The White Falcon - 04.06.1971, Blaðsíða 7

1969
0
REAR Adm. Mayo A. Hadden, Jr., relieved Rear Adm.
Stone as Commander Iceland Defense Force to start
New Year. Admiral Hadden would become active
the scouting program during his tour’ of duty
ere, among his many other official and unofficial
functions.
In March, a Polish fishing trawler radioed for
help for one c£ its seamen. The man had been strick-
en with appendicitis aboard his ship some 250 miles
south of Reykjavik. Icelandic and American rescue
teams immediately went into action. The naval sta-
tion flew a four-man medical team to an Icelandic
Coast Guard cutter. The cutter took the man to a
Reykjavik hospital where the operation was per-
formed.
An Air Force sergeant was notified of a tragedy
at home in May. Would you believe emergency leave
and a trip from H-2 site (since decommissioned) to
the states within 11 hours? Capt. Ralph Hart, sta-
tion CO, personally piloted the C-47 on a special
flight to the site to return the sergeant on the
first leg of his trip to his ailing wife’s bedside.
Although Capt. Hart was flying on a different mis-
sion, he altered his course to pick up the sergeant.
Tragedy again in July — a helicopter from the
naval station crashed, killing a crewman and injur-
lnq the pilot seriously enough to require hospital-
ization in Weisbaden. Lt. Cdr. Paul Bateman, who
is now the Assistant Air Operations Officer was the
pilot. The accident occurred while the crew was
going to the aid of the station C-47, forced down
because of engine trouble.
Capt. Lloyd H. Thomas, arrived in August to take
over as commanding officer from Capt. Hart. Many
more changes were to take place during his tour as
skipper.
Housing, always a vital concern for families,
was back in the news. In spite of the severe *68-
'69 winter, a longshoreman strike in New York, and
many other problems, some 140 units of new officer
and enlisted housing was projected for completion
by the start of the new year.
Because of its financial problems, the White
Falcon suspended publication for about five weeks
in late summer. But in October, the WF was back as
a temporary mlmeo pub. This lasted through October
and part of November when the Falcon spread its
wings again as an offset printed at the naval sta-
tion print shop.
Near the end of the year, DCD announced 280 in-
stallations would be affected by military cutbacks».
While not on the original list of bases to be hit
with reductions in force, Keflavik got its share
later.
1970
0
RETURNING from the year-end holidays, students of
A. T. Mahan were greeted by a new host-nation
cultural program. This program was designed to ac-
quaint students with the Icelandic way of life.
Air Forces Iceland started the new year right.
The "boys in blue" garnered the Air Force's Out-
standing Unit Award for the 18-month period July
1967 to December 1968. Later in the year, the
Hughes Aircraft Company honored the 57th FIS with
the Hughes Trophy,the most coveted prize for fight-
er-interceptor squadrons.
There were smiling faces and fatter wallets on
April 30. That’s the day when the 8.1 per cent pay
raise (retroactive to the first of the year) start-
ed appearing in pay checks.
Mount Hekla, long used for climbing and by
photographers, put on a firey display in the spring
by spitting molten lava hundreds of feet into the
air. Before that, Hekla erupted in 1947 and spent
a year showering the landscape with lava.
Lainie Dominguez was bom at the station dispen-
sary ten weeks prematurely. This and other compli-
cations created a fight for life for the tiny in-
fant. VP-49 and the dispensary joined forces to
save her life. Eventually, she had to be air-lifted
to Weisbaden in a P3A that was specially outfitted
to sustain her life for the four-hour trip. Lainie
won her battle for life because of this effort.
On a Presidential goodwill mission, Apollo 13
astronauts stopped in Keflavik. Apollo 13 had to
turn back from its lunar mission last spring be-
cause of an explosion on the spacecraft. For sev-
eral days, the world held its breath as the astro-
uts made their flight home.
When Admiral Elmo Zumwalt took over as CNO in
HITE FALCON
July, the Navy was in for some changes. CNO soon
started Issuing messages, dubbed "Z-grams", which
have had global effects on the Navy. Emphasizing
the individual, Admiral Zumwalt*s "green stripes"
have modernized Navy life, and some publications
have dubbed the result "the Mod Navy."
Navy Federal Credit Union opened a cable-loan
service in the Navy Exchange personal services sec-
tion in September.
In October, the field house was refurbished, re-
opened and named "A. E. House Gymnasium" in honor of
Lt. Col. Arthur E. House, Jr., who perished in the
1965 helicopter crash along with Capt. Robert R.
Sparks and three others. Col. House was the third
of the five men to be honored by having a station
facility named for him. The Rod and Gun Club was
named for Capt. Sparks, and the billiard room in
the Viking Service Center was named for Jack Brink,
the civilian special services officer,who also died
in the crash.
Commander Iceland Defense Force established the
"Commander's Action Line" (Ext. 2231) as a sounding
board for gripes, suggestions and comments from de-
fense force members. CNO proclaimed in one of his
Z-grams that this would be a good idea, and encour-
aged commanders to establish such a convenience.
Since its beginning, "Action Line" has been instru-
mental in placing before proper authority the sug-
gestions, comments and criticisms of station per-
sonnel. There have been several changes in local
directives resulting from action on "Action Line."
Approaching the end of the year, take-off lim-
itations were again raised, the commissary extended
its operating hours as a convenience for its custo-
mers, and housing units were opened to allow 22
more families on-base quarters by Christmas.
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