The White Falcon - 21.05.1993, Blaðsíða 4

Local dental tech has good reason to smile
Story and photo by
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
Many people enlist in the military for its educational
benefits. Some stay in for one enlistment, qualify for the
Montgomery GI Bill and decide to get out to pursue their
college aspirations. Others, like DT2 Tina Storm,
Administrative Technician at the Branch Dental Clinic,
Keflavik, take advantage of the Navy’s Enlisted Com-
missioning Program (ECP) to acquire a college degree
while on active duty.
Storm has been in the Navy’s enlisted ranks for eight
years, but for the past three years has sought to make it
into a nursing program through the military. She was
accepted in the medical ECP after applying twice.
“I have always wanted to be in the medical field,” said
Storm. “I also wanted to stay in the military, but I decided
if I wasn’t accepted this time, I was going to pursue it
outside. Fortunately, I was selected. It’s a good oppor-
tunity, because the Navy will still pay me my basic pay
and allowances while I’m going to school full time.”
Although CAPT David Koffler, Officer in Charge,
Branch Dental Clinic, Keflavik, said he and his staff will
miss the professionalism and quality of service Storm
adds to their office, he’s confident the Navy as a whole
will benefit more from Storm’s future nursing commis-
sion.
“She’s a top-notch performer,” said Koffler. “She’s
motivated and cares about people. I’m as happy for the
Navy as I am for petty officer Storm. She epitomizes the
DT2 Storm files records as part of her duties at the Branch Dental Clinic.
type of person we want to retain in today’s shrinking military.”
Koffler also added that Storm’s eight years of military experience will make
her that much more valuable when she enters the nursing coips as an ensign. “She
won’t be like some of the younger officers who have a medical degree but aren’t
familiar with the military system.”
According to Storm, getting a commission is not easy. “A lot of people will
quit after getting turned down the first time, but the selection boards are looking
for people with perseverance,” said Storm.
Contact your (Navy) career counselor or (Air Force) education office for more
information on Enlisted Commissioning Programs.
Brother, sister meet for first time in nearly 50 years
Josepsdottir and Sobodowski enjoy each other's company
after finally meeting. (Photo by J02 Carlos Bongioanni)
Story by
J02 Colleen “Ghostwriter” Casper
A look of deep, warm love was exchanged
as the two gazed into each other’s eyes. A
curious passer-by might have thought the
two had known each other for years. In real-
ity, quite the opposite was true.
What did a 46-year-old American man
and a 49-year-old Icelandic woman have in
common? Simply enough, they were sib-
lings, meeting each other for the first time!
Kolbrun Josepsdottir was originally look-
ing for her father when she discovered she
had a brother. “I was two-years-old in 1946
when my father left Iceland, stating that he
would return. He never came back,” Jo-
sepsdottir said.
“All my life I wondered where my father
was and why he never came back to Iceland.
When I was 15,1 made my first attempt to
contact my father,” Josepsdottir continued.
“I wrote to an address given to me by the
American Embassy, without
any luck. I sent another let-
ter and the reply said he had
moved to another state.”
Thirty-four years later,
Josepsdottir discovered that
her father had died. Her
search continued, this time
for relatives. She contacted
the Iceland Defense Force
(IDF) Public Affairs Office
where she met with success.
On August 28,1991, LT Joe
Quimby, IDF Public Affairs
Officer, made some tele-
phone calls to the states and
was able to help Josepsdottir
locate and talk to a previ-
ously unknown brother, Joe Sobodowski.
“I was warned that my relatives might not
want to hear from me, but quite the opposite
was true,” Josepsdottir stated.
Sobodowski recalled the elation he felt
when the call came through from Keflavik,
Iceland, “I knew what it was. I was elated,
and I cried like a baby. When my sister told
me her name was Kolbrun, I bet I said her
name a hundred thousand times, it is such a
beautiful name.”
See UNITED on page 5
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The White Falcon