The White Falcon - 05.12.1986, Blaðsíða 3
MAC'S policy on shipping pets
There is a prohibition against
bringing pets into Iceland.
However, many Defense Force
members have acquired pets
here. How do you go about taking
that pet to your next duty station?
The Navy Personnel
Transportation Office In Norfolk
says that many passengers who
report to their commercial
gateways are not familiar with
their own responsibilities for
shipping pets. At one location,
an estimated 40 percent of all
passengers shipping pets are
arriving without any type of
shipping container.
These passengers also seem
surprised to find out that MAC
charges them for transporting
their pet(s). Some passengers
show up for flights without having
a reservation for the pet.
MAC policy on pet shipment Is:
the passenger is responsible for
complying with required
host-country documentation,
immunization, and border
clearance requirements. The
passenger is also responsible to
provide a shipping container. (On
MAC category Y and A flights,
passengers may request pet
container(s) through the
commercial carriers at their own
expense.
With limited pet spaces on most
missions, it is imperative that
every effort be made to obtain a
pet booking through the passenger
service reservation center.
While MAC will not turn away
'walk-in' pet requests, provided
there is space available and
adequate documentation, the
practice is discouraged.
Another difficulty you will
encounter when taking a pet from
Iceland is that you cannot take a
pet into the Navy Lodge. There
are no facilities in the local
community to care for pets. The
only option is to have a friend or
neighbor board your pet until
flight time.
Kefiavik's outstanding volunteer
Carol Shaw is one of Naval Air Station Kefiavik's
honorary volunteers. She was chosen because of
the work she does with Cub Scout Pack 364 as Den
Leader Coach.
According to Rachel Bujalski, Committee
Chairman, Carol worked very hard to "get us
organized' after this Fall’s back-to-school
recruiting drive. 'She did an awful lot of work' to
register the boys, organize them into dens and find
and train new leaders.
Sixty new boys expressed interest in joining the
Cubs, practically doubling the size of the Pack
overnight. By the time the dust settled Pack 364 had
19 dens instead of 10.
At the same time, Carol was serving as Primary
President in the Keflavik Branch of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an organization
providing Sunday and occasional weekday activities
for children. Jim Strong, president of the branch
said Carol did a 'super job' with the 20 children
and, in addition, was the "driving force" behind an
effort to have single and unaccompanied members
of the branch 'adopted' into families for the
holidays.
At the same time she was providing this
voluntary service, Carol also had a full-time job at
the base gymnasium. Anyone who participated in an
MWR-sponsored Fun Run will know Carol as the
finish-line recorder. Her boss, Athletic Director
Jack Cristwell, said Carol was 'the best secretary
I’ve ever had. She was very conscientious and
dependable, a great assistant to me.'
Carol is married to Staff Sgt. Marlin Shaw, a
member of the 960th AWACS, who is currently in
the states for back surgery. The Shaws have two
children: Joseph, 9 and Elizabeth, 6.
A thank you note from President Reagan
Rear Admiral McVadon received a letter from
President Reagan recently thanking 'the
members of the Iceland Defense Force for their
thoughtful gifts." As the president left Iceland
he was given a flight jacket and an IDF ball cap.
In the letter, written on White House
stationary and dated Nov. 5, 1986, the
president said: '| truly valued addressing our
nation's men and women in uniform who
extended the warm welcome to me during my
visit.. .'
The president then emphasized the
importance of Iceland's strategic position and
wrote that "America's Armed Forces stationed
in Iceland is carrying out its mission as a
vanguard for the United States and all the NATO
allies with professional resolve.'
In this letter the president wrote that he is
continuing the effort begun with Secretary
Gorbachev in Reykjavik and signed it:
'Sincerely, Ronald Reagan.'
December 5, 1986
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