The White Falcon - 22.02.1980, Blaðsíða 5

February 22, 1980
The White Falcon
Page 5
Naval Station Supply Ball slated forSaturday
The Naval Station Supply Commun-
ity will celebrate the 185th Supply
Corps birthday with a military ball
Saturday evening at the Officer's
Club.
Cocktails will begin at 6 p.m.
and dinner will be served at 7 p.m.
The menu will include tossed salad,
filet mignon, baked potatoes, string
beans, wine and cake with ice cream.
There will be a traditional cake-
cutting by the youngest and the old-
est supply personnel. There will
also be musical entertainment for
dancing.
The Supply Corps marked its be-
ginning by an Act of Congress dated
February 23, 1775, which established
a purveyor of public supplies and
instituted Navy procurements for
supply both afloat and on shore.
The purveyor of public supplies, the
government's first purchasing agent,
was assigned the responsibility for
procuring the supplies necessary to
outfit the ships in the Navy.
On April 30, 1798, an act which
created the Navy Department also in-
cluded the assignment to the Navy
Department of the responsibility for
obtaining naval stores and equip-
ments for all naval agents. The
term purser was used to identify
those personnel involved in purvey-
ing public supplies.
Det. 14 honors
19 Icelandic
Res cue Teams
Rear Adm. Richard A. Martini,
Commander Iceland Defense Force,
(IDF) recently addressed the Ice-
landic rescue teams and expressed
the Command's gratitude. Over 180
members of Icelandic rescue teams
were the Defense Force's guests,
Saturday, Feb. 16. All had taken
part in the rescue mission last mid-
December when a Det. 14 (HH-3) heli-
copter made a forced landing while
on a mercy flight.
Following the Admiral's speech,
each of the nineteen Icelandic
groups was presented with a commem-
orative plaque by Lt. Col. Bruce K.
Ware, Commander Det. 14, 67 ARRS,
and every participant received a
certificate of appreciation.
In part, the certificate read:
"The efforts by our friends in the
Icelandic rescue organizations dis-
played a devotion to duty and pro-
fessional attitude under extremely
difficult circumstances which will
be remembered with heartfelt appre-
ciation."
Changes in supply administration
were gradual and it was not until
August 31, 1842 that the bureau or-
ganization of the Navy Department
was created. The Bureau of Provi-
sions and Clothing was one of the
bureaus created at this time with
the responsibility for accomplishing
the task of providing supply and
fiscal support to the fleet.
After the War of 1812, the impor-
tant responsibilities of the purser
were fully recognized, although it
was not until 1847 that military
rank and precedence were given them.
By a general order issued in 1847
and legalized by Congressional ac-
tion in 1854, pursers of more than
12 years service were to rank with
commanders and those with less than
12 years with lieutenants. Pursers
were to rank with surgeons, accord-
ing to their date of commissioning.
A Congressional act in 1860 pro-
vided that the pursers in the Navy
should hereafter be styled paymas-
ters .
An early qualification for promo-
tion was that they possess the abil-
ity to speak French and Spanish with
sufficient fluency to do business
with those nations. Another re-
quirement, designed to ensure pro-
fessional competency, was a certifi-
cate from the fourth auditor of the
Treasury, who was responsible for
auditing Navy accounts, that the
purser's accounts had been kept to
the satisfaction of the Treasury De-
partment.
A Congressional act on July 17,
1861, required that promotion to the
Corps of Paymasters be made from a
list of assistant paymaster. A year
later another requirement was writ-
ten into the statutes, which speci-
fied that the Chief of the Bureau of
Provisions and Clothing be appointed
from the list of paymasters of the
Navy of not less than 10 years
standing.
Thus, for the first time, it was
legally impossible for the Paymaster
General to be a civilian. Eight
years later, the Congressional act
of July 15, 1870, officially estab-
lished the Pay Corps of the Navy, a
designator which was retained until
1919, when the present title of the
Supply Corps was adopted.
On October 13, 1966, the title of
the Supply Corps director was chang-
ed by the Secretary of the Navy from
Paymaster General to Chief of Supply
Corps, the title now held by Rear
Admiral Eugene A. Grinstead.
The history and heritage of the
Navy Supply Corps are proud ones.
This makes their 185th birthday that
much more worthy of celebration.
OPEN HOUSE—Det. 14 opened its doors for 180 members of Icelandic rescue
teams Saturday. The rescue team members were here because of their
efforts in the mid-December rescue mission, when a Det. 14 HH-3 helicopter
made a forced landing while on a mercy flight. After the open house,
the team members were invited to the Officer's Club where RADM Richard
A. Martini expressed the command's gratitude. The nineteen rescue teams
were then presented comemorative plaques by Lt. Col. Bruce K. Ware, Com-
mander Det. 14, 67 ARRS. (Photo by PHAN Kevin Penrod)