The White Falcon - 12.11.1976, Qupperneq 1

White Falcon
Volume XXXII Number 45
Kellevik, Iceland
November 12. 1976
Marine Corps marks 201st year;
stages gala, day-long festivities
Wednesday marked the 201st anniversa-
ry of the United States Marine Corps.
To celebrate this occasion, the of-
ficers and men of Marine Barracks, Kef-
lavik engaged themselves in activities
to commemorate those who have served
faithfully for 201 years.
The day-long events began at 10 a.m.
at the Naval Station Chapel when all the
Marine Barracks members attended a memo-
rial service, paying tribute to those
Marines who have served in the past
through loyal and dedicated service, and
have contributed to the professionalism
that the Corps now epitomizes.
Afterwards, an afternoon of intramur-
dancing to the music of "Dark Star".
Remarks were given by the guest of
honor, the Honorable James J. Blake,
United States Ambassador to Iceland,
Major Norman B. Centers, commanding of-
ficer of the Marine Barracks and Ser-
geant Major Jimmy L. Belin.
A highlight included a performance by
the Marine silent drill team, displaying
its skill and precision.
The official ceremony concluded with
the traditional cutting of the birthday
cake—with the first piece going to the
guest of honor, the second piece to the
oldest Marine present, SgtMaj Belin and
the third piece to the youngest Marine
al rivalry followed at the base gym
during which time a spirit of comrade-
ship and friendly competition prevailed.
The festivities culminated Wednesday
night with the Marine Corps Ball, held
at the Officers' Club. The evening in-
cluded a hosted cocktail hour, the tra-
ditional Marine Corps Birthday ceremony
and cake-cutting, followed by dinner and
present, Private David Christie Jr.
Special guests attending were Rear
Admiral Karl J. Bernstein, Commander
Iceland Defense Force, Captain Jack T.
Weir, Commander Naval Forces Iceland/
Commanding Officer, Naval Station Kefla-
vik, Pall Asg. Tryggvason, Chairman of
the Icelandic Defense Council and the
Honorable Judge Thorgeir Thorsteinsson.
0AF officer receives mail surprise
Not everyone can open a letter in the
mail and expect to receive a master's
degree. But not so in the case of
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Ross, Assis-
ant Chief of Staff for Operations and
Plans, J-3, at the Headquarters, Iceland
Defense Force.
Recently, the native of Charleston,
SC received his Master of Arts
in Administration from ChapAan College,
57th Maintenance, AFI
Supply win Baker awards
The first presentation of the Lieu-
tenant General Royal N. Baker Awards was
recently made to five Aerospace Defense
Command units during formal ceremonies
in Colorado Springs, CO. Air Forces
^eland units were recipients of two of
Hie five awards and were selected from
among many units throughout the command:
The Air Forces Iceland units dis-
tinguishe4 were AFI Supply and the Main-
tenance Section of the 57th Fighter In-
terceptor Squadron.
Major Edward Martens, AFI Supply,
accepted the award for his unit, and
Captain William Weeks accepted the tro-
phy for the 57th FIS Mantenance unit.
Colonel William E. Lindeman, Comman-
der Air Forces Iceland, praised members
of both units for their hard work and
dedication during a formal gathering
last week.
Orange, CA by mail.
Because the local agencies are not
authorized to present the degree, Rear
Admiral Karl J. Bernstein, Commander
Iceland Defense Force, formally made the
honor to LtCol Ross Nov. 1.
Before reporting for duty in Iceland
in July 1975, LtCol Ross had only a few
semester hours left to complete his de-
gree. Upon arriving, he enrolled in la-
bor economics and business law through
the University of Maryland. Completion
of these courses gave him the required
curriculm which he needed to obtain his
master's degree.
His long studying hours began at
Chapman College Resident Educational
Center at Fort Lee, VA, his previous
duty station, in June 1974.
The military career man says, "There
is considerable work in management and
operations research techniques that were
included in the course which have direct
application to my present position."
LtCol Ross is accompanied on his Kef-
lavik tour by his wife, Karen and sons,
James and Andy.
During his 20 years in the Air Force,
LtCol Ross has been stationed at Langley
AFB, VA; Okinawa; Sawyer AFB, MI;
Stewart AFB, NY; Clark AB, PA; Perrin
AFB, TX; ENT AFB, CO; and Ft. Lee, VA.
He is also a graduate of the Air Com-
mand and Staff College, Industrial Col-
lege of the Armed Forces and the
Citadel, SC, with a bachelor of Arts in
liberal arts.
A DETACHMENT 14 HH-3E Sikorsky "Jolly Green Giant" helicopter hovers aloft in a
successful rescue mission Saturday during which time three Icelandic hikers were
saved from a ravine on an ice flow.
IDF SAR teams airlift 3 injured
hikers from Thosmork valley
Search and rescue teams from the Ice- side, the helicopter lowered a parares-
land Defense Force were credited for cueman.
savinp, the lives of three Icelandic
hikers. They were seriously injured
Saturday in a ravine on an ice flow in
Eyjafjallajokull in the Thosmork valley,
about 80 miles east of Keflavik.
The rescue mission began at 2 p.m.
Saturday when the Iceland Defense Force
received a call from llannes Hafstein,
Director of the Icelandic Lifesaving
Association, requesting assistance
in evacuating the injured persons.
After receiving confirmation, a De-
tachment 14 IIH-3E Sikorsky "Jolly Green
Giant" helicopter was airborne at 3:12,
followed by an HC-130N Hercules tanker
at 3:30 to provide refueling for the
helicopter, and also supplying advance
communication and reconnaissance.
The Hercules tanker located and es-
tablished contact with the ground party
at the scene at 3:56. The rescue heli-
copter arrived on the scene at 4:05 and
located the ground party and the victims
at the 1500-foot level of the ice flow,
surrounded by rugged terrain and a
series of jagged ice ravines.
Because of the rugged terrain, the
rescue helicopter landed at a nearby
valley, offloaded unnecessary weights
and then flew back to the site.
Hovering above the party, with ice
cliffs on the front and left side, and a
60-80 degree downslope on the right
With the help of the ground party, he
placed the injured persons in stokes
litters and a forest penetrator (a type
of seat). The victims were hoisted on
board the helicopter, and, after a brief
stop to pick up the offloaded cargo,
took off for Reykjavik where the victims
were transferred to waiting ambulances.
The Hercules tanker, airborne through
out the whole mission, refueled the hel-
icopter on its way to Reykjavik from the
mission site. The tanker returned to the
NATO base at 5:50 and the helicopter re-
turned at 6:10.
Members of the Hercules tanker crew
were as follows: Captain Ted Schindler,
pilot; Captain Mike Bachman, co-pilot;
Master Sergeant Tom O'Brien, flight en-
gineer; Staff Sergeant Earl Richard,
loadmaster; Technical Sergeant Pat Car-
rothers, radio operator; and Staff Ser-
geant Ervin Petty and Airman Tim Wil-
liams, pararescuemen.
The rescue helicopter's crew in-
cluded: Captain Steve Black, pilot;
Major Doug Johnson, co-pilot: Sergeant
Rick Graves, flight mechanic; Lieutenant
Commander Charles Tate, flight surgeon;
and Senior Airman Ed King, Airman First
Class Andy Moser, and Airman First Class
Mark Zitzow, pararescuemen.
The rescue makes it the 109th, 110th,
and Lllth credited saves for Det. 14.
Backing up is more dangerous than you think
STOP! Before you throw your car into
reverse and tromp on the throttle, do
yourself a favor and THINK!
* Is your rear window cleared?
* Can you see through your rear view
mirror?
* Have you carefully checked to see
that someone behind you is not also
backing out of his parking spot?
* Do your back up lights work?
* Have you checked for any immovable
objects in your path?
* Do you require a spotter because
your car has many blind spots, and is
your spotter in position outside of the
vehicle?
If you can answer yes to all of the
above auestions, you can now safely back
out from the parking lot.
Do your backing in a slow and careful
manner and you can avoid the cause of
the most common traffic accident this
time of year—improper backing.
Thirteen of the last 19 government
vehicle accidents resulted from improper
backing. Don't become a statistic—
THINK!
Frosty windows
are a no-no
What you can't see
You CAN hit!