The White Falcon - 09.01.1976, Blaðsíða 1

(White
Volume XXXII. Nunber 1
Falcon
Ketkt/k, Iceland January 9. 1976
AF eliminates max
CONUS tours
The Air Force has announced elimina-
tion of maximum tour lengths in the con-
tinental United States except in the
Washington D.C. area. This action was
brought about by interim changes to Air
Force regulation 36-20 and regulation
39-11.
Maximum CONUS stabilized tours are
those which require reassignment because
tour completion. Major commands have
H^erally concurred with the turbulence
deduction initiative to eliminate maxi-
mum tours. As a result, a decision has
been reached to change CONUS maximum
tours for officers and airmen to minimum
tours, except for the following: (1) If
officers and airmen are assigned to
joint or departmental activities in the
Washington D.C. area; (2) 'Individuals
assigned under the purview of DOD direc-
tive 1315.13, assignment of military
personnel to the office of the Secretary
of Defense, organization of the JCS and
DOD agencies; (3) Officers and airmen
assigned special duties outside their
primary utilization areas.
The minimum tour concept, which now
applies to all CONUS stabilized tours
except those indicated, stipulates that
incumbents will become available for re-
assignment after completion of the stab-
ilization period but reassignment ac-
tions will not be generated simply be-
cause of tour completion. Personnel
will be retained in place until reas-
signment is necessary to meet oversea
or higher priority requirements; to re-
turn to rated duty or for other cogent
reasons. Voluntary assignment options
will also be available.
Some respondents to this proposal,
though concurring with the initiative,
expressed concern for the lessened ca-
reer broadening opportunities available
by retaining personnel in desirable
assignments (desirable because of duty
or location) has drawbacks. By em-
phasizing the minimum tour concept, the
Air Force is eliminating automatic reas-
signment upon tour completion. In this
regard, selectively manned activities
are encouraged to develop internal pro-
cedures for senior management to review
annually the assignment status of those
incumbents who have completed the mini-
mum stabilization period. Factors such
as performance, experience, and individ-
ual motivation should be considered.
w scholarship
program opens
A new, two-year Naval Reserve Officer
Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship pro-
gram has been announced by the Navy Re-
cruiting Command. This new program is
open to active duty and inactive duty
personnel as well as civilians.
The program provides full tuition and
fees, textbooks, and $100 a month for
the last two years at one of 58 colleges
and universities having NROTC units.
Upon graduation, candidates will be com-
missioned ensigns and incur four-year
active duty obligations.
Individuals selected for the program
will attend six weeks of instruction at
the Naval Science Institute, Newport,
Rhode Island, during the summer before
their Junior year. On completion of
this course, students are appointed as
.^^kmidshipmen and enrolled in the NROTC
^^P^cholarship program.
The program is open to United States
citizens who are college sophomores at
least 18 years old and who will be under
25 as of June 30 of the year college
graduation is expected. A "C" average
is required, and applicants must have
completed a minimum of one semester of
college physics and integral calculus.
Applicants also must meet physical re-
quirements for appointment as unrestric-
ted line officers.
Applications must be submitted to the
Navy Recruiting Command Headquarters by
May 1, 1976.
IT'S A BRAND-NEW YEAR, bringing renewed opportunity to build on the bright times.
Every silver lining may have a dark cloud in front of it -- but the Bicentennial
Spirit, the Spirit of '76, has been proven to be a force which dispels the dark
clouds. Welcome to 1976--a year of promise. (Photo by PHAN Bob Grier)
Awaits Senate approval
House passes FY76 bill
The House has approved the joint
House Senate Conference Committee ver-
sion of the $112.4 billion Department of
Defense appropriations bill for FY76 and
the three month transition period to the
new fiscal year.
The bill, which appropriates $37.2
billion for Navy programs, now goes to
the Senate for final approval. The fol-
lowing is a summary of FY76/77 actions:
The conferees agreed that this year's
budget will include funding for military
commissaries, rejecting the Senate pro-
posal to phase out appropriated fund
support for commissaries over the next
five years.
More than $7.1 billion was appropri-
ated for Navy military personnel sup-
port. The conferees directed the Navy
to convert enlisted services at Bachelor
Officers Quarters and Commissioned Offi-
cer Messes (closed) from appropriated
funding to reimbursement, bringing the
Navy in line with the other services.
In other personnel action, the con-
ferees reduced funding for Officer Grad-
uate Training, for some full-time en-
listed training and for some Navy Coun-
selor positions. Tuition subsidies will
no longer be provided for full-time de-
gree completion programs.
Additionally, the conferees directed
the transfer of CONUS military postal
operations to the United States Postal
Service, with a July 1, 1976, target.
Naval Reserve programs received
$259.5 million. This is based on an
average strength of 102,000 personnel.
More than $11.2 billion was appropri-
ated for general operation and mainten-
ance programs including $3.22 billion
for civilian personnel and $2.53 billion
for the alteration, overhaul and repair
of ships.
Navy shipbuilding and conversion pro-
grams received $4.2 billion. Funds were
approved for new Trident and Los Angeles
class submarines, a destroyer tender,
two fleet oilers, nine patrol frigates
and one patrol combatant missile (hydro-
foil) .
More than $3.5 billion was approved
for Navy aircraft procurement. This in-
cluded $132.8 million for the proposed
F-18.
Nearly $1.5 billion was appropriated
for weapons procurement. Procurement of
the Condor missile system was made con-
tingent upon successful completion of
testing and notification to Congress by
the Secretary of Defense that the system
is ready to be released for production.
Research, development, test and eval-
uation programs were alloted $4.1 bil-
lion. This includes funds for the close
in weapons system, the maneuvering re-
entry vehicle (MARV) program for the
Trident missile system, the surface ef-
fects ship and the Naval inshore warfare
craft program.
Dr. King's birthday
A time for reflection
by TSgt. Wash Brown
During his lifetime he was both
praised and condemned. Today, more than
seven years after his death, the memory
of this man is still controversial. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. , bom on January
15, 1929, still stands out as a major
figure in the continuing evolution of
civil rights as a constitutional issue
of the highest national priority.
The anniversary of his birth will be
observed throughout the country this
month, presenting all Americans with an
opportunity for reflection. His life
was spent in service and dedication to
an overriding cause: fighting with dig-
nity for recognition of the rights of
Black people within the constitutional
framework.
He was not a violent man, yet his
life was frequently marked by violent
confrontation. Often arrested and jail-
ed, he withstood the jeers of white hat-
red and the derision of black militants.
His own words serve best to summarize
his philosophy—"We will not resort to
violence. We will not degrade ourselves
with hatred. Love will be returned for
hate."
His courage was an example not only
to Americans but to the world. The
Nobel Peace Prize recognized his cause
and his quest. Yet, this man who
preached, practiced and was acclaimed
for non-violence became the target of an
early, violent death.
The irony should not be lost on us.
The art of human relations is no easy
task in our complex world. There is no
greater challenge than to seek goals of
peace, love and understanding through
patience and persistent determination,
refusing the cop-out of violence and
hatred.
The words inscribed on our National
Archives building entrance state that
"The Past is Prologue." So, too, there
are lessons for the future to be learned
from the life of this man whose birth we
celebrate on January 15. Let us not
turn our backs on the distance we have
traveled, nor ignore the challenge of
the miles that lie ahead.
Spaulding new CO
COMMSTA changes
hands Monday
Captain Ralph L. Spaulding will re-
lieve Captain Walter J. Kraus as Comman-
ding Officer, U.S. Naval Communication
Station Iceland, in ceremonies Monday.
The ceremony will include remarks by
the Honorable Frederick Irving, U.S.
Ambassador to Iceland.
Capt. Spaulding came to Keflavik from
Washington D.C. where he was assigned to
the Operations Directorate, Joint Staff,
Organization of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and assumed responsibilities for
the planning, validation and programming
of improvements to the National Military
Command System.
Capt. Kraus will transfer to the De-
fense Communications Agency in Washing-
ton, D.C. He has been the commanding of-
ficer of NAVCOMMSTA Iceland since January
28, 1974. During his current tour, Capt.
Kraus has been enrolled in after hours
studies in Icelandic culture and lan-
guage at the University of Iceland.
He is married to the former Alice
Francis Tookey of Branford, Connecticut.
They have three children—John, a junior
at the University of Wisconsin; Jeanne,
a midshipman at the Merchant Marine Aca-
demy, Kings Point, New York, and grad-
uate of A.T. Mahan High School; and
Carol, a high school junior.
Capt. Spaulding is married to the
former Helen Bell Huse of Eugene, Ore-
gon. They have two sons, Ralph and
Kevin, and two daughters, Kathryn and
Kimberly. Ralph is attending the U.S.
Naval Academy in the class of '79.
The U.S. Naval Communication Station
Iceland was first established in an
"under development" status on April 15,
1961. It was designated "operational"
on July 1, 1961. NAVCOMMSTA is a Com-
munication Area Local Station North At-
lantic, under the Communication Area
Master Station, Londonderry, Ireland,
adhering to the "Follow the Fleet" con-
cept .
AF register
now obsolete
The Air Force has done away with the
time-honored sign-in and sign-out re-
quirement for reassignments and tempo-
rary duty, effective January 1.
Once necessary to the personnel
strength accounting system to track peo-
ple on PCS and TDY assignments, the old
procedure has outlived its usefulness.
Since the advent of the advanced per-
sonnel data system, Air Force Form 1323
has been a formality only. The actual
departure-arrival inputs to the automat-
ed data systems have been accomplished
via other source documents.
With Air Force members recording
their departure date at the CBPO prior
to leaving the losing base, and report-
ing arrival information during in-pro-
cessing at the new base, the PCS sign
in/out register has become superfluous.
Temporary duty accountability will now
be tracked by unit inputs from TDY ord-
ers .
Na\y correctional
centers need POs
Navy Petty Officers are needed for
correctional duty. They will replace
all Marine Corps personnel working in
Navy Correctional Centers, beginning in
June, 1976.
Between June, 1976 and March 1977,
more than 500 qualified volunteer per-
sonnel, E-4 through E-9, are needed to
fill these assignments.
Personnel accepted will first receive
training at the Army Military Police
School, Ft. McClellan, Alabama.
All interested personnel are encour-
aged to apply to their detailers.