THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701180391
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 63 lines
Amid the fanfare of patriotic music, honor guards and high-ranking brass, about 400 people celebrated the 50th anniversary Friday of the Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center.
Coast Guard Commandant Robert E. Kramek commended the audience, made up mostly of ARSC employees, for their achievements. A gleaming HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was parked to the right of the temporary stage set up at one end of spacious Hangar 79. A gigantic U.S. flag hung from the rafters.
``Our No. 1 goal was to create a working environment where all can be successful,'' Kramek told his listeners. ``I compliment you on achieving that here.''
Kramek also lauded the Coast Guard in general. He said the president and Congress praise the Coast Guard regularly ``as a model agency of government.''
Kramek read a brief letter from Vice President Al Gore, who also cited the ARSC for its work over the past half-century.
The ARSC, one of three major commands at the Coast Guard Air Station, occupies 10 buildings on 55 acres of the 822-acre facility. More than 600 civilians and members of the military work within ARSC, making it the largest employer in Elizabeth City.
As the Coast Guard's only major aircraft repair center, every Coast Guard aircraft passes through here at one time or another, said Petty Officer Al Bennett, a public relations spokesman.
The ARSC is responsible for major repair and modification of aircraft and aircraft equipment; procurement, storage, and shipment of parts; and technical support in engineering and avionics for more than 200 aircraft at 25 air stations.
During World War II, the Coast Guard acquired parts to fix aircraft from the Navy or aircraft manufacturers. After the war, the Coast Guard needed a central location for warehousing parts and repairing its aircraft. Elizabeth City was regarded as the center of the Coast Guard's aeronautical activities.
On Jan. 3, 1947, the Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Base was commissioned as a headquarters unit with nine officers and 63 enlisted men. The first civilian workers were hired in 1948.
After his speech, Kramek presented Meritorious Team Commendation Awards to five units: the Redesign Concept Team, the Redesign Personnel Policy Quality Action Team, the HH60J Material Review Quality Action Team, the Make Versus Buy Quality Action Team, and the HH60J Supply Cell Detail Design Team.
Kramek also officially designated the ARSC as a National Performance Review Reinvention Laboratory, part of an effort by the federal government to streamline its agencies and make them work as efficiently as private businesses. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Michael Jasielum, 74, of Elizabeth City, right, studies a picture
for his old boss, Stan Sagers, 90, center, of Sarasota, Fla., who
worked at the aircraft maintenance facility in Elizabeth City from
1946 to 1952.
Color photo
Coast Guard Commandant Robert E. Kramek
Photo by Drew Wilson/The Virginian-Pilot
About 400 people were on hand Friday for the 50th anniversary of the
Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center.
KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD ELIZABETH CITY