The White Falcon - 23.11.1963, Page 6

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WHITE FALCON
Saturday, November 23, 1963
Archie Premont, CS2, keeps a watchful eye on the day's bread as it
bakes. One of the plus features of Misty Mountain duty, meals are
adjudged by Site personnel to be excellent by any standards.
The Site is entirely dependent upon the Naval Station for
600 lbs. are transported from Reykjavik to the Site by sh
weighing less than 600 lbs. H-2 Officer-in-Charge, Lt. G,
Airlines C-47.
WUj 9
Although staffed by just one man, the Site Radio Station broadcasts — thanks to the
efforts of volunteer announcers—from 18 to 24 hours daily. Programming is tailored
to please the individuat tastes of Site personnel; music broadcast runs the spectrum
from rock’n roll to the symphonic classicals.
lines of H-2 and must be kept open at all costs. Without their passa-
bility, the air and sea cargo shipments are for naught. Responsibility
for keeping the roads open rests with the Transportation Division.
To accomplish their task Transportation personnel are equipped with
a snow blower, road grader, and two bulldozers. Even with the equip-
ment, it is a monumental task to keep the 16 miles of roads open
over the course of the 7-month, October through April, winter.
Yet, the winter months do not present the biggest problems. Tran-
sportation, through sheer diligence, manages to keep roads open and
all drivers are thoroughly familar with the special driving problems
presented by ice- and snow-covered roads. The greatest threat to the
roads is presented by the spring thaw. The winter’s accumulation
of snow melts and seeps into the ground, undermining and eroding
the road.
At the present there are no culverts to carry away the spring
torrents, but Lt. Bryan has expressed hope that concrete ones might
be constructed next summer.
One of the more extreme problems presented by isolated duty
is that of boredom. Off-duty hours drag by with agonizing slowness
as memory drifts again and again to thoughts of home. To combat
the effects of boredom the Site has a number of leisure time activi-
ties far in excess of that expected of a base of its small size. There
are a gymnasium, radio station, library, hobby shop, rifle range, en-
listed and petty officer lounges. Movies are shown daily at noon,
6 p.m. and midnight for the benefit of men coming off duty.
In the winter, weather permitting, there is ice skating on local
lakes and ponds. Site personnel with a taste for hairier action
take to the slopes for wild rides in a handmade, two-man bobsled.
During the summer, Site anglers fish local streams and lakes leas-
ed by the base which abound with trout and salmon. Twenty-five
inch salmon were common catches last season.
Due to a lack of outside dining facilities — exchange and club
cafeterias — special efforts have been made by Site commissarymen