement do not become eligible
to receive an annuity upon the
death of the member.
For additional information con-
cerning this program, consult the
Naval Station Education and
Training Office, or your Career
Counselor.
Frozen 'Ham'
Delights Men
In Antarctica
McMurdo Sound — Here in
Antarctica, Petty Officer Walter
R. Jones is well known as the
“morale man.” To the world ham
radio operators, with whom he
is in contact each day, he is known
as the “Old Man of the Ice.”
Jones has the unique job of
establishing contact with ham
operators in the United States so
that telephone links can be made
between the men of McMurdo and
their families.
Petty Officer Jones makes con-
tact with more than 165 hams in
the United States willing to make
contacts for the men of Antarctica.
He completes about 14 daily.
Jones says that the calls “are
as much a morale factor for the
wives, sweethearts and mothers of
the men at home as they are for
the men down here.”