DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997          TAG: 9702250530

SECTION: MILITARY NEWS           PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

WEEKLY BRIEFING

In General

2ND FLEET EXERCISE: More than 20,000 sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines begin a three-week exercise off the East Coast on March 6 aimed at preparing them for an upcoming deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. Vice Adm. Vern Clark, 2nd Fleet commander, will lead Joint Task Force Exercise 97-2 from his flagship, the Mount Whitney.

AIRBORNE MEDICAL SAVE: Four staff members from the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center are credited with helping a 54-year-old airline passenger who suffered shortness of breath and chest pains during a Feb. 13 commercial flight. Lt. Cmdr. Keigh Batts, a physician, Lt. Brian Farmer, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Spencer Holden and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Brian Clark stabilized the woman enough that the airliner did not have to make an emergency landing. The aircraft and its 400 passengers landed as scheduled in Los Angeles. The woman was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for observation. The team, which was en route to an assignment providing medical support to 800 sailors and Marines in a remote camp in Australia, will return in April.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum in Hampton is seeking volunteer tour guides. A training seminar for docents will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 11 and from 9 a.m. to noon March 12. The seminar is free and open to anyone. There is no minimum number of hours that docents must work. For more information, call 727-3391.

ALL ABOARD: Two Navy ships will be open for public visits from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The oiler Merrimack will welcome guests at the Norfolk Naval Station. Visitors should enter through Gate 2 at the north end of Hampton Boulevard. The tank landing ship LaMoure County, tied up at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, can be reached through Gate 1 at Little Creek Road and Shore Drive. For details, call 444-7637.

HOME-BUYING WORKSHOP: The Navy Housing Welcome Center at the Norfolk Naval Base's Personnel Support Mall will host a free realty workshop for home buyers from 6 to 8 p.m. March 5. A free, supervised child play area is available. To register, call 445-2832 or 800-628-7510.

FORT MONROE HONORS WOMEN'S HISTORY: Army Brig. Gen. Sherian Grace Cadoria, who retired in 1990 after 29 years of service and who has received kudos for helping to broaden the role of women and African-Americans in the military, will address a luncheon at Fort Monroe in Hampton from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 19 in observance of Women's History Month. Tickets are $5.75 if purchased by March 17, $6.50 afterwards. Reservations can be made by calling 727-3363 or 727-3500.

COMINGS & GOINGS

Cmdr. Brian C. O'Neill relieves Cmdr. Kevin P. Ryan as commanding officer of the attack submarine Albany. O'Neill is a former executive officer of the attack submarine Hampton and joins the Albany from the Special Technical Operations Directorate of the Joint Staff. Ryan's next assignment hasn't been announced.

Navy Lt. Daniel E. Voth relieves Lt. Cmdr. Charles F. Williams as commanding officer of the coastal patrol boat Firebolt at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. Williams is being reassigned to the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. Voth comes from the guided missile frigate Thach in Yokosuka, Japan, where he served as engineering officer.

The Coast Guard cutter Bear returned home to Portsmouth on Sunday after a two-month patrol in the Caribbean Sea, where its crew combated drug and migrant smuggling. The Bear identified 78 vessels, boarded 18 and issued 16 violations. It also went to the rescue of a sinking vessel off the coast of Haiti.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu