The White Falcon - 29.04.1977, Side 1

White Falcon
Volume XXXIII Number 17 Kellavik. Iceland
April 29. 1977
ATTAINING 106 PER CENT, Air Forces Iceland collected $2,597.32 in the Air
Force Assistance Fund drive. Colonel W. E. Lindeman, AFI commander, and
Captain Guy D. Ogan, campaign officer, explain how the goal was reached.
ComPatWing ELEVEN visits Kef.
Commodore C.O.Prindie, Commander
Patrol Wing Eleven visited Patrol Squa-
dron FORTY-FIVE last week. Accompanying
him in the inspection was Commander
W. T. Pendley, Patrol Wing 11 operations
officer, the former VP-45 Commanding
Officer.
The commodore and Cdr. Pendley held
a preliminary administrative inspection
of the squadron's career counseling,
retention, human goals and personnel
procedures.
Upon his arrival, the commodore
dined with Admiral Karl J. Bernstein,
Commander Iceland Defense Force.
The next day Commodore Prindle
addressed the Pelicans at morning
quarters and reviewed with them three
key points which he stated to the
squadron when he visited it in December,
before its deployment to Keflavik.
At that time, he called upon the
squadron to be operationally ready, be
good diplomats in uniform and to have a
safe deployment.
With deployment almost ended, the
commodore commended VP-45 on its ex-
cellent safety record as well as the
exemplary conduct displayed by the
Pelicans.
Lastly, he directed his appreciation
for the outstanding operational results
achieved by VP-45. He especially
commended VP-45 on its achievements in
!
REACHING A NEW HIGH, Icelandic workmen
raise a new point toward the upward way
at the NATO Base Chapel. (photo by PH2
Rene' Pearce)
computerized telecommunications, which
serve as an example to all P-3C
squadrons.
The highlight of the commodore's
visit and the most popular aspect of
his stay in Keflavik were the numerous
person-to-person meetings with squadron
personnel.
He was hosted by VP-45 chief petty
officers at their lounge, the "Barrel,"
where he conducted a round-table dis-
cussion. He referred to a renewed em-
phasis on retention as well as the
excellent maintenance record achieved
by the VP-45 maintenance department.
The VP-45 maintenance men supported
nine additional P-3s temporarily
assigned to Keflavik during the
commodore's visit. VP-45 has nine
P-3s of its own.
The commodore also reenlisted the
first woman ever assigned to an Atlantic
Fleet operational VP squadron, Personnel-
man Third Class Denise Galligan.
When Petty Officer Galligan graduated
from Personnelman "A" School and re-
ceived orders to VP-45, she had no
idea what "VP" meant. One can imagine
her surprise when she reported aboard
the all male squadron in March of 1975.
PN3 Galligan soon became just another
Pelican as she served her time in the
first lieutenant division like all new
personnelman assigned to VP-45. She
adjusted quickly and soon found herself
packing for her first overseas deploy-
ment to Sigonella, Sicily.
While on deployment, she fulfilled
one of her ambitions in joining the Navy,
travel. She journeyed to Weisbaden and
Munich, Germany as well as Naples, Italy.
While deployed to Keflavik, she has vi-
sited London, England.
Petty Officer Galligan chose Commo-
dore Prindle's visit to reenlist for
four years. Denise said she is dis-
appointed at not being able to complete
her sea duty. She feels women have a
place in the Navy serving their country.
"Women are always criticized for taking
shore duty billets away from men. But
I tried to serve a full sea tour," said
Denise. Plans are under study to
develop a test program of female assign-
ments to VP squadrons. VP-45 is not to
be one of the designated test squadrons.
However, Petty Officer Galligan is happy
with her orders to VP-30. She likes the
Jacksonville area.
The commodore flew a mission aboard
one of the Pelican aircraft. It was
his first operational patrol in six
years.
Royal Air Force First Lieutenant Bob
Hall, Tactical Coordinator and mission
commander, said the commodore made the
take off and landing and spent about
half the flight in the pilot's seat.
'During the other half of the flight,
he discussed operational and technical
aspects of the deployment with crew
members.
Bank gets accounting machines
The American Express Bank con-
tinues to make significant improve-
ments to banking service, according
to Commander B. E. Maxon, Naval Sta-
tion Comptroller and Military Banking
Facility Liaison Officer.
The bank has obtained accounting
machines which will allow for more
efficient, error-free and timely re-
ceipt of bank statements and balances.
In a White Falcon story published
October 29, 1976, the three biggest
problems the local American Express
Bank had were inconvenient banking
hours, bank account errors-, and late
receipt of statements. These con-
clusions were drawn from a base-wide
survey taken in September.
Ralph Hutchinson, bank manager, ad-
vises that bank hours were revised
and that they have worked well for
both the bank and its customers.
The new bank hours are Monday
through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and
2:30 to 4 p.m.
For this reason, statements will be
available and distributed within one
week of balance closing instead of the
three to four weeks' delay presently
experienced.
Further, Mr. Hutchinson assures that
all records will be at the bank and
available for customer inspection*
Another important asset will be that
checks and deposits will no longer be
passed through foreign organizations
previously necessary to process the
items through the computer. This will
drastically reduce the possibility of
statement errors, Hutchinson says.
American Express trained accounting
machine operators in April, according
to Mr. Hutchinson. He states that
accounts were transitioned to the new
machines effective last week.
Transition of savings accounts to
the new machines will be delayed until
the end of the month to ensure that any
interest due can be properly calculated
and that no account holders lose any
money due them.
Mr. Hutchinson further says that in
April the checking account holders can
expect to receive their regular state-
ments dated April 7, plus another state-
ment covering the period from April 8
to April 21.
Therefore, clients will begin to re-
ceive statements prepared by the bank's
new accounting machines within one week
after the cutoff date, the seventh of
each month thereafter.
Another improvement which customers
can now expect involves the availability
of foreign currency. During the past
six months, several customers have com-
plained to the Bank Liaison Officer that
foreign currency is not available when
they need it.
Attempts have been made to encourage
customers to order specific amounts of
foreign currency at least 48 hours before
picking it up. However, for some cus-
tomers, this is sometimes not possible.
Therefore, Cdr. Maxon and Mr. Hutchinson
plan foreign currency requirements based
on the C-118 R and R flight schedule.
Customers are still encouraged,
however, to place their orders with the
bank ahead of time if at all possible.
Mr. Hutchinson stated, that the bank
is limited on the amount of foreign
currency it is able to procure from the
Icelandic banks and some shortages
will still exist.
Both Cdr. Maxon and Mr. Hutchinson
state that these improvements, though
significant, are only representative of
the service improvements which customers
can continue to expect. Both men en-
courage NATO Base patrons to communicate
directly on problems or suggestions for
service improvements.
Cdr. Maxon's telephone number is 6110,
and Mr. Hutchinson can be reached at
the bank at 4270.
To overcome the bank account error
and late receipt of statements problem,
American Express International Banking
Corporation has provided new accounting
machines, which, according to Mr. Hutch-
inson, will enable the bank to keep the
right balance, avoiding the time lag to
have accounting done in London and bal-
ances produced on statements prepared in
Germany, which has been the system to
date.
Ralph Hutchinson, Military Banking Fa-
cility American Express IBC Manager, in-
spects new accounting machine.
DEDICATING THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL COMPLEX, distinguished guests turn
over the first shovelful of earth (left to right): Rear Admiral Karl
J. Bernstein, Commander Iceland Defense Force; Einar Agustsson,
Foreign Minister of Iceland; The Honorable James J. Blake, American
Ambassador to Iceland; and Agnar Kofoed Hansen, Director, Civil Avia-
tion. (photo by PH2 Rene' Pearce)