The White Falcon - 06.08.1993, Blaðsíða 2

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The U.S. Coast Guard in Iceland
By LT Stephen Nurre
Coordinator of Chain Operations
OnAugust4,1993, the United States Coast
Guard celebrated 203 years of service. With
approximately 39,000 active duty members,
the Coast Guard is the smallest of the five
armed services. Today, the Coast Guard’s
major missions are maritime law enforce-
ment, maritime safety, environmental pro-
tection, and national security.
The Coast Guard’s LORAN-C Detail, es-
tablished in Keflavfk in 1976, provides radio
navigation service to support Department of
Defense missions. The U.S. Coast Guard op-
erates two long range navigation (LORAN)
aids in the North Atlantic—the Icelandic and
Norwegian Sea Chains. These chains pro-
vide positional information to mariners and
aviators from southern England to the coasts
of Greenland and Norway.
The Coordinator of Chain Operations
(COCO) and the alternate COCO for the
detail direct operations at six transmitting
stations and one control station. These sta-
tions are located in Angissoq, Greenland;
Keflavfk and Sandur (on the Snaefellsnes
peninsula), Iceland, since1959; Ejde, Faeroe
Islands; and B0 and Jan Mayen, Norway.
The station at Sandur transmits 1.5 million
watts of power. The control station, in opera-
tion since 1964, is at the old Dye-5 site, which
is close to NAVFAC. The control station
uses its LORAN receivers and those at re-
mote sites in the Shetland Islands and Faeroe
Islands to verify that the LORAN signals are
correct. Although all of the stations are Coast
Guard funded and directed, they are manned
by the respective host nations. In Iceland,
employees of Postur og Simi, the Icelandic
Postal and Telephone Association, operate
the stations.
A LORAN signal is a series of pulses at a
carrier frequency of lOOKHz. A LORAN
receiver measures the time
between pulses from different
stations to determine its posi-
tion. Since LORAN signals
are generated with extremely
accurate atomic clocks, they
can be used as a precise timing
reference, typically within a
few hundred nanoseconds of
Universal Coordinated Time.
Long haul communications
equipment, calibration facili-
ties and scientific laboratories
commonly use this service.
As of December 31, 1994,
the DoD will no longer require overseas LO-
RAN-C coverage. All military users have
switched, or will switch, to the Global Posi-
tioning System (GPS), which is a satellite
based system. GPS has the advantages of
worldwide coverage and improved accuracy.
Although GPS is generally more accurate,
many fishermen prefer to use LORAN-C
because currently, its repeatable accuracy
better than that of the GPS’s.
In the last 30 years, civilian LORAN us£
have come to rely on the Coast Guard’s
service. Iceland has more LORAN receivers
per capita than any other country. With the
exception of the stations in Iceland and Green-
land, the Coast Guard will turn all stations
and equipment over to the host nations.
Norway, Denmark, and Germany will up-
grade these stations and build new ones.

I wish to extend a hearty happy birthday to our U. S.
Coast Guard personnel stationed in Iceland, and thank
l for their contributions to the important missions
of our Defense Forces here. To our U. S. Coast Guard
Detachment: By celebrating this year’s Coast Guard
birthday here, you can stand proud for what you
represent and for the sacrifices you endure in service
to our country
Happy Birthday Coast Guard!
RADM Michael D. Haskins,
Commander, Iceland Defense Force
These, along with the French, Spanish, Ital^
ian, and Turkish stations, will make
RAN-C the primary radio navigational
for the European Community. Iceland has
chosen not to operate LORAN for fiscal
reasons. In the United States, LORAN-C
coverage will continue well into the next
century.
Ital^^
‘Coasties’plot missions for SARs
in Northern Viking exercise
Reserve Coast Guard LCDR Jeff Bush (left). Search and Rescue (SAR) Mission
Coordinator during the Northern Viking (NV) exercise, takes information at the
Combined Operations Center while performing his duties for the Command Post
exercise. Four Coast Guard reservists took part in NV ‘93, and were responsible for
Coordinating the SAR missions associated with the exercise. Ironically, while the
reservists where training at the Rescue Coordination Center with simulated SAR
missions, an actual call for help came in from the Polar Sea, a Coast Guard vessel
on a five-week deployment to the northern reaches of Greenland. See page 3 for
more on the rescue. (Photo by J02 Carlos Bongioanni)
iheWhite Falcon
Commander, Iceland Defense Force
RADM Michael D. Haskins
Public Affairs Officer
LT Joseph L. Quimby
Deputy Public Affairs Officer
Fridthdr Kr. Eydal
Draftsman
DM2 Danielle J. Kim
Editor
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
Journalist
J03 (SW) Andreas Waller
The White Falcon is printed by the NAS Keflavik
Print Plant. Photo processing is provided by Fleet
Imaging Command Detachment Keflavik.
The White Falcon is an authorized, government-
funded weekly publication of the Iceland Defense Force.
Contents of The White Falcon are not necessarily the
official views of or endorsed by, the U. S. Government,
the Department of Defense or the Iceland Defense
Force. Everything advertised in this publication shall be
made available without regard to race, color, religion,
sex, age, marital status, physical handicap, or any other
non-merit factor. The White Falcon is located in Bldg.
936, tel. ext. 4612 or 4552.
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