The White Falcon - 18.04.1980, Blaðsíða 4

Page 4
The White Falcon
April 18, 1980
Today’s secretary
Working wilh, meeting a^d
April 20 to the 26th is National
Secretary's week. Five secretaries
on the Keflavik NATO Base were sel-
ected to represent the work a quali-
fied secretary manages. The White
Falcon spoke to Martha Hutchison,
Janice King, Fely Elarmo, Ruth Dav-
idson and Mavis White. The secre-
taries talked about working for
VIPs, people of all sorts, and just
what it takes to be a secretary in
todav's world.
Martha
Secretary for Commander Iceland
Defense Force of two years, is Mar-
tha Hutchison; she has been a secre-
tary for 16% years.
"Basically, I run the office
while the Admiral is out, on proto-
cal, what have you. I also organize
social activities such as the invit-
ations, table settings; anything
that will help an event run smooth-
ly."
Martha had no desire to go to
college, so she became a secretary.
"I sort of 'fell' into the job, ac-
tually; I took typing and shorthand
in school, and really enjoyed doing
it, so there was no alternative to
what I liked to do as far as a job
was concerned."
"I like the work, and working for
the Admiral is a pleasure; not only
because he is a wonderful individu-
al. The job has 'status', and I
meet many other important people in
the process," Martha said. "I be-
lieve my past experience as a secre-
tary had the most influence towards
my obtaining this position. I had
more than anyone else who applied at
the same time. I'll be here for two
more years, then continue to work
for the government once back in the
states."
Janice
Also at IDF is Janice King who is
proud to work for the Chief of
Staff. "I've been on the NATO Base
nearly a year, and worked at the
High School before working for Col.
Connally."
Janice has worked for the govern-
ment for 12 years. "As a result I
have had the opportunity to travel
quite a bit, and work for interest-
ing people within the government."
The reason Janice chose secretar-
ial work is because she took ad-
vanced shorthand and typing as well
as math at a business school. "I
think, besides the fact that it was
the best opportunity for a woman to
progress in a career, the important
man I work for, and others I meet
has a certain amount of status to
it. Pressures can be plenty; it's
busy work and when it rains it
pours, but personal pride makes it
easy to complete a project as neatly
as possible."
Janice leaves in September, and
plans to continue her career in
Washington, D.C.
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK—Martha Hutch-
ison and Janice King work together
on some plans for a future event
'above photo). Fely Elarmo (cen-
er photo) prepares for a meeting
..pplying final touches which in-
clude arranging for coffee breaks
The top right photo confirms Rut
Davidson, has a people job. She i
shown with a customer desiring
passport. Mavis White (bottom
right) takes a break to water one
of her plants.
Photos by J03 Dave Guise
Fely
Fely Elarmo is secretary to the
Commander Air Force's Iceland.
Since she has been on the NATO Base
since December, 1978, she has been a
vice-commander's secretary, and the
colonel's secretary since his arriv-
al in June last year. She has been
a secretary for 13 years altogether.
Aside from the normal working
hours, as the secretary of a VIP,
Fely puts in extra time. "When we
have VIPs visiting I sometimes need
to do extra typing or steno support
(dictation) for the colonel. Many
times last minute paperwork has to
be prepared," she explained.
Fely always has wanted to be an
executive's secretary. "It didn't
occur to me when I started applying
for secretarial work through what is
called the Merit Promotion program
that I would be working for the mil-
itary, but actually it has turned
out for the better. I like the work
because it is varied; it's not just
answering phones- by far- as most
people picture." She believes she
has learned alot of her 'know how'
by previous experience. "I deal
with people, and I know how fromi
perience. When the colonel tel^
to do something, he doesn't havl
explain how. He expects me to fig-
ure out how to get it done, and he
has to have a secretary he has con-
fidence in to get something accom-
plished. That's where my experience
comes in; I have had to deal with
people of all echilons."
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