The White Falcon - 28.05.1971, Blaðsíða 8

Z-GRAMS, from Page 4
• Z-gram 36 dealt with stand-
ards of service at contact point
facilities. The Naval Station
has launched n concerted drive by
all contact point facilities,
personnel, disbursing,dispensary,
among others, to provide fast,
responsive and quality service.
• Z-grara 37 reduced the r;ink
of commanding officer of certain
aviation squadrons from commander
to lieutenant commander.
• Z-gram 38 requested command-
ing officers of ships to relax
evolutions on Sundays and holidays
to afford more time off for the
crew. This Z-gram had no local
application.
• Z-gram 39 extended hours that
commissaries will be open. While
the Defense Force commissary was
not one of the 25 stores desig-
nated in the Z-gram, the commis-
sary voluntarily agreed to remain
open until 10 on Thursday nights
as a convenience to patrons.
RAPPING, from Page 5
cil president, in the National
Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta,
and on the basketball, volleyball
and football teams. He plans to
attend Florida State University
with a major in dentistry in mind.
• Bob Adessa was also bom in
Reykjavik, and has lived in Ice-
land all his life. This year he
was library assistant, in the Art
Club, and on the bowling, volley-
ball and baseball teams. He will
be going to the University of El
Paso in Texas for a major in ac-
counting.
Enlisted advisor
needed at U-of-M
The University of Maryland has
to fill a required billet of Ed-
ucation Advisor.
The function includes provid-
ing educational (college) advis-
ory services and assistance, and
fully coordinating the University
of Maryland adult college educa-
tion program for the naval sta-
tion.
Only enlisted men assigned to
the base, who are college gradu-
ates or have earned a substantial
number of college credits, may
apply. A special request chit
addressed to the commanding of-
ficer, via the respective chain
of command, is required.
8
Grindavik site
Key to success
is self-reliance
Personnel at the Grindavik Transmitter site are
a special breed of individuals who seem to thrive
on their remoteness and virtual independence from
the naval station. The 55 man division of the Na-
val Communications Station is stationed approxima-
tely 17 miles from what they call "main site."
The official mission of this four-building base
under the leadership of CW02 Harry R. Bird, is to
provide air-to-ground transmission. They are re-
motely placed in order to avoid interference in
their work from the naval station or from the re-
ceiver site in Rockville.
To accomplish their work with the necessary ef-
ficiency, the men are divided up between day workers
and watch standers. Watch personnel are mainly the
trouble shooters who do the routine maintenance «
the numerous transmitters ranging in size from H
to 200 kilowatts. The day workers handle the moSI
extensive repairs and other functions.
The power to operate this sophisticated equip-
ment comes from the naval station. There are how-
ever, ten naval station personnel stationed in Grin-
davik to operate the three emergency diesel genera-
tors. These eight cylinder, 520 horsepower units
were able to restore power in less than three min-
utes during the last blackout.
The barracks house the 40 men who reside at the
site permanently. There is a large communal room
in the middle of the building for reading and watch-
ing television. The resourceful men of Grinda-
vik are also planning to convert a section of this
large room into a gym area.
A small exchange is also located within the bar-
racks complex. It furnishes all the necessities
of its customers in spite of its limited size. A
barber shop and mess hall complete the list of fa-
cilities available in the barracks.
A short walk from the barracks, is the Navy Ex-
change operated club. Host of the club was decor-
ated through the efforts of its patrons. It in-
cludes a pool room and a barbeque area. The club
serves as the movie house for all the films that
are shown and serves as host to all the USO shows
coming to Iceland. Every six weeks, the club is
used for a site party.
The site is located between the coast on the
outskirts of the little fishing village of Grinda-
vik and the 792-foot Thorbjarfjail mountain. The
antennas on top of this mountain belong to the Ice-
landic Telephone and Telegraph system and act as a
television relay site, but are often mistaken for
being part of the transmitter site.
The men at Grindavik are proud of their independ^
ence and constantly work to maintain it by selJjfl
improvement projects that enhance the living cond ™
tions and facilities.
May 28. 1<T1