DATE: Thursday, May 29, 1997                TAG: 9705280674

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

WEEKLY BRIEFING

In General

BONE MARROW DRIVE: Those interested in becoming bone marrow donors should visit the Branch Medical Clinic, Building 1806 at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. today. No appointment is necessary. Sign-up will take about 15 minutes. The Department of Defense wants to put at least 50,000 military personnel on the national bone marrow registry every year.

BOOK SIGNING: Tom Clancy and retired Gen. Fred Franks Jr. will sign their new book from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Norfolk Navy Exchange. The book ``Into the Storm: A Study in Command,'' is available for 25 percent off the cover price. Only one book will be available per person. Identification will be checked at the door to ensure that only authorized military exchange store patrons attend.

COMMISSARY HIRING: Applicants for commissary cashier positions should call the Telephone Application Processing System, a new program that speeds the hiring of cashiers. Vacancy announcements are available at local commissaries, and include the telephone number plus information to know before calling.

FORT STORY YARD SALE: A community yard sale will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Family housing residents will participate. The housing area is located on Manila, Santiago, Pacific and Vera Cruz roads and Atlantic Avenue near the Fort Story Youth Center. The Fort Story Thrift Shop on Guadalcanal Road will also participate. Shoppers should enter the East Gate, next to 89th Street in Virginia Beach.

ARMY ANNIVERSARY: A ceremony commemorating the Army's 222nd anniversary and the 220th anniversary of the U.S. flag will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 13, at Continental Park, Fort Monroe. Col. Michael D. Rochelle, post commander, will speak. A narration of the Army's history, accompanied by soldiers in period uniforms, will follow. Troops from Fort Eustis will participate. The event will be canceled in the case of bad weather.

SHIP NAMING: Students in grade K through 12 are invited to help name the Navy's new oceanographic survey ship, scheduled to be launched in late 1998. Beginning with the 1997-98 school year, teams of four or more students may research and propose a name. Each team will prepare a project to support its choice of name and to help educate other students about the Navy and its ocean-related survey and research work. Full information will be available on the World Wide Web at (http://oceanographer.navy.mil), starting in June.

FLAG DAY CONCERT: The U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Band will perform patriotic and big band music at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Francis Land House in Virginia Beach. The Francis Land House is at 3131 Virginia Beach Blvd.

Comings and Goings

The transport oiler Leroy Grumman will return today after a six-month deployment. U.S. Merchant Marine Capt. Carl V. Mallet of Chesapeake is the commander of Grumman and its 81 civil service mariners. The 22 Navy personnel aboard were headed by Lt. j.g. John Cranston. The ship refueled the 6th Fleet and NATO ships in the Mediterranean, then provided supplies and fuel to amphibious assault ships off Zaire.

The destroyer Nicholson recently docked at Eilat, a resort city at the top of the Gulf of Aqaba, which had never before been visited by an American warship. Military and local dignitaries greeted the ship. Crew members enjoyed beaches and scuba diving, and some toured Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nicholson and the guided-missile frigate Halyburton will return to Portsmouth in early June.

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