The White Falcon - 30.07.1965, Page 1
Capt Ruth A. Erickson, USN
Capt Erickson
Tours Kef lav ik
Naval Station
Capt. Ruth A. Erickson, U. S.
Navy Nurse Corps director, ar-
rived at Reykjavik Tuesday even-
ing to visit Keflavik for a two
day tour of the base and the Sta-
tion Hospital.
Prior to Captain Erickson’s ar-
rival, she had attended the Inter-
national Congress of Nurses in
Frankfurt, Germany in June.
Since then, she has been visiting
European bases where Navy nur-
ses are stationed.
Leaves Friday
Upon completion of her visit
at Keflavik, Captain Erickson is
scheduled to leave Friday for
Argentia, Newfoundland. From
there she will return to her office
in Washington, D. C.. arriving
on or about Aug. 2.
The captain was appointed to
the four-year position as the di-
rector of the Navy Nurse Corps
on April 30, 1962.
She began her career in the
U. S. Navy Nurse Corps, July 27,
1936 and attained the rank of
captain Jan. 1, 1960.
Witnesses Start Of WW II
Captain Erickson has had varied
tours of duty throughout the
world but perhaps the most me-
morable was when she was as-
signed to U. S. Naval Hospital,
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from 1940
(Continued on Page A-)
Warrant Test
Given Nov. 15
The 13th of August marks the
deadline for application for the
Warrant Officer Program. All
applications must be in the Edu-
cation and Training Office by
that date in order to take the
Officer Selection Battery Exa-
mination Nov. 15.
Basic eligibility requirements
are: be between the ages of 23
and 39, meet physical qualifica-
tions and be E-7 or above, or
an E-6 who has gone up for E-7.
Selectees will be appointed to
the U. S. Naval Officer Candidate
School at Newport R. I., or in
the case of aviation categories,
at U. S. Naval Air Station at
Pensacola, Fla. All selectees will
be required to serve at least three
years as a Warrant Officer.
Any further information about
the Warrant Officer or other
programs may be obtained by cal-
ling the Education and Training
Office at Ext. 5139 or 5238.
Regular Issue To Start
Because the White Falcon’s
printers are on their annual
vacation, the White Falcon will
continue to alternate with the
Falcon Flyer. Next Friday, the
Falcon Flyer will be distributed.
Starting Aug 13 the White
Falcon is scheduled to resume
its regular six to ten page edi-
tions.
AFWL's Eighth Ranked Sea Service Newspaper - 1964
THE WHITE
DR
U.S. NAVAL STATION, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ICELAND
Volume IV, Number 28 Friday, July 30, 1965
International Air Safety Project
Earns FAA Medal For Icelander
Ingo Bjarmundsson, Icelandic
electronics engineer, received the
Federal Aviation Agency’s dis-
tinguished service medal in cere-
monies held July 1 at FAA head-
quarters in Washington D. C.
Bjargmundsson received the
award from FAA’s deputy admini-
strator, Lt.Gen. Harold W. Grant,
for his outstanding contributions
to international air safety over
the North Atlantic.
Outstanding Service
The citation accompanying the
medal lauded Bjargmundsson’s
service since 1959 in carrying out
an Icelandic air safety program
jointly sponsored by the FAA,
U. S. Air Force, and the Icelandic
Civil Aviation Administration.
He was cited for his “extreme
dedication and outstanding engin-
eering capability which immeasur-
ably improved the safety of all
aircraft and passengers flying the
North Atlantic routes . . . ”.
Modernized Air Traffic Control
Bjargmundsson served as pro-
ject engineer for the program.
He kept installation moving at
full speed despite substantial
hardships. For three years he
spent more than 90 per cent of
his time away from his home in
Northern Iceland, working in all
parts of the country.
He designed and installed the
first air route traffic control
center in Reykjavik and extended
its modern communications capa-
bility to all of Iceland and its
approaches.
“Saves” U. S. Plane
In addition, this electronics en-
gineer supervised the installation
of the first instrument landing
system in Iceland and first short
range air navigation aid as well
as microwave radio link equipment
and radar.
One dividend of the program,
for which Bjargmundsson is lar-
gely responsible, is a recent “save”
of a U. S. Navy C-47 plane. The
aircraft had become lost in the
vicinity of Iceland because of its
malfunctioning radio navigation
equipment. Communications equip-
ment installed under the air safety
program enabled a Reykjavik air
traffic controller to guide the air-
craft to a safe landing.
6 Plane Captain Of The Month’
Selected For Top Performance
Joseph R. Barker, ADR3, was
selected as plane captain of the
month of July from the Operations
Maintenance Division. He, along
with the seven other plane cap-
tains of the station aircraft, is
responsible for seeing that his
plane is ready for flight, main-
tenance-wise, as much of the time
as possible.
Barker is a C-47 plane captain
and his aircraft, Navy 150-190,
was available for flight in an
“up” status for a higher percen-
tage of time than any of the other
station aircraft. The computation
of this percentage takes into con-
sideration aircraft type and utiliz-
ation along with availability for
emergency search and rescue mis-
sions.
He has been stationed at Naval
Station, Keflavik, since February
1964 and has been in the Opera-
tions Maintenance Division for the
entire time. His spare time ac-
tivities include movie-going, bow-
ling and other types of sports.
For winning this award, Barker
will receive a plane captain of
the month certificate and a place
on the crew of the C-54 for a
trip to Rhein Main, Germany.
Barker hails from Truman,
Ark., where his father, mother
and three sisters reside.
Kef Sailors
Earn Ratings
Thirteen sailors from the Naval
Station who competed in fleetwide
examinations last February were
advanced in rate July 16.
There were nine men advanced
to P03, two to P02 and two to
POl.
In a special ceremony held in
the commanding officer’s office,
Capt Emile E. Pierre awarded the
men certificates of advancement.
Those men receiving certificates
were:
Bird, E. B., LI3
Brackin, C. W„ PN3
Cunanan, G. P., SD3
Dawson, J. A., ATN3
(Continued on page A.)
IDF Teamwork Does The Job
Education and training advice
is what James R. Compton, SN,
deals in. Compton works at the
Education and Training office and
handles such duties as Officer
programs, school requests, War-
rant Officer programs and change
in rates. The 20-year-old seaman
makes his home in Modesto, Calif.
He has been stationed at Keflavik
for seven months.
If it’s a haircut one wants, one
of the friendly base barbers like
Mr. Sigurdur Agustsson will be
happy to please the customer. A
barber at Keflavik since 1953, he
makes his home in Reykjavik with
his wife, Gudborg; three daugh-
ters: Thorun, Gudrun, Sigrun,
and two sons: Torfi and Krist-
mann.
On his way to cover a photo
job is Les G. Chambers, PHAN.
The 22-year-old sailor works at
the Naval Station’s photo lab and
takes pictures, develops photos,
and also makes photostats and
transparencies. Chambers, who
completed one year at Keflavik
last week, makes his home in
Lafayette, Ind.
SPACEMAN LECTURES AFI —
Capt. Charles A. Bassett, USAF,
who was one of the Astronauts to
visit Iceland, addresses the officers
of Air Forces Iceland at a formal
Dining-In held recently at the Of-
ficers Club. — (Photo by AIC W.
R. Keener, USAF)
Col. Alan Long
Confers Medal
To SSgt. Koch
SSgt. Douglas A. Koch received
the Air Force Commendation
Medal from Col. Alan G. Long,
Air Forces Iceland commander, in
ceremonies held at the 667th Air-
craft Control and Warning Squad-
ron (AC&W) at H-3 Site.
SSgt. Koch distinguished himself
by meritorious service as NCO-in-
charge of the Quality Assurance
Section, Accounts Control Branch,
Accounting and Finance Division,
818th Combat Support Group,
818th Strategic Aerospace Divi-
sion, Lincoln Air Force Base, Neb.,
from Oct. 16, 1961 to April 17,
1965.
During this period, he consist-
ently displayed superior profes-
sional skill, leadership and initia-
tive in the performance of his
duty.
Sergeant Koch’s present duty
at H-3 since arriving in Iceland
last April is as the general ac-
counting specialist for the 667th
AC&W Squadron.
Sergeant Koch makes his home
in Iowa City with his wife, Sharon
Kay, and three children; Jeffrey,
James and Christine.
Bible School Sets
Date For Parade
Tomorrow morning a Vacation
Bible School (VBS) parade will
be held.
All children, ages three through
junior high school age, are urged
to attend. The parade will form
on the field near the Viking Vista
(across from the High School)
at 10:30. Those wishing to take
part may walk or ride bicycles
except for pre-school children,
who will ride in cars.
The Naval Station Band will be
on hand to march in the parade
and will provide musical enter-
tainment. All children are urged
to decorate their bicycles and dress
up as biblical characters.
Registration for VBS will be
held immediately after the parade
at the High School.
Vacation Bible School will start
on Monday, Aug. 2. The School
will be held at the High School
from 9 until 11:30 each weekday
morning for two weeks. Senior
High School students who would
like to take part may attend a
class being held for older children
or be a teacher’s assistant.
Bus transportation will be pro-
vided for those pupils who live
off-base. The bus schedule will be
as follows.
Depart the VIK restaurant 8:30
Depart Keflavik bus station 8:35
Arrive VIK ............... 8:40
Arrive Njardvik .......... 8:45
Arrive at High School .... 8:55