DATE: Thursday, July 10, 1997               TAG: 9707090574

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

WEEKLY BRIEFING

FROM FORT TO FOXHOLE: Fort Story in Virginia Beach and Fort Eustis in Newport News will witness the finish of a two-week joint task force exercise, Dragon Team 10-97, involving more than 1,500 soldiers from the posts' 7th Transportation Group.

Sponsored by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and directed by U.S. Atlantic Command in Norfolk, the exercise began Tuesday and is designed to test the military's ability to move supplies ashore without fixed port facilities. The fast sealift ship Pollux will arrive at Fort Story on July 16 from Jacksonville, Fla., carrying more than 500 pieces of rolling stock and 30 helicopters, which will be taken ashore by watercraft and causeway bridges.

The exercise ends after the equipment is staged at Fort Eustis July 20. As a safety measure, some Fort Story training areas and beaches will be off-limits beginning Friday.

SHIP VISITS: Three Navy ships will be open for tours Saturday and Sunday at area Navy facilities. The guided missile frigates Klackring and Kauffman will be tied up at the Norfolk Naval Station. Visitors should enter through Gate 2, at the north end of Hampton Boulevard. The dock landing ship Oak Hill will welcome visitors at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, and can be reached via Gate 1 at Shore Drive and Little Creek Road. For further information, call 444-7637.

CIVIL ENGINEER HONORED: Rear Adm. Michael W. Shelton has been elected as a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers, one of the highest recognitions in the profession. He commands the Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Second Naval Construction Brigade in Norfolk. Shelton is a 1967 graduate of West Point with a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in management from the University of Arkansas. The award is presented to those who have made significant achievements and contributions to the profession.

COAST GUARD UNIT RECOGNIZED: The Coast Guard's Finance Center in Chesapeake has been honored for the second consecutive year with the Commandant's Quality Award, presented annually to units which demonstrate the highest commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Commanded by Capt. Ronald Reck, the center employs more than 300 military and civilian personnel. It has been located in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake since 1989. COMINGS AND GOINGS

UNITAS EXERCISE UNDERWAY: The Norfolk-based destroyer Comte de Grasse, the Little Creek-based dock landing ship Whidbey Island, and the Portsmouth-based Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane left Hampton Roads July 1 for a six-month deployment to take part in UNITAS '97, an annual Navy exercise with South American navies. The Mayport, Fla.-based guided-missile frigate De Wert will join them. UNITAS dates back to 1959, when Navy forces first participated in combined exercises on both coasts of South America, and has continued every year since.

Army Col. Donald W. Richardson, deputy commander, Special Operations Command, U.S. Atlantic Command in Norfolk, retired June 23 after 26 years of service. He previously served as Commander Task Force Sherman during Operation Just Cause in Panama, was director of the National Security and Joint Warfare Course at Marine Corps War College in Quantico and was chief of the Joint Task Force Training Division for the Atlantic Command.

Capt. Gary R. Harmeyer relieves Capt. Don Thompson as director of the TRICARE Mid-Atlantic Office in Norfolk. Harmeyer recently served at Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth as director of the Managed Care Office. The office is responsible for the military's health maintenance organization-type operations in North Carolina and most of Virginia.

The carrier Theodore Roosevelt left its pier at the Norfolk Naval Station Tuesday for a year of repairs at Newport News Shipbuilding.

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