The White Falcon - 30.04.1965, Blaðsíða 3

Friday, April 30, 1965
WHITE FALCON
3
DON’T DROP THE ORANGE—This was one of the games that the
Icelandic Brownie Scouts from Reykjavik and Junior Girl Scout
Troop #3 played as the troop from the base hosted their Icelandic
counterparts Tuesday, April 20, at the Chief’s Club. The idea of the
game was to form a circle and pass an orange around without using
one’s hands. Sound simple? Try it some time.
20 Icelandic Brownie Scouts
See ‘America’ In Naval Base
by Gail Kiracofe
If you were in the VP hangar, the bowling alley, or the
TV station last Tuesday, you may have seen a group of
blond-haired girls dressed in khaki uniforms, or in a natty
new blue uniform, touring these facilities. If so, you saw
®the Icelandic Brownie Scouts who
AFI Takes In
were visiting the base as guests
of Junior Girl Scout Troop #3.
600 New Ideas
Twenty Brownies traveled from
Reykjavik to spend the day “in
More than 600 suggestions were
received by AFI officials Monday
climaxing the first unit-wide
“Suggestion Day” ever held on
the Station.
A number of other suggestions
were expected to trickle in
throughout the week from airmen
and officers who were on leave,
working nights, or otherwise un-
able to submit their ideas on Sug-
gestion Day.
Two units, the 667th and 932d
Aircraft Control and Warning
Sqs., had more suggestions turned
in than they had men assigned,
as some workers turned in more
than one idea on how the Air
Force could save money, material
or manpower.
At the close of the working day
Monday AFI suggestion program
officials had in hand 614 sugges-
tions from more than 640 men as-
signed in Iceland, for participation
rate of over 95%.
The Suggestion Day was highly
successful in the eyes of program
officials, and a great number of
the suggestions are expected to
he forwarded on to reviewing
hoards for consideration and im-
plementation.
Know Your
Traff ic Sign
CLOSED TO
AIL VEHICLES
America”, with their leader Ingi-
bjorg Juliusdottir and three other
adult leaders. After a typical
American meal of fried chicken
at the Chief’s Club and the tour
of the base, the Brownies met with
their hostesses for an afternoon
of songs and games.
Their meeting opened with a
candlelight ceremony in which the
Promise and Laws of the Brownies
and the Girl Scouts were repeated.
Betty Devaney, member of the
Junior troop, acted as interpreter
during the ceremony.
Both groups are members of
the World Association of Girl
Guides and Girl Scouts, and al-
though the words may vary some-
what, the basic meaning of the
Promise and Laws is the same in
either language.
The afternoon ended with a
friendship circle and the presen-
tation of handmade headscarfs to
the Brownies from the Junior Girl
Scouts. Leaders of the Junior
troop are Mrs. Charles Hughes,
Mrs. Thomas Fortini and Mrs.
Roy Bowers.
Admiral and Mrs. Ralph Wey-
mouth and Captain and Mrs. Ro-
bert R. Sparks were interested
observers of the candlelight cere-
mony, and were introduced to the
girls. They later conferred with
Mrs. Borghildur Fenger, inter-
national commissioner; Mrs.
Selma Vigbergsdottir, internation-
al secretary; and Mrs. Elizabeth
Magmusdottir, post-box secretary,
of the Icelandic Girl Guide move-
ment, who. traveled here with the
Brownies.
Also present were Mrs. W. E.
Kiracofe, neighborhood chairman,
and Mrs. William Sturdevant, se-
cretary-treasurer of the local
group.
Icebreaker Edisto, AGB2, Plays
Major Supply Role For ARLIS II
(Editor's Note: The following is one of a series of articles written exclusively for the White Falcon
about ARLIS II—Arctic Research Laboratory Ice Station.)
by Special Correspondent Mike Greenman
The USS Edisto (AGB-2) was originally classified as an auxiliary (AG-89). It
is now one of four Wind Class icebreakers in the Navy. The ship is equipped with a
reinforced icebreaker hull, a flight deck over the fantail, and a healing tank system.
This tank system serves a double purpose.
When the ship has rammed itself on the ice, water is pumped from side to side to
provide the ship with an artificial1^
list of up to 10 degrees. This aids
in breaking the ice. Or if the ice
is too thick, the water can he
pumped into the stern. This lifts
the bow free of the ice and per-
mits the ship to slide backwards
into the water again.
Does Own Reconnaissance
When operating, the Edisto
carries two helicopters for ice
reconnaissance, landing parties,
rescue work, and cargo handling.
The ship displaces 6,400 tons when
fully loaded and is equipped with
six main diesel engines and two
electric propulsion motors deve-
loping a total of 10,000 shaft
horsepower.
In addition to her icebreaking
capabilities, she is also equipped
to conduct meteorological and hy-
drographic surveys.
IIMMM! THAT’S PRETTY THICK
ICE DOWN THERE!—Cdr Norval
E. Nickerson, comanding officer
of the USS Edisto, peers out the
observers port of a VP-56 radar-
equipped super constellation to try
to spot leads, or stretches of open
water in the ice, through which
he can steer his ship as it heads
North on its mission to evacuate
the men and equipment from
ARLIS II.
Edisto’s Mission
The mission of the Edisto, as
stated in their “welcome aboard”
pamphlet, is: “to provide ice
breaking services in support of
bases and operations in Arctic
and Antarctic regions.” The
Edisto has fulfilled very well this
mission, in both polar areas, ever
since her commissioning in 1947.
She took part in Operation Deep-
freeze in 1955, ’58, ’61 and ’63.
She has also made annual resup-
ply missions to the Arctic.
The Edisto, however, has far
outdone the letter of her mission,
taking part in rescue missions, con-
struction pprograms, and oceano-
graphic expeditions between tours
of icebreaking.
Relief Work
In early 1959, she assisted the
people of Uruguay with their
disastrous floods. The men of the
Edisto worked many long hard
hours in flood relief. Upon their
departure, they received ther per-
sonal thanks of the President of
Uruguay for their assistance.
She participated, in 1949, in
the construction of radar stations
in the northern regions. In 1955
she participated in a joint Cana-
dian-United States program to
construct the Distant E early
Warning Line, a network of re-
mote radar stations along the
northern fringe of the Western
Hemisphere.
Data Collection
During Operation High Jump
in 1947, on the second Antarctic
development project, her mission
was to collect information relating
to geographical, hydrographical,
meteorological, and electromagne-
tic conditions of the areas visited.
In 1963, she conducted an oceano-
graphic survey in the waters off
Northern Greenland and Norway.
She did this again in 1964 and has
been doing it again now.
READY TO GO AT MOMENT’S
NOTICE—Two helicopters sit on
the after deck of the USS Edisto.
The lielos fly frequent ice reco-
naissance flights, carry landing
parties, and do rescue work. They
are the “eyes” of the ship. When
operating in heavy ice, the Captain
or the executive officer “con” the
ship from the air.
The Edisto and its men are to
he particularly commended for
the work they are doing right
now, in the evacuation of ARLIS
II. They have spent the last
months in the Antarctic, establish-
ing a Nuclear Power Station on
that continent. They were in Nor-
folk, Va., looking forward to a
couple of months of rest in port
with their families.
Current Assignment
On March 30 they received a
message ordering them to proceed
to Boston, Mass., to take all pre-
parations to substitute for the
USS Atka (AGB-1) in the eva-
cuation of ARLIS II. They had
six days to work to prepare be-
fore departing for the Arctic.
They were ready in five days and
left Boston on April 6 with no
leave, and probably very little li-
berty. However, I’m sure that on
their return to Boston in a couple
of weeks, these hard-working men
will certainly be given their well
earned rest.
Next week? Well, we’ll wait and
see what happens in the mean-
time.
PEST CONTROLLERS — Two men of the Public Works Department receive certificates signifying
their successful completion as qualified pest control operators. Accepting the certificates from Cdr
William E. Reese, Public Works officer (right), are William E. McConnell, DC2, who works in the pest
control section of maintenance and utilities division; Kjartan Ijonsson, who works at quarterman general
services; and George L. Sims, Jr., special assistant for Applied Biology, Atlantic Division, Bureau of
Yards and Docks (BUDOCKS). The ceremony took place in Commander Reese’s office April 20.