The White Falcon - 23.11.1963, Side 1

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Volume II, Number 41
U.S. NAVAL STATION, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ICELAND Saturday, November 23, 1963

MAJOR J. C. YOUNGBLOOD reenlists TSgt. Robert L. Jordan for
three years in ceremonies atop the 126-ft. NARS antenna (inset and
top of tower). The ceremony was held Sunday October 17 atop the
antenna in deference to TSgt. Jordan’s wishes that his last reenlist-
ment be marked in an unusual manner.
TSgt. Mounts Antenna
For Final Enlistment
The 13th may be unlucky for some, but TSgt Robert L. Jordan,
667th AC&W Sq, H-3, doesn’t believe it.
Maybe it was because the 13th of October fell on Sunday. On
that day, TSgt Jordan, his commander, Maj. J. C. Youngblood, and
witnesses, climbed to the top of the 126-ft. NARS antenna. With
the completion of his oath, Sgt Jordan became the first man to
reenlist on-site at H-3, and the first airman known to have reenlis-
ted on top of a NARS or BMEW system antenna.
TSgt Jordan is the site medic at H-3. He completed 17 years ser-
vice in October and wanted to mark his final reenlistment in some
special way. Eight days later, his wife, Dolores, noted another special
day by giving birth to their 6th child, a daughter named Mary
Catherine.
Icelandic-American Dance At Saga Nov. 29
An Icelandic-American Thanks- 1
giving Dinner Dance will be, held
Friday evening, November 29, at
the Saga Hotel in Reykjavik.
A semi-formal affair (suit and
tie), the dance is open to both of-
ficers and enlisted men.
Tickets can be purchased from
administration officers of each
unit. Tickets covering admission,
service charge, tips, and three
course dinner are $6.80 per per-
son. Tickets covering all of the
above, but offering a four course
dinner are $7.80.
A free chartered bus will depart
the Officer’s Club at 6:15 p.m.
the evening of the dance and re-
turn sometime after 1 a.m. the
next morning.
Island Created Off Iceland Coast
The earth’s surface ruptured and a new island was created amidst flame and vapo-
rized water, November 14, ten miles off the southwest coast of Iceland.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. the calm, uniroken waters of the North Atlantic parted
before the force of the earth’s opening. Debris and steam spewed forth from the fissure,
■^creating a vertical column mea-^
suring 600 ft.
Four miles away the inhabitants
of the secluded fishing village of
Vestmannaeyjar watched in fas-
cination, wondering if the crea-
Fffpptimr Rptirpmont tion would effect their security.
UIGllUllg l»Glll GIIIGIIl Meanwhile, Naval Station air-
Navy Department
Releases Directive
Retirement
“Twenty-year retirement may
be routine, but not if you’re need-
ed,” says the Navy’s newest direc-
tive on the subject.
SecNav Instruction 1811.3E
which has beeq effective since
July 1,1963, brings up some point-
ers that men in or nearing retire-
ment should bear in mind.
The first is that voluntary
retirement after 20 years service
is not an indisputable right. Re-
gular Navy officers have a legal
vested right to voluntary retire-
ment only after the completion of
at least 40 years active service. En-
listed personnel have the same
right to retirement after 30 years.
All requests for 20-year retire-
ment are considered on the basis
of service needs and individual
merits.
Normally, voluntary retirement
is granted for the following:
1. Flag officers with 30 years
of active service and at least five
years in flag grade.
2. Other officers with at least
30 years active service.
3. Commanders and captains
(0-5 and 0-6), warrant officers
W-3 and W-4, and chief petty
officers (E-7, E-8 and E-9) who
have completed at least two years
in grade.
4. Officers who twice fail selec-
tion for promotion.
5. Those with limited assign-
ment ability owing to over-age in
grade, health, deterioration, or
similar causes.
6. Those with various personal
hardships that could be alleviated
by retirement.
It is often necessary to reject
requests for retirement, even in
cases covered by one or more of
the above points.________
Brownbaggers Invited To
Galley For Thanksgiving
Married military personnel and
their families are invited to par-
ticipate in the Thanksgiving din-
ner in the general mess on Novem-
ber 28.
The dinner is scheduled to be
served in Galley 755 between the
hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Prices for the meal are as fol-
lows:
Dependent civilian guests and
Officers $.95.
Enlisted personnel drawing
commuted rations $.80.
Children under 12 years of age
$.55.
In order to make arrangements
early all personnel planning to
attend should call Ext. 7155 for
reservations.
craft were scrambling aloft to
witness and record the natural
phenomenon. A station C-47, car-
rying Rear Adm. Paul D. Buie
and a number of observors, was
the first aircraft in the area.
An enveloping haze ranging up
to 8,000 ft. met the oncoming ob-
servers. A sulphuric fume,
seemingly emitted from the depths
of hell, permeated the onlookers’
aircraft.
History of Fire
The eruption is by no means
new to Iceland. The biggest and
most well known was the Mt.
Hekla eruption occurring in 1947.
Active during the middle ages,
Hekla was hailed in Europe as
an open door to hell. Mount Askja,
situated 160 miles northeast of
Keflavik in the Valley of Ill
Deeds, was the last to blow its
top in November, 1960. The last
previous undersea eruption in
the waters surrounding Iceland
occured in 1783.
The newborn island continues
to grow and flourish with each
day, a stationary vapor cloud of
undiminishing size from its cen-
ter remaining visible to over 75
miles. On Wednesday morning the
island measured approximately
600 yds. in length, 50 yds. wide
and 55 yds. high.
JFK Nominates Kirkpatrick
As Chief Of Naval Personnel
Rear, Adm. Charles Cochran Kirpatrick, Superintendent
of the Naval Academy, was recently nominated by Presi-
dent Kennedy to relieve retiring Vice Adm. William Smed-
berg as Chief of Naval Personnel.
A former enlisted man and ®>~
Naval Academy graduate, Rear
Adm. Kirkpatrick is scheduled to
relieve Vice Adm. Smedberg next
March.
A native of San Angelo, Texas,
Rear Adm. Kirkpatrick enlisted
in the Navy in 1924. He served
three years as a whitehat before
winning a fleet appointment to
Annapolis. He graduated in 1931.
During World War II, as a sub-
mariner, the admiral commanded
the USS Triton on three war pat-
rols in which the submarine was
credited with sinking more than
22,000 tons of enemy shipping. As
the Triton’s skipper he won three
Navy Crosses, the Silver Star and
the Army’s Distinguished Service
Cross.
Navy Fuel To
Heat City
Washington (NAVNEWS) — The
Navy has moved to avert a fuel
shortage which threatens to leave
the civilian community at Point
Barrow, Alaska, without heat mid-
way in the Arctic winter.
Severe storms recently wrought
heavy damage to Alaska’s north-
ernmost settlement on the shores
of the Arctic Ocean, resulting in
the loss of nearly half the fuel
oil stored for this winter’s use.
Oil is moved into Point Barrow
by ship during ice-free summers.
(Continued on Page 10.)