The White Falcon - 02.04.1965, Blaðsíða 1

NATO Celebrates Anniversary
AFWL’s Eighth Ranked Sea Service Newspaper - 1964
THE WHITE
U.S. NAVAL STATION, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ICELAND
Volume IV, Number 13 Friday, April 2, 1965
DEPARTURE—RAdm Ralph Weymouth bids farewell to Dr. Eugene
G. Fubini, Deputy Director, Assistant Secretary of Defense in the
office of Research and Engineering in Washington, following a heli-
copter tour of the Naval Station. (Photo by Lang, PHAN)
Weymouth Welcomes Fubini;
Tours Base Via Helicopter
Dr. Eugene G. Fubini, U.S. Deputy Director in the office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense, layed over in Keflavik
last Monday on his way to the United States.
Part of the group accompanying Mr. Fubini were RAdm
Noel A. Gaylor, Naval Operations; Dr. John L. McLucus,
Deputy Director Tactical Warfare Programs; and Brig. Gen.
William T. Ryder, in the De-®
partment of Secretary of De-
fense.
Mr. Fubini was returning from
Germany where he met with re-
presentatives of the German Min-
istry of Defense to discuss pro-
jects of mutual interest.
Admiral Gaylor had spent time
in Rome where he had talked to
officials of the Italian Navy con-
cerning projects of operations and
certain operational ideas with the
Italians.
RAdm Ralph Weymouth ac-
companied Mr. Fubini and Ad-
miral Gaylor on a helicopter tour
of the Naval Station. After see-
ing the base, Admiral Gaylor said,
“My impression is that the people
here are working very long hours
and very effectively to make a
completely unique contribution to
the security of the free world.”
Navy Lab On Ice Island
ARLIS-II Nears Iceland
A drifting arctic ice island on which the Navy operates a scientific laboratory as part
of its arctic research program, has begun a historic transit of the Greenland Sea. Now
about 35 nautical miles off the coast of Greenland, the ice island’s course southward
toward the Atlantic Ocean has permitted the study of an area which surface ships have
never penetrated in winter and only rarely in the summer months.
Known as ARLIS-II (Arctic Research Laboratory Ice Station) the ice island is two
miles long, one and a half miles'?’
wide, and is 50 to 60 feet thick.
The ARLIS-II project is main-
tained and supported by the of-
fice of Naval Reasearch under
the management of University of
Alaska. The floating laboratory
was established in May, 1961,
when it was about 130 miles
north of Point Barrow. Since then,
it has followed a meandering path
until it is now about 2400 miles
from the point where it was first
manned. Its normal complement is
12 to 15 men, including scientists
and support personnel.
Only once before has a manned
drifting ice station traversed the
Greenland sea. A Russian sta-
tion, N\P-1, made the trip in 1937-
38. NP-1 was an ice floe—which
is smaller and less stable than an
ice island. Only one other ice
island has ever been inhabited by
the U. S. for arctic research —
Fletcher’s Ice Island, or T-3—
which is also operated by ARL
for the Navy and is presently
drifting between Point Barrow
and ARLIS-II.
The drift of ARLIS-II through
In This Issue
NATO Anniversary ... Pg. 3
U.S.O. Show .......... Pg. 4
Youth Carnival ....... Pg. 5
New Pay Raise........ Pg. 6
Aurora Borealis Phenomena—Good Or Evil?
Personnel of the Iceland Defense Force here in Keflavik are in one of the most ad-
vantageous geographical locations in the world to observe one of nature’s most unusual
sky phenomena—the Aurora Borealis, commonly known as the Northern Lights.
A glance skyward during almost any cloudless night will reveal the aurora resplen-
dent in a dazzling spectacle of colors: white, pink and red—with others changing from
pale to deep green and yellow.
In shape, color and motion, the polar lights play varied and fascinating roles, all
incident to the electric discharges1^
in the very rare, high -and ex-
ceedingly ionized atmosphere.
While some observers and
learned men down through the
ages have disagreed about the ef-
fects of a glowing midnight sun,
today’s scientists conclude that the
aurora is neither harmful in itself,
nor the harbinger of evil as had
been suspected in years back.
Location Of Aurora
The aurora are most frequently
found at about 60 degrees longi-
tude over the North American
continent and the Atlantic Ocean
and around 70 degrees north over
Siberia. The northern lights can
not be seen against a daylight sky,
although they do appear in day-
time. However, due to the great
glare of the sun, the sight is
blocked from view.
To the human eye, the lights
are strictly a nocturnal pheno-
mena and for this reason may be
seen during the winter months
more often because there are so
many hours of darkness.
Size and Shape
As seen against the heavens,
aurora may be seen as arcs, bands,
curtains, coronas, patches or dif-
fused glows. The rays are some-
times stationary, simply appear-
ing and disappearing without
seeming to move. At other times
there is rapid motion and they
seem to shoot rapidly upward and
recede.
One of the most unusual dis-
plays of the Northern Lights was
seen west of Norway on Sept. 18,
1926. It appeared to be an arc
to the eye, but photos showed it
to be composed of a curtain of
rays. The diffused form of the
aurora reached the height of 600
miles. Calculations proved this,
although normally they have an
upper limit of about 250 miles
and a lower limit of about 50
(Continued on page 8.)
the Greenland Sea provides the
U. S. with the first opportunity
to study in detail this relatively
unknown geographic area. The
Greenland Sea is particularly
significant to the Navy since it
provides an important deep water
access route for submarines into
the Arctic Ocean. It is also scien-
tifically important because it in-
cludes the broad transition zone
where cold Arctic waters and
warmer Atlantic waters are
known to mix.
There are currently five research
programs in progress aboard
ARLIS-II:
1. A program, conducted by the
Naval Oceanographic Office as
(Continued on page 8.)
Rate Cycle Changed;
Affects E-4’s-E-7’s
For those who took the fleet-wide examination for rating
last Feb. 4, their advancement may well be affected by
the new advancement increments set up by the Navy.
Rather than the two advancement increments of each
six months cycle, there will now be one increment each
month. Men will be advanced in®"
ratings on the 16th of May and
each month thereafter, through
Oct. 16.
The present examining system
provides for two increments per
advancement cycle. This system
has proved to be unsatisfactory
for purposes of proper personnel
management. The requirement for
maintaining the maximum
strength within the limitations of
the petty officer ceiling has been
difficult due to the fluctuations
in numbers and ratings of petty
officers on board.
In addition, and of great im-
portance, the maximum number
of advancements cannot be re-
liably accomplished.
In order to alleviate these un-
desirable effects, advancements
will be authorized on a monthly
basis. The six increments per
examination cycle will commence
with the February 1965 exam
cycle. It will affect pay grades
E-4 through E-7.
Advancement procedures for
pay grades E-8 and E-9, however,
will not be affected by the new
system.
Personnel to be advanced will
be included in the appropriate in-
crement on the basis of their final
multiple standing. The highest of
the final multiples will be on the
first increment and then in de-
scending order on subsequent in-
crements from the higher to the
Lower multiples.
The U.S. Naval Examing Cen-
ter will issue one Rating Ad-
vancement Letter, about April 1,
containing advancement authority
for all increments. Plus a listing
of personnel who passed the ex-
aminatin but were not selected
for advancement and a listing of
personnel who have failed to ob-
tain a passing score on the exam-
ination.
Efforts will be made to author-
ize the maximum number of. ad-
vancements, as early as possible,
in each advancement cycle.
White Falcon
Rated Eighth
The Naval Station’s newspaper,
The White Falcon, has been se-
lected by the Armed Forces’
Writers League (AFWL) as one
of the “top ten” sea services publi-
cations for 1964.
The judging was decided by a
panel of military and civilian
journalists in Washington.
Twenty publications competed
in the final judging from a field
of more than 500 sea services
papers.
With 900 points possible, Ser-
vice Force Pacific’s (SERVPAC)
Information Bulletin won AFWL’s
“Silver Anchor Trophy” as best
sea service newspaper with a
score of 722. The White Falcon
received a score of 654 for eighth
place.
The papers were judged on the
following: readership interest,
local news and command informa-
tion coverage, balance between
local and wider-interest news,
sports and recreational events,
intelligent use of filler material,
layout and typography, repro-
duction, photos and artwork, fea-
ture and column material and
use of available resources.