The White Falcon - 01.05.1992, Side 1

FALCON
Vol. 52 No. 17
NATO Base, Keflavik, Iceland
May 1, 1992
Rockville: 40 years of service and still standing tall
By 1st Lt. Jeffrey S. Anderson
Beginning Sunday, the 932nd Air Defense
Squadron (ADS) commonly referred to as
“Rockville”, celebrates 40 years of proud serv-
ice. The squadron has a full week of activities
planned in recognition of its outstanding his-
tory.
The celebration week will kick off with an
Open House on Sunday. This event will be
open to all Defense Force members and their
families. The Open House will begin at 11
a.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the
newly renovated dining hall and move through
the day with tours of the facilities and histori-
cal displays. The Rockville consolidated Open
Mess will open its doors for those who work up
an appetite. The other event open to Defense
«nembers and their families is the POW/
eremony Wednesday at 9 a.m. During
remony the 57th Fighter Squadron is
led to perform a missing-man forma-
tion flyby to honor missing comrades.
Other events during the week include a
Dinning In Monday, a Spouse Appreciation
Day Tuesday, a chapel spaghetti dinner Thurs-
day, a Dining Out Friday and concludes next
Saturday with a 932nd ADS personnel picnic.
Because the 932nd is geographically sepa-
rated from the main base, it has developed into
an extremely self-sufficient operation. It has
its own Navy Exchange annex, a Consolidated
Open Mess and a recently renovated dining
hall. The site also boasts single occupancy for
all personnel, a well equipped gymnasium
complete with a weight room, basketball and
racquetball courts, hot tub and numerous sta-
tionary bicycles and running machines. The
site theater, though small, rivals many state-
side theaters. Numerous other facility im-
provements have made the 932nd ADS one of
the most comfortable isolated facilities in the
Air Force.
The mission of the 932nd ADS is to provide
detection and identification of all aircraft within
the Military Air Defense Identification Zone.
It is also responsible for controlling and coor-
dination of airborne early warning, tanker and
fighter assets. The Iceland Region Operations
Control Center (ICEROCC) integrates all air
surveillance information pertaining to Iceland.
Radar information is provided by ground-based
radars located in the four comers of Iceland,
the E-3A Airborne Warning and Control Sys-
tem, Distant Early Warning radars and NATO
ground and airborne units. Aircraft identified
by the 932nd ADS as a possible threat are then
intercepted by U.S. fighter aircraft.
Getting to Rockville is relatively simple.
Take a left on to highway 41 out either gate and
go to the Keflavik exit, Aldagata. Drive into
Keflavik, take a left at the first yield sign, this
road will take you out of Keflavik. Once out of
Keflavik, take the left turn to Sandgerdi. The
932nd ADS will be on the right side of the road.
If you get lost, simply find the site on the hori-
zon and work your way to it.
Many people have been under the impres-
sion that the 932nd ADS is off limits to anyone
other than site personnel. This is not true, all
Defense Force members are allowed on site. If
you have ever wondered what those mysteri-
ous giant golf balls on
the horizon were, now is '
your chance to
come and find ,'?&
out.
Iceland
EML
Travel
*
The Environmental and Morale Leave
(EML) program for the Department of De-
fense (DoD) military and civilian personnel
and their command sponsored dependents who
are permanently stationed in Iceland allows
for travel on any DoD operated or controlled
aircraft. The EML destinations authorized for
Iceland are the continental U.S., United King-
dom, Netherlands and Germany. EML travel
is a specific category within space available
travel, giving the traveler on EML priority
over those on normal leave.
All Iceland Defense Force personnel and
their dependents are encouraged to participate
in the EML program. It is controlled to allow
equitable utilization of the limited number of
aircraft by all personnel regardless of rank.
service or status. EML participants are
limited to two trips per tour year. The tour
year is a single 365-day period beginning
with the date the sponsor reported for duty
in Iceland. Trips may not be carried over
from one year to another. There is no
restriction as to when in the tour the trips
may be taken. For further information,
contact the Air Terminal or COMICEDE-
FOR Instruction 4630. IS.