Briefs
Advertiser Staff
NAVY
Effort to harness wave power begins
The Navy has begun the first phase of a project to convert wave power into electrical power.
A 40-ton anchor base and 60 tons of scrap chain were loaded onto a crane barge and towed from Honolulu Harbor to the site of the Office of Naval Research's Wave Energy Technology project off the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
The weight of the base and scrap chain will help anchor the PowerBuoy, which is 15 feet in diameter and 40 feet long, and will be placed about 5 to 10 feet below the ocean's surface.
The bobbing movement powers a hydraulic motor that produces about 20 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power about seven to 10 homes, the Navy said.
Before the PowerBuoy can be placed in the water, the anchor and sub-sea cable had to be installed.
Placement of the buoy is expected next month.
COAST GUARDS
Moment of silence for war casualty
Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins asked that all units observe a moment of silence today in honor of Lt. Jack C. Rittichier, the only member of the U.S. Coast Guard listed as missing from the Vietnam War. Collins also asked units that are not under way to fly the U.S. flag at half-mast from 1 p.m. until sunset.
Rittichier's remains, positively identified by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawai'i, are headed back to family on the Mainland for burial.
Rittichier, of Ohio, was flying with the Air Force on an HH-3E "Jolly Green Giant" helicopter when it crashed on a rescue mission in the jungles of Laos on June 9, 1968.
ARMY, COAST GUARD
Families tour model homes
Army and Coast Guard family members toured model homes Sept. 25 in 'Ewa Beach that may be the look of things to come for Army housing.
The Ocean Pointe community by Haseko Homes, which has models that range from $260,000 to $534,000, are a blueprint for new Army houses set for construction after Actus Lend Lease takes control of housing on Nov. 1, 2004, the Army said.
Simone de Sousa Roque, design manager for Actus Lend Lease, said, "We're trying to get feedback from spouses to see how we may be able to improve our original designs." Feedback so far has included whether to carpet the first floor.
ARMY
East Range almost clear of coqui frogs
The Army is reporting that most of the coqui frog population has been eradicated from Schofield Barracks' East Range.
Citric acid was sprayed to control the little frog with the big voice that has become a nuisance in some areas of O'ahu.
The Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Division worked with state of Hawai'i workers and members of the O'ahu Invasive Species Council.
Spraying for the frogs began in July and most of the calling frogs have been eliminated from East Range, the Army said.
