The White Falcon - 11.04.1975, Page 3

Page 3
April 11, 1975
'Self-help’ in full swing
Story and photos by J02 J. Rehders
Hammers pounding, saws buzzing
and paint brushes slapping have
been familiar sounds around the
Naval Station for the past few
months.
The Navy-wide "Self-help" pro-
gram went into effect here in
December of last year. Whether
it's been a small project or a
major one, everyone's been in-
volved in it.
The projects have ranged from
simple painting of working spaces
to actual construction of new
spaces. A fresh coat of paint
can be seen in almost every of-
fice on base. Paneling has been
added to the quarterdeck of the
Admin building. A model for the
standard Bachelor's Enlisted
Quarters room of the future has
been completed. Hoods have been
replaced over the cooking area of
the galley.
These are but a few of the
projects completed by self-help
around the base.
Other completed self-help
projects include the remodeling
of the Commanding Officer's con-
ference room and the construction
of rooms to house new equipment
in the AFRTS television studio.
Even though these j obs have
been completed, the self-help
program is in no way coming to
an end. Countless projects are
underway now and many are planned
for the future.
Besides the apparent face-
lifting the base is undergoing,
the self-help program is pro-
ducing other rewards. One of the
major accomplishments of the pro-
gram has been to "get people in-
volveu in their own working and
living spaces," according to Com-
mander R.C. Truax, NAVSTA's ad-
ministration officer. "They've
taken pride in working and living
in surroundings they've improved
themselves," the commander added.
Despite moaning and groaning
about working extra hours, there
is a feeling of accomplishment
when a person can look around and
say, "Hey, this looks pretty
good, and we did it all our-
selves ."
Sigurdur Jonsson, an Icelandic technician at AFRTS, prepares to
paint the AFTV working spaces.
Government vehicle care:
In an effort to improve gov-
ernment vehicle maintenance and
to prevent government vehicle
accidents, abuse, and misuse,
Rear Admiral Harold G. Rich, Com-
mander of the Iceland Defense
Force, has instituted new vehicle
care procedure.
A Vehicle Control . Officer/
Transportation Coordinator (VCO/
TC) will be appointed by every
NATO base activity that has a
government motor vehicle (GMV),
including non-appropriated fund
activities..
The VCO/TC: represents the ac-
tivity in all matters involving
GMVs and in addition is responsi-
ble for weekly inspection of all
or part of his GMV fleet, meeting
with GMV operators in his activi-
ty to promote driving safety and
discuss command policy, plus in-
vestigating reports of acci-
dents , abuse and misuse.
In addition to a VCO/TC, ac-
tivities will assign a crew chief
or crew chiefs for their vehicles
with ea.ch crew chief responsible
for not more than four vehicles.
The crew chiefs will inspect
their vehicles daily and coordi-
nate vehicle repair with the
transportation division plus as-
sist the VCO’/TC in the vehicle
abuse prevention program,.
All accidents are to be re-
Capt. John R. Farrell sits at the conference table in the recently
renovated conference room at Naval Station Admin.
(photo by JOCS James Johnston)
Amn. Steve Metcalf (left) and J03 Dan Barnthouse display their
carpentry skills as they erect a wall at the television studio.
(Left to right) PNSA Ray McCoy, PN2 Bob Robida, PNSN Jerry Rankin
and PNSA Barry Spencer pitch in on the self-help project at the
Naval Station personnel office.
New positions created, programs initiated
for prevention of vehicle accidents, abuse
ported to the Naval Station Secu-
rity Department. After the acci-
dent report is prepared by Secu-
rity and completed by the activi-
ty commander, commanding officer
or officer in charge, the VCO/TC
will be sent through command
channels to the Iceland Defense
Force (IDF) Provost Marshal.
Vehicle abuse or misuse re-
ports are to be sent directly to
the IDF Provost Marshal. They
will then be forwarded to the ac-
tivity's VCO/TC who will prepare
a report to be returned to the
Provost Marshal.
Each quarter the IDF Provost
Marshal and IDF's Logistics sec-
tion will review all information
complied in that quarter and se-
lect a "Best Transportation Man-
ager of the Quarter." Factors
involved in this selection in-
clude number of vehicles as-
signed, number of drivers, miles
driven and number of accident,
abuse, and misuse cases.
All activities with GMVs will
submit a quarterly report out-
lining their vehicle care pro-
gram.
The IDF ProVost Marshal will
publish a VCO/TC bulletin to pro-
vide information for unit brief-
ings and tips for improving acci-
dent , abuse and misuse prevention
programs.